In the quiet highlands of Nabawan, Sabah, a betrayal went unnoticed for years — one not of politics or land, but of faith.

Marni Pangeran, a 38-year-old homemaker and mother of four, never thought a simple headscarf photo — taken years ago for a health card application — would one day be used to change her religion.

“I was told it was for food handler certification,” she said. “I never imagined it would be used to register me as a Muslim.”

According to the Sabah Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JHEAINS) in Nabawan, Marni embraced Islam in 2009. She had no idea.

Attached to the form was her photograph, her identity card details — and a thumbprint that wasn’t hers. “I was born Christian. I have always been Christian. I never signed anything, never gave my fingerprint,” she said.

Her case is not isolated. In recent weeks, four active members of the local SIB church — Salarom Taka, Yunai @ Limah Binti Siyon, Eunus Likuran, and Erody Ahundung — were found to be listed as Muslims in the JHEAINS system. All four are members of the church committee.

They were not present at the department office on Friday, but their church leaders came — and were stunned when officers confirmed their names were indeed recorded as Muslim. The congregation was in disbelief.

“I couldn’t believe it,” one church elder said. “These are people who serve the church every week.”

The revelation came during a series of checks led by Raymond Ahuar, president of the Pertubuhan Kebudayaan dan Kebajikan Murut Malaysia. He said most of the affected individuals — including Marni and the church members — come from vulnerable Murut communities. They were poor, rural, and easy to exploit.

“We are not talking about people who knowingly converted,” he said. “We’re talking about people who had no idea their faith had been changed — on paper, for someone else’s benefit.”

In some cases, villagers were offered what appeared to be easy money. They were told their names were needed to apply for a business license, but they wouldn’t have to do anything beyond handing over their IC. The rest would be handled by others.

“They don’t hold the accounts. They don’t even know what company was set up in their name,” Raymond said. “Some were just given RM1,000 once and promised more.”

Marni was one of them. In the beginning, she said, she was given RM1,000 monthly by two individuals connected to the scheme. It felt like a blessing at first. “They said they were helping,” she said. “But then the money stopped. And now I’m left with this.”

For 39-year-old Jenifer Ansakoi, the nightmare began after she lost her IC. When she went to renew it, she discovered her religion had changed. Her four sons remained Christian, but her two youngest — now in Form One and Primary One — were listed as Muslims. On paper, they became “bin Abdullah.”

Jenifer recently checked with JHEAINS in Nabawan, but her name wasn’t in their database. Officers told her the error likely happened at the National Registration Department (JPN) — where her religious status was wrongly encoded when her IC was reissued.

“They told me to go to JPN first,” she said. “But how did this happen without me knowing?”

JHEAINS, meanwhile, has agreed to review Marni’s case after she lodged a police report and formally denied ever converting. Officers acknowledged the dispute and have taken preliminary steps to investigate.

Others are being told to do the same. The four church committee members were advised to follow Marni’s lead — file a police report, submit a declaration, and begin the long process of restoring their religious identity.

But even those who knowingly embraced Islam say they were misled.

On Friday, a man named Jurni Andawa, born in 1983 and living in Kampung Mosopoh, came to the JHEAINS office. He said he had formally converted years ago — but was promised RM1,000 as part of the process. He never received it.

“I only got RM300 a month for three years,” he said. “They said I’d get a one-time payment. But it never came. Someone else probably took it.”

He was asked to fill in a form. That was all they could offer him.

Raymond believes this pattern of quiet manipulation — both in falsified conversions and in misused real ones — is part of something larger. “This didn’t just happen randomly. These are not clerical errors. This is exploitation.”

He has urged others in the Murut community, especially in Nabawan, to check their religious status. “If you’ve ever submitted your IC for licensing, for job applications, for food handler permits — go check. You may be listed as Muslim without even knowing.”

The damage, he said, runs deep. “It’s not just about religion. It’s about dignity. About identity. These people now have to fight to prove who they really are — just to get back what was always theirs.” – April 26, 2025