Syariah Court says Nyonya Tahir's family can bury her as a Buddhist

The Straits Times, Singapore
24 January 2006


Syariah Court says Nyonya Tahir's family can bury her as a Buddhist

By Reme Ahmad
The Straits Times

MALAYSIA'S Islamic court yesterday made a landmark decision when it
ruled that a Malay woman had died as a non-Muslim, and allowed her
family to bury her according to Buddhist rites.

The decision by the Syariah High Court of Seremban in the case
involving Nyonya Tahir, who died last week, sent ripples through a
country where the federal Constitution defines all Malays as Muslims.

The judge said the ruling should be seen in the context of the
specific facts of the case and should not be considered precedent-
setting.

The ruling came three weeks after a huge controversy erupted over a
decision by the Kuala Lumpur Syariah Court that former army commando
Moorthy Maniam had converted to Islam and must be buried accordingly.

Mr Moorthy's family had protested to the High Court, saying he was a
practising Hindu, but the civil court ruled it had no jurisdiction in
a case already decided by the Islamic court.

Yesterday, the Syariah High Court of Seremban set a legal precedent
as it was the first time in the history of the country's Islamic
courts that non-Muslims had appeared before it to give evidence.

The son and a daughter of the 89-year-old deceased told the court
that their mother had never practised Islam.

The matriarch had 13 children with her Chinese husband Chiang Meng,
whom she married in 1936.

Her case came to light last week when her family tried to get a death
certificate from a police station. The police noted that her name
sounded Malay and her identity card stated 'Islam' as her religion.
They then called the Islamic authorities.

Lawyer Siti Harlina Shahran, who represented the Negeri Sembilan
Islamic Affairs Department, said the court must decide on the
religious status of Nyonya Tahir before she could be buried.

In his ruling, Judge Shukor Shabudin quoted from a well-known Islamic
scholar who said that the remains of a person who had left Islam
cannot be treated according to Muslim rites and cannot be buried in a
Muslim cemetery.

The judge took into account that, in 1986, Nyonya Tahir had tried to
change her name and religion at a Malacca Islamic Religious Office,
but made no headway.

Documents filed with the Alor Gajah religious office in 1986 showed
that Nyonya Tahir had made a written declaration that she wanted to
live as a Chinese and be buried as one. The declaration was certified
by the Commissioner for Oaths in Malacca.

The judge also noted that in both 'words and deeds' she had left the
faith: she had married a man who did not convert to Islam and all her
children were also registered and lived as Chinese.

She also ate pork and prayed at a Chinese altar.

Her son Chiang Ah Fatt, 40, testified that his mother was known as
Wong Ah Kiew, despite her official name remaining unchanged.

'The court rules that the dead, Nyonya binte Tahir, is not of the
Islamic faith. The court allows her family members to manage the
burial of her body,' declared judge Shukor.

Mr Muhamad Burok, president of the Malaysian Association of Syariah
Lawyers, who was present as an observer in court, concurred with the
judge's view.

The ruling was welcomed by her children who can now start making
preparations to give her a proper burial.