In Malaysia, religious issues continue to raise legal controversies. Selangor state Islamic authorities have freed a Muslim woman after she was held for four months for marrying a Hindu man. However, according to today’s Economic Times of India, the couple was ordered to live separately because their marriage is not legal under Islamic law.
Meanwhile, in the Malaysian state of Penang, a Syariah High Court has postponed for four months a ruling in a suit brought by Chinese-born Siti Fatimah who wants the state Islamic Affairs Council to declare that she is no longer a Muslim. She also wants the court to order that her national identity card be changed to indicate that she is Buddhist—her religion until her 1998 conversion to Islam. Today's Star reports the court said that Fatimah should get counseling from the Penang Islamic Affairs Department, and that the Department’s ukhwah unit should report back to the court.
