In Negeri Sembilan, the consent of only one parent who embraced Islam is needed to have their children converted to the faith, said the state's Islamic Affairs Department.

The department's director Johani Hassan said that this was clearly spelt out under laws of the state and other states.

“The law does not say that we need the consent of both parents before we can convert their children.

“When one parent embraces Islam, the children can be automatically converted,” he said, according to The Star.

This however contradicts a cabinet decision in April 2009 that child will maintain his or her original faith of the parents during the time of their marriage under civil law.
Approach Syariah Court

The policy was made following claims that some individuals had used the Syariah Courts in order to gain custodial rights.

Johani was comment on a claim by a mother, 29, from Jelebu that her estranged husband had secretly converted their two children, aged five and eight, in April.

The couple were married in 2004 but the husband, 30, embraced Islam after allegedly abandoning the family last year. Legally, the couple are still married under civil law.

She lodged a police report after the Islamic Affairs Department refused to entertain her appeal for a reversal of the decision to convert their children.

Johani said the women's only remedy now was to appeal to the Syariah Court, which may pose a problem for her since she is not a Muslim and is not subject to Syariah jurisdiction.