12/07/2006, 00.00
MALAYSIA
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Muslim burial may be imposed for Christian

Relatives and documents bear witness to the fact that Rayappan Anthony was a Christian. But an Islamic court has said he should have a Muslim burial because he had temporarily converted to Islam, although he later returned to Christianity. The government fears social tensions.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) – Malaysia is facing yet another case that risks igniting public debate about full respect for religious freedom in the country. A Christian, who died at the end of November, may be buried according to Muslim rites despite his family’s opposition. Rayappan Anthony, who died aged 71, had converted to Islam in 1990, when he married for the second time, taking a Muslim woman as his wife and changing his name to Muhamad Rayappan Abdullah. However, his relatives insist he re-embraced Christianity in 1999 and was baptized again. His mistake was that he failed to inform the Religious Affairs Department about this. However, Rayappan had let other agencies like the national statistics office know about his change of heart, so much so that his documents, dating back to 2003, list his name as Anthony and his faith as “Christian”. When the man, who was sick with diabetes, died in hospital on 29 November, a neighbour who knew about his conversion to Islam informed the Religious Affairs Department. Consequently, the Islamic court, which in Malaysia regulates the family matters of Muslim citizens, established that the body of the Christian man should be handed over to the Selangor Islamic Religious Council. The family were against this but could not obtain the body.

Today there is a ray of hope for Anthony’s relatives. The Malaysian Cabinet has directed the Attorney-General to look into the case to confirm the religious status of the dead man. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said it was “important” that the case be resolved. Now Rayappan’s family must prove the man’s true faith before an Islamic court. Members of the government have said they are optimistic: “The Islamic Court would be fair to the family of Rayappan and will not create any problems. This person’s faith will be clearly seen from his papers.”

 The case of Anthonyu-Abdullah brings to mind that of M.Moorthy, a Malaysian Hindu who was buried as a Muslim in December 2005. An Islamic court had declared that before dying, the man – a national hero because he was the first Malaysian to climb Mt Everest – had converted to Islam. His wife had lost the appeal she filed at the Malaysian High Court.

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