PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA: The courts should be "humane" when presiding over cases of Muslim converts wanting to renounce Islam and embracing their original faith, Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said.

He said the people would be more respectful to all great religions if such liberal decision were made towards those who sought redress over their faith.

"Such cases seeking their choice of religion are few and as such there should not be any fear with regard to the erosion of the Islamic faith," he said.

Dr Koh was asked to comment on the Penang Syariah High Court's decision to allow an application by Muslim convert Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah, 39, to renounce Islam and revert to her original faith.

The decision by Perlis Syariah Court chief judge Othman Ibrahim, who presided over the case when he was based in Penang earlier, makes this the first of its kind in the country where a living Muslim convert is allowed to renounce Islam since the Syariah Court Civil Procedure (State of Penang) Enactment 2004 came into force on Jan 1, 2006.

MCA Legal Bureau chairman Datuk Leong Tang Chong said it was the party's position that a Muslim convert be allowed to renounce Islam when the marriage to a Muslim had ended.

"We also urge that other converts in similar circumstances be allowed to come out of Islam," he said in a statement here yesterday.

He said the decision was in line with Article 11(1) of the Federal Constitution which guaranteed freedom of religion to every Malaysian.

Regarding children who had been unilaterally converted to Islam without the other parent's knowledge and permission, he said the MCA stressed that their religion must be decided by both parents.

"In such a case where the child's religion remains in dispute, his or her faith must remain as status quo until he or she reaches 18 years old, after which the child will decide," he said.