In Negri Sembilan, the consent of only one parent who has embraced Islam is needed to have their children converted to the faith, says the state's Islamic Affairs Department.

The department's director Johani Hassan said this was clearly spelt out under laws of the state, and in other states as well.

“The law does not say that we need the consent of both parents before we can convert their children.

“When one parent embraces Islam, the children can be automatically converted,” Johani said, according to The Star.

However, this contradicts with a cabinet decision made in April 2009 that a child will maintain the original faith of his or her parents during the time of their marriage under civil law.

Approach Syariah Court

The policy was made following claims that some individuals had used the Syariah Court in order to gain custodial rights.

Johani was commenting on a claim by a mother, aged 29, from Jelebu that her estranged husband had secretly converted their two children, aged five and eight, to Islam in April.

The couple was married in 2004 but the husband, aged 30, embraced Islam after allegedly abandoning the family last year. Legally, the couple are still married under civil law.

The woman lodged a police report after the Islamic Affairs Department refused to entertain her appeal for a reversal of the decision to convert their children.

Johani said the woman's only remedy now was to appeal to the Syariah Court, but this may pose a problem for her since she is not a Muslim and is therefore not subject to syariah jurisdiction.