UPDATED

Source: The Malay Mail Online

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 11 — The Court of Appeal allowed today a woman’s appeal for a legal declaration that Shariah courts do not have jurisdiction over her, after the High Court dismissed her application earlier this year.

Rosliza Ibrahim, a 35-year-old who was born out of wedlock to a Muslim father and a Buddhist mother, is seeking the declaration after having grown up as a practising Buddhist all her life.

A three-member panel led by Justice Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim ruled that the matter be remitted back to the Shah Alam High Court, to be heard in front of a different judge.

Rosliza’s lawyer Aston Paiva earlier argued that the case must be referred back to the High Court as there were speculations regarding her parents’ marital status in the High Court judgement that needs to be clarified. Read more →

Source: The Malay Mail Online

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 11 — Despite her name, Rosliza Ibrahim is a Buddhist. She was born 35 years ago to a Buddhist mother, who raised her as a Buddhist, and continues to practise Buddhism today.

Yet, the state religious authorities in Selangor, where she currently resides, regard her as a Muslim and subject to Shariah law because she was born to a Muslim father, although out of wedlock.

“Her Constitutional right to religious freedom and disposition of property are all adversely affected. She cannot go to the Shariah court as, by law, she is not even a Muslim in the first place. Thus there is no question of leaving Islam.

“She won’t be able to get married to a person of her choice,” Rosliza’s lawyer, Aston Paiva, told Malay Mail Online yesterday. Read more →