No need for consent of non-Muslim spouse
A Muslim convert can make an application to the syariah court to convert his/her underage children without the consent of the non-Muslim spouse (NST, Mar 14). In a landmark ruling on the case of R. Subashini, the Court of Appeal also held that a non-Muslim married to a person who has converted to Islam has to seek remedy in the syariah court over family matters.
However, the three Court of Appeal judges were divided in their opinions, with Datuk Gopal Sri Ram taking the dissenting view. Judges Datuk Suriyadi Halim Omar and Datuk Hasan Lah dismissed with costs the appeal of Subashini, 28, a company secretary, who wanted an injunction to restrain her husband, Muhammad Shafi Saravanan Abdullah, 30, a businessman, from: i) converting their two children, Dharvin Joshua, 3, and one-year-old Sharvind to Islam; and ii) commencing any proceeding in any syariah court with regard to their civil marriage.
Subashini is appealing to the Federal Court against the Court of Appeal’s decision.
Suriyadi said from the Islamic point of view, the marriage between Shafi and Subshini had ended upon his conversion and the next step was a formal dissolution of the marriage.
Hasan said the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 gave Subshini the right to apply to the High Court but the civil court could not issue a stay order (under the Specific Relief Act 1950) on matters involving the syariah court. “The wife is therefore in a catch-22 situation. But she has a recourse under a provision in the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act,” he said, adding that Subashini could apply to the Syariah Appeal Court to exercise its supervisory and revisionary powers to make a ruling on the legality of the husband’s application on grounds that the syariah court lacked jurisdiction and that she was a non-Muslim.
Sri Ram said the syariah courts only have jurisdiction over persons professing the Islamic faith and added that the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984 conferred jurisdiction on the syariah court over matrimonial matters only where all parties to the proceedings were Muslims.
“It would therefore appear that in the present case the syariah court has no jurisdiction as the husband (Shafi) is a Muslim while the wife, a Hindu.”
He said the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 gave the High Court the jurisdiction to hear a wife’s petition despite the husband converting to Islam. The injunction sought by Subaashini was only against the husband and not the syariah court, and as such, the High Court had erred in law in not giving Subshini the relief she had sought.
The judges’ varied opinions once again highlight the urgent need to clarify the laws. Pray for justice for those who are caught in cases such as this, and for the authorities, particularly the Attorney- General, to act quickly and decisively to solve the many issues arising from our dual legal system. (Read also statement on page 12 for further information.)
Corruption watch
Police are investigating two top leaders for corruption after allegations against them were posted on the Internet.
ACA director-general Datuk Seri Zulkipli Mat Noor is accused of being involved in immoral and criminal activities, but police are probing whether he declared his assets. Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum is being investigated over allegations that he had received more than RM5 million for releasing three Emergency Ordinance detainees.
Commenting on the latter case, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said, “We cannot say the allegation is baseless until the probe is completed. There has been a lot of finger-pointing which has led to some confusion.” (NST, Mar 5)
On the ACA chief’s case, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said, “Under our judiciary system, a man is innocent until proven guilty and he’s not found guilty by the newspapers but by the courts of law.” (The Star, Mar 2)
The most assuring comments came from the Prime Minister who, when commenting on the two cases, said, “…people and we (the top leaders) want a clean, good and corruption-free Government and an administration that provides high quality and excellent services.”
Pray for transparency, integrity, courage and fairness on the part of the police as they investigate these two cases (and all other cases). The authorities will live up to the words of Datuk Seri Nazri, “The law should apply equally to everyone, regardless of his position.” (The Star, Mar 2)
Education system overhaul
The National Education Blueprint that was unveiled in January is another effort to overhaul our national education system – something that has been recognised, and presumably admitted, by many to be one of our major challenges in the 21st century.
We know what needs to be fixed, the question now is whether there is enough desire to push through and implement this “blueprint of collective wisdom”, as Zainul Arrifin said in his column in The New Straits Times on Jan 24.
He raised the question: Will there be enough people – and may we add, the political will - who would be willing to compromise racial, religious and political interests for the greater good?
