Malaysia - Land Of The Body Snatchers

[Adrian Wong]

It's truly amazing the lengths to which people will stoop for monetary and/or (dubious) religious gains. Only in Malaysia do we spend taxpayers' money on police and religious officers who do nothing but snatch bodies to be buried under another religion. Only in Malaysia do we have people surreptitiously converting their relatives just to get hold of their material wealth. Only in Malaysia is body snatching not only legal, but getting more and more common.

Just take a look at the recent case of a Chinese man, who is not only a practising Buddhist all his life but also paralyzed and mute after suffering a stroke. When he died, his Muslim-convert son suddenly announced that his father also converted to Islam just before he died.

In one fell stroke, all his father's property and material wealth goes to this one son because according to Malaysia's Sharia laws, property of a Muslim cannot be inherited by a non-Muslim although the reverse is naturally possible. His father's body was also snatched by the police during his funeral, even though the paperwork on his "conversion" was suspect, to say the least.

Take a look at some excerpts from the press :

Originally Posted by The Straits Times

A CHINESE man was buried as a Muslim following a court ruling, sparking angry protests yesterday from his Buddhist family who said it was medically impossible for the paralysed man to have converted to Islam.

An Islamic Syariah High Court in Negeri Sembilan ruled on Thursday that Mr Gan Eng Gor, 74, also identified as Amir Gan Abdullah, was a Muslim and should be buried under Islamic rites.

The burial took place late on Thursday afternoon in Negeri Sembilan.

'My father was paralysed for the past two years after a stroke, he couldn't walk or talk at all. How could he have converted?' said Mr Gan Hock Sin, 42, one of the deceased man's eight children.

He added that the only proof the family had of their father's conversion was a thumbprint on a document.

'We have been practising Buddhists all our lives. How is it that none of us, including my mother, who have been taking care of my sick father for the past two years, knew of the conversion?' he told The Straits Times.

The man's body was seized by police when the family was carrying out Buddhist rites at a Chinese funeral parlour.

The police action came after a complaint by the deceased's son, Mr Abdul Rahman Gan, 47, who became a Muslim 10 years ago. He claimed his father converted to Islam last July.

But the rest of the family denied the conversion and launched a legal battle. The deceased's wife, Madam Chua Chun, 65, has said that her husband did not perform his duties as a Muslim and continued to eat pork.

But Negeri Sembilan Syariah Court judge Mohamad Nadzri Abdul Rahman said he ruled in favour of the eldest son because Madam Chua and her seven other children were not in court and he could not hear their arguments.

Mr Gan Hock Sin said the family did not go to the Syariah Court because they felt it was unfair to hear the case there when they were not Muslims. 'I am not satisfied with the way the courts handled this. It is unfair for us, for non-Muslims,' he said.

The family had asked the state's civil High Court to hear the case, but a judge ruled he had no jurisdiction in the matter as the Syariah Court had already made a decision.

Malaysia has a dual court system for civil matters, with secular courts for non-Muslims and syariah courts for Muslims. In interfaith disputes involving Muslims, the syariah court usually has the last word, making a favourable decision for professed non-Muslims less likely.

The case is the latest in an increasing number of religious disputes that have raised tensions among non-Muslim minorities who feel that their rights are being eroded in favour of the official religion of Islam.

In a separate case earlier this month, the Islamic authorities had claimed a Chinese woman's body, arguing that she had converted.

But the dead woman's husband, who maintained that she had been a Christian until her death, won the case after the authorities withdrew their claims, saying her conversion had not been carried out according to Islamic law.

Originally Posted by AP

An ethnic Chinese Buddhist family was appealing to a Malaysian high court Tuesday, seeking to overturn an Islamic court ruling that found their late father had converted from Buddhism to Islam, prompting his burial as a Muslim.


The family of Gan Eng Gor said a Shariah court was wrong in ruling he had become a Muslim shortly before his death.

"We want a declaration that he is not a Muslim. Our main intention is to seek justice, not just for our family but for the rest of the non-Muslim community," son Gan Hock Ming told The Associated Press on Monday.

