mrBadak.com

Last Saturday, my wife’s aunt passed away due to cancer. She was in her late 50s. On Sunday morning, we went back to my father in law’s village in Kg Kobusak to pay our last respect before her funeral that afternoon. It was one of the strangest “funeral” I’ve been to.

You might be wondering why was the funeral the day after? Well actually the deceased converted to Islam long, long time ago when she married a Muslim. After having several children together, the marriage collapsed and the husband left her. No one was really sure where he is and nobody really cared.

So she came back to her roots. Living with her sisters and brothers back in Kobusak, as a Christian. Though legally she was a muslim but she attends church every sunday, pray the rosary, eats what is forbidden in Islam. In short, she was a non-Muslim. Her children are Muslims and the eldest has married a Muslim.

But for the deceased, the only reason she converted to Muslim was so that she can get married to her lover. Then when her lover left her to raise the children alone, I guess she didn’t see the point of staying a Muslim when her main reason left her and she herself doesn’t believe in it.

What’s so sad is because of the laws of our country, she can never change her religion back to Christianity. A week before her death, she even asked for her Christian relatives to pray with her and for her.

So back to last Sunday, the Muis van came at around 11.30am to bring her body to the mosque to be cleaned prior to burial. The van left the place leaving the gongs behind and almost everyone because they didn’t want to go to the mosque.

Talks around the place was some of the relatives will join the funeral after the cleansing of the body.

Personally, I am quite sad because of some black and white rules, you are bound and forced to stay in a religion when in your heart, you believe in other Gods. And with the government’s directive that the forums on Article 11 to be stopped, the individual rights of everyone, especially families who have relatives embracing Islam continues to be in limbo.

Though Christians doesn’t have strict rules of what should be done to your body after you die, other religions do. This issue will be a time-bomb for this country unless everyone, including the Muslims can sit down together with the non-Muslims group and discuss through diplomatic means.

I believe the interfaith commission doesn’t want any Tom, Dick and Harry the ability to jump between religions in this country and are not begging for the doors for Muslims to be able to convert to other religion to be opened wide.

Just give those with strong cases a place to be heard since Syariah Court is deemed to be the highest authority in this country regarding religion cases. Strong cases are like my wife’s late aunt, who converted just to get married. I hope this country to be fair in this issue.

Well.. that’s my 2 cents worth.

The Star : Article 11: Stop the forums