Islam Online reports that the government of Malaysia yesterday decided that civil marriage laws and other laws should be amended to require that children be raised in the religion that both their parents shared at the time of their marriage. If one spouse converts after the marriage, he or she will not have the right to have the children converted as well. To the extent this will require changes in Islamic law, the issue will be brought to the attention of the Sultans who are in charge of religious affairs. The issue has come up in a recent high profile case in which a Hindu husband converted to Islam and then apparently converted the children as well without the consent of his still-Hindu wife. The wife is suing for custody of the children.
UPDATE: Reaction to the government's decision has been swift. Friday's Malaysia's Star reports that the High Court in Ipoh handed down an initial ruling in the case of the Hindu wife that triggered much of the concern. The court granted M. Indira Gandhi interim custody of her three children and an injunction preventing her husband from entering their home.
Meanwhile, a debate on the constitutionality of the government's decision began. Friday's Bernama reports that the director of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia says the proposal is inconsistent with Article 12(4) of the Constitution that provides: "the religion of a person under the age of eighteen years shall be decided by his parent or guardian." He emphasizes that the Constitutional language refers to "parent" in the singular. On the other side, Malaysia Today argues that the government's position is constitutional, pointing out that the Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution on interpretive principles provides that "words in the singular include the plural, and words in the plural include the singular."
UPDATE 2: On May 6, PTI reported that a High Court judge granted an interim stay of the order that gave Ghandhi interim custody of her children. The husband claimed the civil court lacks jurisdiction and that he has a custody order issued by a Shariah court. The husband has been evading service of the civil court's interim custody order, and a motion to hold him in contempt is pending.
