KUALA LUMPUR: A 45-year-old woman has failed to nullify her conversion to Islam when she was aged 4 by her Muslim-convert father.
Seremban High Court judicial commissioner Mohamad Haldar Abdul Aziz made the ruling on the grounds that the civil courts have no power to hear such matters, as they fall under the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court.
He said the applicant's action of filing an originating summons in the civil court against the Negri Sembilan Islamic Religious Council (Mains), the National Registration Department (NRD) and the government constitutes an abuse of the court process.
"The Federal Court has ruled that any application for the declaration of renunciation from Islam falls within the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court.
"Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution has clarified the jurisdictional separation between the civil court and the Syariah Court, stating that each court is only permitted to hear and decide cases within its respective jurisdictions.
"Therefore, when a law clearly falls under the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court, any civil High Court does not have jurisdiction to hear it, whether through civil applications or judicial reviews," he said in his grounds of judgment dated yesterday.
The applicant in her lawsuit asserted that she never recited the shahada (declaration of faith) and has never practiced the religion throughout her life.
She claimed to have been raised by a maternal aunt since the age of 4 and has never practiced the Islamic way of life.
The applicant claimed she was born Hindu and has consistently practiced and adhered to Hinduism throughout her life.
Despite the applicant's claim to have previously applied for a declaration of non-Muslim status in the Negri Sembilan Syariah Court, there is currently no evidence to support this assertion, and it has been refuted by the Negri Sembilan Syariah Judiciary Department chief registrar.
The applicant is appealing the decision.