Malaysian court refuses to let woman disavow Islam for bizarre cult
Kamariah Ali waits outside a courtroom before her trial at Federal Courthouse in Kuala Lumpur, 29 November 2005. No one will give Kamariah Ali a job, her family members shun her and her children are less than supportive — all because she no longer wants to be a Muslim.
Kamariah Ali has long since renounced her family religion, Islam, in favor of a cult headed by a messiah who thinks he's Jesus, Buddha and Muhammed all reincarnated into the same human form.
But, on paper at least, she's still a Muslim. Malaysia's Islamic courts have ruled that the 60-year-old can't leave the religion, the BBC reports.
Kamariah contends that, since she doesn't believe in Islam, she shouldn't be tried in Islamic courts anyway. Malaysia runs a peculiar two-track court system: one for Muslims, one for non-Muslims.
Can't they just turn her loose to the "Sky Kingdom" cult? Shouldn't they let her retreat to the sect's compound, which once featured a giant beige teapot sculpture to symbolize the purity of water?
Not happening, Malaysian authorities have ruled. The police, courts and angry locals have continually fought against the Sky Kingdom, scaring its Buddha/Jesus/Muhammed leader into exile, arresting followers and even demolishing their giant Disney-like teapot.