The Malaysian International Mediation Centre (MIMC), a body under the Malaysian Bar, commended the proposal by religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar as it was a pertinent matter.

“This is an ongoing, unresolved issue which has been long plaguing many Malaysian families,” MIMC chairman Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor said in a statement today.

Yesterday, Na’im said the mediation process to resolve child custody disputes involving Muslims and non-Muslims required a suitable platform for parties involved to resolve the matter outside of court in an “informal manner”.

He acknowledged that the proposal must be studied further, and stressed the importance of appointing shariah law experts, civil law experts and child specialists as mediators.

He was commenting on a viral video of a mother being separated from her nine-year-old child after the Kuantan High Court gave the father custody over the child through a habeas corpus order.

The couple is reported to be divorced. The mother, who has embraced Islam, is said to have been taking care of the child.

Fareed said MIMC was willing to engage with Na’im and other stakeholders to discuss the proposal, adding that a mediation centre was the way forward to put an end to this “inter-religious conundrum”.