Federal laws trump state laws in unilateral conversion

PETALING JAYA: Perlis's religious enactment amendment to allow the unilateral conversion of minors into Islam will be null and void if laws to ban such acts are passed in Parliament.
Bar Council Syariah Law Committee chairman Datuk Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari (pix) said this is because the Federal Constitution specifically says that state laws must conform with federal laws.
"If the proposed amendment by Parliament is passed then by virtue of Article 75 of the Federal Constitution the recent state enactment amendments shall be void.
"If any state law is inconsistent with a federal law then the federal law shall prevail and the state law shall to the extent of inconsistency, be void," Kuthubul told theSun in a text message.
He was referring to amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act tabled in Parliament on Nov 21, which addresses loopholes that many have used to convert their children to Islam without the consent of their spouses.
These include several high-profile cases such as that of M. Indira Ghandi, who is currently embroiled in a seven-year long custody battle with ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, formerly known as Pathmanathan.
Muhammad Riduan ran away with their youngest daughter Prasana Diksa three weeks after converting to Islam when she was only 11 months-old and converted their two other children without Indira's knowledge and consent.
Indira most recently won leave to challenge the validity of her three children's conversion to Islam.
Amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act will see the child's religion remain the same when a parent converts to Islam and allows the child to choose his or her religion upon reaching 18 years-old, effectively closing the loophole.
The Bill is expected to be debated in the coming Parliament sitting in March.
The Perlis state assembly passed an amendment to Section 117(b) of the Perlis Administration of the Religion of Islam Enactment on Dec 8, allowing only one parent to convert his or her child to Islam.
Kuthubul said this is in line with the Federal Court's interpretation of Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution, which uses the singular word "parent".