Jordan and Religious Tolerance
A tragedy recently brought me back to Jordan. A dear Jordanian friend died, orphaning his teenage children. Even before his final sickness my friend had been poor and in ill health and was concerned about his children's future; he asked me on a couple occasions if I would help look after them in the event that he died. So as soon as I heard the tragic news, I began making travel plans.
I had a wonderful visit with the kids, who I knew relatively well from my time living in Jordan. We were able to get out and do some fun things in Jordan, which gave them a much-needed change of atmosphere after the death of their father. I also met with various people who know and love them, and ensured that financial arrangements are in place for them to live, eat, and continue in school. Unfortunately, I was also witness to a sad drama and gained new perspective on life without genuine religious freedom.
Jordan sells itself as a pluralistic country that embraces religious tolerance, a view that most Jordanian Muslims genuinely believe. Religious minorities aren't so quick to agree. There is no denying that Jordan is a step above most of its neighbors, but religious freedom is far from absolute. Christians, who are Jordan's largest religious minority, are left alone as long as they don't rock the boat. However, there are definite red lines that Christians are not supposed to cross. My Jordanian Christian friends are thus quietist, cautious, and always a little fearful. They are terrified of the Arab Spring striking Jordan, because they believe that a strong king is the only thing standing between them and persecution at the hands of an Islamist-led government. In the meantime, they are at least permitted to go about their ordinary lives without too much government interference.
There is one religious community in Jordan, however, that has no peace and lives with overt persecution: converts away from Islam. A person's formal religious identity is written on his or her national ID card, and changing this religion away from Islam is illegal. This leads to a host of problems. A few years ago, the Jordanian friend who died--who was a Muslim convert to Christianity--was brought up on apostasy charges in a shariah court by Muslim relatives who wanted to take custody of his children. Thankfully the court ruled there wasn't enough evidence to convict him, but it was a dark and stressful year for the family.
Now I am seeing the fallout for my friend's Christian children. Immediately after his death, Muslim relatives tried to take custody. They wanted to convert the kids to Islam, force the daughter to cover, and marry her to a Muslim. The children want no part of this. For now they are living on their own with help from Christian friends, but even if this continues, their future will be a difficult one.
All will have difficulty marrying. Most Christian families would be afraid to marry their children to a Muslim-background Christian because of all the legal and social baggage. For my friend's daughter, it's even worse; she is still legally a Muslim, so it is actually against shariah law for her to marry a non-Muslim. I know one couple where the wife is a Muslim convert to Christianity. There was no legal way for her to marry her Christian husband, so they had a religious wedding; now they are fugitives from the law, actively being hunted by furious relatives on the wife's side. They want to flee the country, but cannot do so because they will flag at any security checkpoint. There is no way for them to request religious asylum without getting out of the country first.
Religious intolerance is tragic but seems woven into the fabric of human nature. That is why a strong legal commitment to religious freedom is so vital in government. Some simple legal changes would dramatically improve the quality-of-life for converts away from Islam, such as the removal of religious identity from national ID cards and the legalization of conversion. Unfortunately, I don't expect to see these reforms any time soon; Islamists would resist these changes, and the fragile Jordanian government does not want new battles right now.
I had a wonderful visit with the kids, who I knew relatively well from my time living in Jordan. We were able to get out and do some fun things in Jordan, which gave them a much-needed change of atmosphere after the death of their father. I also met with various people who know and love them, and ensured that financial arrangements are in place for them to live, eat, and continue in school. Unfortunately, I was also witness to a sad drama and gained new perspective on life without genuine religious freedom.
Jordan sells itself as a pluralistic country that embraces religious tolerance, a view that most Jordanian Muslims genuinely believe. Religious minorities aren't so quick to agree. There is no denying that Jordan is a step above most of its neighbors, but religious freedom is far from absolute. Christians, who are Jordan's largest religious minority, are left alone as long as they don't rock the boat. However, there are definite red lines that Christians are not supposed to cross. My Jordanian Christian friends are thus quietist, cautious, and always a little fearful. They are terrified of the Arab Spring striking Jordan, because they believe that a strong king is the only thing standing between them and persecution at the hands of an Islamist-led government. In the meantime, they are at least permitted to go about their ordinary lives without too much government interference.
There is one religious community in Jordan, however, that has no peace and lives with overt persecution: converts away from Islam. A person's formal religious identity is written on his or her national ID card, and changing this religion away from Islam is illegal. This leads to a host of problems. A few years ago, the Jordanian friend who died--who was a Muslim convert to Christianity--was brought up on apostasy charges in a shariah court by Muslim relatives who wanted to take custody of his children. Thankfully the court ruled there wasn't enough evidence to convict him, but it was a dark and stressful year for the family.
Now I am seeing the fallout for my friend's Christian children. Immediately after his death, Muslim relatives tried to take custody. They wanted to convert the kids to Islam, force the daughter to cover, and marry her to a Muslim. The children want no part of this. For now they are living on their own with help from Christian friends, but even if this continues, their future will be a difficult one.
All will have difficulty marrying. Most Christian families would be afraid to marry their children to a Muslim-background Christian because of all the legal and social baggage. For my friend's daughter, it's even worse; she is still legally a Muslim, so it is actually against shariah law for her to marry a non-Muslim. I know one couple where the wife is a Muslim convert to Christianity. There was no legal way for her to marry her Christian husband, so they had a religious wedding; now they are fugitives from the law, actively being hunted by furious relatives on the wife's side. They want to flee the country, but cannot do so because they will flag at any security checkpoint. There is no way for them to request religious asylum without getting out of the country first.
Religious intolerance is tragic but seems woven into the fabric of human nature. That is why a strong legal commitment to religious freedom is so vital in government. Some simple legal changes would dramatically improve the quality-of-life for converts away from Islam, such as the removal of religious identity from national ID cards and the legalization of conversion. Unfortunately, I don't expect to see these reforms any time soon; Islamists would resist these changes, and the fragile Jordanian government does not want new battles right now.
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