http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=121350\ &version=1&template_id=45&parent_id=25 <http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=12135\ 0&version=1&template_id=45&parent_id=25> Islamists drop claim on body in Malaysia Published: Friday, 8 December, 2006, 12:52 PM Doha Time KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Islamic authorities, in a bid to defuse religious tensions, yesterday dropped their claim on a Muslim convert's dead body after a legal tug-of-war with his Christian widow. Lourdes Mary Maria Soosay, 69, had asked a court to order a hospital to hand over the body of her 71-year-old husband, van driver Rayappan Anthony, whose religious beliefs at the time of his death last week were in doubt. Religious authorities in the central Selangor state wanted the man buried according to Muslim rites, but his family insisted he renounced Islam and resumed practising Christianity in 1999. But yesterday, the authorities said they would not proceed with their claim, saying that there was overwhelming evidence showing he was not a Muslim. "We will not claim the body," the official Bernama news agency quoted Selangor Islamic Religious Council chairman Mohamed Adzib Isa as saying. "I hope the matter is settled." Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Wednesday asked the attorney-general to look into the case and return the body to the family if it was found he was not a Muslim. It is the second time in a year that a non-Muslim has fought for funeral rights over a relative. In the first, state Islamic officials gave a former soldier a Muslim burial against the wishes of his Hindu widow, setting off a storm of protest. Whether Muslims can convert to another faith is a tricky legal question in Malaysia where freedom of worship is a constitutional right, although Islam is the official religion. Ethnic Malays, who make up just over half of a population of 26mn, are deemed to be Muslims from birth, but the country's highest civil court has yet to rule on whether they have the right to convert to another religion.–Reuters [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
