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Concept
Freedom of religion in Afghanistan
Summary
Freedom of religion in Afghanistan changed during the Islamic Republic installed in 2002 following a U.S.-led invasion that displaced the former Taliban government.
Freedom of religion has changed again after the Taliban took back control in August 2021.
The initial three articles of the Constitution of Afghanistan dated January 23, 2004, mandated:
Afghanistan shall be an Islamic Republic, independent, unitary, and indivisible state.
The sacred religion of Islam shall be the religion of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Followers of other faiths shall be free within the bounds of law in the exercise and performance of their religious rights.
No law shall contravene the tenets and provisions of the holy religion of Islam in Afghanistan.
Article seven of the constitution commits the state to abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and other international treaties and conventions to which the country is a party. Articles 18 and 19 of the UDHR, taken together, effectively declare that it is a universal human right to engage in religious proselytism.
In the past, small communities of Hindus, Sikhs, Jews, and Christians also lived in the country; most members of these communities have left. Even at their peak, these non-Muslim minorities constituted only one percent of the population. Almost all members of the country's small Hindu and Sikh population, which once numbered about 50,000, have emigrated or taken refuge abroad. Non-Muslims such as Hindus and Sikhs now number only in the hundreds, often working as traders. The few Christians and Jews who live in the country are mostly foreigners who are in the country to carry out relief work on behalf of foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The Taliban imposed its interpretation of Islamic law, establishing a "Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice" for purposes of enforcement. One of the Ministry's duties was to operate a body of religious police who enforced edicts on dress code, employment, access to medical care, behavior, religious practice, and expression.
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