Senior federal counsel Suzana Atan told a five-member Federal Court bench today that the National Registration Department could refer to a fatwa or religious edict when registering the name of the child according to Islamic precepts.

In making submissions in the case of children born out of wedlock in what is known as the “bin Abdullah” case, Suzana, appearing for the NRD and the government said the definition of “illegitimate child” differs according to Muslims and non-Muslims.

However, the Birth and Death Registration Act (BDRA) does not define what constitute an illegitimate child.

Hence, she said, for Muslim citizens the registrar needs to refer to the fatwa regardless of whether it is gazetted or otherwise by the state authorities.