Yemeni Christians pressured to conform to Islamic law: ‘We were forced to wear the hijab’ 

View of the coastal part of the city of Aden, Yemen. / Credit: MarinaDa/Shutterstock

ACI MENA, Sep 23, 2024 / 15:56 pm (CNA).

Christians in southwestern Arabia, and specifically in Aden, a port city located in Yemen, have a deeply-rooted history dating back to the fourth century. Despite persecution over the centuries, the Christian faith continued to flourish and expand, becoming the most widespread religion in Aden before the advent of Islam. But with the rise of extremist religious thought, the Christian minority there has experienced hardship. 

Badr, a Yemeni Catholic woman born in the 1980s and living in Aden, spoke recently about the plight of Christians there with ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

Wishing to remain anonymous, she explained: “I didn’t realize that we, as Christians, were a minority until I reached middle school. There, I experienced harsh challenges related to my faith and to the loss of our rights.”

She continued: “Although some small churches became nationalized in the 1970s, Christians maintained the right to education in schools and employment in government jobs before 1994. Women enjoyed the freedom to dress [as they wish], and on the religious level, we were allowed to pray inside churches that were tax-free like mosques. The state also provided visas and residency status for foreign priests. No one pressured us to change our religion.”

However, Badr said all of that changed when the Muslim Brotherhood came to power. 

“We were forced to wear the hijab,” she told ACI Mena. “The government officially prohibited us from celebrating midnight Mass on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Christians accepted the situation and did not raise their voices. Some emigrated, others changed their religion, fearing to lose their homes and jobs. Many practiced their faith behind closed doors at a time when the Church did not support young people or work on strengthening families.”

She continued: “After 1994, the authorities tried to make Yemen an Islamic state. They wiped out our identity as Christians and refused to write ‘Christian’ on documents. Christians had to write either ‘Muslim’ or leave a blank space. They accused us of being ‘remnants of British colonialism’ and said that ‘the United States funds us.’ Teachers pressured me to change my religion and forced me to read the Quran daily. When I got full marks in Islamic education, they would reduce my grades, because they told me ‘a Christian couldn’t be equal to a Muslim.’” 

Badr said the most critical period for Christians in Aden began with the outbreak of the 2015 war and the subsequent closure of churches. 

“After being banned from praying, we started praying secretly in the convent of the nuns,” she said. “Unfortunately, all the nuns were later killed. The priest was kidnapped. The churches were stolen, and some were vandalized.”

“In 2018, the authorities refused to renew our passports unless we wrote the word ‘Islam’ in the religion section of the application form, as we were told: ‘There are no Christians in Yemen.’” 

Badr noted that there has been a recent improvement in the situation of Christians: They have been recognized again as citizens. She called on the Catholic Church to seek to restore its presence in Aden, to send priests there, and to reopen the churches that remain closed to this day.

This story was first published by ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.