BAGHDAD, Iraq (LifeSiteNews) — An Iraqi court ruled this week that a Christian woman is allowed to have her official religious status corrected in the government’s database from Muslim to Christian after she had forcibly been registered as Muslim under Iraqi law despite her Christian faith.

In the court’s ruling, reported by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International on May 12, the woman, identified by the pseudonym “Maryam” to protect her identity, affirmed her right to change her official religious status in the government database to reflect her Christian faith. While Maryam was raised in a Christian household, she, along with her sisters, was forcibly classified as a Muslim by the government after her mother separated from her father and then remarried a Muslim man under the Iraqi National Card Law No. 3 of 2016, which stipulates that minors must follow the religion of the parent who has converted to Islam.

In January 2025, after she reached the country’s age of majority, Maryam filed litigation to have her religious status corrected to “Christian” in the Iraqi government database.

“Maryam was forced by law to carry a religious identity imposed on her as a child — one that did not reflect her beliefs, her upbringing, or her lived reality,” said Kelsey Zorzi, the director of advocacy for global religious freedom at ADF International, which has supported Maryam’s case. “Today’s decision restores her ability to live in accordance with her Christian faith and sets an important precedent for others in similar situations.”

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“This decision sends a clear message that individuals should not be bound for life by religious classifications imposed on them as children by their parents or by government policy,” she added. “No state should have the power to permanently assign a person’s religion.”

In Iraq, each citizen’s religious affiliation is tracked in the government’s database. While changing one’s religious designation from Islamic to another religion is not illegal, it has several consequences that make it challenging for Christians and other non-Muslims to practice their faith fully.

As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List report detailed how in Iraq, as with the entire Middle East, there has been little recovery from the attempts of Islamic States and extremists “to wipe out Christianity entirely.”

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As the report details, “Ever since the Islamic State group (IS) arrived on the scene, Christians in those areas of Iraq and Syria have been struggling to earn a living; young Christians in particular face high unemployment and continual hostility, thus encouraging their desire to emigrate.” Emigration, however, simply further diminishes the presence of Christians in the Middle East, making the survival of churches even more difficult.

Additionally, “Converts to Christianity from Islam continue to face high levels of pressure from family and community,” because, according to Islamic law, conversion to Christianity is an apostasy punishable with death, though it’s worth noting “apostasy” from Islam is not punishable by death or in any way under Iraqi law.

As this week’s ruling came from the Iraqi Personal Status Courts, the State has the right to appeal the decision to the Iraqi Federal Court of Cassation, the country’s highest court. Meanwhile, Maryam’s two younger sisters remain registered as Muslims but plan to take similar legal action once they reach adulthood.