Malaysia: Man Converts to Islam, then Divorces Wife

This is certainly an advantage of converting to Islam I had overlooked. In short, a non-Muslim man is married to a non-Muslim woman. (It seems the woman is an apostate from Islam.)

The marriage is going badly, and if there is divorce, the children will likely be awarded to the woman in Civil Court. So what does the man do? He converts to Islam, and now being a Muslim man, the case moves to Shar'ia Court, which will side with him.

At the end of the day, Islam will get three new followers out of this family dispute, the man and the two children. This is a direct result of Islam's supremacist policies: Non-Muslim spouse must seek remedy in syariah court

PUTRAJAYA: A non-Muslim married to a person who has converted to Islam has to seek remedy in the syariah court over family matters.

In a landmark ruling, the Court of Appeal also held that a Muslim could make an application to the syariah court to convert his or her underage children without the permission of the non-Muslim spouse.

However, the three Court of Appeal judges were divided in their opinions.


Judges Datuk Suriyadi Halim Omar and Datuk Hasan Lah dismissed with costs the appeal of R. Subshini, 28, a company secretary, who wanted an injunction to restrain her husband, Muhammad Shafi Saravanan Abdullah, 30, a businessman, from:


* converting their two children, Dharvin Joshua, 3, and one-year-old Sharvind to Islam; and,


* commencing any proceeding in any syariah court with regard to their civil marriage.


Datuk Gopal Sri Ram, who was the dissenting judge, said the court would hear a formal application from Subshini to stay the order sought by her husband in a day or two.....[more]

Non-Muslim to appear before Syariah Court

Jurisdiction tussle involves non-Muslim wife trying to stop Muslim husband from converting kid

AN INDIAN woman trying to stop her Muslim husband from converting their children to Islam will have to take her case before a religious court, news reports said yesterday.

It will be the first time a non-Muslim will have to appear before the Syariah Court, which handles Islamic family matters in Malaysia, the New Straits Times reported.

The Court of Appeal dismissed Ms R. Subshini's attempt to stop her recently converted husband, Mr Muhammad Shafi Saravanan Abdullah, from bringing divorce proceedings to the Syariah Court.

Ms Subshini, a 28-year-old secretary, is also seeking custody of their two children, aged three and one, and a financial settlement, the report said.

Businessman Muhammad Shafi, 30, converted to Islam in May last year.

The case is being watched closely by non-Muslim groups, who are concerned about the chipping away of non-Muslim rights in Malaysia.

The Court of Appeal also held in the landmark ruling that a Muslim could apply to the Islamic court to convert his or her underaged children without permission from the non-Muslim spouse.

However, the three judges were divided in their opinion.

The two Muslim judges on the three-men bench dismissed with costs the appeal by Ms Subshini.

But Datuk Gopal Sri Ram, who was the dissenting judge, said the court would hear a formal application from her to stay the order for a day or two.

Court of Appeal Judge Suryadi Halim Omar said: 'Both want to dissolve their marriage, but the appellant's (Subshini's) objection, merely on the grounds that the Syariah Court was set up only for Muslims, made no sense.'

The judge said it was Mr Muhammad Shafi's right to annul his marriage in the Islamic court instead of the civil court.

In his dissenting judgment, Judge Gopal Sri Ram said the civil court has the authority to intervene in the case, as the Syariah Court only has jurisdiction over persons who profess to be Muslims.

He said a true interpretation of the Constitution showed that any court only has jurisdiction as given by state or federal laws, and in this case, the Syariah Court can only judge if both sides of the case were Muslim.

'It would appear that in the present case, the Syariah Court has no jurisdiction as the husband is a Muslim while the wife a Hindu,' Datuk Gopal Sri Ram was quoted as saying in his judgment by the New Straits Times.

Religious matters are extremely sensitive in Malaysia, where Muslims - who make up 60 per cent of the country's 26 million people - are governed by the Syariah Court on all civil and family matters.

Chinese and Indian minorities fall under civil court jurisdiction. However, no clear guidelines exist in overlapping cases
(Source)


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