View source for Religious persecution

{{Short description|Persecution based on religious belief}}
{{Distinguish|Religious abuse|Religious discrimination|Religious violence}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}

'''Religious persecution''' is the systematic oppression of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their [[religion|religious beliefs or affiliations]] or their [[irreligion|lack thereof]]. The tendency of societies or groups within societies to alienate or repress different [[subculture]]s is a recurrent theme in [[human history]]. Moreover, because a person's religion frequently determines his or her sense of [[morality]], [[worldview]], [[self-image]], attitudes towards others, and overall [[personal identity]] to a significant extent, religious differences can be significant cultural, personal, and social factors. Religious persecution may be triggered by religious or [[antireligion|antireligious]] stances (when members of a dominant group denigrate religions other than their own or religion itself where the irreligious are the dominant group) or it may be triggered by the state when it views a particular religious group as a threat to its interests or security. At a societal level, the [[dehumanization]] of a particular religious group may readily lead to acts of violence or other forms of [[persecution]]. Religious persecution may be the result of societal and/or governmental regulation. Governmental regulation refers to the laws which the government imposes in order to regulate a religion, and societal regulation is discrimination against citizens because they adhere to one or more religions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grim |first1=Brian J. |last2=Finke |first2=Roger |title=Religious Persecution in Cross-National Context: Clashing Civilizations or Regulated Religious Economies? |journal=American Sociological Review |date=August 2007 |volume=72 |issue=4 |pages=633–658 |doi=10.1177/000312240707200407|s2cid=145734744 }}</ref> In many countries, religious persecution has resulted in so much violence that it is considered a human rights problem.

==Definition==
David T. Smith, in ''Religious Persecution and Political Order in the United States'', defines religious persecution as "violence or discrimination against members of a religious minority because of their religious affiliation," referring to "actions that are intended to deprive individuals of their [[Civil and political rights|political rights]] and force minorities to assimilate, leave, or live as [[second-class citizen]]s.<ref>{{cite book|author=David T. Smith|title=Religious Persecution and Political Order in the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U9nECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA26|date=12 November 2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-11731-0|page=26|quote="Persecution" in this study refers to violence or discrimination against members of a religious minority because of their religious affiliation. Persecution involves the most damaging expressions of [[prejudice]] against an [[In-group and out-group|out-group]], expressions that go beyond verbal abuse and social avoidance. It refers to actions that are intended to deprive individuals of their political rights and force minorities to assimilate, leave, or live as [[second-class citizen]]s. When these actions persistently happen over a period of time, and when they also include large numbers of perpetrators and victims, we may refer to them as being part of a "campaign" of persecution that usually has the goal of excluding the targeted minority from the polity.}}</ref> In the aspect of a state's policy, it may be defined as violations of [[freedom of thought]], [[conscience]] and belief which are spread in accordance with a systematic and active state policy which encourages actions such as [[harassment]], [[intimidation]] and the imposition of [[punishment]]s in order to infringe or threaten the targeted minority's [[right to life]], [[integrity]] or [[liberty]].<ref name="Ghanea-Hercock2013">{{cite book|author=Nazila Ghanea-Hercock|title=The Challenge of Religious Discrimination at the Dawn of the New Millennium|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uU3vCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA91|date=11 November 2013|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-94-017-5968-7|pages=91–92}}</ref> The distinction between religious persecution and [[religious intolerance]] lies in the fact that in most cases, the latter is motivated by the sentiment of the population, which may be tolerated or encouraged by the state.<ref name="Ghanea-Hercock2013"/> The denial of people's [[Civil and political rights|civil rights]] on the basis of their religion is most frequently described as [[religious discrimination]], rather than religious persecution.

Examples of [[persecution]] include the confiscation or destruction of property, [[incitement]] of [[hatred]], arrests, imprisonment, beatings, [[torture]], murder, and executions. Religious persecution can be considered the opposite of [[freedom of religion]].

Bateman has differentiated different degrees of persecution. "It must be personally costly... It must be unjust and undeserved... it must be a direct result of one's faith."<ref>Bateman, J. Keith. 2013. Don't call it persecution when it's not. ''Evangelical Missions Quarterly'' 49.1: 54–56, also pp. 57–62.</ref>

===Sociological view===
From a [[Sociology|sociological]] perspective, the identity formation of strong [[social group]]s such as those which are generated by [[nationalism]], [[Ethnic group|ethnicity]], or religion, is a causal aspect of practices of persecution. {{ill|Hans G. Kippenberg|de}} says that it is these communities, which can be a majority or a minority, that generate violence.<ref name="Kippenberg">{{cite book|author-last=Kippenberg|author-first=Hans G. |editor1-last=Raschle |editor1-first=Christian R. |editor2-last=Dijkstra |editor2-first=Jitse H. F. |title=Religious Violence in the Ancient World From Classical Athens to Late Antiquity |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108849210|chapter=1}}</ref>{{rp|8, 19, 24}} Since the development of identity involves 'what we are not' as much as 'what we are', there are grounds for the fear that tolerance of 'what we are not' can contribute to the erosion of identity.<ref>Jinkins, Michael. Christianity, Tolerance and Pluralism: A Theological Engagement with Isaiah Berlin's Social Theory. United Kingdom, Taylor & Francis, 2004. Chapter 3. no page #s available</ref> [[Brian J. Grim]] and [[Roger Finke]] say that the perception that plurality is dangerous leads to religious persecution.<ref name="Grim and Finke">{{cite book |last1=Grim |first1=Brian J. |last2=Finke |first2=Roger |title=The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781139492416}}</ref>{{rp|2}} Both the state and any dominant religion, share the concern that to "leave religion unchecked and without adequate controls will result in the uprising of religions that are dangerous to both state and citizenry," and this concern gives both the dominant religion and the state motives for restricting religious activity.<ref name="Grim and Finke"/>{{rp|2, 6}} Grim and Finke say it is specifically this religious regulation that leads to religious persecution.<ref name="GrimandFinkejournal">{{cite journal |last1=Grim |first1=BJ |last2=Finke |first2=R. |title=Religious Persecution in Cross-National Context: Clashing Civilizations or Regulated Religious Economies? |journal=American Sociological Review |date=2007 |volume=72 |issue=4 |pages=633–658 |doi=10.1177/000312240707200407 |s2cid=145734744 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000312240707200407#articleCitationDownloadContainer|url-access=subscription }}</ref> R.I. Moore says that persecution during the [[Middle Ages]] "provides a striking illustration of the classic [[Deviance (sociology)|deviance theory]], [which is based on identity formation], as it was propounded by the father of sociology, [[Émile Durkheim]]".<ref name="Moore">{{cite book|last=Moore|first=R. I.|title=The Formation of a Persecuting Society|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|location=Malden, Massachusetts|edition=second|year=2007|isbn=978-1-4051-2964-0}}</ref>{{rp|100}} Persecution is also, often, part of a larger conflict involving emerging states as well as established states in the process of redefining their national identity.<ref name="Grim and Finke"/>{{rp|xii, xiii}}

