Council confident rulers will protect interest of all
(Bernama) – The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism has expressed confidence that the Malay rulers will protect the interests of all Malaysians – Muslims and non-Muslims – on the issue of conversion of minors to Islam.
Council president A. Vaithilingam said they respected the decision made at the special meeting of the Conference of Rulers at Istana Negara on Monday although they were disappointed that non-Muslim families were still left in uncertainty over the matter,
The rulers, at the special meeting chaired by the Raja of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail, decided to get the views of the respective state religious councils before arriving at a decision on the matter.
States to amend enactment
On Tuesday, the state religious councils expressed support for the Conference of Rulers, to defer decision on amendments to state laws on conversion and to Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) until input from them could be studied, to fortify the revision.
In PARIS, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the government respects the decision of the Conference of Rulers to defer its decision on proposed amendments, to state enactments on the conversion of minors to Islam and amendments to the Federal Territories Islamic Family Law.
He said for the law on conversion to be implemented nationwide it requires the states to amend their enactments for uniformity of the law and the amendments must be with the consent of the rulers and Yang Dipertua Negri.
As such, the Conference of Rulers decided to defer its decision on the proposed amendments to the state enactments on the matter.
On April 22, the Cabinet made a decision that minors could remain in the religion of their parents at the time of their marriage, even if either parent is later converted to another religion.
The Cabinet was of the view that conversions could not be used as an excuse to automatically dissolve a marriage or to get custody of children.
It also agreed that any individual wishing to change religion should first settle any outstanding issues with his or her spouse, to avoid innocent parties, especially children, becoming victims.
Matters concerning Islam come under state jurisdiction. The rulers are the heads of Islam in their respective states.
