KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, June 4, 2014 (Malay Mail Online): Selangor Islamic authorities interfered with the affairs of other religions when it raided a Hindu temple to probe a bride-to-be it suspected was Muslim, Malaysia’s largest interfaith group said. Jagir Singh, the president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST), described the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS)’s actions in this case as “high-handed” and lacking in “understanding.”
Last Sunday, JAIS stopped a Hindu wedding ceremony in a Shah Alam temple after it received a tip-off that the 32-year-old bride named Zarena Abdul Majid is a Muslim. Jagir also pointed out that the wedding was not a ceremony to propagate non-Muslim faith to a Muslim and not in breach of the state enactment cited as the basis for the enforcement. He questioned why JAIS had chosen to “barge into a wedding” when the department could have taken action after the ceremony was over.
JAIS maintains that it did not raid the Hindu temple, insisting that it merely conducted a routine check and had followed procedure by summoning Zarena to its headquarters to assist in investigations. Although JAIS said it is investigating the case under Section 10 of the Shariah Criminal Enactment (Selangor) 1995 for insulting or bringing disrepute to Islam, Jagir pointed out that the state law was only applicable to Muslims. According to Schedule 9 of the Federal Constitution, JAIS only has jurisdiction over individuals professing the religion of Islam, but Jagir argued that Zarena has been a practising Hindu since birth and was allegedly converted to Islam illegally.
She has gone to the National Registration Department (NRD) twice — in 2007 and 2013 — to change the details of her religious status in her identification card. Yesterday, local daily Harian Metro reported JAIS deputy director Ahmad Zaki Arshad as advising Zarena to appoint a lawyer and apply with the Shariah court to change her name and religious status. But Jagir said the move was not without possible complications. Appearing before the Shariah Court would be akin to Zarena “in fact admitting she’s a Muslim,” he asserted. Instead, Zarena should go to the civil courts and “apply for a High Court order to say she has always been a practising Hindu,” said Jagir, who is also a lawyer.