KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - A Malaysian woman who was born a Muslim but converted to Christianity took the government to court on Wednesday for ruling she needs permission from an Islamic court before removing her original religion from her identity card.
The woman, whose request for anonymity highlights the sensitivity of the issue in Malaysia, says the country's constitution guarantees freedom of religion and should therefore allow her to leave Islam if she wishes.
But lawyers defending the government at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur say that the freedom is not absolute and should be subject to other sections of the constitution -- like one allowing religious groups to manage their own affairs.
The case highlights growing tension in this multi-cultural nation between traditional Islam and a more liberal approach to religion that stresses the freedom to choose.
A few years ago a Malay woman was "kidnapped" by her parents after it was reported that she had become a Christian, and her boyfriend received death threats, lawyers said.
CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS
Two state governments last year proposed sending Muslims who wanted to leave Islam for mandatory terms at a rehabilitation centre to reconsider their apostasy.
The central government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad -- himself a moderate Muslim -- blocked the proposal but then started drafting its own apostasy law.
That plan was shelved after quiet protests from various groups, including a petition from 29 Muslim businessmen.
In the 1990s Mahathir thwarted an attempt by the opposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) to introduce the death penalty for apostates in the northeast state of Kelantan, which it rules.
PAS is gaining political strength and with it comes a higher profile for the conservative brand of Islam the party promotes. PAS has fined Muslim women who don't wear headscarves and closed bars and other entertainment outlets.
Islam is the official religion of the country of 22 million people but citizens practise other religions -- mainly Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism -- usually undisturbed.
For most Muslim Malays leaving Islam is unthinkable.
"You are born into (Islam) you must follow it," a Muslim salesman in Kelantan's capital Kota Baru told Reuters recently.
The woman at the centre of the court case was baptised in 1998 after attending church since 1990.
She wants to have "Muslim" removed from her identity card so she can document her upcoming marriage at the civil registry.
Her lawyers are arguing that section 11 of the constitution means that she doesn't need any prior consent, permission or counselling to leave Islam.
Any decision in the case is expected to be appealed to the Court of Appeal.
Law professor Shad Faruqi told Reuters the fight over the meaning of religious freedom would escalate.
"I think we'll have a tremendous constitutional battle on this issue," Shad told Reuters.
(Marty Logan, +60 3 2275 6831 fax +60 3 232-6752, marty.logan+reuters.com)
09:15 04-18-01
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