Malaysiakini.com（http://www.malaysiakini.com)
‘Siti Fatimah' conversion ruling in March, 7 January 2009
by Athi Veeranggan
March 16 will be D-day for Muslim convert Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah - she will know whether she can renounce Islam and revert to her original religion, Buddhism.
The Syariah Court of Appeal in Penang set the date today during an appeal hearing after hearing submissions from both parties.
The plaintiff is the Penang Islamic Religious Council, while cook Siti Fatimah, 40 (right) - whose original name is Tan Ean Huang - is the respondent.
The council wants the appellate court to overturn a Syariah High Court decision on May 8 last year. It had nullified Siti Fatimah’s conversion to Islam on the basis that "she is no longer a Muslim as she has never practised the teachings of Islam".
The three-member appellate bench, comprising judges Ibrahim Lembut, Abu Bakar Ahmad and Muhammad Asri Abdullah, heard arguments from the council's advocate Ahmad Munawir Abdul Aziz and Siti Fatimah's lawyer Ahmad Jailani.
Ahmad Munawir argued that Section 61(3)(b)(x) of the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State Of Penang) Enactment 2004, cannot be used to allow a Muslim to renounce Islam, a point Siti Fatimah had deployed successfully to obtain the favourable High Court ruling.
He urged the judges not to allow Siti Fatimah to renounce Islam, so that their ruling does not set a bad precedent for other converts to Islam
"If she were allowed to renounce Islam, many Muslims may be influenced by the court's decision and follow suit,” he argued.
"Hence, the court has a public duty to protect and enhance the interests and integrity of Islam and Muslims in the country.”
He also reminded the court that apostasy is punishable by death under Islamic law, although this is not stipulated in Penang’s Islamic enactments.
‘Don’t compel the unwilling’
Ahmad Jailani countered that a Muslim ceases to be one, if the person adopts practices that contravene the teachings of Islam.
He also argued that the Court of Appeal would not be setting a precedent for other Muslims if it dismisses the council’s appeal and allows Siti Fatimah to leave Islam.
"Islam is not such a bad religion that every Muslim would renounce it just because Siti Fatimah is allowed to do so," he told the packed court room, referring to previous Nyonya Tahir and Lina Joy conversion cases.
Ahmad Jailani said an overwhelming majority of Muslims have tremendous faith in Islam and would never renounce the religion.
"However, the court shall not compel an unwilling person to remain a Muslim," he said, citing several famous Muslim scholars and Islamic doctrines to back his argument.
Siti Fatimah became a Muslim in July 1998 so that she could marry her Iranian lover, Ferdoun Ashanian. They married in 2004 but, four months later, Ferdoun left his wife and she filed for renunciation.
Her argument is that she had only embraced Islam as a pre-condition to marriage, and has never practised Islam as her religion.
She claimed that she had performed prayers and had taken part in Buddhist rites even after converting to Islam, with the consent of her husband.
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