Part 4 of 4 – The Distinction, and What Falls on Each Side (2021–2026)
Rosliza drew a line. A person who was never a Muslim goes to the civil courts; a person who was a Muslim and seeks to leave goes to the Syariah court. Part 4 follows the cases decided since, in the order they were decided, from Zulkifli Adirin and Satiah in Sabah through Dahlia Dhaima, Adam Lee, Nivethah and Nurisah to Jan Sarah in July 2026. A pattern emerges. Where a person's only link to Islam was a record, the civil courts have corrected it. Where there was something more, the road led to the Syariah court. Those who later returned to the civil courts found that those courts would not review what had happened there. The series closes by asking what this means for a right that Article 11(1) gives to every person, and for the rule of law.
Read Religious Freedom in Malaysia: Developments of a person’s freedom to change their religion (Part 4: 2021–2026)