PETALING JAYA: The Ipoh High Court has ruled in favour of a 26-year-old man seeking to be legally recognised as a Hindu, declaring that he is not a Muslim.
Justice Bhupinder Singh said there was no proof that the man – who sued the National Registration Department (JPN) and the Perak Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIPk) – had ever professed Islam, FMT reported.
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“The (MAIPk) officer also confirmed that the plaintiff never converted to Islam based on the state’s records,” he said.
The man, a Teluk Intan resident, was born to a Hindu mother and a Muslim convert father who left soon after his birth.
His parents were married in a temple ceremony but never registered their marriage under shariah or civil law.
After his mother’s death in 2007, he and his two older sisters were raised by their aunt.
He told the court he has practised Hinduism all his life and never embraced Islam.
In 2012, he was issued an identity card bearing the word “Islam,” which he said was because of his father’s religion.
His application to remove the word in 2021 was rejected by JPN, prompting him to file the lawsuit.
Justice Bhupinder said the court was guided by the Federal Court’s precedent in the case of Rosliza Ibrahim, who was similarly declared not to be a Muslim due to the absence of evidence that she professed the Islamic faith.
He also dismissed MAIPk’s argument that the man must be considered a Muslim since his IC listed “Islam.”
“An identity card is not conclusive evidence of one’s religious identity. The defendant claimed he is a Muslim, and they need to back up this claim,” he stressed.
The court further noted that because the man’s parents were never legally married, he could not be deemed to have inherited his father’s religion.