Hindu Dharma Blog

The Shariah court has declared B. Elangesvaran a Muslim, paving the way for a Islamic burial. The religious authority in Penang have reported to have proof of his conversion but have yet to release any documents. The family of Elangesvaran had wanted to cremate his body according to Hindu rites.

from The Associated Press
Malaysian Islamic court declares dead man Muslim amid Hindu family’s objections

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Monday, July 7, 2008): An Islamic court has declared a dead man a Muslim, preventing his Hindu family from cremating his body, in the latest dispute over religious conversions in Muslim-majority Malaysia, their lawyer said Monday.

A Shariah court in northern Penang state ruled Friday that B. Elangesvaran, 34, who committed suicide last month, was a Muslim and his body should be released from the hospital for Muslim burial, lawyer R. Nethaji Rayer said.

In handing down the ruling, the Shariah court upheld the local Islamic Religious Affairs Department’s claim that Elangesvaran had converted to Islam before his death.

A civil court — the Penang High Court — dismissed the application by Elangesvaran’s family Friday to have him declared a Hindu, Nethaji said.

The court later Monday also refused to grant an injunction to stop the Islamic department from taking possession of Elangesvaran’s body, Nethaji said.

“The body will be buried according to Muslim rites,” Nethaji said. “History has shown that in 10 cases like this, we’ve won one.”

It was not immediately clear when the department would conduct the burial.

Religious conversion disputes often erupt in Malaysia, where Muslim Malays make up 60 percent of the population and mostly non-Muslim ethnic Chinese and Indians account for a third.

The cases have put pressure on the government to guarantee the rights of religious minorities who increasingly complain they lose out in disputes involving Islam.

“This is not proper at all,” said Nethaji. “Generally (the civil courts) always take the stand that they cannot interfere with the Shariah court.”

Malaysia has a dual court system. While Shariah courts handle civil matters for Muslims, civil courts rule on the same for non-Muslims. It is unclear which court has the final word in conversion disputes.

Ghazali Saad, an official with the Penang Islamic department, said his office had proof that Elangesvaran had converted before his death.

“We have the document that he converted to Islam,” he said, but declined to comment further, pending the outcome of the case.

Nethaji said the purported proof was only a scribbled note allegedly written by Elangesvaran. The note was not signed, he said.

He said the family was “distraught, very disappointed, completely broken down … They are unable to go on with their lives. It’s all hanging in the balance.”

In the latest case involving the snatching of the body of a dead Indian man with a Hindu family but whom the religious authorities claim converted to Islam, 34-year old Elangesvaran’s family is embroiled in a legal tussle for his body. Despite the irregularities in the conversion certificates and the legal challenge by the Hindu family, as well as assurances by the Prime Minister that converts to Islam must notify their families, the Islamic authorities have prevented the body of Elangesvaran from being claimed by his family.

from BBC World News
The Islamic authorities in Malaysia are in dispute with the Hindu family of a man who committed suicide – with both sides claiming the body for burial.

It is the latest in a series of cases where against the wishes of families Muslim officials have seized remains of people they say converted to Islam.

The family of the man contests his conversion certificate but has been refused permission to collect his body.

The conversion disputes are straining relations with ethnic minorities.

Hindu rites
The 34-year-old man, Elangesvaran, hanged himself on Sunday.

His Hindu family has been prevented from collecting his body from the hospital.

They say the Islamic religious department informed them that Mr Elangesvaran had converted to Islam without their knowledge and therefore must now be given a Muslim burial.

But the family says the conversion certificate is just a letter with some scribbling on it that is allegedly by Mr Elangesvaran but could be anything because there is no signature or thumbprint and no witnesses.

The family have filed a court case in Penang asking for Mr Elangesvaran to be declared a Hindu and for his body to be handed over to them so it can be buried according to Hindu rites.

It is the latest in a series of conversion disputes straining ethnic relations in this predominately Muslim country.

Earlier this year Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said non-Muslims would have to tell their families before converting to Islam to avoid these arguments after death.

But the head of an interfaith group complained the government never followed up on the statement and yet again a man’s dead body was being fought over by people who never knew him.

Non-Muslims make up about 40% of Malaysia’s population and they complain that the Islamic authorities tend to assert their greater power over minorities when disputes arise.