The case was expected to be heard Tuesday at the High Court in southern Seremban state, Hock Ming said.

It is the latest in an increasing number of interfaith conflicts that have raised tensions in multiracial Malaysia.

On Monday, opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang urged the government to end "body snatchings" by Islamic authorities, warning they were aggravating racial polarization and hurting Malaysia's multiracial harmony.

About 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims. A quarter are ethnic Chinese, who are mostly Taoist, Buddhists and Christians, and 8 percent are ethnic Indians, many of whom are Hindus.

Last week, an Islamic Shariah court ruled that Eng Gor, 74, also identified as Amir Gan Abdullah, was a Muslim and should be buried under Islamic rites.

The man's body was seized by Islamic authorities shortly after his death on Jan. 20 after a complaint by his eldest son, Abdul Rahman Gan, a Muslim convert. He claimed his father had converted to Islam last July. Other relatives disputed this.

Hock Ming said Islamic authorities claimed his bedridden father made an oral declaration in Arabic to accept Islam, but the family has medical confirmation that his father was unable to speak after a stroke in 2006. He said the alleged conversion papers were also flawed because they weren't signed and certified.

"We hope the prime minister and the higher ups in the Islamic authorities review this case and ensure that the truth is unraveled," Hock Ming said, calling for all conversions to Islam to be "fair and transparent."

Authorities from the Islamic religious department in Seremban could not be reached for comment. No comment was available from the office of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Malaysia has a dual court system for civil matters with secular courts for non-Muslims and Shariah courts for Muslims. In interfaith disputes involving Muslims, the Shariah court usually gets the last word, making a favorable decision for non-Muslims less likely.

And here is a letter from the family of the deceased :

The Majlis Agama officers came and attempted to snatch the dead body, all our family members more shocked and angry, we resisted and strongly protested against the removal of our father’s body.

1. Our father was seventy four (74) years old. He suffered a severe stroke in 2006. He was as immobilized,bedridden, mentally unsound, cannot speak, partially deaf and has very poor vision.
2. We transferred him to stay with one of our brothers in Klang. Our aged mother looked after, bathed and fed him. She also helped to look after our nephews and nieces.

3. Our father died on 20th Jan 2008. As Gan Hock Seng (the eldest son) is a member of the family, we informed him of our father’s death. He was then told us that our father is a Muslim, we were shocked and did not believed him. So we continue to perform the wake service as our father have never led a muslim life. The Majlis Agama officers came and attempted to snatch the dead body, all our family members more shocked and angry, we resisted and strongly protested against the removal of our father’s body.

4. We obtained his alleged conversion papers from Majlis Agama the second day.

5. We were advised by our solicitors that there are serious irregularities in the said conversion papers especially the Declaration of Conversion into Islam.

a). The declaration was before a Pegawai Ukhuwah. His rubber stamp was on the paper but that officer did not sign.

b). Further there was no signatory at the certification column.

c). There was an illegal alteration on the date to 3rd July 2007.

d). The thumb print was questionable as we are certain that our deceased father was in Klang and not at the address No. 451, Taman Megaway, 70400 Sikamat, Seremban as stated in the application form.

e). His address stated in the Borang Perakuan Memeluk Islam is No: 1272, Jalan TBK 6/2, Taman Bkt Kepayang, 70200 Seremban, the residence of the eldest son. We wish to state that our father has never resided at this address.

f). The Majlis Agama Authorities claimed that our deceased father made an oral declaration in Arabic accepting the Muslim faith. Our family has medical confirmations from three doctors that our father was unable to speak.

g). We were asked to appear before the Syariah Court Seremban, we believe the Syariah Court is for Muslims only.

h). We refused to attend at the Syariah Court on a matter of principle as non-Muslims. We refused to submit to the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court.

i). The Syariah Court made a unilateral declaration that our father is a Muslim and is to be buried in accordance to Muslim rites.

j). We filed an application at the High Court Seremban to adjudicate on the validity, authenticity, veracity and legality of the conversion paper especially the declaration of acceptance into Islam.

k). The High Court Seremban dismissed our application on the ground that he has no jurisdiction to hear this matter as the subject matter falls within the purview of the Syariah Court. We beg to differ.

l). We were indeed shocked and aggrieved at the simplistic way the High Court disposed off this matter. We only seek justice, fair play and to find out the truth on his alleged conversion.