James L.Gibson<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gibson |first1=James L. |title=James L. Gibson |url=https://polisci.wustl.edu/people/james-l-gibson |website=Department of Political Science |date=25 March 2019 |publisher=Washington University in St.Louis Arts and Sciences |quote=Sidney W. Souers Professor of Government}}</ref> adds that the greater the attitudes of loyalty and solidarity to the group identity, and the more the benefits to belonging there are perceived to be, the more likely a social identity will become intolerant of challenges.<ref name="Gibson">Gibson, James L., and Gouws, Amanda. Overcoming Intolerance in South Africa: Experiments in Democratic Persuasion. United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2005.</ref>{{rp|93}}<ref>Heisig, James W. Philosophers of Nothingness: An Essay on the Kyoto School. United States, University of Hawai'i Press, 2001.</ref>{{rp|64}} Combining a strong social identity with the state, increases the benefits, therefore it is likely persecution from that social group will increase.<ref name="Grim and Finke"/>{{rp|8}} Legal restriction from the state relies on social cooperation, so the state in its turn must protect the social group that supports it, increasing the likelihood of persecution from the state as well.<ref name="Grim and Finke"/>{{rp|9}} Grim and Finke say their studies indicate that the higher the degree of religious freedom, the lower the degree of violent religious persecution.<ref name="Grim and Finke"/>{{rp|3}} "When religious freedoms are denied through the regulation of religious profession or practice, violent religious persecution and conflict increase."<ref name="Grim and Finke"/>{{rp|6}}

Perez Zagorin writes "According to some philosophers, tolerance is a moral virtue; if this is the case, it would follow that intolerance is a vice. But virtue and vice are qualities solely of individuals, and intolerance and persecution [in the Christian Middle Ages] were social and collective phenomena sanctioned by society and hardly questioned by anyone. Religious intolerance and persecution, therefore, were not seen as vices, but as necessary and salutary for the preservation of religious truth and orthodoxy and all that was seen to depend upon them."<ref name="Zagori">{{cite book |last1=Zagorin |first1=Perez |title=How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West |date=2013 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9781400850716 |page=16}}</ref> This view of persecution is not limited to the Middle Ages. As Christian R. Raschle<ref>{{cite web |title=Christian R Raschle |url=https://umontreal.academia.edu/ChristianRaschle |website=academia.edu |publisher=University of Montreal |quote=Université de Montréal, Histoire, Faculty Member}}</ref> and Jitse H. F. Dijkstra,<ref>{{cite web |title=AIA Lecturer: Jitse H.F. Dijkstra |url=https://www.archaeological.org/lecturer/jitse-h-f-dijkstra/ |website=Lecture Program |publisher=Archaeological Institute of America |access-date=2 October 2020 |archive-date=10 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110075045/https://www.archaeological.org/lecturer/jitse-h-f-dijkstra/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> say: "Religious violence is a complex phenomenon that exists in all places and times."<ref name="ancient violence">{{cite book |editor1-last=Raschle |editor1-first=Christian R. |editor2-last=Dijkstra |editor2-first=Jitse H. F. |title=Religious Violence in the Ancient World From Classical Athens to Late Antiquity |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108849210}}</ref>{{rp|4, 6}}

In the [[Ancient history|ancient societies]] of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], [[Ancient Greece|Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome|Rome]], torture was an accepted aspect of the legal system.<ref name="Stanley08">{{cite book |last1=Stanley |first1=Elizabeth |title=Torture, Truth and Justice The Case of Timor-Leste |date=2008 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781134021048}}</ref>{{rp|22}} [[Gillian Clark (historian)|Gillian Clark]] says violence was taken for granted in the fourth century as part of both war and punishment; torture from the ''carnifex,'' the professional torturer of the Roman legal system, was an accepted part of that system.<ref name="Clark2006">{{cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Gillian |editor1-last=Drake |editor1-first=H. A. |title=Violence in Late Antiquity: Perceptions and Practices |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0754654988 |chapter=11: Desires of the Hangman: Augustine on legitimized violence}}</ref>{{rp|137}} Except for a few rare exceptions, such as the Persian empire under [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] and [[Darius I|Darius]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ezquerra |first1=Jaime Alvar |title=History's first superpower sprang from ancient Iran |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2016/09-10/dawn-of-ancient-persian-empire/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107130251/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2016/09-10/dawn-of-ancient-persian-empire/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 January 2020 |website=History Magazine |date=6 January 2020 |publisher=National Geographic |access-date=20 October 2020}}</ref> Denis Lacorne says that examples of religious tolerance in ancient societies, "from ancient Greece to the Roman empire, medieval Spain to the Ottoman Empire and the Venetian Republic", are not examples of tolerance in the modern sense of the term.<ref name="Lacorne2019">{{cite book |last1=Lacorne |first1=Denis |title=The Limits of Tolerance: Enlightenment Values and Religious Fanaticism (Religion, Culture, and Public Life) |date=2019 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0231187145 |page=1}}</ref>

The sociological view regards religious intolerance and persecution as largely social processes that are determined more by the context within which the social community exists than anything else.<ref name="Dees">Dees, Richard H. Trust and Toleration. N.p., Taylor & Francis, 2004. Chapter 4. no page #s available</ref><ref name="Gibson"/>{{rp|94}}<ref name="Kippenberg"/>{{rp|19, 24}} When governments ensure equal freedom for all, there is less persecution.<ref name="Grim and Finke"/>{{rp|8}}

