KUALA LUMPUR – After being declared by the Federal Court that she was never a Muslim since birth, Rosliza Ibrahim will now proceed to have the government’s official records amended.
Rosliza’s identity card currently states that her religion is “Islam”, with her Muslim father in 1994 having written down her religion as “Islam” when applying for the document.
Her lawyer Aston Paiva told Malay Mail that Rosliza had been seeking the civil courts’ recognition over the past five years that she was not a Muslim and was never a Muslim in the first place.
He said that despite being raised a Buddhist and professing Buddhism, Rosliza had been considered a Muslim for all official purposes.
The Selangor government refused to exempt her from the laws for Muslims due to her father’s religion.
“As a result, her constitutional right to religious freedom, choice of partner and disposition of property are all adversely affected.
“She cannot go to the shariah court as, by law, she is not even a Muslim in the first place. Thus, there is no question of leaving Islam,” he was quoted as saying.
Rosliza, 39, was born out of wedlock and has been fighting a five-year legal battle.
She had sought three court orders, one of which is to declare that she is illegitimate and the late Yap Ah Mooi is her mother.
Another declaration was for Selangor’s Islamic laws to not apply to her and for shariah courts to have no jurisdiction over her.
Her last declaration is that she is not a person professing the religion of Islam.
The Federal Court granted all the declarations she sought.
The other judges on the panel are Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Rohana Yusuf, and Federal Court judges Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli, Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof, Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang.
Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed and Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim – both on the panel – differed in not granting two of the court orders sought by Rosliza.
The respondents in today’s appeal are the Selangor government and Selangor Islamic Religious Council. – The Vibes, February 5, 2021
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