Judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid said the Federal Constitution has given power under Article 121(1A) to the shariah courts to determine renunciation cases.

“To me, it does not matter what the decision (made by the shariah court) is, but the issue is that the civil courts have no jurisdiction to hear matters within shariah courts nor do they have power to review a shariah court’s decision in cases involving the renunciation of Islam.

“The shariah courts have also done nothing wrong in determining her case as it was within their jurisdiction and have not acted ultra vires when they made the order,” he said.

Last month, the judge turned down the 32-year-old woman’s bid to start a legal challenge to be allowed to renounce Islam.

However, at the time, the court did not provide its grounds as to why it refused to entertain her attempt to initiate a legal challenge.

The woman, born a Muslim, claimed she never practised Islam and that her mother had allowed her to choose her religion.

She said she had gone to the Shariah High Court here in 2018 to seek an order to convert out of Islam as she wanted to practise Buddhism.

Shortly after she filed her application at the Shariah High Court seeking to renounce Islam, the court ordered her to attend 12 counselling sessions.

Subsequently, the court denied her application to leave Islam in 2020 and told her to go for more counselling. When she appealed, the Shariah Appeals Court upheld the ruling.

The woman then turned to the civil courts to nullify the decisions of the shariah courts. She claimed the decision to reject her “conversion out” application violated Article 11, which guaranteed a person’s freedom of religion.

Her lawyers have since filed an appeal over the decision in rejecting her bid for judicial review.