Document #1250237
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Please find attached some documents that
provide information on Islam in Malaysia and the role of the
government in proselytizing. These documents add to the information
provided in Responses to Information Requests MYS14272 of 28 May
1993, MYS12209 of 16 November 1992, MYS18725.E of 25 October 1994
and other documents available through your Regional Documentation
Centre.
According to an information officer at the
High Commission of Malaysia in Ottawa, official acknowledgement of
a person's conversion to Islam requires documentary proof issued by
an Islamic religious authority or institution (3 Nov. 1994). This
document could be a letter or a certificate issued by a Muslim
association, a Mosque or an Imam, for example (ibid.). The source
added that there are various Muslim sects in Malaysia, and that the
actual process of conversion could differ among them, so it would
be difficult to generalize about all sects and followers of Islam
(ibid.).
This response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
High Commission of Malaysia, Ottawa. 3
November 1994. Telephone interview with information officer.
Financial Times [London]. 3
September 1993. Victor Mullet. "Islam Turns SE Asia's Secular
Heads: Several Violent Incidents Have Served as a Reminder of
Growing Religious Power." (NEXIS)
Islam and Islamic Groups: A Worldwide
Reference Guide. 1992. Edited by Farzana Shaikh. Essex:
Longman, pp. 148-51.