MY MORE THAN 2 SEN THOUGHTS

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/19/nation/22116165&sec=nation

Suhakam has completed its study on issues arising from inter-faith marriages and one spouse changing his religion and will be submitting a report to the Prime Minister’s Department soon.

Among the proposals Suhakam had come up with was for those who planned to embrace Islam to marry a Muslim to study the religion in depth before their conversion, said commissioner Datuk Dr Abdul Monir Yaacob.
(Right. Those who intend to embrace Islam should know that it's a one way road. That should be done accordingly and from the right people; namely PERKIM, MACMA, JIM, ABIM etc. Local Islamic Religious departments? Nahhhh...
And study the religion in depth? How much is enough? Isn't the 1-month mandatory lessons about Islam & Fardu Ain organised by the Islamic Religious Departments enough for a start?
BTW, not everyone who want to embrace Islam intend to marry a Muslim laa Datuk.. many of us are happy to be Muslim/Muslimah on our own accord. No need to find a husband/wife to become a Muslim. It's the 21st century, grow up la Datuk!!!)

He added that family members should also be informed when a non-Muslim wants to embrace Islam so as to avoid problems later in relation to funeral rites or distribution of property after the person’s death.
(Yeah right... Which family in their right mind will simply accept their son/daughter/husband/wife to leave the comfort zone of one's original religion and embrace another religion? They'd fight tooth and nail to stop the conversion from ever taking place.

Perhaps it's wiser to suggest making it mandatory to inform the family members within 3 months after the person's reversion to Islam. That should give ample time for the unmarried new revert to prepare for the confrontation with family members and for the married spouse to move to another residence. The officers in charge at the local Islamic religious departments should be responsible for that - post the letter, call up, etc- and not just buat tak apa until a revert dies :P
A true, responsible Muslim will never hide his/her true religion & beliefs from his/her family for a long time)

“We feel that it is appropriate for non-Muslims to distribute their property, if any, to their close relatives before they convert to Islam, said Dr Abdul Monir yesterday.
(Hello.. who gives Suhakam the right to determine how a person spend his/her property? It's an infridgement of a person's right. What if the person has no intention to distribute any of his/her hard-earned properties to any of his relatives because they don't deserve it - are drunkards or gamblers? Does that mean he/she will not be allowed to revert to Islam? Pahhhhh!!!
If this is to be applied, same should be done to those Muslims who intend to leave Islam for other religions so that the rights of those parents of murtad will be protected

Also why should only the rights of the non-Muslim spouse be protected? What about the rights of the Muslim spouse?

There are wives who want to embrace Islam but are prevented due to the present law that states only Muslim husbands can divorce their wives. That leaves wives who become Muslimahs and still married to non-Muslims in a dilemma because they can't divorce their husband nor ask for a divorce at the civil court. I am one of the lucky few who manage to free myself (by getting a mutual divorce first without informing my ex about my intention to revert to Islam after the divorce) and pursue my dreams. What about the others?

There are husbands who want to embrace Islam but think many times due to the fact that their wives refuse to a divorce nor become Muslimahs along with the husband.
There are husbands who due to their wives' refusal to convert to Islam, have resorted to marrying another Muslim wife to share his life with, and like any good fathers, want their children to be brought up as Muslim children.
The rights of every citizen should be protected, Muslims and non-Muslims)

Property gained after conversion to Islam would be governed by Islamic law, he added at a dialogue here.
(Of course. That's faraid. As a born-Muslim surely you know more than I do about Islamic law, Datuk ???)

If you are a Muslim, you are bound by Islam to help anyone who sincerely intends to embrace Islam.
People who intend to revert to Islam should be helped, not prevented or discouraged by man-made laws designed to stop anyone from furthering their intention.

If I had told my family members and my former husband about my intention to embrace Islam, they will do everything to stop me. I tried to and had to wait 10 years.

If I had distributed my properties to close relatives before I embrace Islam, life would be more difficult for me as zakat is not automatically given to new reverts.

In short, people who intend to embrace Islam should be studied on case-to-case level, not simply by accepting proposals from those who have never undergone the hardships of becoming a Muslim or who are already against the reversion of non-Muslims to Islam.

If those who revert to Islam are married to non-Muslims, they should be required to settle their divorce amicably, with the Muslim husband following the Islamic rules of providing nafkah etc and the Muslim wife granted a quick divorce but without nafkah. That should prevent husbands and wives who want to escape from responsibility. Better still, get a divorce before embracing Islam officially.

The proposals by Suhakam is an insult to Islam and the Syariah Court. I wonder if Muslim NGOs are consulted.