== Statistics ==
Statistics from [[Pew Research Center]] show that Christianity and Islam are persecuted in more countries around the world than other religions,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Travis |title=Harassment of religious groups continues to be reported in more than 90% of countries |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2020/11/10/harassment-of-religious-groups-continues-to-be-reported-in-more-than-90-of-countries/ |access-date=10 December 2022 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|date=10 November 2020 }}</ref> and that Jews and Muslims are "most likely to live in countries where their groups experience harassment".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/11/nearly-all-muslims-jews-hindus-live-in-countries-where-their-group-was-harassed-in-2015/pf-04-11-2017_-restrictions-02-00/|title=Jews, Hindus, Muslims most likely to live in countries where their groups experience harassment|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-24|archive-date=24 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224171942/https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/11/nearly-all-muslims-jews-hindus-live-in-countries-where-their-group-was-harassed-in-2015/pf-04-11-2017_-restrictions-02-00/|url-status=dead}}</ref> As of 2018, Christians face harassment in 145 countries, Muslims face harassment in 139 countries, and Jews face harassment in 88 countries.<ref name=":1"/> Respectively: Christians account for 31% of the world's population, Muslims account for 24%, and Jews account for 0.2%.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Conrad Hackett |author2=David McClendon |title=Christians remain world's largest religious group, but they are declining in Europe |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/05/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe/ |website=Pew Research Group |access-date=10 March 2023}}</ref> According to a 2019 report, government restrictions and social hostilities toward religion have risen in 187 countries.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Closer Look at How Religious Restrictions Have Risen Around the World |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2019/07/15/a-closer-look-at-how-religious-restrictions-have-risen-around-the-world/ |website=Pew Research Center Religion & Public Life |date=15 July 2019 |publisher=PEW}}</ref>

==Forms==

===Religious cleansing===
{{See also|Ethnic cleansing}}
{{Distinguish|Ritual cleansing}}
"Religious cleansing" is sometimes used in reference to the removal of a population from a certain territory based on its religion.<ref name=booth>{{cite book
 |       title = The Kosovo Tragedy: The Human Rights Dimensions
 |      editor = Ken I. Booth
 |     section = The History and Politics of Ethnic Cleansing
 |      author = Carrie Booth Walling
 | section-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=e4MsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47
 |       pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=e4MsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA49 pp.49-51]
 |   publisher = Routledge
 |        year = 2012
 |        isbn = 9781136334764
 |         url = https://books.google.com/books?id=e4MsBgAAQBAJ
 }}
</ref>  More recently, “religious cleansing” has been used in reference to the elimination of all religious structures or all individuals who adhere to a particular religion and live within a larger community which is composed of people who are members of the same ethnicity.<ref>url=https://fiacona.org/a-new-model-of-religious-cleansing-pioneered-in-manipur-india/</ref>

Throughout [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]], [[population cleansing]] was largely motivated by economic and political factors, but occasionally, ethnic factors also played a role.<ref name=booth/> During the [[Middle Ages]], population cleansing took on a largely religious character.<ref name=booth/> The religious motivation for population cleansing lost much of its salience early in the modern era, but until the 18th century, ethnic enmity in Europe continued to be couched in religious terms.<ref name=booth/> [[Richard Dawkins]] has argued that references to ''[[ethnic cleansing]]'' in the former [[Yugoslavia]] and [[Iraq]] are [[euphemism]]s for what should more accurately be called religious cleansing.<ref name=koopman>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199656431.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199656431-e-8|page=256|encyclopedia=The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming|author=Adrian Koopman|editor=Crole Hough|title=Ethnonyms|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2016|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199656431.013.8|isbn=978-0-19-965643-1|url-access=subscription }}</ref> According to Adrian Koopman, the widespread use of the term ''ethnic cleansing'' in such cases suggests that in many situations, there is confusion between ethnicity and religion.<ref name=koopman/>

===Ethnicity===
[[File:Juif.JPG|thumb|During Nazi rule, Jews were forced to wear [[Yellow badge|yellow stars]] which identified them as such. Jews are an ethno-religious group and Nazi persecution of them was based on their race.]]
Other acts of violence which are not always committed against adherents of particular religions such as [[war]], [[torture]], and [[ethnic cleansing]], may take on the qualities of religious persecution when one or more of the parties which are involved in them are characterized by their religious homogeneity; an example of this occurs when conflicting populations that belong to different [[ethnic groups]] also belong to different religions or denominations. The difference between religious and [[Ethnic group|ethnic identity]] might sometimes be obscure (see [[Ethnoreligious]]); nevertheless, cases of [[genocide]] in the 20th century cannot be fully-explained by the citation of religious differences. Still, cases of [[genocide]] such as the [[Greek genocide]], the [[Armenian genocide]], and the [[Sayfo|Assyrian genocide]] are sometimes seen as cases of religious persecution and as a result, the lines between [[ethnic violence]] and [[religious violence]] are sometimes blurry.

Since the [[Early modern period]], an increasing number of [[religious cleansing]]s were entwined with ethnic elements.<ref name="Mann2005">{{cite book|author=Michael Mann|title=The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cGHGPgj1_tIC&pg=PR53|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-53854-1|page=53}}</ref> Since religion is an important or a central marker of ethnic identity, some conflicts can best be described as "ethno-religious conflicts".<ref name="BercovitchKremenyuk2008">{{cite book|author1=Jacob Bercovitch|author2=Victor Kremenyuk|author3=I William Zartman|title=The SAGE Handbook of Conflict Resolution|chapter=Characteristics of ethno-religious conflicts|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1cqjpHmhTZsC&pg=PA265|date=3 December 2008|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4462-0659-1|page=265}}</ref>

[[Nazi]] [[antisemitism]] provides another example of the contentious divide between ethnic persecution and religious persecution, because [[Propaganda in Nazi Germany|Nazi propaganda]] tended to construct its image of Jews by portraying them as people who were members of an inferior [[Race (human categorization)|race]] (see [[Racial antisemitism]] and [[Nazi racial theories]]), it [[Dehumanization|dehumanized]] and [[Demonization|demonized]] Jews by classifying them as a race rather than a religion. In keeping with what they were taught in Nazi propaganda, the [[List of major perpetrators of the Holocaust|perpetrators]] of the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]] made no distinction between [[Jewish secularism|secular Jews]], [[Jewish atheism|atheistic Jews]], [[Orthodox Judaism|orthodox Jews]] and [[Jewish Christian|Jews who had converted to Christianity]].

