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- Title
Maria was a Christian - Nadra was a Muslim: Hertogh Revisited.
- Authors
Hooker, M. B.
- Abstract
Sixty years on, the Hertogh litigation (1950-51) continues to resonate in the Malay-Muslim world. The person on whom the courts focussed was a 13 year-old girl, 'Maria' in her Dutch-Christian persona and 'Nadra' in her Muslim reincarnation. The Singapore Court at the time was bound by wholly inappropriate law to decide which of her two religious identities was the correct one for determining custody and validity of marriage. There was, in fact, no 'right' answer and Maria/Nadra suffered the consequences. This essay describes the litigation, the result of which (apart from personal tragedies) was a complete loss of trust by Singapore Muslims in the post-war colonial legal system. The issue of trust is of vital importance and has recently re-appeared in Malaysian syariah. The issue there is exactly the same -- what law determines the legal identity of women and children whose religious identity is uncertain as, for example, in circumstances of apostasy and conversion. The Malaysian answers are inconsistent and in the view of many (both Muslim and non-Muslim) are bidding fair to allow, or even encourage, distrust of the law and the courts. The subject itself, the personal status of women and children, is always crucial in Muslim societies, as is the question of who decides the appropriate law and determines its effects for daily life. In this respect the Hertogh litigation lives on and we ignore its historical lessons at our peril.
- Subjects
SINGAPORE; CHRISTIANS; MUSLIMS; REINCARNATION; COURTS
- Publication
Australian Journal of Asian Law, 2013, Vol 14, Issue 2, p1
- ISSN
1443-0738
- Publication type
Article