AT THE CENTER RELATED RESOURCES: MUSLIM Religious Freedom in
Afghanistan A combination of contradictory laws, official
ambivalence, popular prejudice and ongoing insurgency makes
Afghanistan a place that remains largely hostile to religious
freedom. The Afghan Constitution of 2004 contains potentially
conflicting provisions regarding freedom of religion. On the one
hand, the document pledges to uphold the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, which contains strong guarantees of religious
freedom, and declares that adherents to all religions are free
to worship “within the provisions of the laws”. On the other
hand, the constitution declares Islam the sole and official
state religion, states that no law can contradict the beliefs
and provisions of Islam, and restricts access to various public
offices to Muslims. Other laws also discriminate against
religious minorities. For example, Afghan courts will not
register marriages involving non-Muslim Afghans, unless the
couple consents to a Muslim religious ceremon