Posted on

Wee Ka Siong has finally asked the right question although he is still quite blur about the answer – that MCA cannot say “No” to UMNO because of the latter’s hegemony in Barisan Nasional while DAP and PAS can say “No” to each other as Pakatan Rakyat is a coalition of equals

MCA Deputy President, Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong has finally asked the right question although he is still quite blur about the answer.
Yesterday, Wee posed the question to me why I dare not say “No” to PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang but want MCA to say “No” to UMNO on the issue of hudud.

The answer which Wee is too blind to see or accept is that MCA cannot say “No” to UMNO because of UMNO’s hegemony in Barisan Nasional while DAP and PAS can say “No” to each other as Pakatan Rakyat is a coalition of equals.

Wee must belong to the infinitesimally small group of Malaysian politicians who do not know that the DAP has said “No” to Hadi and the PAS leaders about implementation of hudud as it is against the secular Malaysian Constitution and inappropriate for a modern, multi-racial and multi-religious nation like Malaysia.

This is why hudud is not part of the Pakatan Rakyat agenda or common policy platform, and is only the policy programme of PAS and which could undermine or even destroy the Pakatan Rakyat coalition if this agenda is pursued in utter disregard of the sensitivities, principles and objectives of the other Pakatan Rakyat parties. Continue reading “Wee Ka Siong has finally asked the right question although he is still quite blur about the answer – that MCA cannot say “No” to UMNO because of the latter’s hegemony in Barisan Nasional while DAP and PAS can say “No” to each other as Pakatan Rakyat is a coalition of equals”

Posted on

Hudud has no place in present constitutional structure, say legal experts

by V. Anbalagan
The Malaysian Insider
May 01, 2014

Hudud can be enforced in Malaysia only after a new constitution is drawn up to make the nation an Islamic state, constitutional law experts said.

They said the 1957 Merdeka constitution declared that Malaysia was a secular state and Islamic criminal law cannot co-exist with other federal penal legislation.

The lawyers said a legal challenge could be mounted even if the constitution was amended to implement hudud as this would amount to causing irreparable damage to the basic structure of the supreme law.

Furthermore, they said any attempt to introduce a private member’s bill to implement hudud in Kelantan could be legally challenged for going against the constitution. Continue reading “Hudud has no place in present constitutional structure, say legal experts”

Posted on

PAS penentu masa depan Pakatan Rakyat?

Wan Hamidi Hamid
The Malaysian Insider
April 30, 2014

Sejak penubuhannya pada 1951, PAS tidak pernah putus asa dalam perjuangan politiknya. Ramai pemimpinnya menjadi mangsa kezaliman pemerintah Perikatan dan kemudiannya Barisan Nasional.

Namun, selepas setiap ketika kezaliman dan kekejaman dirasai, seolah-olah ada pemimpin PAS yang lupa dengan apa yang pimpinan Umno lakukan terhadap parti mereka.

Tetapi ramai lagi ahli-ahli PAS yang tidak lupa dengan kelicikan politik Umno. Continue reading “PAS penentu masa depan Pakatan Rakyat?”

Posted on

Biggest MCA charade in 65-year party history – threatening to mobilise thousands of people and even to surround Parliament to oppose hudud but it could not mobilise one person, the MCA President, to say “No” to Najib

Malaysians are watching the roll-out of the biggest MCA charade in its 65-year party history – MCA threatening to mobilise thousands of people and even to surround Parliament to oppose hudud but it could not mobilise one person, the MCA President himself, to say “No” to the Prime Minister and UMNO President Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the issue.

Based on a very misleading and incorrect translation of the Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council statement on hudud on Sept. 28, 2011, the MCA had launched an aggressive but dishonest nation-wide campaign against the DAP which has ended up as the biggest MCA charade in its 65-year party history.

It is sad to watch such a MCA charade – for it has only succeeded in relentlessly and mercilessly exposing Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and the MCA leaders as political leaders without conviction, principles and scruples, which was why the MCA was roundly rejected by the Malaysian electorate in the 13th general elections last May and reduced to a “7-11” political party in Malaysia.

