The court reiterated that jurisdiction over religious status matters hinges on the distinction between ab initio claims and renunciation cases.

Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali JCA (Majority):

Introduction

[1] These are appeals against the decision of the High Court which allowed the respondent's application for a declaration that she is not a person who professes the religion of Islam. After having heard the appeals which was conducted by way of a remote communication technology via Zoom, we, by a majority, decided to allow the appeals for the reasons contained in these grounds of judgment.

Key Background Facts

[2] These two appeals, which were heard together before us originated from an originating summons ("OS") instituted by the respondent at the High Court in Shah Alam, against Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS) and the Selangor State Government. The principal relief sought by the respondent in the OS was for a declaration that she is not a person professing the religion of Islam.

[3] The respondent was born on 17 November 1986 to non-Muslim parents whose marriage was registered under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976. Her father professed the Hindu religion and her mother was originally a Buddhist.

[4] Some-time in 1991, following the separation of her parents, and this was when the respondent was about five years old, the respondent followed and lived with her mother in Selayang Baru. On 17 May 1991, the respondent's mother visited Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) / PERKIM to convert to the religion of Islam. It was not a secret that the reason for the conversion was that she wished to marry a Muslim person after the conclusion of her divorce.

[5] The respondent was also brought to JAIS / PERKIM by her mother who claimed that an officer informed her that the respondent had to be converted into Islam as well in order to ensure she would get custody over the respondent. The respondent's mother further asserted that the officer had also informed her that once the respondent attained the age of 18, she would be able to choose her own religion.

[6] As was integral to the conversion process, the respondent's mother uttered the requisite affirmation of faith - "Kalimah Syahadah", and did it twice. The respondent, then barely five, unsurprisingly did not, but both mother and daughter were issued conversion cards by JAIS. And it bears emphasis that based on the card issued on 28 August 1993 to the respondent, she had been converted on 17 May 1991. Her mother took the name Farah Hor binti Abdullah, and for the respondent, Dahlia Dhaima binti Abdullah.

[7] Separately on 7 August 1992, the Kuala Lumpur High Court granted a decree nisi in relation to her parents' divorce proceedings, where care, control and custody of the respondent was granted to her mother. The decree absolute was granted on 18 December 1992.

[8] Although the respondent's father passed away on 22 March 1996, her mother had affirmed an affidavit to aver that the respondent's father's consent had never been obtained for the conversion of the respondent.

[9] The respondent's quest for declaratory relief on her religious status started on 12 December 2013, when the respondent, by then aged 27, filed a summons against the Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan ("MAIWP") at the Kuala Lumpur Syariah High Court (No 14100-043-0968-2013) ("MAIWP Summons") primarily for a declaration that she was no longer a Muslim, even though as learned Counsel for the respondent was firm in highlighting that in her statement of claim for the MAIWP Summons, the respondent maintained that she had never professed Islam and the purported conversion occurred only because of her mother's conversion.

[10] The respondent maintained that she never professed