February 8, 2008

Islamic burial granted despite family protests; one parent can convert minor children.

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s non-Muslim minorities – 40 percent of the population – are increasingly alarmed over recent court decisions diminishing their burial and child custody rights.

In the latest case, the death of an elderly Chinese man on January 20 sparked a dispute when his family rejected Islamic religious authorities’ claim that he had converted to Islam. When the family tried to bring the case before the civil high court, it refused to hear the case on grounds that it did not have jurisdiction.

The sharia (Islamic law) court then ruled that the deceased had become a Muslim, and Islamic authorities proceeded to give him a Muslim burial.

Separately, last December the Federal Court – Malaysia’s highest court – told a Hindu woman that her husband, who had converted to Islam, could unilaterally convert their minor children to Islam without her permission.

Local observers have expressed concern over the recent court decisions and are questioning whether the country’s dual legal system is able to adequately protect the rights of non-Muslims, especially in instances where one spouse or family member converts to Islam. Under Malaysia’s dual legal system, all citizens are subject to civil laws, while Muslims are subject to sharia laws in religious, personal and family matters. 

Irregularities

In the case of Gan Eng Gor, a 74-year old ethnic Chinese man who died on January 20, Islamic religious authorities reportedly removed his body from a Chinese funeral parlor after his eldest son, who had become a Muslim some years ago, filed a report claiming that his father had converted to Islam.

The rest of the family, including the widow of the deceased, disputed the claim. Islamic religious authorities then asked members of the deceased man’s family to appear before the sharia court to determine his religious status.

The family refused, claiming that the religious court had no jurisdiction over non-Muslims. The family chose, instead, to apply to the civil High Court to hear the case. Judge Azhar Ma’ah of the Seremban High Court, however, refused to hear the case on grounds that the matter fell within the jurisdiction of the sharia court.

On January 24, the sharia court released the corpse to Islamic religious authorities, who then accorded him a Muslim burial.

In an article carried on several websites, including that of the Malaysian Bar Council, Gan Hok Ming – one of the deceased’s children writing on behalf of the family – claimed that his father never prayed according to the tenets of the Islamic faith and had continued to eat pork and other non-halal foods prohibited for Muslims.

Islamic religious authorities claimed that the deceased made an oral declaration in Arabic accepting the Islamic faith. Gan questioned how this could have been possible when the deceased had lost his ability to speak after suffering a stroke in 2006. The family claimed that it had reports from three doctors to confirm his condition.