Islamization and Activism in Malaysia

4. Conflict of Jurisdiction: Civil versus Syariah Law

62 4 CONFLICT฀OF฀JURISDICTION฀฀ Civil฀versus฀Syariah฀Law This฀chapter฀explores฀the฀legal฀contest฀over฀the฀interpretation฀of฀two฀articles฀ of฀ Malaysia’s฀ Constitution:฀ Article฀ 3,฀ which฀ declares฀ that฀ “Islam฀ is฀ the฀ religion฀ of฀ the฀ federation”,฀ and฀ Article฀ 11,฀ which฀ outlines฀ the฀ liberty฀ of฀ freedom฀of฀religion.฀The฀prism฀through฀which฀this฀contest฀is฀examined฀is฀ the฀case฀of฀Lina฀Joy,฀a฀woman฀who฀wished฀to฀officially฀change฀her฀religion฀ from฀Islam฀to฀Christianity.฀ Lina฀Joy’s฀series฀of฀hearings฀from฀the฀High฀Court฀through฀to฀the฀highest฀ court฀of฀the฀land1 ฀attracted฀a฀great฀deal฀of฀(often฀heated)฀public฀attention฀ and฀ spawned฀ the฀ freedom฀ of฀ religion฀ movement฀ described฀ in฀ Chapter฀ 6.฀ Her฀case฀crystallized฀the฀debate฀over฀whether฀Malaysia฀was฀fundamentally฀ ฀ guided฀by฀a฀liberal฀interpretation฀of฀the฀Constitution฀or฀by฀Islamic฀orthodoxy.฀ If฀ Lina฀ Joy฀ was฀ to฀ be฀ given฀ the฀ right฀ to฀ convert฀ to฀ Christianity฀ without฀ hindrance,฀as฀her฀counsel฀argued฀she฀ought฀to฀be,฀Malaysia฀could฀be฀seen฀ as฀secular.฀If฀she฀was฀prevented฀from฀so฀doing,฀or฀required฀the฀consent฀of฀ the฀Syariah฀courts,฀Islam฀could฀be฀regarded฀as฀forming฀the฀framework฀of฀ Malaysian฀politics฀and฀law. While฀she฀lost฀her฀final฀hearing฀in฀the฀Federal฀Court฀on฀30฀May฀2007,฀ the฀discourses฀deployed฀during฀her฀case฀tell฀us฀a฀great฀deal฀about฀the฀legal฀ and฀political฀climate฀in฀contemporary฀Malaysia.฀I฀recount฀below฀one฀particular ฀day฀of฀a฀hearing฀in฀the฀Court฀of฀Appeal.฀A฀point฀of฀interest฀is฀the฀ response฀of฀this฀woman’s฀counsel฀when฀the฀broader฀constitutional฀approach,฀ ฀ 62 05 I&AM.indd 62 3/22/10 2:54:03 PM Conflict฀of฀Jurisdiction:฀Civil฀versus฀Syariah฀Law฀ 63 in฀ which฀ a฀ liberal฀ interpretation฀ of฀ Article฀ 11฀ was฀ defended,฀ was฀ coldly฀ received฀by฀the฀judges.฀When฀this฀occurred,฀her฀counsel฀turned฀to฀a฀technical฀ argument฀founded฀on฀a฀legal฀loophole฀which฀I฀examine.฀I฀should฀note฀here฀ that฀the฀readers’฀comprehension฀of฀these฀legal฀arguments฀is฀not฀necessary฀ for฀understanding฀the฀broader฀points฀of฀three฀lawyers฀whose฀views฀on฀the฀ particular฀laws฀in฀question฀in฀the฀case฀I฀later฀recount. THE฀CASE฀OF฀LINA฀JOY Lina฀Joy฀was฀born฀to฀Muslim฀parents฀and฀named฀Azlina฀binte฀Jailani.