Yalova

Freedom of religion  in Afghanistan

The Constitution states that Islam is the "religion of the state" and that "no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam." It proclaims that "followers of other religions are free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of law." Government and political leaders aspire to a national environment that respects the right to religious freedom. Residual effects of years of Taliban rule, popular suspicion regarding outside influence and the motivations of foreigners, and still weak democratic institutions are factors that slow the realization of this aspiration. Intolerance was manifested in harassment and occasional violence against religious minorities and Muslims who were perceived as not respecting conservative Islamic strictures.

Still recovering from more than 25 years of violence and suffering from an ongoing insurgency, the country is slowly moving toward greater stability and democracy. Since 2004 the country has held democratic presidential, parliamentary, and provincial council elections. The Government took limited steps to increase religious freedom.

The country's population is nearly entirely Muslim. Non-Muslim minority groups faced incidents of discrimination and persecution. Conversion is understood by many citizens to contravene the tenets of Islam and Shari'a. Within the Muslim population, relations among the different sects continued to be difficult. Historically, the minority Shi'a community faced discrimination from the majority Sunni population. This discrimination continued. Some Sunnis complained about the growing influence of the Shi'a community in political circles. Local Sikh and Hindu populations, although allowed to practice their religion publicly, continued to encounter problems obtaining land for cremation and faced discrimination when seeking government jobs as well as harassment during major celebrations. Due to societal pressure, most local Christians hid their religion from others.

The U.S. Government regularly discusses religious freedom with government officials as part of its overall policy to promote human rights. The U.S. Embassy continued to send political, civil society, and religious leaders to programs in the United States; advocated for the Hindu and Sikh communities in their efforts to obtain land for cremation; and expressed concern at the treatment of local converts to Christianity. Some Provincial Reconstruction Teams provided assistance through the U.S. military's Commanders Emergency Response Program funds to assist in repairing madrassahs (Islamic religious schools) for local communities.

Religious Demography
The country has an area of 402,356 square miles and a population of 31 million. Reliable data on religious demography is not available because an official nationwide census has not been conducted in decades. Observers estimate that 80 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim, 19 percent Shi'a Muslim, and other religious groups make up less than 1 percent of the population. There are approximately 2,200 Sikh and Hindu believers and more than 400 Baha'is. There is a small, hidden Christian community; estimates on its size range from 500 to 8,000. In addition, there are small numbers of adherents of other religious groups, mostly Buddhist foreigners.

There is one Christian church and one synagogue. Some citizens who converted to Christianity as refugees have returned. Others Afghans living abroad may have been born abroad into other religious groups. The Baha'i faith has had followers in the country for approximately 150 years. The community is predominantly based in Kabul, where more than 300 Baha'i members live; another 100 are said to live in other parts of the country.

 

Legal/Policy Framework

The Constitution was ratified in January 2004. It includes a mandate to abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and obliges the state to "create a prosperous and progressive society based on social justice, protection of human dignity, protection of human rights, realization of democracy, and to ensure national unity and equality among all ethnic groups and tribes." Followers of other religions are "free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of the law."

The Constitution also declares Islam to be the official "religion of the state," stating that "no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam," and that "the provisions of adherence to the fundamentals of the sacred religion of Islam and the regime of the Islamic Republic cannot be amended." For issues on which the Constitution and Penal Code are silent (including conversion and blasphemy), courts rely on Shari'a--some interpretations of which conflict with the mandate to abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Restrictions on Religious Freedom
There was no information available concerning restrictions on the general training of clergy. The Government paid officially registered mullahs, but only a small number of active mullahs were registered, as the Government's registration program was a new initiative and the budget and staff were limited.

As discussed above, under Islamic law, conversion from Islam is punishable by death. In recent years, this sentence was not carried out.

Immigrants and noncitizens were free to practice their own religions. In Kabul 200 to 300 expatriates met regularly at Christian worship services held in private locations due to the existence of only one Christian church in the country. This church, located within the diplomatic enclave, was not open to local nationals. Buddhist foreigners were free to practice in temples established for the Buddhist immigrant community.

There were an unknown number of foreign missionaries in the country who worked discreetly to avoid harassment. There were no overt foreign missionaries or other non-Islamic religiously oriented organizations in the country. Proselytism was practiced discreetly, since it is viewed as contrary to the teachings of Islam. During the period covered by this report, there were a few reported incidents involving individuals attempting to proselytize.

 

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