SITI NOORARINA BINTI ABDULLAH v 1. ) MAJLIS AGAMA ISLAM SELANGOR (MAIS) 2. ) Kerajaan Negeri Selangor
Catchwords
Administrative law – application by a 35-year-old woman seeking a declaration that she is not a Muslim and her conversion some 21 years ago is void ab initio - the mere fact that a unilateral minor’s conversion does not, in and of itself, render that conversion invalid - the Court is a duty bound to adopt a holistic approach, evaluating all relevant factual circumstances to determine, as a threshold issue, whether the minor had never been a Muslim - the invalidity of a minor’s conversion does not ipso facto mean the minor is deemed never to have been a Muslim - it is incumbent upon the Court to examine the entire factual matrix, spanning from the minor’s initial conversion up to the filing of the summons The Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003 - s. 117(b) of the Enactment phrases the consent mechanism in the singular and separates the relevant parties disjunctively with the word “or” instead of “and” - the clear import of the phrase “ibu, bapa atau penjaga” (mother, father or guardian) is that the statutory criteria are satisfied if any single qualifying party consents to the conversion - as the Purported Conversion was grounded upon the valid consent of the Plaintiff’s mother, the condition set out in s. 117(b) of the Selangor Islamic Enactment has been satisfied - S. 61(3)(b)(x) of the Selangor Islamic Enactment expressly vests the Syariah courts with the exclusive power to declare that a person has ceased to profess the religion of Islam - since the Plaintiff’s prayer in this court is for a declaration that she is not (or no longer) a Muslim, it falls squarely within the ambit of the Syariah court’s jurisdiction
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Judges (1)
Judgment
Read the full judgment on the official Malaysia Courts portal.
Read on eJudgmentSource: eJudgment (bl-24ncvc-35-02-2025)