KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — Penang Mufti Datuk Seri Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor said Hindu mother Loh Siew Hong should regain custody of all three of her children but said they must remain Muslims despite being unilaterally converted as minors by her ex-husband.
Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported him saying that reversing their conversion was “impractical” and might “further complicate the situation”, and that they should remain Muslims for the good of all.
The remark came after Indira Gandhi Action Team’s (Ingat) leader Arun Dorasamy reportedly pushed for the children’s conversion to be cancelled.
“Doing that would only muddy the good ties that the Hindus have with Muslims in the country.
“From an Islamic perspective, one’s faith in Islam cannot be reversed through a court decree, but only if that person voluntarily wants to leave Islam without any pressure from anyone,” he was quoted saying by the news portal.
Wan Salim added that authorities should allow Loh to meet her children as much as they prefer at venues deemed safe, and that she could take her children back home periodically under the watch of the police.
“Islam does not prevent family members of different faiths to live under one roof. In fact, they can even share meals together so long as the food is not considered to be haram,” he said.
Wan Salim also reportedly proposed that Loh’s children be sent to boarding schools, where their welfare and safety can be taken care of.
“I’m making this proposal, which is best for the children, so that we can solve the mess we are in.
“This way, no parties are taken advantage of and, at the same time, protect the sensitivities of Muslims who believe that hidden hands are pushing to revoke the children’s conversion to Islam,” Wan Salim said.
Loh’s 14-year-old twin daughters and 10-year-old son are currently under the care of the Perlis Welfare Department pending the outcome of her habeas corpus application set to be heard tomorrow, at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Loh’s children were taken away from her in 2019 while she was hospitalised with injuries she claimed were inflicted by her former husband, Nagashwaran Muniandy, who has since converted to Islam and then secretly converted the couple’s children.
The conversion took place despite the 2018 Federal Court ruling in the case of Hindu mother M. Indira Gandhi that the unilateral conversion of minors was unlawful and unconstitutional.
Loh had obtained interim custody of her children in July 2019 pending her divorce, but her court case was delayed when the country went into Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020.
Loh finally obtained full custody of her children in March 2021. She continued searching for them so she could finally take them home.
On February 16, Perlis Mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin admitted in a video posted on his Facebook account that the three children were unilaterally converted to Islam in July 2020 by their father before he was imprisoned on drug charges.
He added that the Perlis Islamic Religious Department had not enquired about the mother’s whereabouts and that the children’s conversion were not registered with the National Registration Department.
Asri also claimed the children did not want to return to Loh and has maintained that the minors’ conversion to Islam is legal despite the landmark court judgment outlawing unilateral conversions.
