Malaysian mom wins legal battle over kids’ conversion

Malaysia’s top court said in a landmark decision yesterday both parents must consent to the religious conversion of a minor, ruling unanimously in favor of a Hindu woman whose ex-husband converted their three children to Islam without telling her.

The ruling ended a nine-year legal tussle for M.Indira Gandh, whose former husband became a Muslim and converted their three children in 2009. He also snatched their daughter, then 11 months old, from the family home.

She won custody of the three children and challenged their conversions in civil courts of Malaysia’s dual-court system. A lower court annulled them, but the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling, saying civil courts had no jurisdiction over Islamic conversions. The ruling was appealed to the nation’s highest court.

The five-member panel in the Federal Court found the children’s conversions unlawful as they were done without Gandhi’s consent.

“This is a landmark decision and a victory for all Malaysians,” said M.Kulasegaran, Gandhi’s lawyer.

He said the ruling clearly showed civil courts are the paramount courts and can hear matters related to Islamic affairs even if there is a contradictory Sharia court decision. There are many similar disputes involving the unilateral conversion of children to Islam and that the ruling meant that non-Muslims now can seek redress in the civil courts, he added.

Muslims, who are 60 percent of Malaysia’s 31 million people, are governed by Islamic courts while non-Muslims go to civil courts to settle family, marriage and other personal disputes. But the law is vague on which court has authority over disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims, especially within a family.