MALAYSIA, August 13, 2006: It all started 16 years ago when Azlina Jailani, who was brought up in the Muslim faith, decided to convert to Christianity. Lina Joy (her Christian name) turns 42 years old this year and she has petitioned the federal government to support her decision to convert to Christianity. The news article explains, “In 1999, the National Registration Department allowed her to change the name in her identity card to Lina Joy but the ID entry for her religion remained as ‘Islam.’ Until the entry is deleted, she cannot legally marry outside the Muslim faith. The legal wrangling began when she took the department to court over the anomaly. Whatever the outcome, the decision could pose a headache for a government that is trying to meet the demands of the majority Muslim population and the sizable minority of non-Muslims. It’s a tricky legal question in multiracial, multi-religious Malaysia. Ethnic Malays, who make up just over half of Malaysia’s 26 million people, are deemed Muslims from birth. Constitutionally, freedom of religion is guaranteed. But in reality, conversion out of Islam comes under the ambit of sharia or Islamic courts. And under sharia law, renouncing the Islamic faith is punishable by fines or jail. It isn’t an option.”
Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda adds, “The fundamental question in Lina’s case is whether Muslims in this country can convert. It’s political dynamite. It will create instability. For decades, the position of Malays and Muslims have been guaranteed.” PAS (Parti Islam se-Malaysia) deputy chief Nasharuddin Mat Isa told Reuters, “It will create some uneasiness in the Malay community. It could lead to demonstrations. It will be a bad precedent.” Wong Kim Kong, secretary-general of the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship Malaysia, which represents about two-thirds of Malaysia’s roughly 4,000 churches, adds, “If they rule against Lina Joy, the whole question of religious liberty — the freedom of conscience, choice, expression and thought of an individual — will be greatly affected.” On the other side Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad, senior fellow at Malaysia’s Institute of Islamic Understanding, says, “If Islam were to grant permission for Muslims to change religion at will, it would imply it has no dignity, no self-esteem. And people may then question its completeness, truthfulness and perfection.” The article adds, “But a ruling against Joy could also inflame opinion among non-Muslims, who are already aggrieved over what they see as the gradual encroachment of Islamic law into civil society.”