==History==
The descriptive use of the term religious persecution is rather difficult. Religious persecution has occurred in different historical, geographical and social contexts since at least [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]]. Until the 18th century, some groups were nearly universally persecuted for their religious views, such as [[Discrimination against atheists|atheists]],<ref name="onfray">{{cite book|last=Onfray|first=Michel|others=Leggatt, Jeremy (translator) |title=Atheist manifesto: the case against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam |publisher=Arcade Publishing|year=2007|isbn=978-1-55970-820-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QpEAYMo7pFkC&pg=PA24}}</ref> [[Persecution of Jews|Jews]]<ref name=Flannery /> and [[Persecution of Zoroastrians|Zoroastrians]].<ref name="hj303">{{Cite book|last =Hinnells|first =John R.|title =Zoroastrians in Britain: the Ratanbai Katrak lectures, University of Oxford 1985|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E4l0J5bf3GYC&pg=PP1|year=1996|edition=Illustrated|publisher =Oxford University Press|isbn =9780198261933|page=303}}</ref>

===Roman Empire===
[[File:Caravaggio-Crucifixion of Peter.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Saint Peter]], an apostle of Jesus, was executed by the Romans.]]
{{See also|Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire}}
Early Christianity also came into conflict with the Roman Empire, and it may have been more threatening to the established polytheistic order than Judaism had been, because of the importance of [[evangelism]] in Christianity. Under [[Nero]], the Jewish exemption from the requirement to participate in public cults was lifted and Rome began to actively persecute [[Monotheism|monotheists]]. This persecution ended in 313 AD with the [[Edict of Milan]], and Christianity was made the [[Edict of Thessalonica|official religion of the empire]] in 380 AD. By the eighth century, Christianity had attained a clear ascendancy across Europe and neighboring regions, and a period of consolidation began which was marked by the pursuit of [[Heresy|heretics]], [[Paganism|heathens]], Jews, [[Muslim]]s, and various other religious groups.

===Europe===

====Religious uniformity in early modern Europe====
{{Main|Religious uniformity}}
[[File:La masacre de San Bartolomé, por François Dubois.jpg|thumb|The [[St. Bartholomew's Day massacre]] of French Protestants in 1572]]
By contrast to the notion of civil tolerance in [[early modern Europe]], the subjects were required to attend the [[state church]]; this attitude can be described as ''territoriality'' or ''[[religious uniformity]]'', and its underlying assumption is brought to a point by a statement of the Anglican theologian [[Richard Hooker]]: "There is not any man of the Church of England, but the same man is also a member of the [English] commonwealth; nor any man a member of the commonwealth, which is not also of the Church of England."<ref>''The Works of Richard Hooker'', II, p. 485; quoted after: John Coffey (2000), p. 33</ref>

Before a vigorous debate about religious persecution took place in England (starting in the 1640s), for centuries in Europe, religion had been tied to territory. In England, there had been several [[Act of Uniformity (disambiguation)|Acts of Uniformity]]; in continental Europe, the Latin phrase "[[cuius regio, eius religio]]" had been coined in the 16th century and applied as a fundament for the [[Peace of Augsburg]] (1555). It was pushed to the extreme by [[Absolute monarchy|absolutist regime]]s, particularly by the French kings [[Louis XIV]] and his successors. It was under their rule that [[Catholicism]] became the sole compulsory allowed religion in France and that the [[huguenots]] had to massively leave the country. Persecution meant that the state was committed to secure religious uniformity by coercive measures, as eminently obvious in a statement of [[Roger L'Estrange]]: "That which you call persecution, I translate Uniformity".<ref>quoted after Coffey (2000), 27</ref>

However, in the 17th century, writers like [[Pierre Bayle]], [[John Locke]], [[Richard Overton (pamphleteer)|Richard Overton]] and Roger William broke the link between territory and faith, which eventually resulted in a shift from territoriality to religious voluntarism.<ref name=Coffey58>Coffey 2000: 58.</ref> It was Locke who, in his [[A Letter Concerning Toleration|Letter Concerning Toleration]], defined the state in purely secular terms:<ref name=Coffey57>Coffey 2000: 57.</ref> "The commonwealth seems to me to be a society of men constituted only for the procuring, preserving, and advancing their own civil interests."<ref name=Locke89>{{Cite web|date=1689 | title= A letter concerning toleration| author1= John Locke | author1-link= John Locke | translator= William Popple |url=http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/locke/locke2/locke-t/locke_toleration.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414011127/http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/locke/locke2/locke-t/locke_toleration.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2015-04-14 }}</ref> Concerning the church, he went on: "A church, then, I take to be a voluntary society of men, joining themselves together of their own accord."<ref name=Locke89/> With this treatise, John Locke laid one of the most important intellectual foundations of the [[separation of church and state]], which ultimately led to the [[secular state]].

===Early modern England===
One period of religious persecution, which has been extensively studied, is [[Early modern period|early modern]] England. This is where the rejection of religious persecution originated, which is now common in the Western world. The English 'Call for Toleration' was a turning point in the [[Christian debate on persecution and toleration]], and early modern England stands out to historians as a place and time in which "hundreds of books and tracts were published either for or against religious toleration."<ref name="Coffey00-14">Coffey 2000: 14.</ref><!--This time has been debated thoroughly by historians, whereas, for the obvious reason of the over-abundance of material, historians generally avoid writing books on the whole of human history. reword?-->

The most ambitious chronicle of that time is [[Wilbur Kitchener Jordan|W.K. Jordan]]'s [[Masterpiece|magnum opus]] ''The Development of Religious Toleration in England, 1558–1660'' (four volumes, published 1932–1940). Jordan wrote as the threat of [[fascism]] rose in Europe, and this work is seen as a defense of the fragile [[Value (personal and cultural)|values]] of [[humanism]] and [[Toleration|tolerance]].<ref>Coffey 2000, 2</ref> More recent introductions to this period are ''Persecution and Toleration in Protestant England, 1558–1689'' (2000) by [[John Coffey (historian)|John Coffey]] and ''Charitable hatred: Tolerance and intolerance in England, 1500–1700'' (2006) by Alexandra Walsham. To understand why religious persecution has occurred, historians like Coffey "pay close attention to what the persecutors said they were doing."<ref name="Coffey00-14"/>

====Ecclesiastical dissent and civil tolerance====
No religion is free from internal dissent, although the degree of dissent tolerated within a particular religious organization can strongly vary. This degree of diversity tolerated within a particular church is described as ''ecclesiastical tolerance'',<ref>John Coffey (2000), p. 12</ref> and is one form of [[religious toleration]]. However, when people nowadays speak of religious tolerance, they most often mean ''civil tolerance'', which refers to the degree of religious diversity that is tolerated within the state.

In the absence of civil toleration, someone who finds himself in disagreement with his congregation does not have the option to leave and choose a different faith—simply because there is only one recognized faith in the country (at least officially). In modern western [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] any citizen may join and leave a religious organization at will; in western societies, this is taken for granted, but this legal [[separation of Church and State]] only started to emerge a few centuries ago.

