BY: ASHIKIN ISHAK

Religion, from its origins, up to now, has always stirred various forms of controversy and from time to time in this country there are feelings of dissatisfaction and unhappiness over the way and manner in which conversion to another religion takes place.

While professing a faith or belief is a personal issue, the conversion or embracing of another faith is deemed sensitive and therefore the relevant religious authorities have to be held responsible to ensure all procedures were followed in an act of conversion.

There are instances, and, there are now a growing number of cases, where a convert regrets his conversion to another religion but finds that he or she has no way to back out although they do not practise the religion they embrace.

This is a stickler, a real thorny, tacky issue, with those converting often claiming that they were deceived, or that there was duress or undue influence on them which means they were coerced into an act of conversion.

Laws and procedures are currently in place to ensure a conversion to another faith or religion is valid and binding but they need to be streamlined and keep pace with prevailing realities to address the issue of those who want to back out from having converted.

This is where there needs to be interfaith consultation, legal perspectives and religious edicts to be examined by all the stakeholders in this issue to ensure that any conversion that takes place is executed for the lifespan of a convert.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE

** The views expressed on this opinion is of the writer and not the publisher