Liow and the current MCA leadership are now under a stringent test – are they prepared to tell Najib that they are not prepared to return to the Barisan Nasional Cabinet and Government until and unless the consensus principle is restored to the Barisan Nasional, and Najib retract his unilateral and arbitrary announcement last Thursday that the Barisan Nasional Federal Government had never rejected hudud? Continue reading “Biggest MCA charade in 65-year party history – threatening to mobilise thousands of people and even to surround Parliament to oppose hudud but it could not mobilise one person, the MCA President, to say “No” to Najib”

Posted on

Karpal’s last thoughts on hudud, sedition act and ties in Pakatan

The Malaysian Insider
APRIL 29, 2014
LATEST UPDATE: APRIL 29, 2014 04:59 PM

In one of his last interviews before his sudden death in an auto accident on April 17, Karpal Singh spoke to DAP mouthpiece The Rocket on matters close to his heart and his political struggle, including the hudud, the Sedition Act that he was charged with, and inter-party relations with PAS and PKR.

Karpal’s (pic) interview, which is available on The Rocket’s website and its April edition, is reproduced with permission.

Q: You have been frank about issues close to your heart and never hold back in taking a strong stand on issues that other DAP leaders don’t dare to vocalise. Why?

I have been elected by my constituents and it is my duty as an elected member of parliament to speak the views of the people. As long as one abides by the law and is in line with democratic principles under which we operate, no leader should be afraid to air his views.

It would be a sad day for DAP if we hold back just so we don’t get into trouble. It won’t be in the interest of the party or the country. I articulate certain things and issues that are close to the hearts of the people I represent, not just a party stance per se. Of course the party stance is also in line with the constitution.
Continue reading “Karpal’s last thoughts on hudud, sedition act and ties in Pakatan”

Posted on

Liow Tiong Lai should stop blowing “hot air” if he is not prepared to issue an ultimatum to Najib that he and MCA would not return to Cabinet unless the Prime Minister gives solemn undertaking to uphold secular Malaysian constitution with no hudud laws for the country

MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai should stop blowing “hot air” if he is not prepared to issue an ultimatum to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that he and MCA would not return to the Barisan Nasional Cabinet and Government unless and until the Najib administration gives a solemn undertaking to uphold the secular Malaysian Constitution with no hudud laws for the country.

It is pointless of Liow going on a nation-wide road show to meet thousands of “MCA grassroots leaders and leaders from Chinese guilds and associations” breathing “fire and brimstone” and threatening to unleash thousands of MCA Youth members throughout the country, including surrounding Parliament when it reconvenes in June, over a PAS proposal to table a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament for the implementation of hudud in Kelantan when the MCA President dare not say “No”, loudly and clearly, to the Prime Minister who had said a few days ago that the Barisan Nasional Federal Government had never rejected hudud?

Was Liow and the MCA leadership consulted before Najib made the policy change and announcement that the Barisan Nasional Federal Government had never rejected hudud, which not only violates the fundamental principles and features of the secular 1957 Merdeka Constitution but goes against the struggles, memory and heritage of the nation’s founding fathers in UMNO, MCA and MIC, whether Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Tan Siew Sin or Tun V. T. Sambanthan?

Or had Liow given his personal, if not party, agreement to Najib’s new policy announcement that the Barisan Nasional Federal Government had never rejected hudud?

Malaysians are entitled to know – was the MCA President ever consulted and whether he had given his consent, whether personally and privately or as MCA President, to Najib’s announcement? Continue reading “Liow Tiong Lai should stop blowing “hot air” if he is not prepared to issue an ultimatum to Najib that he and MCA would not return to Cabinet unless the Prime Minister gives solemn undertaking to uphold secular Malaysian constitution with no hudud laws for the country”

Posted on

Why hudud is unconstitutional and impractical

– Low Teck Kuan
The Malaysian Insider
April 26, 2014

PAS has recently been extremely persistent in pushing for the implementation of hudud in Kelantan. Despite numerous warnings by other political parties against their agenda, PAS seems hell bent on introducing a Private Members Bill in Parliament to further their own political agenda.

However, here lies the big question: Is it possible to implement one set of criminal law (hudud) in one state and have the rest of other states and Federal Territories obeying another set of criminal law?

