KOTA KINABALU: A letter from the state Islamic Department confirming that a person does not profess Islam is enough for the National Registration Department (NRD) to remove “Islam” from their identity card.

The ruling was handed down by Kota Kinabalu High Court Judge Datuk Zaleha Rose Pandin on the basis of a summons issued by Rieno Glant Oleant George, 29, who had sought a judicial declaration that he was not a Muslim and sought to have the NRD issue him an IC with the word “Islam” removed.

Judge Zaleha also said that it was not necessary for Rieno to obtain a Sharia court order to prove that he was not a Muslim in order for the NRD to remove “Islam” from his IC.

She said the NRD should have taken action and made changes based on the letter from Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Negeri Sabah (JHEAINS) confirming that Rieno was not listed as a convert.

“It is absurd to expect the plaintiff (Rieno) to seek an order from the Sharia court when the case clearly falls within the jurisdiction of the civil court,” she said in her ruling, granting Rieno’s application without ruling on costs.

In her decision on Friday (17 August), she said she was convinced, based on the facts available, that Rieno had never practiced Islam and had never converted to the faith.

She said he did not fall under the definition of a practising Muslim under Section 2 of the Majlis Ugama Islam Sabah (MUIS) Act, 2004.

“In my view, the plaintiff (Rieno) does not fall within the definition of a Muslim under Section 2 of the MUIS Act as he was born to Christian parents and later raised as a Christian by his grandmother and did not convert to Islam either by his parents or of his own accord,” she said.

This was further confirmed by JHEAINS in its letter dated September 15, 2022, which stated that Rieno was not registered in the Sistem Maklumat Muallaf (List of Muslim Converts).

Judge Zaleha said the letter was “self-explanatory and crystal clear”, especially since JHEAINS is the custodian of the complete list of Muallaf in Sabah.

She also said that there was no provision in the MUIS Act 2004 that a child would automatically follow the religion of the mother if she converted to Islam through remarriage.

“Even if it is alleged that the plaintiff (Rieno) as a minor automatically followed his mother’s Islamic religion, this is subject to the decision of the Federal Court in Indira Gandhi (Indira Gandhi Mutho v. Pengarah Jabatan Agama Islam Perak & Ors and Other Appeals (2018) 3 CLJ),” she said.

“I agree with the plaintiff (Rieno) that he is not a Muslim and never has been one,” she said in her written judgment.

Judge Zaleha said that since Rieno had never been a Muslim, he “could not seek redress from the Sharia court and/or submit to its jurisdiction,” and that civil court was therefore the right way to go, especially since it is a fundamental freedom under the Federal Constitution.

On the argument that Rieno had ticked the box to indicate that he was a Muslim, Judge Zaleha said that simply ticking the “Islam” box on the application form was not conclusive evidence of Rieno’s conversion to Islam.

She said there must be requirements for a valid conversion to Islam as set out in Section 69 of the MUIS Act 2004.

Rieno was represented by Beverley Ramona Tan of the law firm Sitiwin & Jintoni, who filed the summons on October 5, 2022. They sought a declaration that Rieno does not profess Islam and that the term “Islam” was falsely entered on his identity card (IC).

They also demanded a declaration that the NRD’s failure, negligence and refusal to rectify its religious status without a Sharia court determination was illegal and unconstitutional and amounted to a curtailment of its discretion.

They requested an order to the NRD to replace Rienos IC by removing the word “Islam” from its information.

According to the facts, Rieno was born on October 29, 1995 to his Christian Kadazandusun parents, George B. Kamandan and Nora Awang, who were not Muslims at the time.

There was no religious affiliation noted on his birth certificate.

Rieno’s parents divorced when he was three months old and he was raised with a Christian upbringing by his maternal grandmother, Tondu Sigunil, in Kampung Buit Hill, Putatan.

Rieno’s mother converted to Islam when she married Dahli Suileh, but did not convert Rieno. He (Rieno) never met his biological father and only learned on September 11, 2009, through documents he presented, that his father had also converted to Islam.

In 2007, he applied for an IC and found that his religion was listed as Islam. The NRD stated that both of his parents were listed as Muslims in their database.

He couldn’t change it until he turned 18.

However, they required him to obtain an order from the Sharia court before he could apply to change his religious status.

The NRD was represented by Fazriel Fardiansyah of the Civil Division of the Attorney General’s Office in Sabah.