GEORGE TOWN – A mother’s bond with her children should be taken into account in any family dispute, said Parit Buntar MP Datuk Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, weighing in on the religious conversion of three children in Perlis.
Mujahid, who is a former religious minister, said all stakeholders involved in a family dispute must take into account the needs of the mother and her children.
Even in Islam, there is a huge emphasis on nurturing and preserving a mother’s ties and her bond with her children, he told The Vibes.
He said at the start of a parental dispute, especially in a family of different faiths, should begin with recognising the inalienable rights of the mothers.
He was commenting on the controversy surrounding single mother Loh Siew Hong, who was awarded sole custody of her three children, twin girls aged 14 and a boy aged 10, who were converted to Islam two years ago by her former husband without her knowledge.
“I think the authorities failed to showcase the beauty of Islam here. We have instead depicted our religion as cruel or oppressive. It is untrue. It is how we are going about preserving justice which counts. Islam is fair to all,” said Mujahid, echoing the view of Penang mufti Datuk Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor.
Mujahid said in Islam here, spouses of different faiths are disallowed from continuing their marriages but parents, whose children have different faiths, can have relationships.
“It is important for the sanctity of family values.”
He added that Perlis mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin needs to understand that he should be focusing on mending a family rift, not dividing it even though he may be convinced that he was championing it from a religious perspective.
Asri made known through social media that the children embraced Islam through their own free will and there was no coercion, and they converted ahead of their father.
He had said in Perlis shariah enactments, religious conversions only need consent from one parent, adding that the children were not keen to be reunited with the mother, so the state religious authorities were forced to care for them.
Meanwhile, Seberang Prai City Council (MBSP) councillor David Marshel, who is assisting Loh, said she has already secured legal guardianship through a Kuala Lumpur High Court order.
He said the law from the Federal Court supersedes state legislation.
Loh had alleged that her children had been “brainwashed” to hate her by the religious authorities, saying that she wants to reunite with them.
She said this in response to Asri’s allegations and believed that any religious conversion would require her consent because her children are below the age of 18. Loh was born to a Chinese father and an Indian mother.
They died when she was five, and she was raised by her maternal relatives as a Hindu.
The three children – a pair of twin daughters aged 14 and their younger brother aged 10 – 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 divorce.
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 Kuala Lumpur High Court order, which pronounces her as her children’s legal guardian. – The Vibes, February 18, 2022
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