However, the plight faced by Nor Arlene Ruffin is one that even an experienced Shariah lawyer whom FMT spoke to, found to be complicated, due to an alleged “oversight” by the National Registration Department (NRD).
FMT recently reported that Arlene, 30, had not been able to see her daughter for more than a year after the child’s father, Mohd Izam Mohd Ramzan, took away the child in February last year, and refused to return her to the mother.
The couple had gotten married in Thailand two months after Arlene had given birth out of wedlock in Malaysia, back in 2007.
The marriage was not legally registered here and just two months later, Izam divorced Arlene by pronouncing the “talak”, which in Islam, ended their marital union.
They went their separate ways without undergoing proper legal proceedings for divorce through the Shariah court. Arlene married another man three years later (2010), with whom she had two children.
As Arlene and Izam’s daughter was considered illegitimate under Shariah law, the father’s name had been omitted from the relevant column in the birth certificate.
In December 2014, the estranged couple went to the NRD to include Izam’s name as the child’s father, which the department did, based on the Thai marriage certificate they had provided.
This move has also raised questions over the actions by the NRD in allowing the alteration, given that Thai marriage certificates are not recognised locally, until and unless, it is approved by the Shariah Court.
NRD’s apparent “oversight” may however, work in Izam’s favour, in providing him legal custody of the child, according to Muslim Lawyers Association president Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar.
“He (Izam) can no longer be considered to have kidnapped the child as by having his name in the certificate, he is now legally recognised as the father.
“Unless the Shariah Court provides her (Arlene) with custodial rights, which he refuses to comply with, only then will it be a kidnapping case,” Zainul said.
Meanwhile, Izam and Arlene also face the possibility of a fine and serving jail time for having gotten married in Thailand and not registering it upon their return.
According to Section 35 of the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territory) Act 1984, if a marriage that had taken place outside the country was not registred with the local Shariah authority within six months of the union, a couple can face a fine of not more than RM1,000, prison term of maximum six months, or both.
Aside from that, questions have also been raised on the date stated on the Thai marriage certificate.
Arlene says that they had asked the “kadi” (Muslim marriage officer)in Thailand to backdate the certificate to make it appear as if they were married before the child was born, while Izam contradicts her story by saying they had merely registered the marriage late.
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