The Syariah Court should be applauded for its fair and common sense decision in the Nyonya Tahir case. The judge has taken a factual approach, instead of dogmatically applying the 'Muslim-by-birth' criteria, which has been the main cause of the non-Muslims' unnecessary anguish and resentment towards Islamic bureaucrats in this country.

But before we read too much into it and conclude that the syariah courts in this country have finally become 'progressive', the judge's reasoning must be carefully studied first. It would cause great uproar among the conservative Muslim clerics if the judge has completely ignored the 'Muslim-by-birth' criteria because many would worry that it would open the door to murtad (apostasy) by living Muslims.

If we step back a little, it is not difficult to see that all the anguish between the Muslims and non-Muslims could have been avoided if the religious bureaucrats did not stubbornly fight over corpses in the first place.

This kind of 'post-mortem enforcement of Muslim status' should be deplored. They achieve no practical benefit whatsoever for the religious establishments yet they cause extreme resentment among the deceased's family and community members.

Surely it is obvious that the damage done to the good name of the religion far outweighs the benefits. How could the religious bureaucrat fail to understand this?

While the Syariah Court judge should be commended for his efforts in damage-control, the bureaucrats should first refrain from causing unnecessary damage and ill-will in the first place.