Certainly no, because let’s be clear on this, you cannot have one set of law for one state on crime and another set of criminal law for other states. Not only it is impractical, it also seeks to disrupt the basic structure and relationship between the Federal and the states which was laid down by our founding father Tunku Abdul Rahman. It is also unconstitutional as PAS’s constant attempt at introducing hudud also seeks usurp federal powers at the same time.

Part VI of the Federal Constitution defines the relations between Federal and the states, where therein lies Article 73 to 79 of the Federal Constitution which laid down Parliament’s (Federal level) exclusive power to make law. Specifically, Article 74 (1) states that “…Parliament may make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in the Federal List or the Concurrent List…” while Article 74(2) states that “…the Legislature of a State may make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in the State List…” Continue reading “Why hudud is unconstitutional and impractical”

Posted on

Is MCA president Liong Tiong Lai prepared to declare that MCA will not return to BN Cabinet unless Najib gives assurance that the secular Malaysian Constitution will be upheld including no hudud laws and the retraction of Mahathir’s “929” declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic State?

I am quite amused by the ferocious statement by the MCA deputy secretary-general Datuk Wee Jeck Seng demanding that DAP “kick out” Lim Guan Eng and myself “for agreeing with hudud” and as “payback” for going back on our promises.

Amused because I could still remember vividly that Jeck Seng was initially dropped as a candidate for Tanjong Piai parliamentary seat in Johore in the 13th General Elections last year, and overnight the MCA and Barisan Nasional flags and symbols not only disappeared from Pontian area, DAP received feelers that he was prepared to contest on a DAP ticket in Tanjong Piai as he did not fancy contesting in the Johor State Assembly constituency of Pekan Nenas to which he was assigned.

DAP would have no truck with such a political opportunist but Jeck Seng got back the Tanjong Piai parliamentary seat after his supporters kicked up quite a furore against the decision of the then MCA President, Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek.

With such an “outstanding” political background, whatever Jeck Seng says needed to taken with more than a pinch of salt and no one is surprised that his statement yesterday was built on a great lie – that DAP leaders have agreed to the implementation of hudud.

Sin Chew Daily had reported in a box in the past few days what it described as the three-point agreement of the Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council on hudud on Sept. 28, 2011, which is not a very correct version or translation (particularly Point 1) of the PR Leadership Joint Statement signed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on behalf of PKR, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang on behalf of PAS and myself on behalf of DAP, as the relevant two paragraphs were as follows: Continue reading “Is MCA president Liong Tiong Lai prepared to declare that MCA will not return to BN Cabinet unless Najib gives assurance that the secular Malaysian Constitution will be upheld including no hudud laws and the retraction of Mahathir’s “929” declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic State?”

Posted on

Moratorium call on statements by Pakatan Rakyat leaders on latest hudud controversy to refer issue to Majlis Pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat for decision

(Media Statement in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 27th April 2014)

For the first time in six years after the “political tsunami” of the 12GE in March 2008, the overly-paid strategists, plotters and schemers of UMNO/BN must be feeling on top of the world and rubbing their hands with glee for they have finally vindicated their existence and colossal expenditures.

They believe that they have struck gold and have finally succeeded in putting in place their formula to ensure the end of the political threat posed by Pakatan Rakyat and the return to Putrajaya of UMNO and BN in the 14GE by the perpetuation of the political and power structure of Umno/BN even in the years after 2020.

Three days ago, the Deputy Mentri Besar of Kelantan, Datuk Nik Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah publicly said that DAP and PKR should stay off the hudud bill controversy on the ground that “they have no right to interfere” in the PAS agenda to implement hudud in Kelantan.

He said that in the common policy framework signed among Pakatan Rakyat component parties on September 28, 2011, PAS only agreed to not impose on its long-standing objective for Malaysia to be recognised as an Islamic State.

He said the agreement is limited at the national level but in the context of Kelantan it is different because hudud was enacted way back in 1993, before the opposition pact was realised. Continue reading “Moratorium call on statements by Pakatan Rakyat leaders on latest hudud controversy to refer issue to Majlis Pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat for decision”

Posted on

DAP Muslim MP waves off PAS’ hudud move

Malaysiakini
Apr 26, 2014

Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz, one of only two DAP Muslim MPs, says he is obligated to support hudud law because of his religion but will still not back PAS’ private member’s bill on the matter.

