Islamic Conversion - a hard lump to swallow

6 Important Facts

you need to know before you fall for the hunky Mat Rocker next door or the Siti Nurhaliza lookalike.

(Disclaimer : I've nothing against love or Islam, just to make sure you know the fine print before you walk down the aisle, er.. i mean throw the kenduri. )


The Legal Implications of Conversion to Islam

Under Syariah enactments of most of the 13 States of Malaysia;

1. Conversion back to your former religion is either (a) not allowed under the law, or (b) a criminal offence which means you may be fined, whipped, detained or imprisoned under State Islamic laws

2. If you are under 18 years of age, you require your parent's permission to convert to Islam.

3. Your identity card will record your conversion to Islam. Therefore, even if you are no longer practising Islam, you may be fined, whipped, detained or imprisoned for violation of Syariah laws, such as praying in Church, eating in public during fasting month, khalwat etc.

4. You cannot marry a non-Muslim. If you decide to divorce and attempt to convert out of Islam, you will lose custody of your children because they are Muslims.

5. Upon death, your non-Muslim relatives will lose their rights to any property, money, etc. that you want to leave to them. The corpse of a convert to Islam will be taken away from his or her non-Muslim family for Islamic rites and burial even if you have not been a practising Muslim for many years.

6. In the event that your spouse converts to Islam, you may have no right to either your children or your spouse's property.

(The above is an excerpt from a document issued by the Malaysian Bishops to advise the faithful about the implications of converting to Islam)

Interesting read. Not too sure how similar the rules are here in S'pore.