The headlines from Doha, Qatar, this week should send a shiver down the spine of every person who believes in religious freedom, particularly Christians.
A 71-year-old Baha’i leader, Remy Rowhani, was sentenced to five years in prison. His crime? According to prosecutors, the Baha’i community’s social media accounts with which he was associated “promoted the ideas and beliefs of a religious sect that raises doubt about the foundations and teachings of the Islamic religion.” This isn’t just a tragedy for one man or a single religious minority; it is a stark, urgent warning that religious liberty in Qatar is not a right, but a precarious privilege that can be revoked without notice.
For Christians who may believe they are safe, the Baha’i case is a profound and unsettling lesson.
No Freedom of Anything
The facts of Remy Rowhani’s case are both simple and chilling. Rowhani, a well-known Qatari citizen and former head of the country’s Chamber of Commerce, was arrested in April and has been held in detention ever since. The basis for his conviction was a series of social media posts on the Baha’i community’s accounts. According to human rights organizations that reviewed them, these posts were nothing more than routine messages celebrating Qatari and Muslim holidays, and sharing Baha’i values like justice and the equality of men and women. They were inoffensive, innocuous, and entirely peaceful, yet, they were deemed a threat to national stability.
International bodies, from the United Nations to Human Rights Watch, swiftly condemned the verdict as an egregious violation of human rights, pointing out that Rowhani’s actions should not be criminalized under any standard of international law.
This isn’t an isolated incident. Rowhani’s persecution is the latest chapter in a long history of systemic discrimination against Qatar’s small Baha’i community. Numbering between 200 and 300 members, the Baha’is are one of the most vulnerable religious groups in the Gulf state. They are not officially recognized by the government, and in recent years, they have faced increasing pressure, including administrative blacklisting, denial of employment, and deportation. These measures, described by advocates as an attempt to systematically eradicate the community, demonstrate a clear pattern of targeted religious persecution. While the Baha’is’ persecution may be more severe and overt, their legal vulnerability is a shared reality for other religious minorities.
The Veneer of Tolerance
On the surface, the situation for Christians in Qatar seems far more stable. Eight Christian denominations are officially recognized, and the government has even provided a dedicated religious complex outside Doha for worship. For the large population of Christian expatriates, who make up a significant portion of the country’s workforce, this arrangement offers a welcome, if limited, space for practicing their faith.
But this veneer of tolerance hides a deeper, more troubling truth. The same laws used to charge Rowhani for “offending” Islam also apply to Christians and Jews. Furthermore, public expressions of faith are severely restricted. Proselytizing is strictly forbidden and can result in up to a decade in prison. Displays of religious symbols like crosses are banned, and advertising religious services to the public is not permitted.
The most vulnerable are those who convert to Christianity from a Muslim background; for them, the threat of persecution comes not just from the state, but from their own families and community. They face potential violence, harassment, and social ostracism.
This selective approach to religious freedom extends beyond Qatar’s borders and into its complex and often contradictory role on the world stage. Though it hosts a major U.S. air base, Qatar has simultaneously provided financial, diplomatic, and media support to groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Qatar’s leaders, including the former emir, have hosted Hamas’s political leadership in Doha for years and have transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to the Gaza Strip, ostensibly for humanitarian purposes but with the undeniable effect of strengthening the group’s control over the region.
This policy is often described as a form of “open-door” diplomacy, positioning Qatar as a mediator and interlocutor between Western powers and groups that cannot be engaged directly. However, it is also a source of intense criticism, with neighboring states and international observers accusing Qatar of using its wealth and influence to promote a brand of political Islam that destabilizes the region.
Ultimately, the plight of the Baha’is in Qatar is a test for the global Christian community. It is a powerful reminder that the fight for religious freedom cannot be a segmented struggle. An attack on one faith is an attack on the fundamental principles that protect all faiths.
Standing silently by while the Baha’is are persecuted is not only a moral failing, but a strategic error. It normalizes the very conditions that could one day be used to restrict and oppress Christian communities, both in Qatar and elsewhere. The sentence against Remy Rowhani is not a distant event; it is an alarm bell ringing for all who cherish freedom of conscience. It is a call to action to speak out not just for our own beliefs, but for the universal right of every human being to worship, or not to worship, according to their conscience.
Amine Ayoub is a policy analyst and writer based in Morocco.