In the [[Christian debate on persecution and toleration]], the notion of civil tolerance allowed Christian theologians to reconcile Jesus' commandment to [[Expounding of the Law#Love for enemies|love one's enemies]] with other parts of the [[New Testament]] that are rather strict regarding dissent within the church. Before that, theologians like [[Joseph Hall (bishop)|Joseph Hall]]<!--or [[Thomas Thorowgood]] in protestant England--> had reasoned from the ecclesiastical intolerance of the early Christian church in the New Testament to the civil intolerance of the Christian state.<ref>John Coffey (2000), p. 33</ref>

===Russia===
The Bishop of Vladimir, Feodor, turned some people into slaves; others were imprisoned, beheaded, blinded, mutilated, or crucified on walls. Some heretics were executed by burning them alive. According to an inscription of Khan Mengual-Temir, Metropolitan Kiril was granted the right to heavily punish with death for blasphemy against the Orthodox Church or breach of ecclesiastical privileges. He advised all means of destruction to be used against heretics, but without bloodshed, in the name of 'saving souls'. Heretics were drowned. Novgorod Bishop Gennady Gonzov turned to Tsar [[Ivan III]] requesting the death of heretics. Gennady admired the Spanish inquisitors, especially his contemporary [[Tomás de Torquemada|Torquemada]], who for 15 years of inquisition activity burned and punished thousands of people.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} As in Rome, the persecuted fled to depopulated areas. The most terrible punishment was considered an underground pit, where rats lived. Some people had been imprisoned and tied to the wall there, and untied after their death.<ref>А.С.Пругавин, ук. соч., с.27–29</ref> [[Old Believers]] were persecuted and executed; the order was that even those who completely renounced their beliefs and were baptized in the state church were to be lynched without mercy. The writer [[Mikhail Lomonosov|Lomonosov]] opposed the religious teachings and by his initiative a scientific book against them was published. The book was destroyed, the Russian synod insisted Lomonosov's works to be burned and requested his punishment.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

{{Blockquote|...were cutting heads, hanging, some by the neck, some by the foot, many of them were stabbed with sharp sticks and impaled on hooks. This included the tethering to a ponytail, drowning and freezing people alive in lakes. The winners did not spare even the sick and the elderly, taking them out of the monastery and throwing them mercilessly in icy 'vises'. The words step back, the pen does not move, in eternal darkness the ancient Solovetsky monastery is going. Of the more than 500 people, only a few managed to avoid the terrible court.<ref>Ал. Амосов, "Судный день", в списание "Церковь" № 2, 1992, издателство "Церковь", Москва, с.11</ref>}}

===Asia Minor===
{{Main|Christianity in Turkey|Outline of Greek genocide|List of massacres in Turkey}}
{{See also|Freedom of religion in Turkey}}

==Contemporary==
[[File:President Trump Meets with Survivors of Religious Persecution (48314955692).jpg|thumb|President [[Donald Trump]] meets with survivors of religious persecution from 17 countries in July 2019.]]
Although his book was written before the [[September 11 attacks]], John Coffey explicitly compares [[Islamophobia]] in the contemporary Western world to the English [[Whig (British political party)|Whig Party]]'s [[paranoia]] about the fictitious [[Popish Plot]].<ref>"Like the extremist Islamic clerics who today provide inspiration for terrorist campaigns, the [Catholic] priests could not be treated like men who only sought the spiritual nourishment of the flock." Coffey 2000: 38&39.</ref> [[Mehdi Ghezali]] and [[Murat Kurnaz]] were among the Muslims who were imprisoned in the [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]], but they were not found to have any connections to [[terrorism]], because they had previously traveled to [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]] to pursue their religious interests.

The United States submits an annual report on religious freedom and persecution to the Congress. The report contains data which the United States collects from U.S. embassies around the world in collaboration with the [[Office of International Religious Freedom]] and other relevant U.S. government and non-governmental institutions. The data is available to the public.<ref name="Committee">{{cite book|last=US Congress|first=House committee on foreign affairs|title=Religious Persecution: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on International security, International organizations and Human Rights|year=1994|publisher=U.S. Government printing office|isbn=0-16-044525-6|url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-report-on-international-religious-freedom/}}</ref> The 2018 study details, country by country, the violations of religious freedom taking place in approximately 75% of the 195 countries in the world. Between 2007 and 2017, the PEW organization<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2019/07/15/a-closer-look-at-how-religious-restrictions-have-risen-around-the-world/|title=How Religious Restrictions Have Risen Around the World|date=15 July 2019}}</ref> found that "Christians experienced harassment by governments or social groups in the largest number of countries"—144 countries—but that it is almost equal to the number of countries (142) in which Muslims experience harassment.<ref name="auto3"/> PEW has published a caution concerning the interpretation of these numbers: "The Center's recent report&nbsp;... does not attempt to estimate the number of victims in each country... it does not speak to the intensity of harassment..."<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/02/21/quotes-from-experts-on-the-future-of-democracy/|title=Quotes from experts on the future of democracy|date=21 February 2020}}</ref>

No religious group is free from [[harassment]] in the [[Contemporary history|contemporary world]]. Klaus Wetzel, an expert on religious persecution for the German [[Bundestag]], the [[House of Lords]], the [[US House of Representatives]], the [[European Parliament]], and the International Institute for Religious Freedom, explains that "In around a quarter of all countries in the world, the restrictions imposed by governments, or hostilities towards one or more religious groups, are ''high'' or ''very high''. Some of the most populous countries in the world belong to this group, such as China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan. Therefore, around three quarters of the world's population live in them."<ref name="auto">{{ cite web | title= Christenverfolgung auf einen Blick | language= de | work = Internationale Gesellschaft für Menschenrechte | trans-work = International Society for Human rights | url= https://www.igfm.de/christenverfolgung-auf-einen-blick/ }}</ref>

