(Malaysiakini) The road to law reforms on Muslim conversion appears to have hit a snag. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz recently revealed that the Malay rulers have yet to consent to the changes proposed.
"There is a difficulty here, because as you know, Islam is under the purview of the sultans of the states. And in the states where there are no sultans, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is responsible for Islamic laws.
"So, we cannot do anything at all without the consent of the Rulers' Council. On the conversion issue, the sultans still feel that they need to protect Islam and the Muslim subjects because that is their duty. That is under their purview," said Nazri.
The rulers, he said, were not convinced that amendments to certain Islamic laws would not overlap with their duties as guardians of the Islamic faith in their states.
"They are not convinced that the laws, the amendments proposed by the government, do not touch on their rights as the penghulu (elders) of Islam in the states. So this is something that we have to resolve first.
"But for now, they have not given their consent," Nazri added in a recent interview with Malaysiakini.
Nazri (left) also revealed that he has attempted to explain the matter to the rulers, but to no avail.
"Even though I tried to explain, that we are talking about the rights of a person, the scenario before that person became a Muslim, like his marriage and all that; the rulers still feel that these touch on the rights of a Muslim.
"Even though an individual converts recently, he or she is still a Muslim, and (the rulers) have to be consulted and they have to approve (the amendments). So there is nothing we can do about it," he said.
The government had last year attempted to table amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993 and Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984.
The move came after several domestic disputes following secret conversions to Islam, which quickly escalated into a nationwide religious furore.
The last straw for the government came in the case of M Indira Gandhi, a 35-year-old Hindu who nearly lost the custody of her three children after her estranged husband converted to Islam, together with the children, without her knowledge.
A few weeks after the incident, the cabinet issued a ban on parents secretly converting children to Islam, in a move to calm strained race relations in the country.
www.malaysiakini.com/news/102982
In the meantime, the proposed amendments are yet to make it to the first reading in Parliament.
'Pakatan, go convince the sultans'
Nazri, who is the de facto Law Minister, then challenged the state governments, particularly the Pakatan Rakyat ones, to take responsibility, considering that Islam was a state matter.
"It is not about BN. It's about any government. And more so when religion is a matter of the state. Then it also becomes a concern for the PAS governments in Kelantan and Kedah, the DAP government in Penang and PKR government in Selangor.
"Because (Islam) is a state issue, so you cannot say that this is a BN problem. It is not. This is the wrong perception," he said.
He also threw the gauntlet at the Pakatan state governments, telling them to reason with the rulers instead of blaming the federal government all the time.
"Why are they not talking to the sultans? Why must it be us all the time? Islam is a state matter and they have direct access to their sultans. So, why aren't they talking?
"I want (Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng, left) to speak with the Yang diPertuan Agong about the rights of the non-Muslims in Penang, and (Selangor MB) Khalid (Ibrahim) should go and see the sultan about the conversion issue in Selangor.
"Convince the Sultans. If (Pakatan state governments) are fair to the non-Muslims, they should be working hard to convince the rulers about the importance of these law reforms," Nazri added.
"There is a difficulty here, because as you know, Islam is under the purview of the sultans of the states. And in the states where there are no sultans, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is responsible for Islamic laws. "So, we cannot do anything at all without the consent of the Rulers' Council. On the conversion issue, the sultans still feel that they need to protect Islam and the Muslim subjects because that is their duty. That is under their purview," said Nazri.
The rulers, he said, were not convinced that amendments to certain Islamic laws would not overlap with their duties as guardians of the Islamic faith in their states.
"They are not convinced that the laws, the amendments proposed by the government, do not touch on their rights as the penghulu (elders) of Islam in the states. So this is something that we have to resolve first.
"But for now, they have not given their consent," Nazri added in a recent interview with Malaysiakini.
Nazri (left) also revealed that he has attempted to explain the matter to the rulers, but to no avail."Even though I tried to explain, that we are talking about the rights of a person, the scenario before that person became a Muslim, like his marriage and all that; the rulers still feel that these touch on the rights of a Muslim.
"Even though an individual converts recently, he or she is still a Muslim, and (the rulers) have to be consulted and they have to approve (the amendments). So there is nothing we can do about it," he said.
The government had last year attempted to table amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993 and Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984.
The move came after several domestic disputes following secret conversions to Islam, which quickly escalated into a nationwide religious furore.
The last straw for the government came in the case of M Indira Gandhi, a 35-year-old Hindu who nearly lost the custody of her three children after her estranged husband converted to Islam, together with the children, without her knowledge.
A few weeks after the incident, the cabinet issued a ban on parents secretly converting children to Islam, in a move to calm strained race relations in the country.
www.malaysiakini.com/news/102982
In the meantime, the proposed amendments are yet to make it to the first reading in Parliament.
'Pakatan, go convince the sultans'
Nazri, who is the de facto Law Minister, then challenged the state governments, particularly the Pakatan Rakyat ones, to take responsibility, considering that Islam was a state matter.
"It is not about BN. It's about any government. And more so when religion is a matter of the state. Then it also becomes a concern for the PAS governments in Kelantan and Kedah, the DAP government in Penang and PKR government in Selangor.
"Because (Islam) is a state issue, so you cannot say that this is a BN problem. It is not. This is the wrong perception," he said.
He also threw the gauntlet at the Pakatan state governments, telling them to reason with the rulers instead of blaming the federal government all the time."Why are they not talking to the sultans? Why must it be us all the time? Islam is a state matter and they have direct access to their sultans. So, why aren't they talking?
"I want (Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng, left) to speak with the Yang diPertuan Agong about the rights of the non-Muslims in Penang, and (Selangor MB) Khalid (Ibrahim) should go and see the sultan about the conversion issue in Selangor.
"Convince the Sultans. If (Pakatan state governments) are fair to the non-Muslims, they should be working hard to convince the rulers about the importance of these law reforms," Nazri added.
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