Malaysia’s Constitution establishes that the religion of a child under the age of 18 should be decided by “the parent or guardian.” Some lawyers in Malaysia argue that this should be interpreted to mean both parents, but Malaysian courts disagree, at least when it comes to converting children to Islam. When parents convert their children to Islam without the other parent’s consent, the courts consistently rule that the consent of the Islamic parent is more than enough. However, there seems to be no evidence that they would rule the same way if it were the non-Islamic parent unilaterally deciding to change their children’s religion without the other parent’s consent.

Malaysia has what is known as a two-tier judicial system. On the one hand, it has Islamic Shariah courts for handling family law cases that involve Muslims, and on the other, secular courts for handling cases that involve non-Muslims. The main difficultly this two-tier system has encountered is deciding who oversees interfaith disputes.

Over the past few years, according to Malaysian lawyers more and more interfaith cases are reaching the courts when one parent, usually the father, converts to Islam and converts their children as well without the other parent’s consent. When children are converted and their identity cards are stamped to read “Islam,” these children then face far-reaching consequences. They must study Islam at school and become subject to Shariah laws. These laws state that Muslims cannot marry outside the Islamic faith; they must raise their children as Muslims, and are banned from participating in non-Muslim religious ceremonies.

This also has ramifications over custody disputes. According to human rights lawyer and president of the National Human Rights Society of Malaysia, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, civil courts have ruled in recent years that a parent who converted to Islam is entitled to take custody disputes to a Shariah court, even if the other parent is a non-Muslim. The catch is that non-Muslims cannot appear in Shariah courts, and according to many lawyers, these courts are far more likely to rule in favor of the Muslim parent in custody battles.

According to the New York Times, the Malaysian cabinet announced it was ready to discuss a bar on the conversion of children without consent from both parents, but so far no laws have been passed in that regard. For now, religious minorities are still left with a feeling that they are at a disadvantage when their case falls to an Islamic court.

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