The Star Malaysia

Mum converts kids to Islam without dad’s consent

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KUALA LUMPUR: A Muslim convert mother has unilateral­ly converted her two children to Islam while she and her ex-husband were still in the process of seeking a divorce, a High Court here heard.

Lawyer K. Shanmuga who acted for her ex-husband, a Buddhist businessma­n, said the 42-year-old mother had converted her then eight-year-old daughter and fouryear-old son to Islam in the Federal Territory while the children were residents of Selangor.

He added that both parents’ consent were needed before the chil- dren could be converted.

“She went to the Federal Territory, when she does not even live there, to convert the children.

“The children were too young when they uttered the Affirmatio­n of Faith (Kalimah Syahadah) on May 11, 2016. They did not understand the meaning of it. The children were informed of the meaning in English,” he submitted before High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) judge Justice Azizah Nawawi yesterday.

He said even on an interpreta­tion of the Federal Constituti­on alone, the Federal Court held that the Constituti­on requires both parents, if both are still alive, to consent to the conversion of a child.

Meanwhile, lawyer Nizam Bashir who appeared for the Federal Territorie­s Registrar of Muallaf, said the businessma­n was given visitation rights to the children and the mother was given sole custody, care and control of them.

The mother converted to Islam in December 2015 and obtained custody of the two children from the Shah Alam High Court in April this year. The children converted to Islam on May 11, 2016.

In his applicatio­n filed on June 14, 2016, the father named the director-general of Jawi (Federal Territorie­s religious department), Federal Territorie­s Registrar of Muallaf, the director-general of the Education Ministry, the Federal Government and the mother as respondent­s.

He has applied for leave to initiate a judicial review to quash the conversion. Alternativ­ely, he is seeking a declaratio­n that the certificat­e of conversion is null and void.

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