THE passing of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) (Amendment) Bill 2017 without the clause that would define the religion of children after the conversion of one parent to Islam is a tragedy for Muslims in Malaysia, said a PAS leader.

Party central committee member Dr Riduan Mohd Nor said the passing of the bill was a “huge defeat to Muslim interests and a moral victory for Islam haters in the country”.

“One by one, the rights of Muslims will be stripped, withdrawn and altered by giving all sorts of advantages to apostates,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He said the bill should be withdrawn as it contravened federal laws like Article 121 1A of the Federal Constitution and Section 46(2) of the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territory).

Article 121 1A states that civil courts have no jurisdiction over matters under the purview of shariah courts, while Section 46(2) of the Islamic Family Law states that the conversion to Islam by either party to a non-Muslim marriage shall not dissolve the marriage unless and until confirmed by the court.

“The bill endangers the interests of Muslims. One of the dangers is, a child born to Muslim parents will not be directly compelled to be Muslim,” said Riduan.

“The bill also provides that non-Muslims do not have to embrace Islam if they want to marry a Muslim.

“On the contrary, a Muslim must be allowed to renounce Islam if he or she wants to marry a non-Muslim, without facing any legal action.

“The bill takes away the rights of a Muslim when one parent, who has converted to Islam, is not given custody of his or her child.

“A non-Muslim with family ties with a Muslim must also be given rights to claim inheritance.”

The debate over the bill began at 8.30pm on Wednesday and ended nearly five hours later, with 20-odd MPs taking turns to discuss the clauses and amendments, including the all-important Clause 88A, which was withdrawn on Monday.

Among those who took part in the debate were 13 PAS MPs, Riduan said, adding that it showed that the Islamist party practised no favouritism or sided with the Barisan Nasional government.

Without naming them, he said opposition MPs from other parties were disunited on the matter, and blamed them for not opposing the bill and allowing it to be passed easily.

“There were 141 Muslim MPs in the House from both sides, but none opposed the bill.

“It is strange that Muslims MPs from Amanah and PKR, who say they fight for Islam, did not take part in debating the bill.

“The Speaker easily dismissed PAS MPs’ objections without taking a vote due to insufficient quorum.”

Riduan said this “tragedy” showed the people that the ruling government could not be counted on to defend Islam and that other opposition parties were also not true defenders of Islam, only using the religion to “sell their products”.

“When in tight situations, they will lift up Islam. When they are after something else, they discard Islam.

“Imagine the fate of Muslims if these people rule the country.” – August 11, 2017.