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Saturday August 11, 2007

Woman in bid to renounce Islam told to get counselling

Siti Fatimah: Claimed she had converted for the sake of marrying an Iranian in 1999
PENANG: A Syariah High Court here has asked a woman who wants to renounce Islam to first get counselling from the state Islamic Affairs Department.

The court postponed its decision on the application by Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah to Dec 3, pending a report from the department's ukhwah unit (a Muslim fellowship unit).

Judge Othman Ibrahim Othman instructed the court registrar to write to the unit to assist Siti Fatimah in religious matters.

Met after the postponement of the case, she said she did not understand the court’s instruction and would seek a clarification from her counsel, Ahmad Jailani Abdul Ghani.

A Chinese by birth, Siti Fatimah, from Nibong Tebal, filed the application in May last year.

In her affidavit to renounce the faith, the 38-year-old woman, whose Chinese name is Tan Ean Huang, said she converted to Islam in July 1998 but had not practised its teachings.

She claimed she had converted for the sake of marrying an Iranian named Ferdoun Ashanian in 1999, but he left her a few months later. She said she has no knowledge of his whereabouts.

Siti Fatimah said she had maintained her Buddhist leanings and prayed to deities like Tua Pek Kong, Kuan Yin and Thi Kong.

She wants the state Islamic Affairs Council to declare that she is no longer a Muslim, under Section 61 (3) of the Penang Islamic Administration Enactment.

She also wants the court to change the religious status on her identity card from Muslim to Buddhist.

Ahmad Munawir Abdul Aziz represented the council.

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