KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — The High Court has postponed hearing a bid to challenge a Muslim convert mother's alleged covert conversion of her two young children until a related case is resolved by the Federal Court.

The Federal Court will hear in November similar issues in Hindu mother M. Indira Gandhi's challenge against her Muslim convert ex-husband's unilateral conversion of their children.

Senior federal counsel Mazlifah Ayob, who represented the government, said today was initially fixed for hearing of leave for judicial review against the Muslim convert mother's unilateral child conversion.

"[But] the applicant asked for postponement in view Indira Gandhi will be heard at Federal Court, so we have no objection to that," she told reporters here.

She said today's case shared three similar issues with Indira's lawsuit.

"First is jurisdictional issue, which court should hear this matter, whether the Shariah court or the civil court.

"Secondly, in case of children's conversion, either both parent must give consent or one is sufficient. Third, whether the children must themselves utter the affirmation of faith — kalimah syahadah — or can the parents do it for them," she said.

She confirmed High Court judge Datuk Hanipah Farikullah has fixed November 29 for those involved in today's lawsuit to update the court on the matter.

Indira's final bid to challenge her children's conversion to Islam by the Muslim convert ex-father without her or her children's knowledge will be heard by the Federal Court this November 14 and 15.

In today's lawsuit filed on June 14, Lee Chang Yong had named the Federal Territories Islamic Department (Jawi) director-general, the Federal Territories Registrar of Muallafs or converts, the Education Ministry director-general, the government of Malaysia and the Muslim convert mother Teng Wai Yee or Aleena Abdullah.

According to the judicial review application filed by Lee, his estranged wife Teng had in court documents said she converted from Buddhism to Islam on December 12 last year.

Lee alleged that his wife did not take their two children to school on May 11 this year. He sent seven text messages to her from 8.55am that day, but only received one reply about noon saying their children were in school by then.

According to Lee’s court filing, the couple’s eight-year-old daughter said she and her then three-year-old brother were taken by their mother to an office on that day where both the children’s thumbprints were recorded. The girl said she was also coaxed by her mother and instructed by a man to recite a passage in Bahasa Malaysia that mentioned the word “Allah”, but which she did not understand.

The daughter said no explanation was given when her thumbprint was taken, and was only told a few weeks later by her mother that she was now a Muslim.

In his application, Lee also said the covert conversion and the registration of the children as Muslim converts by Jawi is unlawful as the whole family are residents of Selangor. He stated that Selangor Islamic law requires the father's written consent for his children to be registered as Muslim converts.

He also said he had never given either verbal or written consent for the children's religious conversion.

He added that the children have been going to the temple since birth and would not have understood the Islamic affirmation of faith in Arabic even if they were asked to recite it.

"The children's religious conversion is, I believe, an impure tactical move to grab the child custody rights from me," he said in the documents.

Lee wants his children to continue in their current faith, and cited an interim court order obtained on March 29 to block his wife from changing their religion before they turn 18, the age of majority.

The order was obtained after Teng allegedly made several attempts since February to influence their children to convert to Islam, including taking them to a mosque and asking their daughter to wear a tudung and teaching them both Muslim prayers.

Lee is also seeking a court declaration on the children’s religious status to prevent them from attending Islamic religious classes or sitting for the examinations compulsory for Muslim students.

Lee is now seeking for a court order to quash the conversion certificate of the two children issued on May 11, as well as a prohibition order from the court to bar the Federal Territories Registrar of Muallaf from registering the children as Muslims or Muslim converts.

He also wants the court to compel the Jawi director-general and the muallaf registrar to immediately cancel any registration of the two children as converts in their records, and alternatively declarations from the court that their conversion certificates and their purported conversion are invalid.

Lawyer Ilyani Khuszairy who is representing the wife told reporters today that her client and Lee have yet to divorce. She added that the divorce application will be heard on October 4 and 5 at the High Court in Shah Alam.

The lawyer also confirmed that no application or lawsuits related to this case have been filed in the Shariah court.