KOTA KINABALU, Aug 18 — The High Court here declared that a 28-year-old local is not a person professing the religion of Islam.
Judge Datuk Zaleha Rose Pandin made the decision on Friday on the originating summons filed by the plaintiff Rieno Glant Oleant George, who sought a declaration that he was not a person professing the religion of Islam and for the National Registration Department to replace his Identification Card by removing the word “Islam” from its particulars.
Zaleha allowed the plaintiff’s application with no order as to cost, after being satisfied that Rieno had never practised Islam and had never converted to Islam.
She said Rieno did not fall within the list in Section 2 of the Majlis Ugama Islam Sabah (Muis) Enactment 2004.
“It is my considered view that since the plaintiff was born to Christian parents and later raised by his grandmother in a Christian upbringing, and was never converted to Islam either by his parents or on his own accord, meaning to say the plaintiff is not caught within the definition of Muslim under Section 2 of the Muis Enactment,” she said.
“This fact was also supported by the confirmation from Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Negeri Sabah (Jheains) in its letter dated Sept 15, 2022, that the plaintiff is not registered in the Sistem Maklumat Muallaf (list of Muslim converts).
“Jheains letter is self-explanatory and crystal clear especially being the custodian of the full list of Muallaf in Sabah.
Zaleha also held there was no provision in the Muis Enactment 2004 that a child automatically follows the religion of the mother when the mother converted to Islam through remarriage.
“Even if it is contended that the plaintiff had automatically followed his mother’s religion of Islam when he was a minor, it is subject to the Federal Court’s decision in the Indira Gandhi case. Therefore, I am with the plaintiff that he is not and never was a Muslim,” said Zaleha.
She also agreed with Rieno, that since he was never a Muslim, he would not be able to seek recourse from and/or be subject to the jurisdiction of the Shariah Court.
“Again, it would be different if the Plaintiff is found to be a Muslim, which from evidence before the Court he is not. It follows the decision of the case Lina Joy is distinguishable from the facts of the present case.
“Simply put, this court is the proper avenue for the Plaintiff’s application especially where the matter involves a fundamental liberty under the Federal Constitution.”
On the issue on ticked box in application form indicating that Rieno was Muslim, Zaleha held she was with the plaintiff that the mere act of ticking the box marked “Islam” in the application form is not conclusive proof of conversion to Islam.
“Indeed, the requirements for a valid conversion to Islam as stipulated in Section 69 of the Muis Enactment 2004 must be complied with,” she said.
“The defendant could have taken action based on the letter from Jheains. It is absurd to expect the plaintiff to seek for an order from the Shariah Court when the matter is clearly within the jurisdiction of the Civil Court,” held Zaleha.
Rieno, who was represented by counsel Beverley Ramona Tan of Messrs Sitiwin & Jintoni, filed the action on October 5, 2022 naming the Sabah National Registration Department Director as defendant.
The plaintiff also sought a declaration that the term ‘Islam’ was wrongfully entered into his (‘IC’) and that the defendant’s failure, neglect and/or refusal to rectify the same on his application on the ground that an order from the Shariah Court declaring him not to be a ‘Muslim’ must first be obtained before the said rectification can be made is illegal, unconstitutional, and amount to fettering of its discretion.
The plaintiff also sought an order that he be at liberty to correct the error and/or amend the particulars in his IC by deleting the word ‘Islam’.
Rieno, in his application, stated that he was born on October 29, 1995, to Kadazan parents, who were non-Muslims at the material time and there was no religious affiliation indicated on his birth certificate.
Both his parents were Christian and married on September 4, 1995 at St Micheal Church, Penampang.
The plaintiff’s parents divorced when he was three months, and he was raised by his maternal grandmother in a Christian upbringing at Putatan.
Rieno’s mother remarried on September 25, 1998 and converted to Islam but she never converted Rieno to Islam.
The plaintiff averred that he never met his biological father and only discovered that his father also converted to Islam on September 11, 2009 through records provided by the Defendant. Therefore, he was also never converted to Islam by his father.
When Rieno was 12 in 2007, his grandmother took him to the NRD Donggongon branch to apply for his IC and after receiving his IC they noticed that the religion was listed as “Islam.”
The plaintiff and his grandmother returned to NRD to seek clarifiicaion on the matter and was informed by the officer at the NRD that that since his parents were listed as ‘Islam’ in their database, his IC had to state the same and he could only amend it after he turned 18.
The NRD advised Rieno to seek clarification from the Jheains, which on September 15, 2022 confirmed that Rieno was not registered in the Sistem Maklumat Muallaf.
The Plaintiff then instructed his solicitors to inform NRD of the said confirmation by Jheains and request for the rectification of the religious status on his IC.
However, the NRD officer on duty informed Rieno on December 5, 2022 that his application would be rejected as an Order from the Shariah Court is required before his application could be processed and approved.
The NRD was represented by FC Fazriel Fardiansyah.
On April 4, 2022, the Kuala Lumpur High Court declared a 35-year-old woman — born in Selangor to a Hindu father and an initially Buddhist mother — to be not a person professing the religion of Islam, ruling that her unilateral conversion to Islam at the age of four by her Muslim convert mother was invalid from the start.
The Selangor-born woman had said her case is not about apostasy or leaving the faith of Islam, but was instead about her never being a Muslim in the first place. — Daily Express