The Raub MP said regardless of personal views, the reality is the country’s secular constitution and if PAS wants to implement hudud law it must first push for a new Islamic constitution.

Until then, Ariff Sabri said PAS should not force other Muslims to back it’s hudud plan by questioning their faith.

“PAS must do the right thing first – secure parliament and change the constitution Continue reading “DAP Muslim MP waves off PAS’ hudud move”

Posted on

Comparative international data do not support the argument that the implementation of hudud have led to reduction of crime

The arguments in support of implementing hudud have used evidence from other Islamic majority countries to say that hudud can be implemented and also to say that the implementation of hudud will be effective in reducing crime.

But when the evidence is examined closely, comparative international data do not support the argument that the implementation of hudud have led to reduction of crime.

Just four days ago, it was announced that there would an indefinite delay in the implementation of hudud in Brunei. Some have used the Brunei example as ‘evidence’ that Malaysia too can implement hudud.

But Malaysia is not Brunei. In a recent talk held in February 2014 at the Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies in Kuala Lumpur entitled “The Implementation of Hudud in Brunei: Differences between Brunei and Malaysia”, the speaker, former Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Hamid emphasized the many differences between Malaysia and Brunei.

Brunei is an absolute constitutional monarchy with no popularly elected representatives or no provision in the constitution which says that it is the supreme law of the country. It is a unitary country with no distribution of legislative powers between the states and the Federation. There are no constitutional limitations on the jurisdiction of the Civil Courts or the Shariah Courts. The Shariah Court’s jurisdiction, for example, are not limited to persons professing the religion of Islam and there are no restrictions on the types of offences that can be placed under its jurisdiction. There is no law or body which can prevent the Sultan of Brunei to make a law and to implement it.
Continue reading “Comparative international data do not support the argument that the implementation of hudud have led to reduction of crime”

Posted on

Slippery slope, lawyers say of Pahang ban on holy books in hotels

by Ida Lim
The Malaysian Insider
April 25, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 ― A Pahang Islamic body’s recent decision to ban hotels from carrying books on non-Islamic religions signals another step on the path towards further erosion of Malaysia liberties, said several lawyers yesterday.

Raising alarm over the Pahang Islamic and Malay Customs Council (MUIP)’s move, the lawyers said failure to speak up now would see religious bodies steadily take on a bigger role in regulating the daily conduct of non-Muslims and Muslims.

Lawyer Eric Paulsen said the recent ban highlights a “growing Islamisation in Malaysia and growing encroachment of Islamic authorities in the day-to-day lives of all Malaysians, whether Muslims or non-Muslims”.

“There is now a growing acceptance that this is an Islamic country and that Islam must have its way over non-Muslims and Islam is sacrosanct and their policies must trump all other people’s rights,” the co-founder of civil rights group Lawyers For Liberty (LFL) told The Malay Mail Online.

He agreed that the move to officially ban non-Islamic religious materials from Pahang hotel rooms could lead to a slippery slope where more liberties are lost, claiming that both federal and state authorities appear to favour the Muslims’ rights taking precedence over non-Muslims’ rights.

“Where does that policy stop?” he aked.

Paulsen added that Pahang’s Control and Restriction of the Propagation of Non-Islamic Religions Enactment 1989, which MUIP relied on for the ban, was wide and arbitrary, viewing the state law as going against the Federal Constitution’s rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Silence by the federal authorities over the state department’s move also risks being construed as tacit approval, he added. Continue reading “Slippery slope, lawyers say of Pahang ban on holy books in hotels”

Posted on

Opposing hudud does not mean opposing Islam

— Nadira Ilana
The Malay Mail Online
April 23, 2014

APRIL 23 — I’m just not sure what’s a ‘nice’ way to have a conversation about a set of laws that legitimises amputations, slavery and public stoning in God’s name. There are many reasons why I think that hudud has no place in the modern world.

Hudud neglects what we know today about economics and social science. We know that robbers don’t all rob because they’re bad, it’s because they’re often poor, sick or desperate. We know that sociopathy and psychopathy are personality disorders and that people are a product of their environment therefore evil acts are not Satanic manifestations in men. In that respect, not all women and men can be judged the same.

