The remains of those whose religious status in relation to Islam is unclear should be surrendered to their families or claimants, ruled the Perlis Syariah committee.

mohd asri zainul abidin This decision was revealed by the state mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin in a statement published on his blog yesterday.

He said the committee had met on June 14 to address the issue of disputes between families and religious authorities over this matter.

"The committee unanimously decided that remains which are confirmed to be that of Muslims should be given an Islamic burial. If there exist circumstances which hinder or create untoward incidents, than this obligation (of giving an Islamic burial) is negated.

"If there is doubt over the Islamic status of the deceased, then (the remains) must be surrendered to the families or claimants," he said.

Mohd Asri added that this decision has been endorsed by the Conference of the Islamic Religious and Malay Affairs Council chaired by the Perlis Regent Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra on Sept 9.

Over recent months, there have been numerous cases where disputes erupted concerning the remains of those who supposedly converted to Islam.