Section 2
Interpretation
of Muslim Adoption Enactment 2024
In this Enactment, unless the context otherwise requires ―
“adopted child” means a child who has been allowed by the Court to be adopted or re-adopted;
“calamity” means a disaster or accident befalling the adopter causing death or permanent disability to continue the responsibility of caring for the adopted child;
“child” means an unmarried child under the age of eighteen years;
“Committee” means a Committee established under section 37 of this Enactment;
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“Court” or “Syariah Court” has the same meaning assigned to it under section 2 of the Syariah Courts Enactment 2024;
“Director” means the Director of Sabah State General Welfare Services or any officer of the Department who is authorized to act on his behalf;
“guardian” means the mother or any person other than the natural parents of the child who is legally appointed by the Court or any court as the guardian of the child’s person and property;
“hibah” has the same meaning assigned thereto under section 2 of the Wakaf (State of Sabah) Enactment 2018;
“Islamic Law” means Islamic Law according to Mazhab Syaf’ie or any one of Mazhab
Hanafi, Maliki or Hanbali;
“judgement” means the written decision or order of the Court including the grounds of judgement;
“mahram” means a person who is forbidden to be married forever or for a certain period of time for the reasons stipulated by Islamic Law;
“nasab” means lineage based on legal blood relations according to Islamic Law;
“notice” means any written notice unless in any case otherwise ordered by the Court;
“person responsible for providing maintenance” means the heir of the child or any person appointed or recognized as the legal guardian of the child in accordance with the requirements of the provisions of any law in force;
“rabibah” means the daughter of the wife, the daughter of the wife’s daughter or the daughter of the wife’s son and below, whether from the nasab lineage or breastfeeding, are mahram to the mother’s husband (stepfather) on the condition that there has been sexual intercourse between the stepfather and the mother;
“Registrar of the Syariah Court” means a registrar appointed under subsection 13(1)
and (2) of the Syariah Courts Enactment 2024;
‘Registrar” means the Regional Registrar of Births and Deaths appointed under subsection 3(1) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Ordinance (Cap.123);
“resident” means a citizen who resides in Sabah for a period of not less than five years;
“Sabah connection” means any person who ―
(a)
is born in Sabah, resides in Sabah and one of his parents is related to a local resident of Sabah through a marriage; or
(b)
is a resident in the state of Malaysia which ―
(i)
have a relationship with the local residents of Sabah through a marriage, and living in Sabah; or
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(ii)
has resided in this state continuously for a period of not less than five years;
“single man” or “single woman” means a man or a woman who has never been married or has been married but has been divorced or his or her partner has died;
“wali” means a person who has the authority according to Islamic Law to marry off a woman; and
“will” has the same meaning assigned thereto under section 2 of the Muslim Wills
(State of Sabah) Enactment 2018;
(2)
All words and expressions used in this Enactment and not herein defined but defined in Part I of the Interpretation and General Clauses Enactment 1963 shall have the meanings assigned thereto in that Part to the extent that such meanings do not conflict with Islamic Law.
(3)
For the avoidance of doubt as to the identity or interpretation of words and expressions used in this Enactment that are listed in the First Schedule, reference may be made to the
Arabic script for those words and expressions as shown against them therein.