Moorthy's case: Chapter IX of Act 505

There is a special chapter (Chapter IX) on the conversion to Islam in the Administrative of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993 (Act 505).

Abdullah has announced that his administration is not going to amend the Consitution. His administration will to look at ways to improve the subsidiary legislation.

One of the aspect needs to be improved is certainly Chapter IX of Act 505. The law should impose a positive duty on the Majlis Agama to inform the converted as well as his or her immediate family on the changes to their rights upon conversion.

The important sections are as following:

Section 85: Requirements for conversion
(1) The following requirements shall be complied with for a valid conversion of a person to Islam:

(a) the person must utter in reasonably intelligible Arabic the two clauses of the Affirmation of Faith;

(b) at the time of uttering the two clauses of the Affirmation of Faith the person must be aware that they 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

(c) the utterance must be made of the person's own free will.

(2) A person who is incapable of speech may, for the purpose of fulfilling the requirement of paragraph (1)(a), utter the two clauses of the Affirmation of Faith by means of signs that convey the meaning specified in paragraph (b) of that subsection.


Section 86: Moment of conversion
A person is converted to Islam and becomes a Muslim as soon as he finishes uttering the two clauses of the Affirmation of Faith provided that the requirements of section 85 are fulfilled, and that person shall then be referred to as a muallaf.

Section 90: Certificate of Conversion
(1) The Registrar shall furnish every person whose conversion has been registered with a Certificate of Conversion in the prescribed form.
(2) A Certificate of Conversion shall be conclusive proof of the facts stated therein.

Section 92. Determining whether non-registered person is a muallaf
If any question arises within the Federal Territories as to whether a person is a muallaf, and the person is not registered in the Register of Muallafs or under any law of any State as a muallaf, that question shall be decided on the merits of the case in accordance with section 85.