IRFN (March 5-13): Malaysian Citizen Wins Conversion Recognition

Mar 13, 2009

Feature: Asma Jahangir gave her report to the UN human rights council on freedom of religion and belief.  Read her full report here.

1.  Ireland: Ban on Religious Advertisements May be Relaxed

DUBLIN – Ireland is set to relax broadcasting legislation on religious advertising in order to avoid further bans on religious promotion, the London Times reported on March 8. Eamon Ryan, the communications minister, plans to allow organizations such as Veritas, a religious bookshop, to advertise on the radio. The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI), which monitors the independent-radio sector, has banned a series of Veritas advertising campaigns in recent years. Government sources say that Ryan is still interested in retaining provisions of the existing law that prevent churches or quasi-religious groups from using the airwaves to recruit members, but that he will introduce legal changes when the broadcasting bill comes back this month to accommodate the spirit of the new code. Over Christmas, Veritas was refused permission for an advertisement on the station RTE and for local stations for “different and thoughtful gifts,” which included books for children.  A member of the public, Peter McCarthy, had objected to the use of phrases such as “inspirational” and “spiritual” in respect of gifts for children making their first communion, claiming the advertisement amounted to the promotion of particular aspects and sacraments of a specific religion.

2.  UK: Debate Over Rights of Faith-Based Schools

LONDON – The Liberal Democrats have voted in favour of allowing state-funded faith schools to continue selecting pupils by faith, the BBC reported on March 7. The party also rejected calls to ban the establishment of new state-funded faith schools during its spring conference in Harrogate. Pupils who are "old enough to decide for themselves" would be allowed to opt-out of faith-based school assemblies, under the Liberal Democrats plans. Many Liberal Democrats, including frontbench figures, believe faith-based admissions can be socially divisive. However others, including deputy leader Vince Cable, argued, during an impassioned debate on March 7, that they must be a feature of a tolerant society. On March 6, representatives of the Anglican and Catholic churches and Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh faiths had signed a letter to the Guardian newspaper saying that banning selection of pupils by faith in religious schools would be "perverse and unjust."

3.  Morocco: Cuts Ties with Iran Over Perceived Religious Incursions

RABAT – Morocco has cut diplomatic links with Iran, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry said on March 6, after an outcry in the Sunni Muslim world over a statement by an Iranian official questioning Sunni-ruled Bahrain's sovereignty, Reuters reported on March 6. The Ministry also criticized Iran for its efforts to spread its Shi'ite brand of Islam in Morocco, a move the ministry said it saw as threat to the North African country's moderate Sunni religious identity. Sunni scholars in Morocco and elsewhere have denounced what they see as Iran's efforts to convert Sunni Muslims to Shi'ism, arguing the drive would create strife similar to the often bloody Shi'ite-Sunni divides in Iraq and Pakistan. According to media reports, Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said last month Shi'ite Iran had sovereignty over Bahrain. In response Morocco's King Mohammed sent the Bahraini monarch, King Hamad Bin Isa al-Khalifa, a message of support, calling the Iranian remarks "absurd" and a contradiction of international law. The foreign ministry has accused Iranian representatives in Morocco of seeking to alter "the kingdom's religious fundamentals." Religion is a highly sensitive issue in Morocco as King Mohamed jointly holds the title of Amir al Mouminine (Commander of the Faithful) and head of the state.

4.  Malaysia: Citizen Wins Conversion Recognition

KUALA LUMPUR – An Islamic court in Malaysia ruled March 6 that a man given an Islamic name at birth was a Christian, a rare victory for religious minorities in this Muslim-majority nation, the AP reported on March 6. The man whose original identity card listed his name as "Mohammad Shah alias Gilbert Freeman" brought his case to the Shariah court in southern Negeri Sembilan state after the National Registration Department refused to accept he was a Christian. Lawyer Hanif Hassan said that his client, Freeman, was raised by his mother as a Christian, and that his Islamic name came from his Muslim father, who left the family when he was only 2-months-old. Hanif told the Associated Press "The Shariah court ruled that he is not a Muslim. He is not practicing Islam, and he hasn't applied to be a Muslim," and Hanif stressed that "This is a rare case but it shows that the Shariah courts are not rigid and are able to help resolve inter-religious disputes." Malaysia has a dual court system in which Muslims are governed by the Islamic Shariah courts while civil courts have jurisdiction over non-Muslims. Inter-religious disputes usually end up in Shariah courts.

5.  Malaysia: Court Dispute Over Conversion of Baby

KUALA LUMPUR – Hoo Ying Soon, an ethnic Chinese man, is challenging the conversion of his baby daughter to Islam by his estranged wife, a lawyer said on March 5, the latest inter-religious dispute to hit the majority Muslim country of Malaysia, the AP reported on March 5. Hoo Ying Soon, a 28-year-old carpenter, was shocked when he received a notice two days ago from the Islamic Shariah court granting temporary custody of their 15-month-old daughter to his wife, his lawyer Tang Jay Son said. He was told that his wife, Chew Yin Yin, 23, embraced Islam on Jan. 28 while his daughter was converted on Feb. 3. The couple, who both practiced Buddhism, married in February 2007 in southern Negeri Sembilan state but their marriage broke down in September. Tang informed the Associated Press that "Hoo will challenge the conversion of his daughter in the High Court because it was done unilaterally by the mother without the consent of the father. They are not divorced yet." It is unclear if the civil court's ruling will be binding on the Islamic court, as similar cases in the past failed to clearly determine which court has the jurisdiction in inter-religious disputes. In a high profile case in 2007, an ethnic Hindu woman failed to persuade the civil court to ban her husband, who had embraced Islam, from converting their sons.

6.  Poland: New School Texts Introduced to Fight Anti-Semitism

WARSAW – A human rights group and Poland's Education Ministry introduced new teaching materials for Poland's middle schools on Thursday in an effort to combat anti-Semitism, the AP reported on March 5. Poland is the fifth in a group of 12 countries adopting such workbooks, after Germany, Ukraine, Denmark and the Netherlands. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe guided the project as part of an overall effort to fight anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination. Each country's texts cover similar topics, such as the history of anti-Semitism in Europe from the Middle Ages to World War II, but the books are written in the local language and focus on local issues. Poland's books attempt to undermine a long-held assumption in Poland that a person cannot be Jewish and Polish at the same time. The notion has led to the exclusion of Jews from mainstream society and furthered the notion that they are foreign even though Jews first arrived 1,000 years ago. "This is a problem in Poland — that identity is perceived through your religion or ethnicity," said Piotr Trojanski, a historian and one of the main authors of the project in Poland. "We would like to change this."