At the symposium on law and religion in 2014, Michelle Mack said: "Despite what appears to be a near-universal expression of commitment to religious human rights, the frequency-and severity-of religious persecution worldwide is staggering. Although it is impossible to determine with certainty the exact numbers of people persecuted for their faith or religious affiliation, it is unquestioned that "violations of freedom of religion and belief, including acts of severe persecution, occur with fearful frequency."<ref name="Mack">{{cite journal|last=Mack|first=Michelle L.|title=Religious Human Rights and the International Human Rights Community: Finding Common Ground – Without Compromise|journal=Notre Dame Journal of Ethics, Law & Public Policy|volume=13|issue=2|date=February 2014|access-date=26 May 2020|url=https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1372&context=ndjlepp}}</ref>{{rp|462, note 24}} She quotes Irwin Colter, human rights advocate and author as saying "[F]reedom of religion remains the most persistently violated human right in the annals of the species."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cotler|first=Irwin|date=1999| title= Jewish NGOs, human rights, and public advocacy: A comparative inquiry|journal=Jewish Political Studies Review|volume=11|issue=3/4|pages=61–95|jstor=25834458 |issn=0792-335X}}</ref>
 
Despite the ubiquitous nature of religious persecution, the traditional [[human rights]] community typically chooses to emphasize "more tangible encroachments on human dignity," such as violations which are based on [[Race (human categorization)|race]], [[gender]], and [[Social class|class]] by using national, ethnic, and linguistic groupings rather than religious groupings.<ref name="Durham">{{cite book|last=Durham|first=W. Cole Jr.|title=Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Legal Perspectives|editor1-last=Van der Vyver|editor1-first=Johan David |editor2-last=Witte|editor2-first=John Jr.|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|location=Boston|volume=2|year=1996|chapter=Perspectives on Religious Liberty: a comparative framework|isbn=90-411-0177-2}}</ref>

==Persecution of non-believers or irreligion==
{{Main|Heresy|Infidel|Irreligion|Blasphemy}}
{{See also|Christian heresy|Heresy in Orthodox Judaism|Islam and blasphemy|Blasphemy law|Apostasy}}
The persecution of beliefs that are deemed [[schism]]atic is one thing; the persecution of beliefs that are deemed heretical or blasphemous is another. Although a public disagreement on secondary matters might be serious enough, frequently, it has only led to [[religious discrimination]]. On the other hand, the public renunciation of the core elements of a religious doctrine under the same circumstances would have put one in far greater danger. While [[dissenter]]s from the official Church only faced fines and imprisonment in Protestant England, six people were executed for heresy or blasphemy during the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]], and two other people were executed in 1612 during the reign of [[James I of England|James I]].<ref name="John Coffey 2000, p. 26">John Coffey (2000), p. 26</ref>

Similarly, heretical sects like [[Catharism|Cathars]], [[Waldensians]] and [[Lollardy|Lollards]] were brutally suppressed in Western Europe, but in the borderlands of Eastern Europe, at the same time, Catholic Christians and 'schismatic' Orthodox Christians lived side by side after the [[East-West Schism]].<ref>Benjamin j. Kaplan (2007), ''Divided by Faith, Religious Conflict and the Practice of Toleration in Early Modern Europe'', p. 3</ref>

==By religion==
===Persecution of African traditional religions===
{{Main|Persecution of traditional African religions}}

[[Traditional African religions]] have faced religious persecution from Christians and Muslims.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/africanvoicesofa00bail <!-- quote=Africans were equal partners. --> Anne C. Bailey, ''African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the Shame''.]</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bryant |first=M. Darrol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kv4nAAAAYAAJ |title=The Many Faces of Religion and Society |last2=Mataragnon |first2=Rita H. |date=1985 |publisher=Paragon House Publishers |isbn=978-0-913757-20-8 |language=en}}</ref> Adherents of these religions have been [[forced conversion|forcefully converted]] to [[Islam]] and [[Christianity]], demonized and [[marginalized]].<ref>Garrick Bailey, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1133603564 ''Essentials of Cultural Anthropology''], 3rd edn (2013), p. 268:"Later, during the nineteenth century, Christian missionaries became active in Africa and Oceania. Attempts by Christian missionaries to convert nonbelievers to Christianity took two main forms: forced conversions and proselytizing."</ref> The atrocities include killings, waging war, destroying of sacred places, and other atrocities.<ref>
Festus Ugboaja Ohaegbulam, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0819179418 ''Towards and Understanding of the African Experience''] (1990), p. 161:"The role of Christian missionaries are a private interest group in European colonial occupation of Africa was a significant one...Collectively their activities promoted division within traditional African societies into rival factions...the picture denigrated African culture and religion..."</ref><ref>Toyin Falola et al., [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=031335972 Hot Spot: Sub-Saharan Africa: Sub-Saharan Africa] (2010), p. 7:"A religion of Middle Eastern origin, Islam reached Africa via the northern region of the continent by means of conquest. The Islamic wars of conquest that would lead to the Islamization of North Africa occurred first in Egypt, when in about 642 CE the country fell to the invading Muslim forces from Arabia. Over the next centuries, the rest of the Maghreb would succumb to Jihadist armies...The notion of religion conversion, whether by force or peaceful means, is foreign to indigenous African beliefs...Islam, however, did not become a religion of the masses by peaceful means. Forced conversion was an indispensable element of proselytization."</ref>

====Persecution of Dogons====
{{main|Dogon people|Dogon religion}}
For almost 1000 years,<ref name="Griaule"/> the [[Dogon people]], an ancient tribe in [[Mali]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Caught in the crossfire of Mali's war|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/caught-in-the-crossfire-of-mali-s-war-8467800.html|access-date=2023-01-02|website=The Independent|date=25 January 2013| author= Kim Sengupta}}</ref> had faced religious and ethnic persecution—through [[jihad]]s by dominant Muslim communities.<ref name="Griaule">[[Marcel Griaule|Griaule, Marcel]]; [[Germaine Dieterlen|Dieterlen, Germaine]]; (1965). ''Le mythe cosmologique. Le renard pâle.'', 1. Paris: Institut d'Ethnologie Musée de l'homme, p. 17</ref> These jihadic expeditions were undertaken in order to force the Dogon to abandon [[Dogon religion|their traditional religious beliefs]] and convert to Islam. Such jihads caused the Dogon to abandon their original villages and move up to the [[Bandiagara Escarpment|cliffs of Bandiagara]] in search of a place where they could defend themselves more efficiently and escape persecution—which they often did by building their dwellings in little nooks and crannies.<ref name="Griaule"/><ref>''[[Africa Today]],'' Volume 7, [[Africa Media Review|Afro Media]] (2001), p. 126</ref> In the early era of [[French colonial empire|French colonialism]] in Mali, the French authorities appointed Muslim relatives of [[El Hadj Umar Tall]] as chiefs of the [[Bandiagara]]—despite the fact that the area has been a Dogon area for centuries.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wise|first=Christopher|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YNwCDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA68|title=Sorcery, Totem, and Jihad in African Philosophy|date=2017-03-23|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-350-01310-0|page=68}}</ref>

