“The usage of ‘bin Abdullah’ for Muslim children born out of wedlock carries a social stigma as they are often bullied, ridiculed, attacked and targeted,” SIS said in a statement today.

SIS said although the decision was a positive move, it was concerned with a Sarawak fatwa, gazetted early this year, that stated that children born out of wedlock must carry “Abdullah” as their second name.

“We have time and again called for greater balance in the promulgation of Islamic laws and fatwas. The most important tenets of Islam – justice, compassion, harmony must be the guiding factor.

“It is clear that this fatwa on children born out of wedlock causes harm and is not beneficial to the welfare or in the best interest of the child,” it said.

The group was referring to the ruling made by High Court judicial commissioner Christopher Chin Soo Yin in April, after the court took into account the boy’s best interest and which it said was in line with the adoptive Muslim parents’ wishes and requests.

Chin, in his written judgment, ordered the Sibu district officer and the National Registration Department (JPN) to drop “bin Abdullah” from the boy’s name and substitute it with the name “in accordance to the wishes of his (adoptive) parents”.

The toddler, born in 2018, was adopted by his foster parents in the same year. The parents gave the boy a new name, which includes the adoptive father’s name.

Despite a change of name, the boy’s birth certificate still had “bin Abdullah”, prompting the parents to file a suit against the Sibu district officer, compelling the state government to remove it from the boy’s official records.

The group said the compassion shown by the Sarawak court was however not reflected in the case involving a child born out of wedlock in Johor, referring to a Federal Court decision last year that ruled children born out of wedlock cannot carry their fathers’ names.