MCA to oppose broadening of syariah court’s powers

KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — The MCA has vowed to fight in Parliament against a proposed law giving the syariah court extensive powers to decide an individual’s Muslim status, after its leaders met with the country’s largest non-Muslim interfaith group here.

MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai (picture) reportedly labelled a few clauses in the Administration of the Religion of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 as violating freedom of religion.

“Cabinet must amend the Bill or retract the Bill. MCA will oppose the related proviso,” Liow was quoted saying by news portal fz.com.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) had in a meeting with the MCA yesterday shared its concerns on section 107 (b), clauses 51(3)(b)(X) and 51(3)(b)(XI) of the Bill.

The two clauses are on the syariah court’s jurisdiction to decide an individual’s religious status.

According to the news portal, clause 51(3)(b)(X) empowers the syariah court to declare that a person is no longer a Muslim, with the other clause giving the syariah court power to decide on whether a deceased person was a Muslim or otherwise at the time of death.

Sardar Jagir Singh, MCCBCHST’s deputy president, said jurisdiction in legal disputes over the religious status of individuals should lie with the civil court instead of the syariah court.

“Any conversion needs witnesses, any dispute as of the conversion, the proper place (to decide whether a person is Muslim or non-Muslim) will be in civil court, not syariah court,” he was quoted saying by fz.com.

Jagir also said the syariah court should be accessible to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Earlier yesterday, the MCCBCHST had also met with Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, the new minister in charge of national unity and integration in the Najib Cabinet amid simmering tensions against the proposed law.

When contacted yesterday, National Unity and Integration Department (NIUD) director-general Datuk Azman Amin Hassan told The Malay Mail Online that Kurup was “getting some feedback at the grassroots” before the minister brings up the issue at tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting.

The Malay Mail Online understands that the Catholic Lawyers Society also met Kurup yesterday afternoon to voice out its grievances on the Bill.

Since the tabling of the Bill last Wednesday, critics and non-Muslim groups have said that the proposed section 107 (b) — which would allow for conversion of minors to Islam without the need for consent from both parents — is unconstitutional and is against a 2009 decision by Cabinet.

Custodial tussles in cases of unilateral child conversion have been a growing concern over the years and provide a high-profile glimpse of the concerns of Malaysia’s religious minorities over perceived dominance of Islam in the country.

It also highlights the complications of Malaysia’s dual legal systems where Muslims are bound by both civil and syariah laws, the latter of which do not apply to or recognise non-Muslims.