Apex court defers verdict on woman's appeal to be declared non-Muslim

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has reserved its verdict on the appeal by a woman who is the illegitimate child of a Muslim father and a Buddhist mother, to be declared a non-Muslim.

A nine-member panel chaired by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat deferred the decision on Rosliza Ibrahim’s appeal after hearing submissions by parties today.

“The court adjourns this matter for a decision to a date to be fixed later,” said Justice Tengku Maimun.

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The other eight judges were Court of Appeal president, Tan Sri Rohana Yusuf; Chief Judge of Malaya, Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed; and Federal Court judges Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli, Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof, Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim, Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang.

In her originating summons filed in 2015, Rosliza sought for a declaration that she was not a Muslim and therefore the Syariah Court had no jurisdiction over her as she claimed that she was born out of wedlock to a Muslim father but raised as a Buddhist by her late Buddhist mother.

Rosliza, 38, lost her case in the Shah Alam High Court as it was dismissed on June 22, 2017 and her appeal at the Court of Appeal was also dismissed on April 25, 2018.

The High Court's then judicial commissioner, Datuk Seri Tun Abd Majid Tun Hamzah (now High Court judge) held that the evidence produced by Rosliza only showed that no marriage registration was made, adding that failure to register a marriage was not proof that there was no such marriage.

On Jan 20, this year, the Federal Court granted Rosliza's application for leave to appeal on two legal questions for determination by the Federal Court.

Earlier, lawyer Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, representing Rosliza, submitted that the High Court had erred in law when it relied on the case of Lina Joy, a born-Muslim who converted to Christianity, in its decision on Rosliza's case. 

He also argued that both the High Court and Court of Appeal had erred in law to hold that his client’s case fell within the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court.

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“We submit that this is not a case of exit from religion, but rather a case where the applicant (Rosliza) alleged and contended she never belonged to the religion of Islam.

“Hence, the courts below (High Court and Court of Appeal) wrongly classified the present case as falling outside the civil court’s jurisdiction and the courts below failed to carefully categorise the case before them,” he said.

Selangor state legal advisor, Datuk Salim Soib, representing the state government, and lawyer Abdul Rahim Sinwan, who appeared for the Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) as first and second respondents, argued that the Syariah Court is the right quorum to determine whether the appellant (Rosliza) is a Muslim or not.

Both argued that Rosliza is a Muslim based on the documents submitted when applying for an identity card from the National Registration Department.

However, Justice Tengku Maimun repeatedly asked for confirmation from Salim and Abdul Rahim on the status of a child born out of wedlock, where the father is a Muslim and the mother, a non-Muslim.

Justice Tengku Maimun: Let’s say, a Muslim man and a Buddhist woman cohabitate and a child was born out of that relationship. Is the child legitimate?

Abdul Rahim: If they are not married and there is no proof they are married, the child is illegitimate.

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Tengku Maimun: If the child is illegitimate, does the child follow the father or mother’s religion? 

Abdul Rahim: If the child was born illegitimate, the child follows the mother’s religion.

Tengku Maimun: Is the answer clear based on Islamic principles? 

Abdul Rahim: Correct.