A civil court in Malaysia has refused a woman permission to leave Islam in order to avoid being jailed for apostasy.
Kamariah Ali, 60, says she shouldn't be tried under Islamic law because she is no longer a Muslim. She follows the Sky Kingdom sect, known as the teapot cult because it built a giant teapot to symbolize its reverence for the healing purity of water.
But the judges ruled that Malaysia's Islamic courts must decide on the case because Kamariah was born a Muslim. The Islamic courts have authority over only Muslims - the rest of the population are not bound by them.
Kamariah had asked the civil courts to declare her freedom to worship, as guaranteed by the constitution. But the panel of judges said she had to go through the Islamic courts system to renounce her faith - something not often granted. |