฀On฀ 21฀February฀1997,฀when฀she฀was฀thirty-three฀years฀old,฀she฀applied฀to฀the฀ National฀ Registration฀ Department฀ (NRD)฀ in฀ Malaysia฀ to฀ have฀ her฀ name฀ changed฀ from฀ Azlina฀ binte฀ Jailani฀ to฀ Lina฀ Lelani.฀ This฀ was฀ intended฀ to฀ indicate฀her฀conversion฀from฀Islam.฀She฀had฀also฀stated฀in฀an฀affidavit฀that฀ she฀had฀converted฀to฀Christianity฀and฀had฀been฀baptized฀in฀a฀church.฀She฀ also฀intended฀to฀marry฀a฀Christian฀man.฀After฀her฀application฀was฀rejected฀ by฀the฀NRD฀she฀applied฀again฀to฀have฀her฀name฀changed฀to฀Lina฀Joy.฀She฀ also฀applied฀to฀have฀the฀word฀“Islam”฀removed฀from฀her฀new฀identity฀card฀ (known฀as฀a฀MyKad)฀(Faiza฀2004,฀p.฀119).฀ Her฀applications฀for฀a฀change฀of฀name฀from฀a฀Muslim฀name฀to฀a฀nonMuslim ฀name฀and฀for฀the฀removal฀of฀the฀word฀“Islam”฀from฀her฀MyKad฀ were฀rejected฀by฀the฀NRD฀because฀these฀would฀have฀indicated฀that฀she฀had฀ left฀Islam.฀The฀NRD฀deemed฀that฀because฀she฀is฀a฀Muslim,฀she฀required฀a฀ letter฀from฀the฀Syariah฀court฀to฀affirm฀or฀declare฀that฀she฀was฀no฀longer฀a฀ Muslim.฀It฀is฀worth฀noting฀briefly฀here฀that฀the฀Syariah฀court฀is฀a฀state฀and฀ territory฀level฀court฀because฀the฀administration฀of฀the฀affairs฀of฀Muslims฀in฀ Malaysia฀is฀controlled฀at฀the฀state฀and฀territory฀level.฀Each฀state฀and฀territory฀ has฀ a฀ different฀ set฀ of฀ Syariah฀ laws฀ which฀ are฀ legislated฀ by฀ the฀ relevant฀ parliaments.฀ Lina฀ Joy’s฀ applications฀ were฀ made฀ in฀ the฀ territory฀ of฀ Kuala฀ Lumpur฀ which฀ is฀ subject฀ to฀ the฀ Syariah฀ Criminal฀ Offences฀ Act฀ 1997.฀ Although฀ this฀ Act฀ does฀ not฀ list฀ apostasy฀ as฀ an฀ offence,฀ one฀ who฀ wished฀ to฀ convert฀ from฀ Islam฀ could฀ be฀ regarded฀ as฀ committing฀ the฀ offence฀ of฀ takfir.฀ Takfir฀ is฀the฀making฀of฀an฀accusation฀that฀a฀person฀or฀group฀of฀persons฀is฀either฀ ฀ (1)฀a฀non-Muslim,฀(2)฀has฀ceased฀to฀profess฀Islam,฀(3)฀should฀not฀or฀cannot฀ be฀ accepted฀ as฀ professing฀ the฀ Islamic฀ religion,฀ or฀ (4)฀ does฀ not฀ believe,฀ follow,฀ profess฀ or฀ belong฀ to฀ the฀ Islamic฀ religion฀ (Kairos฀ 2004,฀ p.฀ 42).฀ Lina฀ Joy’s฀ lawyers฀ argued฀ that฀ she฀ should฀ be฀ able฀ to฀ change฀ her฀ religion฀ without฀hindrance฀as฀per฀her฀right฀as฀a฀Malaysian฀under฀Article฀11฀of฀the฀ ฀ Constitution. 05 I&AM.indd 63 3/22/10 2:54:03 PM [3.149.214.32...