A MUSLIM convert has failed to secure leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision dismissing his attempt to renounce Islam and revert to Christianity.
The Federal Court bench, led by Court of Appeal President Datuk Abu Bakar Jais, ruled that the matter falls within the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court.
Justice Abu Bakar, delivering the decision, stated that “the applicant’s judicial review seeking a declaration that he is no longer a Muslim falls under the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court.”
He added the legal questions raised were neither novel nor of constitutional significance and that the applicant did not meet the threshold required under Section 96 (a) and (b) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
The court referred to previous rulings, including the Federal Court’s decision in Soon Singh Bikar Singh v Pertubuhan Kebajikan Islam Malaysia (Perkim) Kedah & Anor, upheld in Rosliza Ibrahim v Kerajaan Negeri Selangor & Anor, confirming the Syariah Court’s authority in matters of Islamic renunciation. The application was dismissed with no order as to costs.
The applicant, who converted to Islam and married a Muslim woman in 2010 before divorcing in 2015, first filed to renounce Islam in the Syariah Court in 2016. His request was dismissed, with the court ordering counselling sessions. Subsequent appeals within the Syariah judicial system were also rejected.
Following these rulings, the man sought civil court intervention to nullify the Syariah Court’s decisions and affirm his right to profess Christianity.
His judicial review was dismissed by the High Court in 2023, and the Court of Appeal upheld this dismissal earlier this year.
During the Federal Court hearing, the applicant’s lawyer, Iqbal Harith Liang, presented two legal questions but declined to advise his client to return to the Syariah Court, describing it as “functus officio.”
Senior Federal Counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly@Arwi argued that the legal questions were not new, while lawyer Kamaruzaman Arif, representing the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council, maintained that the applicant could still pursue his case in the Syariah Court. - October 2, 2025
