The death of M Moorthy, or Mohammad Abdullah, has stirred strong religious sentiments in our country. It is never easy to decide the boundaries in such matters (conversions), particularly when S Kaliammal chose the legal warpath over her husband's immortal soul.

To many simple folks, this is a tussle for the dead and purifying rites. But it is much more than that. Rebirth or eternal paradise, we bury our loved ones with the consolation that it will reach a resting place where it can find peace.

For Kaliammal, Moorthy was her husband till the very end. She cared for him, tended to his needs, and was beside him all the way. At whatever point she was told that her husband was no longer a Hindu, Kaliammal apparently had no chance of hearing it from her comatose husband himself.

And then the tussle began when Moorthy passed away last Tuesday.

On Dec 22, the Syariah Court ordered the body of the deceased to be released to the Federal Territory Religious Department (Jawi) for immediate burial. The ex-parte filing on behalf of the deceased was made by Jawi, represented by lawyers Fakhrul Azman Abu Hassan and Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar of the Syariah Lawyers Association.

The Syariah judge, Mahyuddin Ibrahim, was satisfied with the lawyers' arguments that he has the jurisdiction to hear the case and ruled (based on sworn affidavits) that Moorthy had twice uttered the kalimah syahadah (pledge to Islam) on March 8, 2005 while in the military.

The religious department has also received an application (complete with a right thumb print) from the Armed Forces to register his conversion on May 14, 2005. At the same time, civil High Court judge Abdul Malik Ishak set hearing on Dec 29, 2005 to hear Kaliammal's application.

With that, the hospital has been able to ward off attempts by Jawi and the Armed Forces to claim the body. Interestingly, the attorney-general informed hospital officials that Syariah Court's order was not binding on them.

On Dec 27, 2005, High Court judge Mohd Raus Sharif was told by Jawi's counsel that Kaliammal has no remedy in a civil court over the matter, As expected, we learnt that the civil High Court ruled that it has no jurisdiction over the Syariah Court's rulings.

Moorthy clearly had ample opportunity to declare his conversion as records showed that he was already a Muslim on Oct 11, 2004. He only slipped into a coma after falling from his wheelchair on Nov 11, 2005.

An affidavit submitted to the Syariah Court mentioned about filed procedures to register the conversion. This raises the question whether his conversion was ever registered. Has Moorthy legally completed the process to turn into Mohammad?

This question remains unanswered because the High Court has decided it has no right to interfere. But that is on the assumption that Moorthy is a Muslim. Intent of conversion does not constitute a legally recognised status.

Moorthy did not inform his family about his intent of conversion. It was a rude shock to learn that your husband will be buried in another grave elsewhere and your prayers will, in effect, be null and void.

Kaliammal can at least be comforted that she will not lose any of Moorthy's military pension and all other spousal rights as she is still the sole legal wife. But that is not what she is fighting for, isn't it? This reminds me of the deathbed conversions, what kind of salvation presumes in robbing the family of their kin? When a man's immortal soul is at risk, it becomes a tug-o-war between religious authorities and the deceased's surviving family.

I hope Jawi has a pilot programme for such cases in the future, as it will be a cold and lonely grave that Moorthy will be going to. Kaliammal's daughter will have to visit her father's grave in the future and, here we will see how much damage religious authorities has done to Islam in the eyes of the religious minority.

When a religious authority sought to enforce their dogma through law, it creates an avenue to undermine the civil law and the federal constitution. Kaliammal and Jawi would have an opportunity to argue it out in a neutral legal court to determine the faith of Moorthy if the artificial separation between the Syariah and the civil system is properly addressed.

What kind of justice system are we running here? The damage was done when politics habitually chips away the integrity of the legal system, and now the judges expect the Parliament to change the laws to correct their own earlier errors for opening the floodgate of constitutionally unsound practices?

Whether you are a Muslim or not, this much is clear - the law tries to separate us, but life is less black and white than the legal ink dictates. Common sense and human justice are but some of the universal values that transcend religious boundaries.

When a conversion robs a wife of her husband or a mother of her children, something is definitely not right with our country. When human faith is regulated to fit nicely into squares, the law is used to divide rather than to unite us.