Paul Warren in Nyonya ruling most interesting makes a perceptive point when he argues that since Nyonya Tahir was declared by the Syariah High Court not to be a Muslim at the time of her death, it follows that other Muslims wishing to leave Islam could now be allowed to do so at any point in their life.

However, he is wrong to conclude that 'the legally-binding and recognised rule that Malays are born Muslim and shall remain so until death has now been compromised by the latest Syariah High Court ruling'.

The truth is that Islamic jurisprudential system does not adhere to the concept of binding precedent or stare decisis, which is well-established in the common law system. Each syariah judge while he may accord deep deference and respect to former decisions in fact, decides matters before him anew and is not 'shackled' by the binding precedent of former decisions. Moreover, the practice of written judgments is not a common tradition in the syariah courts and decisions are not published.

There is no reason, therefore, for another syariah judge to follow the judgment of Judge Mohd Shukor Sabudin who presided over the Nyonya Tahir case. Accordingly, any feeling of euphoria that this decision has somehow settled the issues so acutely raised by the case of M Moorthy and the way in which Article 121(1A) of federal constitution is to be interpreted, has to be tempered by this reality.