KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 — Perlis mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said the unilateral conversion of single mother Loh Siew Hong’s three young children without her knowledge or presence was not wrong under the state’s laws.
In a Facebook Live ceramah yesterday, Asri said that a father, mother or guardian can convert minors in their care to Islam under the state’s Islamic enactment.
He also denied that the state’s failure to obtain Loh’s consent had infringed upon her rights as a mother.
“I want them to know that in 2016, the Perlis state assembly passed a law allowing those who wish to pass down their Islamic faith to their children to do so with the agreement of either the father or the mother,” he said.
“It is not against Perlis law. Other states might be different, but only one parent is enough in Perlis. And in this case, the father wanted his children to be converted to Islam.”
Asri also said that Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail was instrumental in issuing an authoritative text of the Federal Constitution in the Malay language when he was Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
“This is not a matter of interpretation. Please do not say we went against the law. There is no issue of parents being in singular or plural form. That is a different story,” he added.
“The Perlis law is in the Malay language and reads that a father, mother or guardian can convert their child.”
Asri’s comments came after Loh sent a letter of demand yesterday to the Islamic councils of three states asking them to provide written proof that she consented to the religious conversion of her three young children who were raised as Hindus.
Lawyer Shamsher Singh Thind, who is representing Loh, said the three religious councils of Perlis, Kedah and Penang have been given seven days from February 16 to provide the documents proving she had consented to their conversion.
Also yesterday, Asri said the children’s Muslim convert father had brought them to be converted at the Perlis Religious Department in July 2020, claiming he did not know their mother’s whereabouts, and the department had taken his word for it.
Asri said the Perlis religious authorities were not aware that the Kuala Lumpur High Court had granted Loh full custody of her children in March 2021.
He said the children had been brought to Perlis before the court’s letter on the matter “reached their hands”.
Loh was reported earlier this week as saying she had divorced her husband on March 19, 2019 and that her children were taken from her by a third party while she was hospitalised with a fractured leg on a later, unspecified date.
