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Muslims who convert to Christianity say they are
ostracised by society and family.
The small but growing number of Kurds who convert to
Christianity say they face discrimination and
intolerance from the Muslim majority.
Kurdish Christians - still a tiny minority - say
they find it difficult to practice their religion
because of public intolerance. Muslims in the region
counter that it is wrong for Christians to
proselytise among other faith groups.
The converts are joining new, western-style
Christian groups which started growing after the
fall of Saddam Hussein, rather than the
long-established Christian communities such as the
Assyrians and Chaldeans, who do not seek new members
from Muslim backgrounds.
Majid Rashid Muhammed, a member of the Kurdish
Christian Church Committee, said his church has
gained at least 200 members in the last few months,
bringing its congregation to more than 700.
"The rate at which people are joining our church is
continually increasing, and most of them are young
people," he said.
The Kurdish Christian Church, with branches in the
three main cities of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, has
received financial and other support from Christian
organisations in the United States..
"As fellow-believers, the Americans strongly urge us
to adhere to the Christian faith," said Muhammed.
Many Muslims object to the new churches seeking to
win over converts from the Islamic faith. Those who
make the decision to become Christian may be shunned
- even by relatives.
A 20-year-old man, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said no one in his family knew that he
had turned to Christianity. "I'll try to keep it a
secret because our community is a Muslim one," he
added.
Sirwan Abdul-Rahman, a member of the Kurdish
Christian Church Committee from Erbil, said his
relatives looked down on him after he converted to
Christianity several years ago.
Abdul-Rahman has also got into trouble for preaching
his religion to other Kurds. He said he's been
arrested so often for carrying a Bible "that I've
got used to it".
On a proselytising mission in the mountainous area
of Qandeel, he was recognised as a Christian convert
by a driver. "He started to insult me,"
said Abdul-Rahman. "He spat on me, beat me with his
pistol and punched me in the mouth."
The Kurdistan Islamic League has issued a statement
addressed to Christian groups and churches saying it
is a "strange and terrible act" and an "unhealthy
phenomenon" for a Muslim to convert.
"This phenomenon will eventually lead to a feud in
Kurdistan," said Osman Ali, a member of the Islamic
league's Sulaimaniyah branch.
The region's religious affairs minister, Muhammed
Ahmed Gaznayi, said people who turn to Christianity
are "renegades" in the eyes of Islam.
"I consider that those who turn to Christianity pose
a threat to society,"
he added.
The Christian community also has to worry about its
collective security, as churches have been targeted
by insurgents.
The main Kurdish Christian Church in Erbil and its
two branches in Sulaimaniyah and Dohuk have no
external signs or other indicators that they are
places of worship. Services are held in private
homes.
Ayyub Kareem is an IWPR trainee in Iraq.
www.iwpr.net
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