Let’s pray earnestly for our leaders to have the political will and the courage to push through the necessary changes that will help towards building future citizens who are respectful of each other’s differences, and who are ready to face a globalised world. As Zainul cautioned, ”The generations ahead will reap, or suffer, by our deeds.”
Sports and youths
Sports is probably the best remedy to counter drug abuse and social ills among youths, according to Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said.
Statistics show there are over 12,000 new dug addicts in 2005, of which over 8,500 are Malays.
Meanwhile a UKM survey on 887 troubled schoolgirls has found all but one of them have had sex. The three-month High Risk Female Youth Profile Study, which ended last December, took 20 problem schoolgirls aged between 15 and 16 from each school in a state.
A local daily reported that it is believed the study was initiated by the Selangor state government who wanted to formulate a special training module to promote high moral values among the girls based on the study.
Apart from sex, the study also showed that most of the respondents took drugs, indulged in pornography, and were involved in secret societies, vandalism and truancy.
Most of them were poor in their academic achievements, communication skills, had low self-esteem and lacked problem-solving skills.
Pray firstly that our Christian youths will be a good role model to society. Ptay for churches and Christian parents to exercise their responsibilities in nurturing godly youths.
Temperatures rising
Our highlands are warming up, with temperatures there rising between 2ºC and 3ºC in the last 25 years due to the clearing of forests and over-development (The Star, 26 Feb). Global Environment Centre (GEC) director Faizal Parish said the clearing of trees had resulted in a “microclimate change”, which means a climate change within that area. Faizal said trees cooled the air around them and added that one big tree is the equivalent to 10 air conditioners.
“While 1ºC or 2ºC does not sound like much, these small changes can cause major changes in the rainfall and weather patterns, which in turn can affect crops,” he said.
Another report said that Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Baru and Putrajaya are 5ºC hotter than other cities in the country (The Star, Mar 6).
This is due to the rapid development and the lack of trees. The nights are also hotter due to the concrete surfaces and grounds covered with tar and tiles which trap heat during the day and release it during the night.
Drainage and Irrigation Department deputy director-general (I) Ahmad Fuad Embi said that low-maintenance plants such as palms, instead of trees that provide more shade, do not help to cool temperatures.
The temperature of the “concrete” cities can hit 40ºC, a contributing factor to global warming that brings about heavy rain and flash floods.
Climate change has caused environmental disasters that have struck the world over. Malaysia has not been spared, as the recent devastating floods in Johore have proven. Pray that our leaders will look seriously into the ill effects of haphazard development and take stern measures to guard the environment.
Ahmad Fuad has also recommended that Malaysia follows the guidelines provided by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives to reduce damage to the environment. The guidelines include six “cooling” policies that will help bring down temperatures in the cities. Pray for the authorities to heed the warning and recommendations of the experts.
Meanwhile, Asean has finally come up wih a tangible plan to fight the region’s annual haze problem after 11 years of countless meetings (The Star, Mar 5). Singapore and Malaysia will help Indonesia in, among other things, executing methods of land clearing without burning and managing different types of land.
Praise God for this as the yearly haze has caused much distress for many, especially those in the Klang Valley. Pray for an inceased awareness on the need to care for our environment.
Traffic police
Motorcyclists form the majority of those who died in road accidents, according to Federal traffic chief Senior Asst Comm (II) Datuk Nooryah Md Anvar. To check this problem, she has directed her staff to conduct frequent roadblocks to nab offenders.
She also issued a directive to her officers to seize motorcycles without road tax and insurance and if the riders do not have licences. The efforts has begun to pay off as deaths of motorcyclists have been halved from a daily average of 10.
Traffic police also conducted a massive roadblock exercise on Feb 24 midnight and within 24 hours, they rounded up 5,000 motorcyclists in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Terengganu and Selangor.
Pray for the traffic police, especially for their chief Nooryah, as they work diligently to keep public roads safe. Pray also that firm action will be taken against corrupt traffic police.
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