Kenya Court Rules Islamic Courts Are Illegal
BBC: Kenya's Islamic courts are illegal and discriminatory, a panel of judges has ruled.

The three judges said the Islamic "Kadhi" courts favoured Islam over other faiths, and that this was unconstitutional as Kenya was a secular country.

The issue of Islamic courts has been a contentious point in the country's new proposed constitution.

It is due to go to a referendum in August. >>> | Monday, May 24, 2010

Malaysian Court Accepts Woman's Decision to Convert from Islam
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION (ABC): On the Malaysian island state of Penang, an Islamic court has upheld a controversial decision - allowing a woman to revert from Islam to Buddhism. 



It's one of the rare ocassions a Syariah court has allowed someone to leave Islam - a practice usually viewed very seriously under Malaysian law. The court said the woman had a unique case because her conversion to Islam had not been valid, but the case has touched on a sensitive issue that has long divided the Malaysian public. >>> | Tuesday, March 17, 2009

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The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Australia) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback – Australia) >>>

Malaysia's Islamic Court Makes Landmark Ruling to Let Muslim Convert Return to Buddhism
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A Malaysian Islamic court allowed a Muslim convert Thursday to return to her original faith of Buddhism, setting a precedent that could ease religious minorities' worries about their legal rights.

Lawyers said the Shariah High Court's verdict in the northern state of Penang was the first time in recent memory that a convert has been permitted to legally renounce Islam in this Muslim-majority nation.

A rising number of disputes about religious conversions has sparked anxiety among minorities — predominantly Buddhist, Christian and Hindu — because in the past, courts virtually always ruled against people seeking to leave Islam.

Penang's Shariah court, however, granted Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah's request to be declared a non-Muslim. She embraced Islam in 1998 because she wanted to marry an Iranian, but claimed she never truly practiced the religion.

"I am very happy," Siti, a 39-year-old ethnic Chinese cake seller, told The Associated Press by telephone. "I want to go to the temple to pray and give thanks."

The Shariah court, which governs Muslims' personal conduct and religious lives, ruled that Siti's husband and Islamic authorities failed to give her proper religious advice.

"So you can't blame her for her ignorance of the teachings and wanting to convert out," said Ahmad Munawir Abdul Aziz, a lawyer for the Islamic Affairs Council in Penang.

Minority leaders hailed the verdict as a step to protect religious rights. Malaysia's Islamic Court Makes Landmark Ruling to Let Muslim Convert Return to Buddhism >>> Associated Press | May 8, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)