NURISAH BINTI ABDULLAH v 1. ) Majlis Agama Islam Melaka 2. ) Kerajaan Negeri Melaka 3. ) KETUA PENGARAH JABATAN PENDAFTARAN NEGARA
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NO. SAMAN PEMULA: MA-24-5-07/2025 Keywords NURISAH BINTI ABDULLAH v. MAJLIS AGAMA ISLAM MELAKA & 2 OTHERS Religion — Conversion to Islam — Minor’s conversion — Plaintiff registered as Muslim during minority pursuant to mother’s consent — Whether Plaintiff proved she never affirmatively professed Islam — Whether post-majority continuation of Muslim identity constituted affirmative manifestation of profession — Whether conversion void ab initio Constitutional Law — Freedom of religion — Civil Court jurisdiction — Distinction between ab initio claim and renunciation of Islam — Whether Civil Court had jurisdiction to determine whether Plaintiff ever fell within constitutional category of “persons professing the religion of Islam” — Federal Constitution arts 11(1), 12(4), 121(1A), Ninth Schedule List II Item 1 Religion — Conversion to Islam — Affirmative profession — Meaning and scope — Whether profession distinct from religious practice — Whether continuous Hindu religious practice sufficient to establish absence of profession of Islam — Whether legal status determined by totality of evidential matrix Religion — Conversion to Islam — Minor convert — Post-majority conduct — Whether continued use of Muslim name and MyKad recording Islam after attaining majority weighed against ab initio claim — Whether legally cognisable repudiation of registered religious status required Religion — Conversion to Islam — Certificate of conversion — Evidential effect — Whether certificate issued under s 100(2) Enakmen Pentadbiran Agama Islam (Negeri Melaka) 2002 conclusive only as to facts stated and not legal validity — Whether contemporaneous statutory record displaced by later affidavits alleging coercion Religion — Conversion to Islam — Parental consent — Applicability of Indira Gandhi — Whether requirement of dual parental consent applied retrospectively to conversion registered before Federal Court decision — Whether mother’s consent alone sufficient under s 105 Enakmen Pentadbiran Agama Islam (Negeri Melaka) 2002 Family Law — Legitimacy — Unregistered customary marriage — Whether Plaintiff legitimate under s 75(2) Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 notwithstanding unregistered Hindu customary marriage — Whether father possessed legal rights in relation to child for purposes of art 12(4) Federal Constitution Evidence — Affidavit evidence — Weight of contemporaneous documents — Whether later supplementary affidavits contradicting earlier statutory declaration reliable — Whether allegations of coercion established on balance of probabilities Administrative Law — Judicial review — Originating summons — Whether challenge to legal and religious status properly commenced by originating summons rather than judicial review proceedings Equity — Declaratory relief — Delay, laches and acquiescence — Plaintiff commencing proceedings approximately 10 years after attaining majority — Whether unexplained continuation of registered Muslim identity and forensic prejudice justified refusal of declaratory relief under s 41 Specific Relief Act 1950 Religion — MyKad religious status — Evidential value — Whether MyKad entry recording Islam conclusive proof of religious identity — Weight of official records in determining profession of Islam Constitutional Law — Syariah jurisdiction — Whether acceptance of Plaintiff’s argument would collapse distinction between ab initio claims and renunciation claims under Rosliza and Lina Joy
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Judgment
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