In 1864, [[Tidiani Tall]], the nephew and successor of the 19th century [[Senegambian]] jihadist and Muslim leader—El Hadj Umar Tall, chose to make Bandiagara the capital of the [[Toucouleur Empire]] thereby exacerbating the inter-religious and inter-ethnic conflict. In recent years, the Dogon have accused the [[Fula people|Fulanis]] of supporting [[Islamic terrorism|Islamic terrorist]] groups like [[Al-Qaeda]] and they have also accused the Fulanis of sheltering members of these same terrorist groups in Dogon country, leading to the creation of the Dogon militia [[Dan Na Ambassagou]] in 2016—whose aim is to defend the Dogon against systematic attacks. That action resulted in the [[Ogossagou massacre]] of Fulanis in March 2019, and the Fula retaliated by committing the [[Sobane Da massacre]] in June of that year. In the wake of the Ogossagou massacre, the [[List of heads of state of Mali|President of Mali]], [[Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta]] and his government ordered the dissolution of Dan Na Ambassagou—whom they hold partly responsible for the attacks. The Dogon militia group denied its involvement in the massacre and it also rejected calls to disband itself.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Matfess|first=Hilary|date=2019-09-11|title=What Explains the Rise of Communal Violence in Mali, Nigeria and Ethiopia?|url=https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/what-explains-the-rise-of-communal-violence-in-mali-nigeria-and-ethiopia/|access-date=2023-01-02|website=World Politics Review|url-access= subscription}}</ref>

====Persecution of Serers====
{{main|Persecution of Serers}}
{{See|Serer religion|Serer history|Persecution of traditional African religions}}

The persecution of the [[Serer people]] of [[Senegal]], [[Gambia]] and [[Mauritania]] is multifaceted, and as a result, it includes religious and ethnic elements. The religious and ethnic persecution of the Serer people dates back to the 11th century, when [[War Jabi|King War Jabi]] usurped the throne of [[Tekrur]] (a part of present-day Senegal) in 1030, and in 1035, he introduced [[Sharia law]] and forced his subjects to submit to [[Islam]].<ref>Clark, Andrew F., & Phillips, Lucie Colvin, "Historical Dictionary of Senegal". ed: 2, Metuchen, New Jersey : Scrarecrow Press (1994) p. 265</ref> With the assistance of his son Leb, their [[Almoravid]] allies and other [[Ethnic groups in Senegal|African ethnic groups which had embraced Islam]], the Muslim coalition army launched [[jihad]]s against the Serer people of Tekrur because they refused to abandon the [[Serer religion]] in favour of Islam.<ref name="Page, Willie F. 1500 pp 209, 676">Page, Willie F., "Encyclopedia of African history and culture: African kingdoms (500 to 1500)", pp. 209, 676. Vol.2, Facts on File (2001), {{ISBN|0-8160-4472-4}}</ref><ref>Streissguth, Thomas, "Senegal in Pictures, Visual Geography", Second Series, p. 23, Twenty-First Century Books (2009), {{ISBN|1-57505-951-7}}</ref><ref>Oliver, Roland Anthony, Fage, J. D., "Journal of African history", Volume 10, p. 367. Cambridge University Press (1969)</ref><ref name="Godfrey">Mwakikagile, Godfrey, "Ethnic Diversity and Integration in The Gambia: The Land, The People and The Culture," (2010), p. 11, {{ISBN|9987-9322-2-3}}</ref> The number of Serers who were killed is unknown, but the defeat of the Serers at Tekrur triggered their exodus from Tekrur to the south, where they were granted asylum by the [[lamane]]s.<ref name="Godfrey"/> The persecution of the Serer people continued from the [[medieval era]] to the 19th century, resulting in [[the Battle of Fandane-Thiouthioune]]. Since the 20th century, the persecution of the Serers has been less visible, nevertheless, they are still the objects of scorn and prejudice.<ref>Abbey, M T Rosalie Akouele, "Customary Law and Slavery in West Africa", Trafford Publishing (2011), pp. 481–482, {{ISBN|1-4269-7117-6}}</ref><ref name="Mwakikagile">[[Godfrey Mwakikagile|Mwakikagile, Godfrey]], "Ethnic Diversity and Integration in The Gambia: The Land, The People and The Culture," (2010), p. 241, {{ISBN|9987-9322-2-3}}</ref>

===Persecutions of atheists===
{{Main|Discrimination against atheists}}
Used before the 18th century as an insult,<ref name="laursen">{{cite book|last=Laursen|first=John Christian |author2=Nederman, Cary J. |title=Beyond the Persecuting Society: Religious Toleration Before the Enlightenment |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=1997|page=142|isbn= 978-0-8122-1567-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r2j6ZHgXZWkC&pg=PA142}}</ref> [[atheism]] was punishable by death in [[ancient Greece]] as well as in the [[Christendom|Christian]]{{disputed inline|no RS support|date=August 2020}} and [[Muslim world]]s during the [[Middle Ages]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} Today, atheism is punishable by death in 12 countries ([[Afghanistan]], [[Iran]], [[Malaysia]], the [[Maldives]], [[Mauritania]]{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}, [[Nigeria]]{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}, [[Pakistan]], [[Qatar]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Somalia]], [[Sudan]] and [[Yemen]]), all of them Muslim-majority, while "the overwhelming majority" of the 193 United Nations member countries "at best discriminate against citizens who have no belief in a god and at worst they can jail them for offences which are dubbed blasphemy".<ref>{{cite news | title= Atheists face death in 13 countries, global discrimination: study| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-religion-atheists/atheists-face-death-in-13-countries-global-discrimination-study-idUSBRE9B900G20131210|website=reuters.com| date=10 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="Jakarta Globe">{{cite web | title = 'God Does Not Exist' Comment Ends Badly for Indonesia Man | url = http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/god-does-not-exist-comment-ends-badly-for-indonesia-man/492370 | access-date = 20 January 2012}}</ref>

====State atheism====
{{Main|State atheism}}
State atheism has been defined by David Kowalewski as the official "promotion of [[atheism]]" by a government, typically by the active suppression of [[religious freedom]] and practice.<ref name="Kowalewski1980">{{Cite journal|last=Kowalewski|first=David|date=1980|title=Protest for Religious Rights in the USSR: Characteristics and Consequences |journal=The Russian Review |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=426–441 |doi=10.2307/128810 |jstor=128810 |issn=0036-0341}}</ref> It is a [[misnomer]] which is used in reference to a government's [[anti-clericalism]], its opposition to religious institutional power and influence, whether it is real or alleged, in all aspects of public and political life, including the involvement of religion in the everyday life of the citizen.<ref>{{ cite encyclopedia| encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica | entry=Anticlericalism | date= 1998 | entry-url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/anticlericalism }}</ref>

