Can one convert a child to Islam
By Mohamad Hafiz Hassan (The Malaysian Insider)
APRIL 24 — It beats me how non-Muslim children, some of whom are only infants, can be converted to Islam by their parent or parents.
Let me explain the statutory law on conversion to Islam in Malaysia. I’ll be brief. The law is dealt with under provisions of the various states’ Administration of Islamic Law enactments.
The law was simple to begin with. The earliest enactments merely provided that the state religious councils were each to keep a register of converts, that no person should be converted otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of the enactments or any rules made thereunder, that no person who had not attained the age of puberty should be converted, and that all conversions should be registered by the Majlis (see, for example, Selangor’s Administration of Muslim Law Enactment 1952).
The current law is more elaborate, contained in 10-11 sections depending on which state enactment one is looking at. The provisions contained in most of these enactments relate to (1) requirements for conversion, (2) moment of conversion, (3) duties and obligations of a convert, (4) Registrar and Register of Converts, (5) registration of converts, (6) certificate of conversion, (7) recognition of a convert as a Muslim, (8) determination of religious status of an unregistered convert, (9) offence for false information, (10) power to make rules, (11) capacity to convert (see, for example, Federal Territory’s Administration of Islamic Law Act 1993).
Clearly the current law retains and elaborates the statutory regime for registration of converts. Let’s look at Perak’s Administration of the Religion of Islam Enactment 2004.
The provisions relating to requirements for conversion to Islam are found in section 96 of the enactment. It states, among others, that for a valid conversion of a person to Islam, the person (a) must utter in reasonably intelligible Arabic the two clauses of affirmation of faith; (2) must be aware that the two clauses mean “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. is the Messenger of Allah”; and (3) must utter the two clauses on his or her own free will.
As soon the person finished uttering the two clauses, he or she becomes a Muslim and shall be referred to as a muallaf (s 97). A muallaf is defined as a person who has just converted to Islam (s 2).
The muallaf may then apply to the Registrar of Muallaf for registration as a muallaf. If the registrar is satisfied that the requirements of s 96 have been fulfilled, he may register the muallaf’s name and other particulars in the Register of Muallafs.
In so doing, the registrar has a duty to determine the date of conversion to Islam and enter the date in the register (s 100).
There is another provision which is of particular importance. It is section 101 which provides that the registrar shall issue a certificate of conversion to every person whose conversion has been registered. It also provides that the certificate of conversion shall be conclusive proof of the facts stated therein.
There is also section 106 which provides that a person may convert to Islam only if he or she is of sound mind and has attained the age of 18 years. If below that age, he or she must have the consent of the parent or guardian.
From the above provisions, conversion to Islam is clearly a personal act of the person wishing to convert by his or her utterance of the two clauses of the affirmation of faith.
Above all, he or she must utter the two clauses on his or her own free will!
So, how could a child be converted to Islam by the parent? The parent can only consent to the child’s conversion. The child’s conversion to Islam, in any case, is not valid if the child has not uttered the affirmation of faith on his or her own free will.
A certificate of conversion, if ever issued, will not remedy the non-compliance with requirements of a valid conversion to Islam.
Does the conversion to Islam by a parent make his or her children Muslims? The answer lies in section 2 which defines “Muslim” as … (b) a person either or both of whose parents were at the time of the person’s birth, a Muslim; (e) a person who has converted to Islam in accordance with section 96.
I do not have to repeat what is contained in section 96 of the State of Perak Administration of the Religion of Islam Enactment 2004. Similar provisions are found in the enactments of other states.
Mohamad Hafiz Hassan is legally trained and currently a researcher at IAIS Malaysia. The views expressed here are entirely his own.