In a heated online television discussion yesterday, three Muslim scholars were still agreed on one thing: that the use of the word “Allah” to describe gods of different religions – including the Christian god – is an issue only in Malaysia and nowhere else in the world.
But it still was an issue to two of the scholars as they argued there was an agenda behind Christians using Allah to refer to their god in Malay bibles.
"Christianity is said to be over 2,000 years old. They should have a big vocabulary bank to choose from to refer to God. The fact that they chose Allah was evidence that they have an agenda," argued Dr Khalif Muammar Harris, associate professor of the Center for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilization at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
Agreeing with him, another panellist echoed the refrain of some that Christians had used the word to mislead East Malaysians to convert them to Christianity. Making this point was Dr Yusri Mohamad, chairman of the Coalition of Supporters of Islam (Pembela), who wanted the word "Allah" banned in Malay bibles.
"It is a Christian virus in the country. They cannot be faulted for having their own missionaries, but they are propagating the virus of pluralism, that all religions are the same," he said.
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An illiterate Hindu woman has been converted to Islam without her knowledge and only found out through the National Registration Department (NRD).
Madinah Kanniammah Abdullah, 54, who lives in a rundown longhouse settlement in Kampung Bunga Raya, Subang, said she had never been a Muslim.
The mother of five told FMT that her problems started when she got into a relationship with an Indian national when she was a teen.
“I was 19 then and was in love with a man from India. He told me that he was Hindu and even prays in temples.
“We lived together for a week and that was when I found out he was a Muslim,” she said.
Madinah said her boyfriend took her identification card on the pretext of opening a bank account for her.
“But when he returned the IC I noticed that my name had been changed. When I asked him he said it was the correct spelling of my name in Malay,” she said.
Madinah found out later that her new IC indicated her as a Muslim, after a check with the NRD.
“I can’t read and write. So how could I possibly have signed any documents?” she asked.
She said she used thumbprints and could not recall signing any marriage documents with the Muslim man.
Years later, Madinah married a local Hindu in a customary wedding and started having problems when her first child was born.
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Many objected strongly when the government tabled the Administration of the Religion of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 late last month. The Bill allowed for the unilateral conversion to Islam of a child by one parent, presumably after that parent converts himself or herself to Islam. We are glad that these strong objections have caused the Bill to be withdrawn, for now.
Many have emphasised too that withdrawing the bill does not address the problem as existing state religious laws and the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Federal Constitution must be amended to ensure that the consent of both parents is necessary for a child’s conversion.
But unilateral conversion of the child is not the only issue to worry about when one spouse converts to Islam. In WAO’s direct experience with women whose husbands convert opportunistically, other rights of the non-converted women have been eroded.
If one spouse converts to Islam, the non-converted spouse and other non-Muslim next-of-kin are not entitled to inherit from the converted spouse. The Distribution Act 1958 does not apply to the estate of any person professing Islam, and non-Muslims are generally not allowed to inherit under faraid principles of asset distribution.
Non-Muslim family members can only receive at most one-third of the converted person’s estate, if the converted person chooses to bequeath anything at all. The Distribution Act 1958 should be amended to safeguard the right of the deceased’s non-Muslim next-of-kin to inherit.
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The High Court here has ruled as “null and void” the conversion of three Hindu children of kindergarten teacher, M.Indira Ghandi to become Muslims. Judicial Commissioner Lee Swee Seng also ruled that the father of the children, Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah, had not followed the rules in converting his children, Tevi Darsiny, 16; Karan Dinish, 15; and Prasana Diksa, five, to Islam.
“Under the Perak Islamic Administration Enactment, the three children must have the intention to embrace Islam without force. In this case, the three children cannot be proved to have recited the syahadah (affirmation of faith) and they, as well as their mother, were not present at the Islamic Religious Office for the conversion purposes,” he said when delivering his judgment which lasted one hour and 40 minutes.
Lee said the conversion was null and void as the children were not present to recite the syahadah before the religious officer. He said the decision was made not to ensure victory for any quarter, but more to maintain racial harmony in the country.
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