I think the new Najib Tun Razak's administration has taken a small step forward in improving interfaith relations in Malaysia. The new PM, along with the Home Minister, Nazri Aziz, announced that in the case of a divorce no children can be converted unless if there's a mutual consent from BOTH parents or a prenuptial agreement. Otherwise the children's faith remains the same as whatever it is before the divorce.
Child conversion has long been a thorny issue in interfaith relations as non-Muslims perceive - and rightly so - the Syariah court of impeding on their religious rights as enshrined in the Malaysian constitution. The announcement stems from the recent case of a recently divorced Indian couple whose husband has just converted to Islam and wants to convert their children into the faith too. The wife still remains a Hindu and vigorously opposes her husband's decision to convert their children to Muslims. She even banged on the PM's office to seek justice and resolution - and she got it.
The issue of religious conversion, or specifically, out-conversion from Islam to other religions, is highly contentious in Malaysia. There had been fights between aggrieved families and the government Islamic agency over the burial rites of dead persons just because the government claimed that these people had been Muslims while the families claimed otherwise. Another example is the case of Lina Joy, who converted from Islam to Christianity in order to marry her lover, which has been dragging on for years until it reached the High Court. But the High Court, in its cowardly manner dealing with controversial issues, kicked the appeal down to the Syariah court, which basically means that it's back to square one for Lina Joy after all these years fighting to change the religious status on her National ID.
Why is it in Malaysia it's so easy for non-Muslims to become Muslims but so difficult, and in some cases, almost impossible, for Muslims to change their religion? To understand this, one also has to understand that to become a Muslim in Malaysia also means to become Malay (masuk Melayu). In the constitution, in order to be a Malay one has to fulfill these three nonsensical criteria: 1) Being a Muslim; 2) Speaks Bahasa Melayu; and 3) Practices Malay customs and traditions. When one thinks within this context then the contentious issue becomes clearer and explicable. It all comes down to the numbers game and the naked hold on political power. Malay-Muslims constitute about 60 percent of the Malaysian population and are in control of the country's political establishment by the virtue of majority rule (and historical claim). To lose Muslims to other faiths presumably means to lose the Malays also. Without the Malays, UMNO, as a Malay-based political party, will cease to become relevant; hence, also losing its right to rule the country. This is what all the Malay ultra-nationalist bigots are afraid of and it'll be a cold day in hell if they ever let full, unfettered religious freedom rings in Malaysia.
Anyway I'm glad that the government acknowledges that religious rights as protected by the constitution also applies to the non-Muslims, albeit only in small increments. But as always, I view the government's decision with a dash of healthy skepticism. Is the government really genuine in its effort to protect the religious rights of non-Muslims or is this just one of BN's diabolical ploys to lure the majority of Chinese and Indian voters, who are now supporting the Opposition, back into the BN camp? Who knows but we shall see what the reaction will be from the Malay-ultras who form the backbone of UMNO.
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