Malaysia: Islamic court allows female Muslim convert to return to Buddhism

This is a small step in the right direction, but not as much of one as you might think: several schools of Islamic jurisprudence don't mandate the death penalty for women who leave Islam, so it isn't really anything new. And she had to undergo counseling to make sure she understood Islam -- whatever that means in a world in which we are told again and again that millions of Muslims, including those who follow their faith most devoutly, study it most assiduously, and present themselves as its purest and truest exponents, actually misunderstand Islam themselves.

"Malaysia's Islamic court makes landmark ruling to let Muslim convert return to Buddhism," from the Associated Press (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist):

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A Malaysian Islamic court allowed a Muslim convert Thursday to return to her original faith of Buddhism, setting a precedent that could ease religious minorities' worries about their legal rights.

Lawyers said the Shariah High Court's verdict in the northern state of Penang was the first time in recent memory that a convert has been permitted to legally renounce Islam in this Muslim-majority nation.

A rising number of disputes about religious conversions has sparked anxiety among minorities — predominantly Buddhist, Christian and Hindu — because in the past, courts virtually always ruled against people seeking to leave Islam.

Penang's Shariah court, however, granted Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah's request to be declared a non-Muslim. She embraced Islam in 1998 because she wanted to marry an Iranian, but claimed she never truly practiced the religion.

"I am very happy," Siti, a 39-year-old ethnic Chinese cake seller, told The Associated Press by telephone. "I want to go to the temple to pray and give thanks."

The Shariah court, which governs Muslims' personal conduct and religious lives, ruled that Siti's husband and Islamic authorities failed to give her proper religious advice.

"So you can't blame her for her ignorance of the teachings and wanting to convert out," said Ahmad Munawir Abdul Aziz, a lawyer for the Islamic Affairs Council in Penang.

It's always because of "ignorance."

Minority leaders hailed the verdict as a step to protect religious rights.

"We hope this will be a good example for the future," said A. Vaithilingam, president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism. "It was an unnecessary prolongation of agony for that poor woman."

Siti still must ask the government registration department to have her name and religion changed back on her identification papers. With the court ruling, she was not expected to face any problems.

"It's a landmark decision," said Siti's lawyer, Ahmad Jailani Abdul Ghani.

Siti filed her request in 2006 after her husband left her. She was subsequently ordered to undergo counseling to ensure she truly understood Islam.

Malaysia's most high-profile conversion case was that of Lina Joy, a woman who was born to Muslim parents and failed to get the Federal Court, Malaysia's top civil court, to recognize her conversion to Christianity last year....

Posted by Robert at May 8, 2008 5:11 AM
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