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KUALA LUMPUR: Muslim converts are not getting the complete picture of Islamic inheritance and distribution of assets and this is an area of concern for Perkim.
Perkim secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Hamid Othman said many would-be converts were unaware that after they converted to Islam, their non-Muslim family would not inherit their assets or estate upon their death.
Therefore, he said, the time has come for Islamic departments’ religious officers to inform would-be converts of the inheritance law and discuss the fate of the non-Muslim family and advise them to distribute their assets before conversion.
Muslims are allowed to bequeath in their wasiat (will) up to one-third of their assets to whoever they want and this could include non-Muslim family members.
They can during their lifetime hibah (give) as much as they want to their non-Muslim family members, set up trust funds for their non-Muslim children or parents and make special arrangements for their pension to go to their aged non-Muslim parents.
If a convert dies without a bequest and leaves no heirs (because his family members are all non-Muslims), his assets and estate will go to Baitul Mal, the states’ religious council’s treasury body.
Dr Hamid said it was important for would-be converts to have all this information, so they could plan accordingly.
“Islam does not want a person to leave his non-Muslim offspring in limbo,” he said.
He said converting to Islam did not absolve a person from his responsibility towards his children, parents or other family members who had not converted.
“Say a child is studying overseas and dependent on the father for financial support. If the father converts, he can’t just cut off funding for his non-Muslim child or force the child to convert, too, to get his financial support. That would be unjust,” he said.
Dr Hamid, who was a former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said it was important for a person to leave his former religion peacefully and enter Islam peacefully.
“Islam does not want you to establish hostility towards the former religion or the non-Muslim family,” he said, stressing that religious officers should also ask the person the reason he wanted to convert and go down to the ground to talk to the person’s family.
“Right now, when a person says he wants to convert, the religious officers say ‘welcome, welcome’ but never find out if it is out of belief, due to a quarrel or because he wants to escape from his old family or marry another.”
“If you are angry with your family or if your present marriage is the main reason you want to convert to Islam, let us become the middle party to talk to your family. We want to jaga (protect) Islam.
“We want those converting to Islam to do it out of sincere reasons. We don’t want people to change religion based on hatred – that they hate their family and run to Islam to escape.”
KUALA LUMPUR: Muslim converts are not getting the complete picture of Islamic inheritance and distribution of assets and this is an area of concern for Perkim.
Perkim secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Hamid Othman said many would-be converts were unaware that after they converted to Islam, their non-Muslim family would not inherit their assets or estate upon their death.
Therefore, he said, the time has come for Islamic departments’ religious officers to inform would-be converts of the inheritance law and discuss the fate of the non-Muslim family and advise them to distribute their assets before conversion.
Muslims are allowed to bequeath in their wasiat (will) up to one-third of their assets to whoever they want and this could include non-Muslim family members.
They can during their lifetime hibah (give) as much as they want to their non-Muslim family members, set up trust funds for their non-Muslim children or parents and make special arrangements for their pension to go to their aged non-Muslim parents.
If a convert dies without a bequest and leaves no heirs (because his family members are all non-Muslims), his assets and estate will go to Baitul Mal, the states’ religious council’s treasury body.
Dr Hamid said it was important for would-be converts to have all this information, so they could plan accordingly.
“Islam does not want a person to leave his non-Muslim offspring in limbo,” he said.
He said converting to Islam did not absolve a person from his responsibility towards his children, parents or other family members who had not converted.
“Say a child is studying overseas and dependent on the father for financial support. If the father converts, he can’t just cut off funding for his non-Muslim child or force the child to convert, too, to get his financial support. That would be unjust,” he said.
Dr Hamid, who was a former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said it was important for a person to leave his former religion peacefully and enter Islam peacefully.
“Islam does not want you to establish hostility towards the former religion or the non-Muslim family,” he said, stressing that religious officers should also ask the person the reason he wanted to convert and go down to the ground to talk to the person’s family.
“Right now, when a person says he wants to convert, the religious officers say ‘welcome, welcome’ but never find out if it is out of belief, due to a quarrel or because he wants to escape from his old family or marry another.”
“If you are angry with your family or if your present marriage is the main reason you want to convert to Islam, let us become the middle party to talk to your family. We want to jaga (protect) Islam.
“We want those converting to Islam to do it out of sincere reasons. We don’t want people to change religion based on hatred – that they hate their family and run to Islam to escape.”
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