Conversion of Religion: A Study on the Position of Law, Religion, and Practice in Malaysia and Egypt

Objective –In recent times, human rights instruments have emphasized not only the right to profess any religion, but also the right to profess no religion, to change religious belief, or to adopt beliefs other than religious beliefs in accordance to the individual's conscience. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right 1948 (UDHR) declares that everyone has the right freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. This right includes freedom to change one's religion. Methodology/Technique – This paper is a comparative study between two selected countries in relation to conversion cases in religion or belief. Malaysia and Egypt are in the picture since both are Islamic countries, and frequently being reported to possess low level of religious freedom prior to the intervention of the religious authorities and Shariah court. The paper will use the content analysis methodology. Its approach focuses on the literature sources from printed media such as books, law journals, written reports and other relevant and authentic materials. Findings – The paper finds that the major similarity connected between them is on the aspect of dominant participation of the government in preventing the culture of conversion of the traditional religion in the aspect of administrative and recognition of the conversion process. Novelty – The study recommends that justice is also the main credential element in Islam that needs to be uphold by the government in power without having discrimination to any types of religions so that the justice can be served to all citizens of the states. Type of Paper: Review