We know that just because four men didn’t witness a rape, it doesn’t mean that a woman has committed adultery. A woman is not the proverbial tree fallen in the forest so a rape kit will do just nicely to prevent her from getting stoned. Consider that if accusations of adultery are punishable too then Mahathir should get a huge walloping for what he’s dragged Anwar through.

Another inconsistency with hudud is that in Islam you can’t amputate livestock if you want to consume their flesh because it’s inhumane but then if a man steals you can amputate his hands. I don’t see the justice here. Taking away the hands of a man who steals because he is hungry is a low blow.

We know that people are capable of reform and that humanity is largely good before it is bad. We know that people can change when they are treated with kindness and given an education or opportunities, not stoned by various sizes of rock. People can’t be ‘scared away’ from crime. Dead men don’t learn. Deterrents are what you tell children to make them finish their dinner. The human conscience should be guided by reason, not fear if you want meaningful change hence the importance of education and independent thought. Continue reading “Opposing hudud does not mean opposing Islam”

Posted on

Karpal Singh a political man of his times

Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
Apr 23, 2014

TRIBUTE Much has been written about the recently deceased Karpal Singh.

His skills as a lawyer, his fight for basic rights and contributions to the law, his commitment to his family and his struggle for ordinary people as a humanitarian are just some of the themes raised in the many eulogies and reflections in the past few days since he and his friend and assistant Michael Cornelius lost their lives.

The reactions from ordinary Malaysians have reaffirmed the spirit of dignity and humanity that are an integral part of the national character and stand in stark contrast to the uncouth provocative remarks of a handful of individuals who, blinded by insecurity and hubris, revealed how far they have deviated from common decency.

I knew Karpal Singh as a politician, and the remarks that follow are some of my observations on his important role in Malaysian political life and his political legacy. Continue reading “Karpal Singh a political man of his times”

Posted on

It’s Dr Mahathir, not Karpal, who belittled hudud, says Mat Sabu

BY AMIN ISKANDAR, NEWS EDITOR
The Malaysian Insider
April 22, 2014

The deputy president of PAS has come to the defence of the late Karpal Singh amid accusations of insulting Islam hurled at the veteran lawyer following his death in a car accident last week.

Instead, Mohamad Sabu reminded that it was former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who had insulted the religion by belittling hudud, or the Shariah punishment for serious crimes, adding that Karpal had never insulted the Islamic laws but merely defended the Federal Constitution.

“I am perplexed why Muslims react this way when it was Muslims themselves who insulted hudud, such as the statement by the former prime minister that if hudud was implemented in Kelantan, many Muslims would lose their limbs,” Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, told The Malaysian Insider in a recent interview.

“Karpal had never insulted (hudud). He had only said that it was against the Constitution,” said Mat Sabu. Mat Sabu was referring to comments last week by Dr Mahathir on the plan by PAS to table the Private Members’ Bill on hudud in the Dewan Rakyat.

Dr Mahathir had said Islamic laws should ensure justice and not be geared towards punishing offenders.

“There are Muslims and non-Muslims in our country. If a Muslim steals, his hand will be chopped off but when a non-Muslim steals, he goes to jail. Is that justice or not?” he asked, adding that “Soon, Muslims will have no hands”.

Mat Sabu said he could not understand why Umno leaders who had come out strongly in opposition to PAS’s plan to implement hudud in Kelantan had kept silent over Dr Mahathir’s remarks. Continue reading “It’s Dr Mahathir, not Karpal, who belittled hudud, says Mat Sabu”

Posted on

Karpal’s dead body still no walkover

Abdar Rahman Koya
The Malaysian Insider
April 19, 2014

The Malay adage “Harimau mati tinggalkan belang, manusia mati tinggalkan nama” (A tiger leaves behind its stripes, a man leaves behind his deeds) can’t be more apt in describing the passing away of the Tiger of Jelutong.

Karpal Singh was both a tiger whose stripes patterned the Malaysian political landscape for so long, and a man whose name dominated contemporary Malaysian legal history. The courts and the Parliament will have a hard time shedding away his stripes for a long time.

In court, Karpal’s presence is a signal that a case is to be treated as important, deserving the widest coverage. He can choose to represent a food stall owner, or a former deputy prime minister, and both cases would be keenly observed by the legal fraternity. For when Karpal is the lawyer, it is not how a case would end, it is how it was argued in court.

