CV NEWS FEED // After six years of legal battles, a Christian man in Pakistan has finally won the right to reclaim his religious identity after being fraudulently registered as a Muslim by his employer.
Sufyan Masih, a 24-year-old brick kiln worker, was forcibly listed as a Muslim by his employer in an effort to trap him in forced labor, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International reported March 4. Following multiple legal setbacks and appeals, a Pakistani court has finally allowed Masih to correct his National Identity Card to reflect his Christian faith.
Masih’s ordeal began when his employer manipulated government records to register him as a Muslim, a move that not only stripped him of his religious identity but also effectively enslaved him.
Under this fraudulent status, Masih was denied his wages and prohibited from returning to his family, under the claim that his employer had “adopted” him.
Like many impoverished Christian families in Pakistan, Masih and his relatives are illiterate and were unable to understand or challenge the falsification of his official documents. A civil judge initially upheld the fraudulent registration, saying that “Islam teaches that everyone is Muslim at birth but the parents and society cause one to deviate from the straight path.”
Masih’s family eventually contacted ADF International, who stepped in to represent him in 2024.
An appeal to an additional district judge in late 2024 overturned the first ruling, with the court finally recognizing Masih as a victim of forced “conversion” and granting his request to restore his Christian identity and update his official identification.
According to ADF, Masih’s case is one of many in Pakistan where Christians and other religious minorities are systematically persecuted through the country’s legal and bureaucratic systems. The ability to change one’s religious status remains heavily restricted, with authorities often refusing to process requests from individuals seeking to correct their documentation.
“This is yet another example of how laws in Pakistan are weaponized to punish and target Christians,” ADF International’s Director of Advocacy for Asia Tehmina Arora said. “Pakistani authorities make it extremely difficult to ‘stop’ being a Muslim once you are designated as such.”
This issue facilitates “egregious violation[s] of religious freedom,” according to Arora.
Pakistan was ranked as the eighth most-dangerous place for Christians on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch list, CatholicVote reported.
While there is no explicit law prohibiting a Muslim from converting to another faith, Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws create a dangerous legal landscape. Anyone perceived as leaving Islam can face accusations of “outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens,” a charge that carries severe penalties, including imprisonment.
Cases like Masih’s highlight the ongoing failure of the Pakistani government to protect religious minorities from coercion and discrimination, according to ADF International.
“We are grateful for the precedent that is set by this victory,” Arora said, “and hopeful that it will go on to protect Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan who are unjustly persecuted because of their faith.”
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