Noor Farida: Core Islamic principles absent from Muslim administration

PETALING JAYA: The core Islamic principles of justice, mercy and compassion are starkly absent from the nation’s Muslim administration, says former Sessions Court judge Noor Farida Ariffin.

“Let’s try to salvage the image of our religion. As a concerned Muslim, I am so distressed and perturbed by the fact that we have been so unfair to non-Muslims,” Noor Farida said in a Malaysiakini report today.

Noor Farida was referring to the Court of Appeal decision last Dec 30 that overturned, on a technicality, a High Court ruling quashing the unilateral conversion of the three children by their now Muslim father, Ridhuan Abdullah.

“Islam is all about justice, mercy and compassion, but we don’t see that in the way Islam is being administered.”

The ruling that the civil court has no jurisdiction to hear the case of Indira’s children’s conversion was unfair to Indira and highlights weaknesses in the judiciary, says Noor Farida.

“The result is not fair to her. To me, when they say that they have no jurisdiction, that is an abdication of responsibility (by the civil court),” the G25 head said.

“What surprised me is that they (the judges) bound themselves to the Perak State Enactment. The civil court is not there to apply syariah law,” said Noor Farida.

Noor Farida took issue with the way the children were converted, taking into account the requirement for conversion that a person recite the Muslim declaration of faith, provide consent, and have a witness.

“If you are a child, how can you consent? And on top of that, they were not even present,” she said.

Indira’s children – then aged 12, 11 and 11 months old – were converted without them being present and without her knowledge.

“Because of the Subashini case, unfortunately, the Federal Court now defines that ‘parents’ mean just ‘a single parent’,” Noor Farida lamented,

“That (the issue of Indira’s absence from the conversion process) was a hurdle they did not manage to overcome because of their decision, which I feel was erroneous.”

The 2007 case of Subashini Rajasingham vs Saravanan Thangathoray saw the Hindu wife instructed to seek recourse through the Syariah Appeals Court to stop her Muslim convert husband from converting their children without her consent.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri had reportedly said that Putrajaya plans to table in Parliament amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993 and the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984.

Noor Farida commented on such efforts, pointing to a proposal by the Negeri Sembilan state government that could be taken into account.

The proposal is any person who is married, and wanting to convert to Islam, must first go to the civil court under which his marriage is registered and resolve outstanding matters.

This would include divorcing the non-Muslim spouse and settling issues of maintenance, custody and others.

“Once that is settled, then the conversion can be registered. Then it is fair to everyone.

“The first principle of Islam is justice… everywhere in the Quran there is talk about justice,” Noor Farida said.

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