PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court today granted leave to a 32-year-old Orang Asli woman to appeal against her registration as a Muslim, following her conversion to Islam at the age of two.
A three-member panel led by Federal Court judge Tan Sri Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan unanimously held that leave should be granted, as the matter raises several novel questions of public importance that merit further consideration.
She noted that one of the central issues concerns the interpretation of Section 103 of the Pahang Administration of Islamic Law Enactment 1991, a provision which has yet to be addressed by the Federal Court.
She explained that for Section 103 to be applicable, there must be an order from a civil court, distinct from the Shariah Court, granting custody of the child to the parent who converted to Islam.
In the present case, she observed that no such custody order, nor any other relevant order from a civil court, exists.
Accordingly, she held that the proper construction of the provision in the absence of such an order warrants further judicial examination.
Justice Nallini stated that another key issue is whether the father’s status as a Muslim may be taken as implied consent to his daughter’s conversion.
She said the question of public importance requiring judicial consideration is whether such implied consent suffices to satisfy the constitutional requirement of consent under Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution.
The panel, which also comprised Justices Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, held that the matter also warrants further deliberation to determine whether the woman’s case constitutes a renunciation of Islam or whether it is void ab initio (invalid from the outset).
The Court granted leave for the six legal questions proposed by the woman’s counsel to be heard and determined at the appeal stage.
The applicant, a member of the Jakun tribe, has initiated proceedings against the Pahang Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council and the Pahang government, seeking a declaration that she does not profess the religion of Islam.
The applicant asserts that she was converted to Islam by her mother when she was only two years old and that she never recited the Kalimah Syahadah.
She now seeks a declaration affirming her right, as an Indigenous person, to practise and profess her own spiritual and cultural beliefs.
According to the applicant, her mother embraced Islam in November 1995. Her father is a Muslim, but his whereabouts are unknown.
Her claim was previously dismissed by the High Court in February 2023, and the decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal in July that same year in a 2-1 majority ruling.
In today’s online proceedings, the applicant was represented by counsel A. Surendra Ananth and New Sin Yew.
State legal adviser Datuk Saiful Edris Zainuddin appeared for the Pahang government, while Mohd Fairuz Abdullah and Datuk Mohd Najid Hussain represented the Pahang Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council.
