Afghanistan is a full Islamic country. Islam is the official state religion. Approximately 99.7% of the population is Muslim.
Islam began to be practiced after the Arab Islamic conquest of Afghanistan from the 7th to the 10th centuries. Before Islam, Christianity was one of the religions which was practiced there. After the attacks of Arabs and Muslims, Afghanistan fell under their control and Christians had to pay tributes and ransoms to them to live.
After some time, the economic pressures, attacks, and persecutions by the Islamic authorities against Christians caused Christianity to decrease. Most were killed.
It’s written that Afghanistan was one of the first communities that accepted Jesus Christ’s message and stayed loyal to him for 11 centuries. Nowadays Christianity is growing again. People are finding the facts of who the real God is.
It is estimated that 5-10 thousand Christians were in Afghanistan and a majority left after the coming of Taliban. They are facing too much persecutions and threats. Open Doors organization said Afghanistan was the most dangerous country for Christians in 2021 after falling to Taliban.
Still some Christians are living there. They fellowship secretly or do online fellowships. They seriously need our prayers. They can’t unveil their faith. They have to act as Muslim especially under Taliban government. Afghanistan’s constitution says if anyone leaves Islam and converts to another religion, he/she must be sentenced to death.
That was the experience that I had, acting as a Muslim for seven years. I had to do it for the safety of my family and myself. But nothing can stop people from knowing Jesus even in the present tough situations in Afghanistan. People are questioning, why should we always live in these bad situations and what are the causes?
To find answers, people (especially youths) are led to Christianity because they have never lived in peace for decades, even for centuries. They are seeking new ways and new things. Nowadays youth have access to mobiles, internet and social media to watch and learn more about Jesus, Bible and Christianity.
Some Christians are still in Afghanistan. Some fled to neighboring countries. And some have made it to freedom. Here are a few of their stories.