Lina Joy (2)

Lina Joy (2)

Many may be puzzled by the difficulties that Lina Joy has to face as a result of exercising her constitutional right to choose a religion of her choice.

Briefly state, Azlina Jailani was baptised as a Christian in 1998. The National Registration Department (NRD) changed her name to Lina Joy, but refused to delete the word ‘Islam’ on her identity card. As a result, she could not register her marriage under the Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce) Act 1976.  She took her case to the civil courts. First, the High Court rejected her application in April 2001 on grounds that a Malay was constitutionally a Muslim, and that only the syariah court could decide on the matter of apostasy. Then, in September 2005, the Court of Appeal dismissed her case on a majority decision which ruled that the syariah court or an Islamic religious authority must confirm her renunciation of Islam and therefore the NRD had acted rightly in rejecting her request to the drop the word ‘Islam’.

Lina Joy further appealed to the highest court against the dismissal and was granted leave on April 13.  The hearing, which began on June 28, ended with the final submission by Lina Joy’s counsel , Datuk Dr Cyrus Das, on July 4.

Although the Federal Court has yet to set a date for judgment, it realizes the urgency of the matter relating to public interests, constitution and administrative law. Most importantly, it involves the civil court’s judicial power which has been a matter of contention for many years.  Decision is to be made on the following areas:

v      Whether the NRD was legally entitled to require someone to produce a certificate or a declaration or an order from the syariah court before deleting “Islam” from an applicant’s identity card;

v      Whether the NRD has correctly construed its powers under the National Registration Regulations 1990 to impose the above requirement when it is not expressly provided for in the regulations;

v      Whether the landmark case Soon Singh vs Perkim Kedah – which held that syariah courts have the authority over the civil courts to hear cases of Muslims renouncing their religion – was correctly decided.

The 3-member panel judges are the Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, Datuk Alauddin Mohd Sheriff and Datuk Richard Malanjum.

Although conversion out of one’s religion is not explicitly stated in the Constitution, many Malaysians have taken for granted that the right to leave one’s religion at will is an implicit part of one’s religious freedom under Article 11(1). Yet, exercising such right has become a thorny issue for some.

In Lina Joy’s case, Datuk Umi Kalthum Abd Majid, the counsel for Government and the NRD director-general, comments that making reference to Article 11(1) is irrelevant because Lina Joy is not prohibited from renouncing Islam. Simply, a Muslim cannot renounce Islam at will, but he/she must go through the proper channel, that is, the syariah courts, for determination on his/her apostate status (Star, Jul 5).   

Apostasy (converting out of Islam) remains controversial in our much envied pluralistic society. The dilemma of dual-legal system (civil and syariah) is evidenced by the conflicting judgments in many conversion cases from time to time. Previous cases have indicated that the decision on WHO VALIDATES THE DECLARATION lies in the hand of the respective civil judges.

While we praise God for the judges who are open-minded and willing to listen, and for Lina Joy’s lawyers who have presented their case for God’s glory, further development still warrants much of our attention pertaining to national harmony in light of the recent trend and the rising tensions.

To date, a decision has yet to be made (Oct 17).

UPDATE:

Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim recently expressed that the Federal Court would soon deliver its judgment on Lina Joy’s appeal because an important constitutional point had been raised (NST, 12 Apr 2007).

On 30 May 2007, the Federal Court dismissed Lina Joy's appeal to have the word "Islam" removed from her identity card. In a 2-1 decision, the 3-member panel ruled that Lina must obtain an apostasy certificate from the syariah court because the word "murtad" is related to the Islamic law. "A person cannot, at one's whims and fancies renounce or embrace a religion," said the Chief Justice.  His answers to the areas raised by Lina Joy in her appeal were: "NRD has the right, NRD was correct and the Soon Singh case had been decided correctly." Dissenting Judge Richard Malanjum, however, said that it was unconstitutional for NRD to demand a syariah court order confirming Lina's conversion, and it was "unreasonable" to ask her to turn to the syariah court where she could face cirminal prosecution. 

Let us press on to pray:

1. God to intervene in all areas (e.g. political, judicial, social, & etc) so that truth, righteouness, and godliness prevail in our country.
2. LJ to have the joy of the Lord and be steadfast in faith in the midst of trials. God's protection and abundant blessings be upon Lina and her family.
3. Against the spiritual forces (Eph 6:12) behind religious extremism and those who seek to exploit religious and racial issues. 
4. All Malaysian citizens continue to respect and mutually accommodate one another regardless of ethnic/religious background.

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