.JPG "osliza’s identity card currently states that her religion is 'Islam' with her Muslim father having in 1994 written down her religion as purportedly being 'Islam' when applying for her identity card. — Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — Selangor resident Rosliza Ibrahim will now proceed to have the government’s official records amended to show that she is a non-Muslim as declared by the Federal Court today, instead of the Muslim status that was previously recorded, her lawyer Aston Paiva confirmed.
Rosliza, now 39, has for years maintained in court that she was born as an illegitimate child to a Buddhist mother and a Muslim father who were not married, and that she is not a Muslim and that laws for Muslims in Selangor do not apply to her.
“She was raised a Buddhist by her mother, she continues to profess Buddhism till this day and wants to continue living her life peacefully as a Buddhist in Malaysia,” Aston said of his client in a press statement.
Rosliza’s identity card currently states that her religion is “Islam” with her Muslim father having in 1994 written down her religion as purportedly being “Islam” when applying for her identity card, but she has been seeking the civil courts’ recognition over the past five years that she is actually not a Muslim and was never a Muslim in the first place.
Despite Rosliza being raised a Buddhist and professing Buddhism, Aston said that Rosliza has been considered a Muslim for all official purposes, with the Selangor state government refusing to exempt her from the laws for Muslims applying to her due to her illegitimate father’s religion.
“As a result, her constitutional right to religious freedom, choice of partner and disposition of property are all adversely affected.
“She cannot go to the Syariah court as, by law, she is not even a Muslim in the first place. Thus, there is no question of leaving Islam,” he explained.
Rosliza had started her legal bid back in 2015 with a lawsuit filed via an originating summons in the High Court to have official recognition that she is actually not a Muslim, with the respondents in her lawsuit being the Selangor state government and the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais).
Previously, at the High Court, Rosliza had shown proof that the Islamic religious authorities of the Federal Territories and 11 states (Selangor, Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis and Terengganu) do not have any records of her mother converting to Islam or of her biological parents entering into a Muslim marriage, as well as provided the court with her late mother’s October 8, 2008 statutory declaration of not being married to Rosliza’s father when she was born.
Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal had previously in June 2017 and April 2018 respectively ruled against Rosliza, which led to her appeal involving two legal questions before the Federal Court.
A panel of nine judges at the Federal Court today unanimously ruled in Rosliza’s favour, which means she had won her appeal.
Seven of these judges, who form the majority of the Federal Court panel, also granted all three court orders that Rosliza was seeking, including a declaration that declaration that she is illegitimate and that the late Buddhist woman Yap Ah Mooi is her mother, as well as a declaration that she is not a person professing the religion of Islam and that all Selangor state laws for Muslims do not apply to her and that Selangor Shariah courts do not have jurisdiction over her.
The majority decision to grant all three court orders that Rosliza was seeking came after Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and the six other judges went through extensive facts and evidence that showed Rosliza was never a Muslim and concluding that there was “no proof” that she was ever a Muslim, and also facts that showed Rosliza’s mother Yap was not a Muslim or a Malay.
Two judges in today’s Federal Court panel also ruled in Rosliza’s favour, but declined to grant two out of three of the court orders sought, including the declaration that she is not a Muslim, as they felt that the Selangor fatwa committee’s opinion on whether Rosliza was a Muslim at her birth should be sought first.
Noting the Federal Court’s decision that Rosliza as an illegitimate child born to a Buddhist mother is not a Muslim and would therefore not be subject to the Shariah courts’ jurisdiction, Aston said Rosliza will now pursue amendments in official records on her identity.
“The appellant is relieved by the decision of the Federal Court,” Aston said, referring to Rosliza as the appellant.
“The appellant hopes that this decision will move the executive to reconsider its law and policy on affixing religion on the identity cards of Malaysians, and the legislature to consider law reform on disputes affecting the legal status of Malaysians like her,” he said, referring to the two other arms of the government — executive and legislative. The three branches of the government are the executive, the legislature and judiciary.
“The appellant will now take steps to rectify all her official records with the government to accurately reflect who she is following the Federal Court’s decision today,” he added.
Other lawyers who had represented Rosliza include Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, Yasmeen Soh, Karluis Quek, Quratulain Atiqah and Michael Cheah Ern Tien.
MORE TO COME