Zarinah’s dad won’t allow children to renounce Islam, says paper

The father of Zarinah Abdul Majid said he will never consent to his daughter renouncing Islam, following the raid by Selangor Islamic authorities on her wedding to a Hindu man last week, the Star reported today.

Abdul Majid Gulam Kader, a security guard, said Zarinah and her siblings were Muslims as both he and his wife were Muslim when their children were born.

“They were born to Muslim parents and that makes them Muslim, too,” Majid was quoted as saying by the daily.

He said he would not sign any documents needed for his children, Zarinah 32, Shahull Salleh, 30, Zaleha, 28, and Abdul Gulam, 24, to change their names by the National Registration Department (NRD).

Majid also denied Zarinah’s claims that her parents were Hindus when they married in 1980, and that he was converted to Islam later by a relative while her mother remained Hindu.

Majid’s own parents were Pakistani and Indian Muslims, according to the Star.

He told the daily his father brought him and Zarinah’s mother, Vasantha, to non-governmental organisation Muslim Welfare Organisation Malaysia (Perkim) to convert her and wed them in 1979.

“Vasantha’s Muslim name is Zainab and that is the name in all the children’s birth certificates,” Majid was quoted saying.

Zarinah had told The Malaysian Insider her father left the home after the birth of her brother in 1990, and her mother was not aware they were Muslims because she was illiterate.

But Majid told The Star that he was thrown out of the family home in 2000 after he reprimanded his younger daughter from returning home late.

“Some hurtful words were exchanged and I’ve not been on good terms with them since,” said Majid.

He added that Zarinah had visited him at his workplace two months ago to obtain his signature for some documents.

“I refused and said issues such as this must be discussed at home and not on the street,” Majid was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, his stepmother, Fatimah Abdullah, reportedly said he and Vasantha quarrelled over Vasantha’s habit of taking the children to the temple when they were young.

“I reported the matter to Jais (Selangor Islamic Religious Department) twice some years ago about the children being taken to the temple but it did not do anything,” Fatimah was quoted saying.

Officers from Jais on Sunday interrupted the wedding at a Hindu temple after receiving reports that the bride, Zarinah, could be a Muslim.

Checks on Zarinah's MyKad showed that she was Muslim, and Jais officers took her away for questioning.

Zarinah was later released but she told The Malaysian Insider that she was not backing down. She said over the last 20 years, the family members had seen many lawyers to find a solution to their problem but it turned out to be an exercise in futility. – June 7, 2014.