Convoluted emotions go a long way in creating havoc as we have seen in the recent apostasy cases, be it the case of Lina Joy or Revathy.

Lina Joy, 43, converted to Christianity in her 20s because she wanted to marry her Christian boyfriend. She changed her name Azlina Jailani and turned to the courts after the National Registration Department (NRD) rejected her appeal to have the word 'Islam' removed from her Mykad. The department consented to the name change but rejected to amend the status of Lina's religion, asking her to obtain a black-and-white from the Syariah Court confirming that she is no longer a practising Muslim.

The decision by the Supreme Court to concede with the NRD left many non-Muslims upset, purportedly because the freedom to practise her religion of choice was denied to Lina.

As expected, the Supreme Court's judgement saw a deluge of sentiments, mostly voices unhappy with the supremacy accorded to Islam. Fingers were pointed at Islam as a religion which shows no mercy to its people and is akin to quick sand where once an individual embraced the religion, there was no turning back. In the case of those who were born into this religion, going against it by becoming apostate is a definite 'No No'.

Yet, it is no hidden secret that many born Muslims do denounce the religion, for various reasons. Take Kamariah Ali ( left ), wife of Ayah Pin who created a commune called Sky Kingdom and who claimed he was the reincarnation of the holy figures of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. Anyone cared to ponder why Kamariah, a scholar of the renowned Al-Azhar University denounced Islam?

Is there no one who is curious to know why someone denounces their religion, be it Islam or any other? Or have we all made our own conclusions that Islam is a 'harsh' religion and therefore a move to denounce it is justifiable?

Stop being ignorant

The Lina Joy case has without a doubt proven true the adage that 'ignorance breeds contempt'. Instead of trying to understand the case at hand, the

non-Muslims jumped the gun, some by accusing the religion as a snatcher of one's freedom and others by assuming that embracing Islam is a point of no return in one's life. In other words, one is doomed if one embraces Islam, so come the vituperations.

It was truly sad to read the misjudgements against Islam because the fault does not lie with this religion but the manner in which it has been politically manipulated by the 'powers that be' in the country. The politicisation of Islam has sadly tarnished the view many non-Muslims have of this religion.

The first and most important step in correcting the misalliance is to standardise the Syariah law. Currently, the absence of a uniformed Syariah law has seen each state having in place its own set of Muslim laws, some more draconian that the rest. Now, whis is this being allowed to happen? Religion should no longer be the busines of state government but must become the concern of the Federal government. This move is crucial to ensure a 'standard operating procedure' is applied in apostasy cases instead of the present modus operandi.

For instance, statistics have indicated that Negri Sembilan has the largest number of converts, with 840 applications made to renounce Islam in 2005, of

which 62 succeeded. An academic had suggested that this was so because Negri Sembilan is the only state which permitted conversion.

In five other states, Perak, Malacca, Sabah, Terengganu and Pahang, conversion is a criminal offense which can be punished by a jail term or fine.

In Pahang, convicted converts may also be punished with up to six strokes of the rotan or cane.

If indeed Muslims want to denounce their faith, they should be released from that religion and allowed to move on instead of being held at

ransom through threats or brain washing rehabiliation exercises.

Religion is never punitive

Islam, by virtue of it being the country's dominant religion, is always under the limelight, most often for the wrong reasons. There is very little done to educate the non-Muslims in particular and the Muslims in general about what Islam is all about. There is more to Islam than its five-times a day prayer and the obligatory fasting during the month of Ramadan.

Like any other religion, Islam is about compassion, about being monogamous to God and about doing good to one another. Perhaps what is seen as 'harsh' is

the demands of the religion i.e. the daily five prayers, fasting, compulsory charity and abstinence from drinking, gambling and pre-marital sex.

It is certain that other religions too have their 'code of conduct' which the followers must adhere to. But because Islam is the country's official religion, the glaring pressure will always be on its people to uphold the religious believes. Islam on its own is not harsh. What seems 'harsh' is the way it has been interpreted, too often fanatically by some quarters, leaving no room for anyone to start a discourse.

Instead of understanding the issues at hand, both the Muslims and non-Muslims got carried away by emotions, further resulting in the growing hostility between them.

Reasons personal

In Lina Joy's case, she had no choice but to denounce Islam because the man she loved refused to convert, leaving her in a 'do or die situation. Lina's love was her priority and she did what she had to - convert to Christianity so that she could be with the man she gave her heart to.

So Lina's decision to leave Islam is very much personal. The motive behind her doing so was simply because she had no other alternative. It was not that

converting to Christianity was her primary desire. It was for the sake of love that she did that which she did.

The question that begs answer is whether the NRD did the right thing by asking Lina to show the department proof that she indeed has left Islam?

The next question that comes to mind is why must the word 'Islam' be reflected on the Mykad? Does having the word 'Islam' on the Mykad gives the

assurance that all the Muslims are pious? If not, then what really is the objective of having this word on the identity card?

For the non-Muslims, they were hoping that the NRD would oblige Lina and one can only imagine their reaction when Lina was instead sent packing home

and her request refused. If one is to follow the heart in this instance, it would see little or no harm for the NRD to indulge Lina. But suppose this was

done, we can only imagine the number of those wanting to denounce Islam turning up at NRD's doorstep asking for the word 'Islam' to be removed from their identity card.

Just how does NRD decide if one is no longer a practising Muslim without any form of declaration from the Syariah Court. As all matters pertaining to Islam come under Syariah Court, it does seem logical that the Syariah Court issues a written proof to support the claim of an individual who has left Islam. Without such evidence, it is highly unethical for NRD to jump the gun and delete the word 'Islam' from the Mykad of Lina Joy and all those before her.

Challenge for Syariah Court

The real challenge lies with the Syariah Court to issue the much needed declaration that Lina Joy is no longer a practising Muslim and therefore the word 'Islam' should be removed from her Mykad. Until this happens, there will be more cries of infringement of one's basic right to profess and practise the religion of one's choice.

It seems a waste of time and emotions that while crying for religious freedom, we have completely missed the crux of the issue which is to see a uniformed Syariah law in place where finally justice is served equally to all Muslims and not at the whims and fancies of the respective States like what is currently happening.

Why is there this unfounded fear that if Muslims start denouncing their religion, it would be the 'death' of Islam? Why the worry that the dwindling of numbers might result in the loss of interest in the religion? Is that why Revathy was forcibly placed under rehabilitation under the name of religion? Forcing someone to embrace a religion against their will never works and Revathy is a classic example of that. She now abhors Islam, all because some fanatics know no better and tried manipulating Islam.