Although Malaysia looks economically prosperous at the moment, these kinds of increasing Islamic Family laws in the country will eventually lead the society to traumatic situations among the family. That means that the basic stability of the social unit will be always fragile. It should not be a healty trend. (Lily)
1. Free Malaysia Today (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com)
5 states allow unilateral conversions, 11 July 2013
by Leven Woon
DAP’s Nga Kor Ming urges the AG Chambers to advise these states to amend their Islamic laws in line with the federal constitution.
KUALA LUMPUR: Although the government has withdrawn the controversial Federal Territories Islamic Bill which would have allowed for unilateral conversion of minors to Islam, this specific provision is still effective in five other states, a DAP lawmaker pointed out today.
The five states which allow for unilateral conversions of minors are Perak, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak and Malacca, Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming told a press conference in the Parliament.
Laws on Islamic issues fall under the prerogative of the respective states. The FT Islamic Bill – Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 – however fell under the purview of the parliament as it involved federal territories.
Nga today urged the Attorney-General’s Chambers to advise the five state governments to amend their respective state enactments so that they would uniformly reflect the definition of “parent” as stipulated in the Federal Constitution.
Enactments in the five states were passed between 2001 and 2008. These state Islamic laws stated that a non-Muslim aged 18 and below can embrace Islam with the consent from one of his/her parent.
Nga noted Islamic enactments in Selangor, Terengganu, Pulau Pinang, Sabah, Perlis and Johor however required consent from both the father and mother for a minor to be converted to Islam.
“How come there are two systems in one country?” he asked.
Nga said enactments in the five states could be construed as unconstitutional because Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution says that the religion of a minor should be decided by his parents.
“Read together with 11th schedule, the word parent refers to and should be interpreted as both father and mother,” he said.
The DAP’s national assistant treasurer also said the matter should be viewed seriously because some fathers, when divorcing their spouses, tend to convert themselves and the child into Islam to avoid paying maintenance to the wives.
“For the sake of uniformity of the law, I humbly urge the five state governments to amend the provision in the interest of the public and maintain religious harmony in our country,” he said.
His statement came hot on the heels of the government’s attempt to pass the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 which contained a clause that allows a parent to unilaterally convert the minors to Islam in the Parliament.
The government withdrew the bill on Monday, after much protest from within and the opposition.
2.Malaysiakini(http://www.malaysiakini.com)
Perkasa, Jati want M'sian Vatican office to be closed, 12 June 2013
by Ahmad Fadli KC
Two Malay rights groups today urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to close down the office of the Vatican representative to Malaysia if the latter does not retract his statement about usage of the word ‘Allah’ by Christians in a week’s time.
Perkasa and Jati said that it is not fair for Archbishop Joseph Marino to support the Malaysian Catholic church’s stand to endorse Christians using the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God.
“Muslim and Malay NGOs together are asking the Vatican ambassador to retract the statement,” Jati president Dr Hasan Ali said today.
“The statement was made by a diplomat who misused the immunity given to him by touching on our country’s internal affairs, fundamental things from the federal constitution, and touching on an issue where the majority of Muslims in Malaysia do not want the word Allah to be used by Christians in their Malay Bible,” he said.
“If he does not retract his statement in seven days, we will have a delegation meet with the government to ask the prime minister via Wisma Putra to close the Vatican office and ask that the ambassador be sent back to the Vatican,” he added.
Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali, meanwhile, concurred and said that his organisation shares the same opinion as Jati and Hasan.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Dakwah Foundation Malaysia (Yadim), a government-funded foundation, also urged Archbishop Marino to retract his statement.
Its president Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said that the statement made was not consistent with the diplomatic spirit between Malaysia and the Vatican, while also calling it sub judice since the matter is still in the courts.
(End)