10. The eldest son Gan Hock Seng converted to Islam years ago. Our father and mother had strenuously opposed his conversion.

11. This eldest son had allegedly converted our father without the knowledge of our other and all other seven siblings.

12. Further, the eldest son had NEVER taken care of him physically and financially. He hardly visited him too.

13. Even if the eldest son had converted our father, we like to ask:

i). Why is it that he did not take care of him and brought him to stay in his house to lead a Muslim life?

ii). Why did he allow our father to continue living in a non‐Muslim home in Klang ? Our father had never prayed and continued eating pork and other non‐halal food. He never revealed to anyone that he has converted to Islam.

iii). Why he as a Muslim, did not ensure that our father (if he had been indeed converted) led a Muslim life ?

iv). Why is it that the Agama Islam authorities did not visit and follow up with our father – the alleged new convert, after his conversion?

14. We believe we have been unfairly treated by our eldest brother and the Agama Islam authorities in this alleged conversion of our father. If there had been a conversion, we firmly believe that the Agama Islam authorities should have informed all members of the family. There should not be a fight over the body of dead person. There should be dignity and respect on the dead person.

15. We hope the PM and the higher ups in the Islamic Authorities review this case and to ensure that the truth is unravelled. We hope that all conversions to Islam is fair and transparent and made known to all the next of kin of the convert.

We Seek Justice, Fair play and Truth in this matter.

From,

Gan Hok Ming for and on behalf of the family members of Gan Eng Gor (deceased)

Date: 25th January 2008

Justice and Fair play for the family of Gan Eng Gor (deceased)

I've also attached the scanned conversion documents from Dr. Hsu's blog. Take a look and you will also wonder whether the documents are even legit...

Incidentally, here's a related piece on the issue of inheritance of a Muslim vs. a non-Muslim in Malaysia :

Originally Posted by AP

A HINDU woman has spurned an offer by Malaysia's Islamic authorities to settle a dispute over her dead Muslim son's insurance policy in a case that highlights growing conflicts over religious rights.


The Federal Territory Islamic Council offered on Tuesday to give Mrs Rukumony Muthiah two-thirds of the RM56,300 (S$25,000) proceeds from her son's insurance policy, Mrs Rukumony's lawyer Darshan Singh Khaira said yesterday.

Mrs Rukumony's army ranger son, a Muslim convert, had died in 2000. In his insurance policy, Mr Ragu Ellaiappan - whose Muslim name was Mohamed Redzuan Abdullah - had named Mrs Rukumony as his beneficiary, Mr Darshan said.

But the Islamic authorities argued in court that under the country's religious laws for Muslims, a non-Muslim cannot claim inheritance from a Muslim, he said.

'Our federal Constitution guarantees equality, so how can you say a non-Muslim cannot inherit from a Muslim, but a Muslim can inherit from a non-Muslim?' Mr Darshan asked.

The council's lawyers made the offer in the High Court in Penang on Tuesday, but Mr Darshan said it was a 'fairy-tale offer' that was unacceptable.

Mrs Rukumony, a 61-year-old Indian widow, is willing to settle for 80 per cent of the total sum, he said. The court is scheduled to hear the case on March 14.

Malaysia's non-Muslim minorities say a spate of court cases in recent years, involving disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims, has usually ended with the Muslim side winning.

The legal conflicts have strained multiracial ties in Malaysia.

The Rukumony case is not the first one involving inheritance rights of a non-Muslim family following the death of a Muslim family member.

In September 2004, a family of a Chinese fireman in Malacca who had converted to Islam lost their inheritance after he died. His estate was placed under the administration of the state's Islamic council.

