Woman Denied Bid to Leave Islam

(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) A Sharia Court of Appeal has denied permission for a 35-year-old local Chinese woman to leave Islam and convert to Christianity. Noorashikin Lim Abdullah (previously known as Lim Yoke Khoon) had her case thrown out because the legal paperwork had the wrong name on it.

The woman acquired the name Abdullah three years ago when she married a Muslim. However, her former name, Lim Yoke Khoon, appeared on the paperwork which the court ruled was a person that no longer existed.

Interestingly, when her marriage fell apart, the woman tried to change the name and religion on her identity card but the National Registration Department said she must first get permission from the Islamic Sharia Court to renounce Islam. So, she goes to the Sharia Court where she's told she can't renounce Islam because she hasn't changed her name.

It's Catch-22.

Notably, the disputes regarding religious conversions in Malaysia are frustrating minorities since Sharia Courts almost always rule against people wanting to leave Islam.