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Court allows Christian husband to block Muslim funeral |
| Jan 4, 08 5:48pm |
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The Kuala Lumpur High Court today granted an order to a non-Muslim husband to bar Islamic authorities from giving his dead wife a Muslim funeral. The tug-of-war over the body of Wong Sau Lan, who died Dec 30, would mean that she will remain unburied until the court determines whether she converted to Islam before her death. Wong's Christian husband, Ngiam Tee Kong, sought the court order after the Federal Territory Islamic Council claimed that Wong had converted to Islam on Dec 24. The religious body sought to bury her according to Muslim rites. Wong’s body would now remain in the Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM) mortuary until the court starts hearing the case on her alleged conversion on Jan 18. Ngiam’s lawyer Karpal Singh was quoted in the media today as saying that it was unclear as to how long the case might take to resolve. Ngiam, a 53-year-old manager of an entertainment outlet, is claiming that his wife, who was 53, remained a Christian at her death and that any conversion was legally invalid. In his affidavit, Ngiam said when he went to HUKM to claim his wife's body, he was informed that it would only be released to him if he confirmed that she was a Muslim at the time of her death. He was also told that the body would be released to him only for having Christian rites to be performed, after which it was to be returned to the hospital for it to be buried according to Muslim rites. Invalid conversion Ngiam said the letter given to him did not state his wife's Muslim name. He said she was a practising Christian at the time of her death. He said the letter of conversion was not in compliance with the provisions of Section 90(1) of the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act, 1993, as it was not given to Wong before her death. Ngiam is seeking, among others, declarations that: – Wong was a Christian at the time of her death; – she did not fully embrace Islam before she died; – she was not a Muslim at the time of her death. He also wants the court to issue an order that he had the right to his wife's body and for the HUKM hospital director to release it to him immediately. This case is the latest in a string of similar cases which have been referred to the civil courts over disputes involving the burial of people whom Muslim authorities claimed had converted to Islam. A national debate erupted when M Moorthy was buried as a Muslim in December 2005, ignoring objections from his Hindu wife, after an Islamic court ruled he had converted from Hinduism before his death. Ethnic Malay Muslims make up about 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people, while the rest are predominantly Buddhists, Hindus or Christians from ethnic Chinese and Indian communities. |
Court allows husband to prevent MAIWP from claiming wife’s body
BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR, Fri:
The High Court (Appeals and Special Powers Division) here today granted temporary injunction to a snooker centre manager to prevent the Federal Territory Islamic Council (MAIWP) from claiming the remains of his wife who died on Sunday.
Justice Lau Bee Lan made the decision after hearing an ex-parte application by lawyer Karpal Singh who representd the plaintiff, Ngiam Tee Kong, 52, in his chamber.
Lau also allowed Ngiam’s application to prevent the Director of Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM), its agents or staff from handing over the remains of his wife, Mong Sau Lan, 53, to MAIWP.
The judge set Jan 18 as the date for hearing of the inter-parte application.
In the writ of summons filed on Jan 2, Ngiam said Mong died on Dec 30 and her remains were being kept at the HUKM morgue.
Ngiam said they were married in 1979 at the Civil Registration Office, Petaling Jaya, and before her death, his wife was practising Christianity.
He said he had made a claim for his wife’s remains at HUKM but was informed (by HUKM) that the handing over of his wife’s remains to him was only for the purpose of performing rituals according to the Christian faith and thereafter the body must be returned to MAIWP for a Muslim burial.
Ngiam said he refused to comply with the request and demanded that his wife’s remains be handed over to him as the legal husband but the defendant disagreed to do so.
He said that on Dec 31, he had received a letter declaring that his wife had converted to Islam authorised by the Director of the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department and according to the letter, his wife had converted to Islam at a house at the Sri Melaka Flats, Cheras, at 10.45am on Dec 24, last year and this had been registered at the department on Dec 31 of the same year.
Ngiam claimed that the declaration of conversion to Islam was not in accordance with the law. – BERNAMA
