A court in Iraq has issued a landmark ruling in favor of a young Christian woman who sought to officially change her religious affiliation in her identity documents.
The court allowed the woman, identified in the report as Maryam to protect her identity, to change her registered religion from Islam to Christianity. The ruling is already being described as an important precedent for religious minorities in Iraq and across the wider region, according to the portal inVictory.
Maryam was raised in a Christian family. However, under Iraqi law she was automatically registered as a Muslim. This happened after her mother separated from her father and married a Muslim man. Under Article 26(2) of Iraq’s 2016 National Identity Card Law, minor children are required to adopt the religion of a parent who converts to Islam.
After reaching adulthood, Maryam filed a lawsuit in January 2025 demanding that the religious information in the state database be corrected. The court granted her request and recognized the woman’s right to choose her faith independently.
ADF International, which supported Maryam’s case, said the ruling marked an important step in protecting religious freedom. Kelsey Zorzi, Director of Global Religious Freedom Advocacy, stressed that no one should be permanently bound to a religious status imposed during childhood by the state or by parents.
At the same time, Maryam’s two younger sisters are still officially registered as Muslims. Once they reach adulthood, they will also be able to file similar lawsuits.
Under Iraqi law, the state is required to appeal the ruling before the Federal Court of Cassation of Iraq, the country’s highest judicial authority for such cases. If the higher court upholds the decision, it could create a significant legal precedent for others facing similar circumstances.
Human rights advocates note that the problem of “state assigned religion” is widespread not only in Iraq, but also in other countries across the Middle East and Asia, including Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. In many states, a person’s religion is recorded in official databases or documents, and changing it is extremely difficult or impossible.