Karpal proved that a good lawyer is not someone who never loses a case, but someone who takes the most difficult one and stands not a chance to either acquit or get a huge sum rewarded to his client. Continue reading “Karpal’s dead body still no walkover”

Posted on

Three things we learned from: the Seremban child abduction

By Justin Ong
The Malay Mail Online
April 13, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — On Wednesday, S. Deepa’s joy of winning custody of her two children from estranged husband Izwan Abdullah, a Muslim convert, just days earlier turned to terror when he abducted their son from her Seremban home.

But that terror must have been eclipsed by the shock of learning that the police cannot — or will not? — do anything as the man was granted custody of the children by a shariah court last year.

At first glance, the matter had appeared less tangled than the convoluted custody battles that usually accompany child conversion cases, but it soon transpired that such matters inexorably become complicated when religion is involved.

Here are the three things we have learned from the case so far. Continue reading “Three things we learned from: the Seremban child abduction”

Posted on

Khalid Abu Bakar should step down as IGP if he is not prepared to uphold the law in the Seremban child abduction case and enforce High Court order giving custody to the mother

Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar should step down as Inspector-General of Police if he is not prepared to uphold the law in the Seremban child abduction case and enforce the High Court order giving custody to the mother.

The failure and refusal of the Inspector-General of Police to uphold the law and to ignore the Seremban child abduction case is the height of irresponsibility for the top policeman in the country, despite the fact that a police report has been lodged by the mother S Deepa that her son was snatched by her estranged Muslim convert husband although she had won a custody through the civil court.

It is reported that her husband Izwan Abdullah has also obtained a similar order from the Syariah Court.

I agree with the former de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz that the IGP was mistaken in thinking syariah law allowed a Muslim convert to abduct his child after losing custody to the mother and that the father was clearly wrong to have taken his son without his estranged wife’s permission as the High Court has given her custody of their two children. Continue reading “Khalid Abu Bakar should step down as IGP if he is not prepared to uphold the law in the Seremban child abduction case and enforce High Court order giving custody to the mother”

Posted on

DAP offers to school MCA on party’s hudud stance

BY MELISSA CHI
The Malay Mail Online
April 11, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 — Frustrated by repeated calls from MCA leaders for the DAP to make a stand on hudud, Lim Kit Siang told his political rivals today that his party will offer a free “kindergarten course” to set the record straight.

At a press conference here, the DAP veteran told MCA leaders that his party has never changed its position on hudud and will continue to maintain the opinion that the controversial Islamic penal code does not suit a multi-racial society like Malaysia.

“It is against the secular constitution of Malaysia and it’s not part of the Pakatan Rakyat policy consensus and therefore there is no change in DAP’s position or of any of the DAP leaders or DAP MPs, our position remains the same as in the past.

“So if MCA leaders find that they need to go to kindergarten to know our position, please read up on our statements, we have a full archive for them, we are prepared to give MCA leaders including their president and it’s deputy president a kindergarten course about DAP’s stand on hudud and other matters, we’ll give it free of charge also,” he told reporters at the DAP headquarters. Continue reading “DAP offers to school MCA on party’s hudud stance”

Posted on

No Muslim tried to leave religion over past decade, minister says

By Zurairi AR
The Malay Mail Online
March 24, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 24 — Not one Muslim applied to convert out of their faiths in the Shariah Courts over the past decade, a minister said today, laying to rest previous claims of apostasy repeatedly made by religious hardliners.

To the contrary, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom said 4,520 individuals embraced Islam in just four years between 2008 and 2012, according to the Federal Territories Religious Department’s (Jawi) records.

“So far, there were no Muslims, including new converts, who left the religion, based on the lack of applications to convert out of Islam in the Shariah courts,” Jamil said in a written reply to Kampar MP Dr Ko Chung Sen in Parliament here.

Ko had requested the number of non-Muslims who converted into Islam in the last ten years, and the number of Muslims who converted out in the same period.

However, Jamil said there were applications by those who were mistakenly registered as Muslims, particularly those in Sabah and Sarawak, who had asked to switch religions.

He said those registered as Muslims by mistake usually have names that sound like Muslims’ names. Continue reading “No Muslim tried to leave religion over past decade, minister says”