Standard news

Not NRD’s Place To Query Religious Status Change, Lawyers Say

Lawyers are disputing the National Registration Department’s (NRD) requirement of a Shariah court order before it will remove the status “Islam” from the records of Malaysians, contending that the rule was arbitrary and unconstitutional.

Although acknowledging a Federal Court decision that says the NRD has the right to impose the requirement, the lawyers stressed that bureaucracy should not prevent anyone from exercising their constitutional right to religious freedom.

Read more »

Pope Francis Meets Meriam Ibrahim At Vatican

Pope Francis has met with the young Sudanese who was imprisoned and sentenced to death for marrying a Christian.

The Holy Father met with Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, 27, at 1 p.m. in Casa Santa Marta at the Vatican, reported the Sismografo.

Ibrahim arrived in Rome this morning on an Italian government plane. Meriam was accompanied by her husband, Daniel Wani, and their two young children, Martin, 18 months old, and Maya, born in prison two months ago. Read more »

Two Judges Recuse Themselves From Contentious Interfaith Custody Cases

The two judges who had advised the attorney-general (A-G) on unilateral child conversions have disqualified themselves from hearing two contentious interfaith custody cases.

Datuk Linton Albert, who chaired the three-man bench, told the Court of Appeal that Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid had opted out to avoid conflict of interest.

"I have consulted them and they have recused themselves because justice must also be seen to be done." Read more »

Hamid Revealed Racial Prejudice In High Court Judgment, Says Retired Judge

Former chief justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad, who has come under fire for his incendiary comments that the position of Islam is under threat in Penang, had revealed his racial and religious prejudice in a decision on a civil case which he heard as a High Court judge in the 90s, says a former federal court judge.

Retired Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram said he had sat on a Court of Appeal bench in 1996 which came across Hamid’s decision in a civil case that belied his prejudice. Read more »

Christians Worldwide Mobilize For Iraqi Church

“We need more than words now, we need concrete actions; we need the solidarity of Christians worldwide not to be afraid to talk about this tragedy”, says Archbishop Amel Nona of Mosul speaking to Vatican Radio over the phone from Nineveh province, Northern Iraq.

As if in response to this plea, over the past 24 hours, a campaign has been mounting in the global twitter sphere to stand with Iraqi Christians under the hashtag #WeAreN: This refers to the Arabic letter ن, or "n", which Islamic State militants have left on some doorways in areas under their control to indicate that the inhabitants are "Nazarene" or Christian. Read more »

High Court Orders Return Of “Allah” CDs

The High Court today ordered the eight “Allah” CDs which the Home Ministry confiscated more than six years ago to be returned to clerk Jill Ireland.

Kuala Lumpur High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) judge Justice Zaleha Yusof quashed the Home Minister’s decision to seize the religious CDs on the grounds that the CDs used prohibited terms and breached Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim) guidelines.

She also ordered the CDs returned to the owner. Read more »

No Survey Will Stop Us From Enforcing Hudud, It’s God’s Orders, Says PAS

PAS will remain undeterred in their move to enforce hudud in Kelantan, despite the latest survey by an independent pollster showing Malaysians were not in favour of it, the party’s vice-president said today.

“No matter how many surveys are conducted, hudud is still compulsory for Muslims.

“PAS wants to implement hudud not because of any surveys or research but because it is God’s orders,” Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man told The Malaysian Insider. Read more »

Christ The Teacher: The Kingdom Is Like Treasure Buried In A Field

Three parables follow in quick succession – the treasure in the field, the pearl of great price, and the dragnet which brings in a haul of fish.

All these are stories of the Kingdom of Heaven seen from different points of view.

The first two parables – the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price – are addressed to the individual, unlike most other parables which are addressed to the group. Read more »

Only One Way Out For Malaysians Seeking To Drop Muslim Status?

Do Malaysians who no longer identify as Muslims have any recourse beyond subjecting themselves to the Shariah system that only recognises adherents of Islam?

With the recent furore over the disruptions of a Taoist funeral and a Hindu wedding by state religious authorities claiming that Muslims were involved, renewed attention has been focused on non―Muslims wishing to dispute official records of their Muslim identity. Read more »

Path To Leave Islam Simple But Far From Easy

An Indian woman whose Hindu wedding was recently disrupted by Selangor Islamic officials insisting she is Muslim despite her efforts to leave Islam has again put the spotlight on the difficulties in exiting the religion.

Like many Malaysians who dispute their official identities as Muslims, she was told to go to the Shariah courts in order to remove the status from her official documents. Read more »

Syndicate content