After political intervention, half of the estate was returned to the family.

In another closely watched case, a Chinese man is battling the authorities who took away the body of his father after saying he had embraced Islam before he died.

He wants the court to declare that his father was a Buddhist.

Mr Gan Hok Ming, a 46-year-old computer technician, said yesterday that non-Muslims were getting a raw deal.

'What choice do we have? We are very unsatisfied. There should be a more transparent system, especially on Muslim conversions,' he said from his home in Negeri Sembilan.

His father Gan Eng Gor, 74, had died on Jan 20 and was buried as a Muslim after an Islamic court ruled that he converted to Islam last year.

But the family insisted that Mr Gan was a Buddhist up to the day he died.

Okay, now time for my personal opinion of the matter.... My own 2 sen.

IMHO, this is a bloody waste of everyone's time. Two separate legal system? Two sets of laws? Which idiot came up with this stupid idea?

The police cannot even find a missing girl after so many weeks. They cannot even find a serial rapist-murderer of little girls. And they have the time to go body snatching??? Where is their sense of priority???

Why the hell should someone's religious convictions or lack thereof be of any concern to a government? GTFO, IMHO. I believe that one's religious convictions are between God and the person. Whether the man really converted or not, let his family decide. Why the hell should the government even get involved?

And what's this nonsense about Muslims not being allowed to bequeath their property to non-Muslims??? Anyone who has worked hard for his/her property has the ABSOLUTE right to bequeath his/her property to any person he/she wants. Who are YOU to tell me who I cannot give my property or material wealth to? GTFO.

IMHO, we Malaysians need to start speaking up against injustice. We need to tell the government to shove it. Enough is enough. There should be ONE LAW for everyone. Everyone should be allowed to bequeath his/her property to ANYONE he/she fancies. We should not settle for anything less.

I have nothing against any religion. If anything, I think we should put ourselves in the other person's shoes. Would you like to be treated this way? I rest my case.

Incidentally, here's a good piece by Dr. Hsu on the subject :

Last minute conversion while a patient is dying is not an uncommon phenomenon.

Ask anyone who has worked in a hospital before, they will tell you this. Sometimes when a person is very ill, there will be certain religious workers (not from the dying man’s faith) coming to visit him , comforting him and perhaps even praying for him . Sometimes the dying person is asked to pray together with them. Often this is done when the dying man’s relatives are not around.

SO when the person dies, a dispute can sometimes occur. Those workers will come forward and claim that the dead man has embraced their faith at the last minute, and very often it is their words against the relatives words.

When a person is very ill, he might not be in the right frame of mind to decide whether he should stick to the faith that he has believed all his life, or changed to the faith that those preachers are preaching. Very often he would allow these people to pray for him out of courtesy , out of apprehension of death or, simply, he is so ill he does not know what is really going on around him.

It is really inconceivable to think that a person will abandon something that he has believed all his life all of a sudden and embraced the new religion. It is also inconceivable that he can understand and believe in something within such a short time.

When there is a dispute arising out of this, the people that suffer most will be the spouse and the family. Just look at the photograph of Gan’s widow that I posted yesterday. All religions profess compassion. No religion would want to cause such great sufferings and sadness to the family . It is only the action of the overzealous followers of religions, who may just follow the form but not the true spirits of their religious teachings, that is causing so much of sufferings and bitterness. God would not condone this. God would not want a family to be separated, either in life or in death.

A reader who is also a fellow blogger under the name of “A True Malaysian” said it all.

I feel miserable with this kind of thing happening. When a husband passed away, irrespective of what his religion or belief, his body should rightfully goes to the custody of his wife / family. This is only fair.

What kind of funeral rite to be performed over the body should be decided by his wife / family, definitely not by third party.

By all means pray for the dying person. By all means do all the good deeds to help him. But if ever he wishes to be converted in his death bed, please let the family know in advance.

It would be better to try to convert someone when they are healthy and kicking, so that they are in the right frame of mind to decide whether there is anything in the new faith for them to abandon their old faith and convert.

