PETALING JAYA: Two muftis have criticised the landmark ruling by the Federal Court yesterday to set aside the unilateral conversion to Islam of M Indira Gandhi’s three children, saying it was not in line with the status of Islam in the constitution.

Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria said the court should respect the constitution and the status of Islam as the religion of the federation.

“It should be like that. But this is as though the country has no religion,” he told FMT, hours after the judgment was delivered yesterday.

The ruling put an end to a nine-year interfaith custody battle after Indira’s ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, who converted to Islam, also converted their three children without Indira’s knowledge in 2009.

Riduan had then taken away their youngest daughter Prasana Diksa, then 11 months old.

Indira’s eldest daughter Tevi Darsiny, now 21, was 12 at the time, while her son Karan Dinish, 20, was 11 when their religious status was changed from Hindu to Muslim.

The youngest daughter, Prasana, who turns 10 this year, is believed to be still with her father.

Yesterday’s decision means the conversion certificates of the three children are null and void.

But Harussani said the decision was like “making Hindus of Muslims”.

He said a child will be Muslim when just one of his parents professes the religion.

“If the wife is a Muslim and the husband is not, the child will follow the mother. If the mother is a non-Muslim and her husband a Muslim, the child will follow the father.

“This is under shariah law. No court can change this,” he told FMT.

As such, Harussani said the three children should abide by the religion of the father, unless they had already reached puberty and could choose their own faith.

Pahang mufti Abdul Rahman Osman said he was worried about how the three children would be raised under the care of Indira, who is a Hindu.

“That is a matter of concern,” he said.

But he added that an infant child still being nursed by a non-Muslim mother was an exception.

“Even then, from the point of view of religion, the child cannot practise the religion of the mother. The child has to be nurtured with Islamic teachings,” he said.

He added that the ruling would impact other cases in the long term.

“From the perspective of Islamic law, when a person embraces Islam his children automatically enter the religion,” he said.

“This means that the underaged children follow the religion of whichever parent has taken to Islam.”

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