I just finished reading parts of the 2005 US State Department report on International Religious Freedom. The section on Jordan is quite long and detailed. The report focuses on the hot topic of conversion from Islam to Christianity:
There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the reporting period. A convert from Islam to Christianity was detained on the orders of a Shari’a court in September 2004 and charged with apostasy. In November, the Amman Shari’a Court found him guilty of apostasy, stripped him of his civil rights, and annulled his marriage. A Shari’a appellate court upheld the conviction in January 2005. Members of unrecognized religious groups and converts from Islam face legal discrimination and bureaucratic difficulties in personal status cases. Converts from Islam additionally risk the loss of civil rights. There is no statute that expressly forbids proselytizing Muslims. However, Shari’a courts have the authority to prosecute proselytizers.
I blogged about this particular case one year ago, so my comments can be seen here. Other sections of the report discuss alleged discrimination against the Druze and Bahai communities in Jordan.
The Government does not recognize the Druze or Baha’i faiths as religions but does not prohibit their practice. The Druze face official discrimination but do not complain of social discrimination. Baha’is face both official and social discrimination. The Government does not record the bearer’s religion as Druze or Baha’i on national identity cards; Druze are listed as Muslim, and Baha’i do not have any religion officially listed.
All that said, I’m glad the report made mention of the fact that Christians in Jordan enjoy a very good status.
The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed to religious freedom. In general, Christians did not suffer discrimination. Christians held high-level government and private sector positions and were represented in the media and academia approximately in proportion to their presence in the general population
Read the entire report on Jordan here.
Hello everyone i’m hoping you can shed some light on something for me. My younger sister is living and working in jordan at the moment and she has become involved in a relationship with a young man she is from the uk and has no particular religion and he is Muslim much as i would like to think that they are both safe in this situation i keep reading things that say otherwise how would this be viewed in Jordan would really appreciate some feedback thanx
Ah Nas, there is something to be learned in every dialogue, mish? You have interesting things to say and I learn from, even when I don’t agree with you (I read your blog too). I’m ok discussing aspects of my faith with people who think I am deceived and an oppresser – if we can look at the bad and work at changing what we can in our sphere of influence, then we all get to eat cake together :D.
Kinzi, my 😀 was my white flag of surrender as I’ve come to realise that no matter what anyone says over here Islam is always the evil religion and Muslims are always bad and oppressors. I might as well be arguing over Palestinian rights in Palestine with an Israeli.
Oh well, let them eat cake.
Nas, that is what I say/do when my landlord tells me someday I’ll be enlightened and become a Muslim! I know she only says it because she cares about me. She is actually very articulate and intelligent, and I enjoy her immensely. But when I tell her what Jareer and Dan wrote she gets mad at me and looks like this :<
😀
Jesus said: ” I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me”. I am the Alpha and Omega ( the begining and the last); even before Ibrahim, I was (Ibrahim lived around 2200 BC.) I am The Resurrection and Life.”
When that lady talked about Jesus, she meant This Jesus.
Nas,
The old lady on the bus may be a bit uniformed,but she probably truly cares about where you spend Eternity.Yes you believe in Jesus,but not in the same way as she.For you,Jesus is a great prophet,but for those who know Him He is God,and the only sacrifice for sin.
I guess this discussion is meaningless if there’s no such thing as absolute truth and reality.
I don’t care for organized religions or even the plethora of Christian denominations…but true Christianity is a relationship,not a religion.
May Allah guide you into all truth…
I am not talking about government laws, im talking about society and people’s interactions
Moslems have much much better rights and respect in America and Europe than those Christians have in Jordan; in fact, under the law in the USA, there is no such religion preferences. If that old lady does the same to you in Jordan, you have the right to throw her in jail for preaching Christianity and trying to convert a Moslem.