To convert someone just for the sake of converting or for the sake of statistics is not what God wishes. If you wish to convert someone, you must make sure that he really understands and fully believes in the teachings of that particular faith. Otherwise, you may keep his body there, but his heart will be somewhere else. This is not what religion is about.

The world will be a much better place if only we remember a simple teaching from Confucius: Do not do onto others what you do not want others to do onto you.

[The_YongGrand]

Wow... that's pretty strange! Why on earth did they do that anyway? He didn't intend to convert at all right?

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by The_YongGrand

Wow... that's pretty strange! Why on earth did they do that anyway? He didn't intend to convert at all right?

Well, his eldest son claims he did. But he wasn't the one who took care of him. None of his family, who actually took care of him during the last two years, were even aware of his "conversion".

Look at the documents. There was supposed to be a religious official present during the conversion, but she didn't sign the document. Where was she?

Anyway, I highly suspect it's all about inheritance. If our Sharia laws can do away with restricting Muslim inheritance only to Muslims, I tell you... you won't see so many body snatching. It's ALL about the money.

[PsYkHoTiK]

I say there should be religious tolerance on both sides. Increase understanding. At least thats what they do with my family (hindus, buddhists, and muslims all in one big happy family - everyone freely communicates about everything including religion - plus poking holes in each other lmao).

The problem is that most people from both sides are xenophobic. Not all. I personally love culture and have always seeked out to learn and experience it (something widely commended in our religion but unfortunately rarely explored - tolerance comes out of this ultimately).

As for inheritence, it is our belief unfortunately.

For it to pass on, one must make a gift in their lifetime. In the case of insurance, its grey if taken from that standpoint (as the beneficiary was already named).

But like I said due to the xenophobic stereotypical nature of both sides the judge will rule one way (fairly or not I will not judge - not my place).

Not saying that I'm right or wrong, pointing fingers, or rendering judgement (I have no standing).

I have no qualms with anyone (religion, ethnicity, and background are never a factor in anything I do). Those who know me really know this (I r teh 'bloody' American).

And when I say xenophobic, I talk about extremities from both camps (pro religion, pro anti-religion). I have always believe moderacy, tolerance, and understanding is paramount (non-imposing stance - what i believe is the 'True' spirit).

Its sad when I see this kinda thing happening. The overzealous and fanatics minority always make the majority of us look awkward.

As to who is wrong who is right? I won't say (not my place - not my issue). The authorities are responsible for that. Bad authorities? Well you get this BS.

It's an endless cycle.

So break the cycle.

[belikethat]

i think the eldest son just wanna inherit all the stuff.. gee and he resort in this way =/ how pathetic

[Adrian Wong]

Hmm.. I didn't know that. Is it really written in the Quran that a Muslim cannot pass on any material wealth to a non-Muslim?

In any case, I believe that this is not so much a case of religion as it is one of sheer greed and ignorance. Greed on the part of the eldest son, who arguably looks like he's just out for the inheritance. Ignorance on the part of the authorities who seem more interested in chalking up the poor man as a convert on their scoreboard, rather than his true religious convictions.

I personally do not care, one way or another, what someone believes spiritually or whether he/she converts. It's not "betraying one's race or culture" if you convert because you BELIEVE. However, I'm a big believer in self-determination and freedom of choice. I believe everyone of us have the right to decide what we want to believe in AND what we want to do with whatever we have earned.

[PsYkHoTiK]

Yeah its a both ways kinda thing.

A muslim can't inherit from a non muslim, and the other way around.

The way around that is they should be made a gift in the lifetime (which I tend to think that by listing a mother's name as beneficiary qualifies as such but I am no expert).

All this is (in my eyes at least) is a civil case with religion thrown into the foray to complicate things.

And I am with you on your last paragraph Adrian.

[peaz]

Gosh, the documents are not even complete to be legally binding. Sigh....

[aKho]

this is crazy. Malaysia Boleh!

[Adrian Wong]

One of the problem is there are TWO sets of laws. It's crazy.