No Joy For Joy
Jun 18, 2007
Who is Lina Joy?
Lina Joy is a Malay convert from Islam to Christianity. Born Azlina Jailani in 1964[1] in Malaysia to Muslim parents, she converted at age 26. In 1998, she was baptized, and applied to have her conversion legally recognized by the Malaysian courts. Though her change of name was recognized in 1999 and so noted on her identity card, her change of religion was not (since it is without the Mahkamah Syariah[2] confirmation document); for this reason, she filed suit with the High Court in 1999, bypassing the Syariah Court (Islamic court). She later filed suit with the Federal Court in 2006.[3][4] Joy hopes to live openly as a Christian; she was forced to go into hiding by the publicity surrounding her case.[5]
In a majority verdict delivered on May 30, 2007, the Federal Court rejected her appeal.[6] Her appeal was dismissed 2-1 by Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and Datuk Alauddin Mohd Sheriff. The ruling stated that "a person who wanted to renounce his/her religion must do so according to existing laws or practices of the particular religion. Only after the person has complied with the requirements and the authorities are satisfied that the person has apostatised, can she embrace Christianity.... In other words, a person cannot, at one's whims and fancies renounce or embrace a religion."[7]
Why would a person go to such lengths to change one word?
Legal recognition would have allowed her to have the change of religion noted on her national identity card; it would also remove the legal barrier to her marrying her Christian fiancé (marriage between Muslims and non-Muslims is forbidden under Malaysian law and the Syariah; the non-Muslim partner is required to convert to Islam under Malaysian law).
A blogger who recently attended an event relating to Lina Joy says:
When I took the mic, I pointed out something which seemed to have escaped their minds: that the Lina Joy issue is a procedural one, it does not have any real relevance to the application of the apostasy laws in Islam.
Uh-hunh.
Of course that does not mean that Lina Joy is exempt from these same laws, but that is a different story.
How compassionate.
Update
Basically what Menj thinks about the Lina Joy affair:
1. It's mostly a bureaucratic matter.
2. Lina Joy, a Christian woman, ought to be murdered since Islamic law supports that position.
3. Why are non-Muslims so rude? They should just SHUT UP and let Muslims deal with "their" issue.
Menj (the blogger you mentioned) has written a book entitled "Buddhism: A Muslim Primer". I imagine that reading it will be as fascinating as staring at a car crash with massive fatalities. I have to admit feeling that morbid curiosity. I've read a few books on Buddhism (all written by Buddhists), I'm sure Menj's book will bear no resemblance to those.
Shame about the complete lack of compassion and freedom in Islam.
Posted by: Josh Scholar | Jun 18, 2007 at 04:47 PM
Menj is quite a piece of work!
I see a lot of ignorant people in this comment section of the Al-Jazeera clip on apostasy. Being non-Muslim does not give you the excuse to be irreverent and mock our laws on apostasy. The law on apostasy from Islam is as bright as the sun and as clear as day. It is only those who reject the message of Islam who would want to deny it but then again, that is besides the point.
The fact remains that the Prophet salla allahu alayhi wassalaam in a hadith recorded by Bukhari states, and I quote:
"Man badlaha deenahu faqthulu!" ("Whoever leaves his religion, then kill him!")
And "his religion" here does not refer to Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism or any other religion besides Islam. There is of course, only one conclusion to be made from the Prophet's words. Those who reject it are the disbelievers and those who accept it are among the Muslim ummah. Ameen!
See, killing apostates is a thing of beauty, "as bright as the sun and as clear as day", "Ameen!"
And, oh my god, read his answers in the comment section!
He calls (almost) every critic "kaafir" and he responds that he is to follow the prophet's commands and nothing else, for instance:
Critic:
You must understand MENJ, that even if u stop someone from converting out of islam, his or her heart will not remain in Islam, and then, Allah will be a God of hatred to that individual… that will ruin the picture wont it?
What is the use if you keep man’s unwilling heart in something he wants to have no part with it?
Answer:
[MENJ: Sorry, I am not interested in allowing you to impose your values on my religious belief system (i.e, ISLAM) and our principles. As far as we are concerned, the Prophet (P) had spoken and we hear and obey. It is amazing that non-Muslims who are not part of the religion see themselves fit to interfere into what is solely the affairs of the Muslim ummah.
Counter response:
[quote deleted]
Besides, you do not worship God, so who are you to tell me what God is and what God is not?]
you seem to be very comfortable talking bout Christianity… are you a believer too? No.. i dont think so.. stop being a hypocrite.. you talk alot of shit for your own damn good..
Final answer:
[MENJ: I can talk about Christianity however I please and whenever I please, so please shut the fuck up.]
Or this one:
[MENJ: As far as I am concerned, the issue is not about separating Siti Fatimah from her child. She can see her child again when she repents and renounces Hinduism.]
Besides, you do not worship God, so who are you to tell me what God is and what God is not?]
Posted by: Josh Scholar | Jun 18, 2007 at 05:01 PM
It's also disheartening to see how theocratic fascists use the language of multicultural relativism.
See how confronted with the illogic of punishing [killing] people for lack of belief, when the fact is that people do not choose their beliefs, they can only choose to be honest about them or not, he responded:
Sorry, I am not interested in allowing you to impose your values on my religious belief system (i.e, ISLAM) and our principles.
See, logic and compassion are just "your values", not universals. The human mind and heart each deserve more respect than that.
Posted by: Josh Scholar | Jun 18, 2007 at 07:25 PM