GEORGE TOWN – Penang Mufti Datuk Seri Wan Salim Mohd Noor said the majority of Muslim scholars believe that only children who have reached the age of maturity can be given the freedom to choose the religion they want.
In determining the religion of children, he said the world’s Muslim scholars have different views but it is up to the government to decide.
“There are also those who increased the age limit on choosing the religion as the person reaches maturity among other views.”
“What needs to be considered in this issue is that the love and family relationship between parents and children remains strong and friendly even though they are of different religions,” he told The Vibes.
In this regard, Wan Salim said, the authorities have the right to instruct the scholars and muftis in the country to review the existing fatwa decision on the issue of freedom to choose religion in the interest of all parties.
He also protested against the extreme actions of any party to the point of threatening religious freedom everywhere.
“Actually, my view on this matter will forever be a person’s freedom to choose a religion must be respected as the absolute rights of every individual.
“Let a person choose the religion he wants without being disturbed because that is the right of every individual guaranteed by the constitution.”
Loh Siew Hong, an ex-hotelier, is currently embroiled in a custody battle over her three children against the Perlis religious authorities.
At the heart of the issue is the plight of her three children – a pair of twin daughters aged 14 and their younger brother aged 10 – who have been living under the care of the religious authorities since 2019 after their parents divorced.
At the time, Loh was recuperating from the trauma of what she alleged to have been an abusive marriage and the subsequent split.
Her husband, who converted to Islam and had allegedly unilaterally converted the children, is serving time for a narcotics charge at a prison in Kelantan.
Since late 2019, Loh has been fighting a custody battle with the authorities despite having been armed with a high court order, which pronounces her as the children’s legal guardian. – The Vibes, February 18, 2022.
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