 Ms Joy was disowned by her family and forced to quit her job |
A three-judge panel ruled that only the country's Sharia Court could let Azlina Jailani, now known as Lina Joy, remove the word Islam from her identity card.
Malaysia's constitution guarantees freedom of worship but says all ethnic Malays are Muslim. Under Sharia law, Muslims are not allowed to convert.
Ms Joy said she should not be bound by that law as she is no longer a Muslim.
Death threats
Malaysia's Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim said the panel endorsed legal precedents giving Islamic Sharia courts jurisdiction over cases involving Muslims who want to convert.
About 200 protesters shouted "Allah-o-Akbar" (God is great) outside the court when the ruling was announced.
"You can't at whim and fancy convert from one religion to another," Ahmad Fairuz said.
Ms Joy's case has tested the limits of religious freedom in Malaysia.
She started attending church in 1990 and was baptised in 1998.
In 2000, Ms Joy, 42, went to the High Court after the National Registration Department refused to remove "Islam" from the religion column on her identity card. The court said it was a matter for Sharia courts. Tuesday's ruling marked the end of her final appeal.
Ms Joy has been disowned by her family and forced to quit her job. She went into hiding last year. A Muslim lawyer who supported her case received death threats.
Sharia courts decide on civil cases involving Malaysian Muslims - nearly 60% of the country's 26 million people - while ethnic minorities such as Chinese and Indians are governed by civil courts in the multi-racial country.Well, this was expected. Again, the sanctity of the Federal Constitution as the ruling law over all Malaysian citizens is violated. It is ironic that the dominant group in Malaysia, the Muslims, are not given the right to choose to enter or exit their own religion. Freedom of religion is a basic human right; yet, even the most powerful group in Malaysia are not accorded that simple right.
Is there a silver lining in this dismal event? Perhaps...possible riots were averted. But, how long can they keep this up? Might the Malay Muslims rise up to demand the right to choose their own religion? Most probably not...probably because many perceive that the cost of a human right is a small price to pay for an uncountable number of advantages--political, cultural, and social. Correct me if I'm wrong...but Prophet Muhammad never forced Muslims to remain Muslims. It was not a legal crime to commit apostasy.
7 comments:
i did psychology in SEGi, just like ur friend... lenient? i don't think so... i was the top 5% in the class, and i normally received Bs in my psychology papers, i even got a C for my research!! everybody says that Jasan is hard to deal with when it comes to grades, and ur friend tells u other wise... hmm... i wonder if i know ur friend...
marius, tell u something, i worked so hard, and i was one of the top in the whole school, and i only graduated with "magna cum laude"... tell me if ur friend graduates with "summa cum laude" ya...
by the way... Jason NEVER SKIP CLASS!!!!!!!
for god sake.... how dare u say this when u are not even in the class... i feel really really sorry for him... watch ur mouth!
There's no need to get so uptight. I'm only reporting what my friend told me. And she's not the only one who said so. Some other people also told me that the psychology degree in Segi does not have very high standards.
Then again, ,perhaps they were talking about other lecturers, not Jason.
it's not about being uptight... in SEGi, there is only 1 Psychology lecturer, that's Jason, and the rest, if im not mistaken, 2-3 of them are part-timers who teach only 2-3 subjects.
many of them talking about the psychology lecturer? were ur friend from HELP? HELP is a totally different institution with a totally different culture, i was from HELP, i hated the system, therefore i transfered...
i graduated last year, and i was the top in the psychology batch, and i only graduated with magna cum laude... maybe ur friend is a genius.... and i really want to know who ur friend is...
Ahh...well, different people have different perceptions. Yes, the people who told me about Segi's so-called bad standards were from HELP. They preferred HELP. *shrug*
Shows you how people look at things differently, I suppose.
How long were you at HELP before you transferred, btw?
i think those HELP fellas who don't enjoy their classes should go back to HELP, i mean it, i told them before, i said to my class once "if you don't like him, go back to HELP, Winnie is still there, but they ignore me!" don't u think it's bad and rude when u are in the college studying, refuse to transfer and you are bad-mouthing about the college and the lecturer at the same time... it feels so much like a spy... to me, if i don't like the college and the lecturers, off i go! because i pay! why waste my money on something that i don't like? don't u agree?
i was in HELP for 3 semesters, that's a year! i started hating them when i was in my second sem... then after my third sem, i joined my communications faculty friends to transfer to SEGi. since then... i didn't complain much... well.... almost zero...
honestly, HELP fellas like me... hmm... how do i explain ya.... well... some of us are not so welcome here... not because we are from HELP, but because among us, there are people like ur friends... studying here and bad-mouthing about the lecturers... that disgusts other students...
it's not only about perception and opinion, but about being ethical. imagine u as the lecturer, the same thing happen to u...
to me, jason is a good lecturer who thinks for the students. although he pulled down my grades... well... pulled down a lot, in fact... that's why i only managed to get a "magna"... still i am thankful to him...
talking about being lenient.... believe it or not? my results at HELP was WAY WAY WAY better. my CGPA was 3.86! maybe i should start telling people HELP lecturers are lenient! *kidding* i love Dr. Harith... huhu...
Haha. I see...well, I'm glad that you were top of the school. :-) Where are you working now (if you are)?
yes i am working, in fact, i started working right after i finished studying... should have stayed home for 1-2 months before starting my career...
well, i am a psychology and communications graduate. i got a job in NY, working for one of the top leather goods companies, u can see the brand in malaysia, KLCC. i am working in their PR and customer servising department.
but my passion is in psychology, so i am planning to go back to school to do my master's degree in clinical psychology next year, hopefully Columbia University as it is the nearest University to my place and they have quality, just they are a bit pricey... i'll see how everything goes... then i'll decide...
cheerz...
Post a Comment