GEORGE TOWN, Feb 17 — Penang Mufti Datuk Seri Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor has called on the authorities to find a way for Hindu mother, Loh Siew Hong, to regularly meet with her three children who were said to have been unilaterally converted to Islam.
He said the bonds between a mother and her children should never be severed due to differences in religion.
“I do not want to take sides in this case but it is my understanding based on Islamic teachings, the Quran and Hadith of the Prophet that a bond between a mother and her children should never be broken,” he said in a brief statement when Malay Mail contacted him today for comment.
He stressed that Islam is a beautiful, just and religion of grace that emphasises on being caring and tolerant among each other.
“The question of which religion that one embraces is up to the respective individual,” he said.
He stressed that the embracing of Islam is dependent on guidance from Allah.
“In Islam, there is no question of force in embracing the religion and this is what we want everyone to understand,” he said.
Wan Salim was commenting on the issue of Loh, who was given limited time to visit her three children who were allegedly unilaterally converted to Islam.
The three children, a son aged 10 and twin daughters 14 years old, are currently under the care of the Perlis Welfare Department pending Loh’s habeas corpus application hearing on February 21.
Loh, a single mother who is currently on unpaid leave from her job as a chef in Genting Highlands, Pahang, had been separated from her three children since 2019 following her hospitalisation.
The children’s father took them away before he was jailed for a drug offence. They were later taken in by a third party from an Islamic non-governmental organisation without Loh’s knowledge or consent.
Loh was granted full custody of all her three children by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in January 2021.
She was able to meet her children briefly on February 14 at the Kangar district police headquarters in Perlis.
