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Malaysia’s ‘bin Abdullah’ ruling for Muslims will not reduce children’s stigma, activists say
- Muslims born out of wedlock will not be allowed to take their father’s name, but they do not have to carry the controversial suffix, the apex court rules
- But this interpretation of Islamic law in the long-running case will lead to children being deemed illegitimate, according to a children’s rights advocate
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Muslims born out of wedlock will not be allowed to take their father’s name, but do not have to carry the controversial suffix “bin Abdullah”, Malaysia’s Federal Court ruled on Thursday in a decision that child rights activists say will not fully alleviate the stigma and victimisation of children.
The apex court’s final decision brings to a close a legal battle that has spanned more than half a decade, after a Muslim couple from the southernmost state of Johor brought a case against the National Registration Department so their son – born five months and 24 days into the marriage – could take on his father’s name.
The Federal Court’s majority ruling said that while the National Registration Department did not have the right to impose the “bin Abdullah” suffix on a child’s name, national laws governing the registration of births did not apply to Muslim children as they did not have a “surname”.
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This meant, the court said, that a law allowing fathers to request their surname to be registered as the child’s did not apply to Muslims.
Malaysia’s Malay-Muslim majority use a patronymic naming system, in which a child’s name is followed by the suffix “daughter of” or “son of” their father’s name. The country practises a dual legal system of secular criminal and civil laws, as well as sharia laws that apply to Muslims.
No person or child is illegal or illegitimate
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