In delivering the majority decision, Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim said he and Justice Abu Bakar Jais were of the view that her appeal had no merit.

Justice Mary Lim dissented.

The woman, who originally professed the Hindu faith, was still a child when she was converted to Islam unilaterally by her mother at the Selangor Islamic religious department’s (Jais) office in 1991.

The conversion took place while her parents were in the midst of a divorce, which was finalised in 1992. Her mother went on to marry a Muslim man in 1993, while her father died in an accident three years later.

The woman, born in 1986, contended that despite her conversion to Islam, her mother and stepfather allowed her to continue practising the Hindu faith, which she had been born into.

Abang Iskandar said there was no dispute that the woman had gone to the shariah courts in Kuala Lumpur previously, seeking to renounce Islam.

“This case is peculiar. Although her conversion (to Islam) when she was a child was invalid, the illegality does not mean that she was ‘never a Muslim’ like Rosliza Ibrahim,” he said.

In 2021, the Federal Court hearing Rosliza’s case accepted evidence showing she was raised by a Buddhist mother. The apex court also found that there was no evidence to prove Rosliza professed Islam and concluded that she was never a Muslim.

In this case, Abang Iskandar said, the shariah courts’ decision to dismiss the woman’s application to renounce Islam still stands.

“Until and unless they are set aside, these orders are valid and enforceable,” he said.

Shariah courts’ decision invalid, says dissenting judge

Dissenting from the majority, Lim said the shariah courts in Kuala Lumpur had no jurisdiction to hear the woman’s application in the first place. This was because the purported conversion took place in Shah Alam, she said.

“Each state has its own laws (governing the Islamic) religion.

“The federal territories’ shariah courts have no jurisdiction to adjudicate the Administration of Religion of Islam (Selangor) Enactment (which governs the conversion of individuals to Islam).

“(The decision of the shariah court) is rendered null and void on grounds of jurisdiction,” she said.

Unlike the majority of judges, Lim found the case before her to be similar to Rosliza’s.

“She (the appellant) was not born a Muslim and was unilaterally converted by her mother when she was a child,” she said.

She also said a person can only be assumed to be a Muslim if she utters with understanding the affirmation of faith (kalimah shahadah).

Lim said the woman’s previous application for renunciation at the shariah courts should not be taken as submission to the jurisdiction of the Islamic court.

“She took the measure following the Federal Court decision in (the case concerning) Lina Joy (who wanted to renounce Islam for Christianity).

“Others (who wanted to renounce Islam) could have done the same, given the prevailing jurisprudence,” she said.

The woman was represented by lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Surendra Ananth, while Haniff Khatri Abdulla and Majdah Muda appeared for the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais)

State legal adviser Salim Soib @ Hamid appeared for the Selangor government, which was named a co-respondent.