We've received an important decision from a court in Ohio concerning the rights of a woman who converted to Christianity and was facing charges for violating Ohio law, which prohibits an applicant from making a false statement on an application for a marriage license.

We first reported on this case in a post last week.  You can read that here. 

Our client, Nishan, is a former Muslim and now devout Christian. It was alleged that our client, who married last month, was previously married to a citizen of Pakistan at the age of 17 as part of a "nikah" – a Muslim marriage contract.

Nishan’s marriage was arranged by her father during a trip to Karachi, Pakistan in May 2007 following her graduation from high school. Three days after the "nikah" ceremony, Nishan and her father returned to the United States. She remained confused about the ceremony conducted during her trip to Pakistan and later took precautionary steps to annul her vows by preparing an affidavit for the U.S. Consulate in Pakistan in August of 2007. She gave the affidavit to her father who assured her he would send the necessary paperwork to the Consulate. Her family never again mentioned her alleged Pakistani husband and Nishan believed that all necessary steps had been taken to annul any alleged marriage vows.

Following these events, Nishan began dating her current husband and converted to Christianity in 2009. Fearing what her devout Muslim family members might do if they became aware of her religious conversion, she kept her new faith a secret until shortly before her marriage in October 2009. Upon hearing that Nishan was a convert to Christianity, her father attempted to physically assault her and later alleged that she had falsified her marriage license application.

The fact is that Nishan never knowingly or intentionally misstated her marital status on her application for marriage to her husband.  The fact is that even if Nishan’s own attempts to nullify her Pakistani marriage were insufficient, her conversion to Christianity in 2009 effectively annulled her partial marriage pursuant to Islamic law which provides that if either spouse leaves Islam (e.g., by conversion to Christianity), and the two never consummated their union, the "nikah" is immediately annulled.

At the hearing in Ohio this week, ACLJ Senior Counsel Larry Crain argued that the alleged Pakistani marriage was never properly solemnized, never consummated, and this partial marriage was annulled when she converted to Christianity, under Islamic law - the law under which she was allegedly married.

The Court heard the testimony of Nishan, her father, and the man who claimed to be her Pakistani husband.  Calling her testimony "credible" the Court accepted Nishan’s testimony and said the testimony of her father and the Pakistani man was "not convincing." 

On cross-examination, the father denied assaulting or abusing his daughter or making any threat to his daughter that a “Fatwa” - an Islamic religious ruling - could be issued against her. In fact, the father told the Court that did not know what the term “Fatwa” meant - testimony that the Court labeled “not believable.”

The Court concluded that Nishan did not falsify her marriage license application and that her marriage is valid.

This is an important case involving the rights of a former Muslim to accept and convert to Christianity.  And this decision no doubt will be watched closely by other Christian converts in this country who cannot publicly testify about their conversion to Christianity for fear of facing retaliation - and even harm - from their own family members.