Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) today proposed that a special court be set up to settle future cases of unilateral conversions of the religion of children by their parents.

The special court could then hear arguments from both parents, rather than the current practice where the Muslims come under the syariah court and non-Muslims are bound by the civil court.

"We believe that Islam is fair and will give room for both the Muslim and non-Muslim parents to be heard," Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub said.

"What's important is that justice will prevail. Islam acknowledges the rights of a mother, whether she's Muslim or not, and also a father whether he's Muslim or not.

"What is important is that both sides of the (argument) are heard," Salahuddin said at a press conference at Wisma Amanah in Kuala Lumpur.

His comments were in response to the Federal Court's decision yesterday on the custody battle between Hindu mother S Deepa and her former husband Irwan Abdullah.

The court's decision to grant Deepa custody of her Hindu daughter and allowing Irwan, formerly known as N Viran, to continue taking care of their Muslim son, marked the end of a legal conversion battle that has dragged on for years.

Amanah communications director Khalid Samad ( photo ) said the special court would help resolve 'a vacuum' in Malaysia's current legal system.

"We must admit that there is this vacuum in our system. There needs to be a mechanism to address such cases in the future," Khalid, the MP for Shah Alam, added.

Salahuddin also urged the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) to conduct research on unilateral religion conversions of minors.

According to Salahuddin, a new approach was needed in order not to taint the image of Islam.

"This is Jakim's role, which is to conduct research and this is important so that Islam will be seen as upholding justice," he said.

Landmark decision

The five-member bench of the Federal Court, chaired by Justice Raus Sharif in its decision yesterday said a non-Muslim marriage would not be dissolved when one party embraced Islam.

Others on the panel were Chief Justice of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin and Justices Abdull Hamid Embong, Suriyadi Halim Omar and Azahar Mohamed.

The court was hearing Izwan's appeal against an earlier ruling that awarded custody of both children to his ex-wife Deepa.

The Court of Appeal had on Dec 17 upheld the Seremban High Court's decision to give custody of the two children to Deepa, despite a conflicting custody ruling from the Seremban Syariah Court.

Izwan had unilaterally converted the children, without Deepa’s knowledge, in April 2013.