*** Bahraini man’s fight over elder brother’s religion switch ends in legal defeat | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

Bahraini man’s fight over elder brother’s religion switch ends in legal defeat

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A Bahraini man claimed that his elder brother had converted to Christianity in an attempt to deny him a legal inheritance.

He pursued his case through three levels of the legal system to support his assertion.

However, the courts ultimately found no credible evidence to substantiate his claims, reaffirming the principle that the presumption of a Muslim’s faith remains intact unless proven otherwise.

As a result, the man’s lawsuit was dismissed, and his brother retained his rightful share of the inheritance.

The latter even went so far as to hire two lawyers, Ali Ayad and Wadi’a Al Bunni, to defend him.

Right to inherit

They argued that their client was taken aback when his brother approached the Sharia court, alleging his conversion to Christianity in an effort to invalidate his right to inherit. In his lawsuit, the plaintiff requested the annulment of the existing legal inheritance decree and the issuance of a new one that would exclude his brother from the inheritance.

The first-instance court ruled that the burden of proof lay with the plaintiff, stressing that the presumption in Islam is one of safety and justice, which includes the assumption that a Muslim remains so unless proven otherwise through credible evidence or a clear declaration of disbelief.

Substantial evidence

The court noted that the plaintiff failed to provide any substantial evidence to support his claim of his brother’s conversion.

Furthermore, the written testimonies submitted by the plaintiff’s daughters were deemed insufficient to convince the court.

The accused, through his lawyers, affirmed his lifelong adherence to Islam, supported by an Islamic certificate issued by the Islamic Centre in his country of residence.

Burden of proof

Given the lack of credible evidence to prove the brother’s conversion, the court determined that the plaintiff had not met the burden of proof required to substantiate his claims.

As a result, the lawsuit was deemed baseless and was rejected.

Al Bunni also highlighted that her client’s brother subsequently appealed to both the appellate and cassation courts, both of which upheld the original ruling and dismissed the brother’s claims.

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