THE Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council’s (MAIPs) assumption that single mother Loh Siew Hong’s three children are mualaf (Muslim converts) is unjustified as Loh had never given permission to any party to register her children as such.
Loh’s lawyers were responding to news reports on Tuesday (March 8) that MAIPs has applied to the Kuala Lumpur High Court to allow it to intervene in Loh’s divorce petition to maintain her children’s Islamic faith.
In the divorce petition, Loh, 34, has been granted sole custody, care and control over their three children, 14-year-old twin girls and a 10-year-old boy.
The religious council’s lawyer Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar said that council had locus standi in the application as Loh’s ex-husband Muhammad Nagahswaran Muniandy had converted the children to Islam in Perlis.
However, he stressed that the application is in no way denying Loh’s rights over her children and hoped that no parties will try to stoke religious hate or racist sentiments over this.
“Any party is free to make any application it deems reasonable and it is up to the court of law to allow the application or not after hearing the response from the other party,” the lawyers said.
“However, MAIPs’ assumption that the three children are Muslim converts is unjustified because Loh had never given permission to any relevant parties to register her children as mualaf.”
In a statement, the lawyers argued that the decision in the Indira Gandhi Mutho vs Pengarah Jabatan Agama Islam Perak (2018) case had made it clear that a child’s conversion to Islam must receive the consent of both parents.
The court ruling was subsequently upheld in Pendaftar Muallaf Wilayah Persekutuan vs LCY (2022), they added.
“We believe that as long as the legal precept formulated in the case of Indira Gandhi Mutho and later upheld in the case of LCY is still in force, a child’s conversion to Islam done unilaterally in any state in Malaysia is invalid, regardless of whether a state has laws with contrary provisions,” said the lawyers.
“Therefore, the status of Loh’s three children has to be decided by the courts first before MAIPs take legal action on the assumption that they are mualaf.”
The statement was signed by lawyers Srimurugan Alagan, Shamsher Singh Thind and Gunamalar Joorindanjn. – March 9, 2022
