The government is now being advised to conduct deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests to ascertain the identities of the biological parents of the children linked to the Global Ikhwan Service and Business Holdings (GISBH) issue.
According to a report by Utusan Malaysia, the President of the Federal Territories Syariah Lawyers Council, Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar said that there is a possibility that the marriages of the children’s parents are not registered or not in accordance with the law, including Syariah law.
This would mean that children are illegitimate or wat’ie syubhah children (children whose legitimacy is questionable). He also pointed out that there would be different legal ramifications in Islamic law for all 3 statuses, should they be legitimate, illegitimate or wat’ie syubhah.
“From a Syariah point of view, it may first be necessary to ascertain who the children’s parents are. For this, DNA tests with an accuracy of 99.9% may need to be done to confirm the relationship,”
“In Malaysia, although the right to refuse the collection of DNA samples is still enjoyed by individuals according to Section 13(7) of the DNA Act 2009, the authorities are authorised to take samples from suspects, detainees and prisoners for investigation purposes,” he said.
Datuk Zainul Rijal further explained that, once the biological parents have been confirmed via DNA results, they can check on whether the parents’ marriage is in accordance with the law, including Syariah law.
“If it is not in accordance with the law, but valid according to Syariah law, an order from the Syariah court must be obtained to register the marriage ceremony and subsequently, the legitimacy of the child,”
“If the marriage is found by the Syariah court to not be in accordance with Syariah law, the court will then declare the children as illegitimate or wat’ie syubhah.”
However, he emphasised that, regardless of the children’s statuses, their welfare must be preserved.
“JKM (Department of Social Welfare) may not be able to accommodate the number of children involved. Therefore, a special place may need to be created for them. It is important to debunk the indoctrination that has been held by them. JKM should work with religious institutions to remove the cloak of their misguidance,” he added.
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