Malaysia's top civil court yesterday rejected a Muslim convert's appeal to be recognized as a Christian in a landmark case that tested the limits of religious freedom in the moderate Islamic country.
A three-judge Federal Court panel ruled by a 2-1 majority that only the Islamic Shariah court has the power to allow Azlina Jailani, who changed her name to Lina Joy after becoming a Christian, to remove the word "Islam" from the religion category on her government identity card.
"This appeal is rejected," Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim said. "Apostasy is a matter linked to Islamic laws. It's under the jurisdiction of the Shariah court. ... Civil courts cannot interfere."
Activists have warned that a ruling against Joy could strengthen non-Muslims' fears that they are discriminated against in Muslim-majority Malaysia, which has substantial Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities.
However, conservative Muslims would have considered a ruling for her as an erosion of Islamic values.
Joy was not at yesterday's hearing.
"She cannot simply at her own whims enter or leave her religion," the judge, Ahmad Fairuz, said. "She must follow rules."
Judge Richard Malanjum, the only non-Muslim on the panel, sided with Joy, saying it was "unreasonable" to ask her to turn to the Shariah court because she could face criminal prosecution there.
Apostasy -- the abandonment of a faith or belief -- is punishable by fines and jail sentences. Offenders are often sent to prison-like rehabilitation centers.
Joy's case is the most prominent in a recent series of religious disputes, some involving the custody of children born to parents of different faiths, and one involving a deceased Hindu man who converted to Islam without his family's knowledge and whom Islamic authorities ordered to be buried as a Muslim.
"We fully believe justice has been served," said Muslim Youth Movement President Yusri Mohammad. "We praise Allah for the decision taken by the court. ... It should be seen as a rejection of attempts by certain individuals, certain parties, to deconstruct and radically revamp our current formula" for religious issues.
Others expressed disappointment, saying the verdict failed to protect religious rights.
"People like Lina Joy shouldn't be trapped in a legal cage, not being able to come out to practice their true conscience and religion," said Leonard Teoh, a Catholic lawyer.
The Malaysian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion to all citizens, suggesting it is a secular state. But the Shariah courts have not allowed Muslims, who comprise nearly 60 percent of the country's 26 million people, to legally leave their religion.
Personal and family rights of Malaysian Muslims are decided by Shariah courts. Civil courts govern such matters among those of minority religions.
Joy, 42, argued she should not be bound by Shariah laws because she is no longer a Muslim.
She began going to church in 1990 and was baptized eight years later. She then applied to change her name on her identity card, and the National Registration Department obliged -- but refused to drop "Islam" from the religion column.
In May 2000 Joy went to the High Court, which told her she should take it up with the Shariah courts. She challenged the decision in the Court of Appeal but lost, and took it to the Federal Court in 2005. The trial ended in July last year.
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