Legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has welcomed a ruling by the Iraqi Court of Cassation in the case of a Christian woman who was officially registered as a Muslim.
In Iraq, as in a number of other Muslim-majority states, a person's religion is officially recorded by the authorities. This designation can have real-world consequences, particularly in matters such as marriage and family law.
For non-Muslims who find themselves officially registered as Muslim, the consequences can be particularly serious. Their official status can subject them to rules governing Muslims under Iraq's religiously based personal-status system, while their designation may also be passed on to their children.
In some cases, Christian families who are officially registered as Muslim have reportedly faced a choice between registering their children as Muslim or leaving them without official documentation. The latter can prevent children from accessing services such as public education and government benefits.
ADF has been supporting the case of one young Christian woman, with the pseudonym “Maryam” who has successfully changed her designation. ADF described the ruling as “a strong step forward for religious freedom”.
Maryam was born into a Christian family, but she and her sisters were legally redesignated as Muslims after their parents separated and their mother subsequently married a Muslim.
Upon turning 18, Maryam filed a legal claim in January 2025 to correct her official designation to Christian. In May of this year a lower court ruled in favour of Maryam’s request, a decision that has now been affirmed by Iraq’s highest court.
Maryam’s sisters have not yet turned 18 and are still officially recognised as Muslims; however similar action will be undertaken for them once they reach their legal majority.
Kelsey Zorzi, Senior Counsel and Director of Advocacy for Global Religious Freedom at Alliance Defending Freedom, said, “We commend Iraq’s Court of Cassation for affirming this ruling and granting Maryam the freedom to have her Christian faith accurately reflected in her state-issued documents.
"Christians and other religious minorities across Iraq and the broader Middle East suffer real harm when governments assign them a religion that is not their own.
"In a region where marriage, inheritance, burial, and education are governed differently according to one’s religion, it is essential that individuals - not states - retain the right to choose their own faith.”
