Malaysia: Islamic groups none too pleased about ban on "automatic" conversions of children when one parent converts to Islam
Conversion ban slammed
By Elizabeth Looi, Malaysia Correspondent
The Muslim groups say the decision betrayed the religion and infringed on the powers of the Islamic court and the Malay sultans, who have final say on issues involving Islam
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Cabinet's decision to ban religious conversions of young children has been slammed by various Muslim groups and some leaders of opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).
The Cabinet had decided last week that minors should be raised according to their parents' common religion when they got married, even after one parent converted.
The Muslim groups say the decision betrayed the religion and infringed on the powers of the Islamic court and the Malay sultans, who have final say on issues involving Islam.
The critics also felt the decision made by Prime Minister Najib Razak's administration was solely to regain the trust of non-Malays, but warned that this could be at the expense of Malay votes.
Their angst was in marked contrast to the reaction of non-Muslims, who hailed the ruling as providing a way out of a string of controversial cases that have raised racial and religious tensions.
Some 100 youth wing members of PAS yesterday held a brief protest against the ruling at a mosque here.
The Cabinet 'is not qualified to issue decisions and directions beyond its scope of power, especially in issues involving religion', said PAS youth leader Kamaruzaman Mohamad.
Jemaah Islah president Zaid Kamaruddin said 'the Cabinet has not taken into account the opinions of the majority (Malay Muslims)'.
The Cabinet made its ruling after a new case of a parent of a non-Muslim family converting to Islam, and then converting the young children without the knowledge of the spouse.
PAS lawmaker Mahfuz Omar said the Cabinet has 'directly ignored the role of the country's rulers...They have betrayed Islam and the Muslim community'.