State atheism was first practiced for a brief period in [[Revolutionary France]]{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}} and later it was practiced in [[Mexican Revolution|Revolutionary Mexico]] and [[Communist state|Marxist-Leninist state]]s. The Soviet Union had a long history of state atheism,<ref>{{ cite book | last= Greeley | first= Andrew M.| date= 2003 | title= Religion in Europe at the end of the second millennium: a sociological profile| place= New Brunswick, N.J.|publisher= Transaction Publishers | isbn =9780765801319 }}</ref> in which social success largely required individuals to profess atheism, stay away from churches and even vandalize them; this attitude was especially militant during the middle Stalinist era from 1929 to 1939.<ref>Pospielovsky, Dimitry. 1935. ''The Orthodox Church in the History of Russia'' Published 1998. St Vladimir's Seminary Press, p. 257, {{ISBN|0-88141-179-5}}.</ref><ref>Miner, Steven Merritt. 2003. ''Stalin's holy war religion, nationalism, and alliance politics, 1941–1945''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 70.</ref><ref>Davies, Norman. 1996. ''Europe: a history.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 962.</ref> The Soviet Union attempted to suppress religion over wide areas of its influence, including places like central Asia,<ref>[[#Pipes1989|Pipes (1989)]]:55.</ref> and the post-[[World War II]] [[Eastern bloc]]. One state within that bloc, the [[Socialist People's Republic of Albania]] under [[Enver Hoxha]], went so far as to officially ban all religious practices.<ref name="Elsie 2000:18">{{Cite book|last=Elsie|first=Robert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N_IXHrXIsYkC|title=A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology and Folk Culture|date=2001|publisher=C. Hurst|isbn=978-1-85065-570-1|page=18}}</ref>

===Persecution of Baháʼís===
{{Main|Persecution of Baháʼís}}
The [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼís]] are Iran's largest religious minority, and Iran is the location of one of the seventh largest Baháʼí population in the world, with just over 251,100 as of 2010.<ref name="ARDA-10">{{cite web |title=QuickLists: Most Baha'i Nations (2010) |work=[[Association of Religion Data Archives]] |year=2010 |url=https://www.thearda.com/QL2010/QuickList_40.asp |access-date=14 October 2020 |archive-date=2 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302132059/https://www.thearda.com/QL2010/QuickList_40.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref> Baháʼís in Iran have been subject to unwarranted arrests, false imprisonment, beatings, torture, unjustified executions, confiscation and destruction of property owned by individuals and the Baháʼí community, denial of employment, denial of government benefits, denial of civil rights and liberties, and denial of access to higher education.

More recently, in the later months of 2005, an intensive anti-Baháʼí campaign was conducted by Iranian newspapers and radio stations. The state-run and influential ''[[Kayhan]]'' newspaper, whose [[managing editor]] is appointed by Iran's supreme leader, [[Ali Khamenei|Ayatollah Khamenei]] The press in Iran, ran nearly three dozen articles defaming the Baháʼí Faith. Furthermore, a confidential letter sent on 29 October 2005 by the Chairman of the Command Headquarters of the Armed Forced in Iran states that the Supreme Leader of Iran, [[Ali Khamenei|Ayatollah Khamenei]] has instructed the Command Headquarters to identify people who adhere to the Baháʼí Faith and to monitor their activities and gather any and all information about the members of the Baháʼí Faith. The letter was brought to the attention of the international community by Asma Jahangir, the [[Special Rapporteur (UN)|Special Rapporteur]] of the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]] on freedom of religion or belief, in a 20 March 2006 press release [https://web.archive.org/web/20060426122357/http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/5E72D6B7B624AABBC125713700572D09?opendocument].{{Dead link|date=April 2022}}

In the press release the Special Rapporteur states that she "is highly concerned by information she has received concerning the treatment of members of the Baháʼí community in Iran." She further states that "The Special Rapporteur is concerned that this latest development indicates that the situation with regard to religious minorities in Iran is, in fact, deteriorating."
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060426122357/http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/5E72D6B7B624AABBC125713700572D09?opendocument].{{Dead link|date=April 2022}}

===Persecution of Buddhists===
{{Main|Persecution of Buddhists|Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent|Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict|2012 Ramu violence|Genocide of indigenous peoples#Bangladesh|Chakma people|Jumma people|Buddhist crisis|Xá Lợi Pagoda raids|Four Buddhist Persecutions in China|Huichang Persecution of Buddhism|Islamization and Turkification of Xinjiang|Haibutsu kishaku}}
The persecution of Buddhists has been a widespread phenomenon throughout the [[history of Buddhism]], a phenomenon which continues to occur today. As early as the 3rd century AD, Buddhists were persecuted by Kirder, the Zoroastrian high priest of the [[Sasanian Empire]]. {{Citation needed|date=October 2020|reason=Unsourced}}

Anti-Buddhist sentiments in [[History of China#Imperial China|Imperial China]] between the 5th and 10th century led to the ''[[Four Buddhist Persecutions in China]]'' of which the ''[[Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution]]'' of 845 was probably the most severe. However Buddhism managed to survive but was greatly weakened. During the [[Northern Expedition]], in 1926 in [[Guangxi]], [[Kuomintang]] Muslim General [[Bai Chongxi]] led his troops in destroying Buddhist temples and smashing idols, turning the temples into schools and Kuomintang party headquarters.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tCA9AAAAIAAJ&q=muslim |title=Region and nation: the Kwangsi clique in Chinese politics, 1925–1937 |author=Diana Lary |year=1974 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=98 |isbn=978-0-521-20204-6 |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref> During the [[Kuomintang Pacification of Qinghai]], the Muslim General Ma Bufang and his army wiped out many Tibetan Buddhists in the northeast and eastern Qinghai, and destroyed [[Tibetan Buddhist]] temples.<ref name="David S. G. Goodman 2004 72">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DbkfQATHikQC&pg=PA72 |title=China's campaign to "Open up the West": national, provincial, and local perspectives|author=David S. G. Goodman |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=72 |isbn=978-0-521-61349-1 |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref>

The [[Muslim conquests of the Indian subcontinent|Muslim invasion of the Indian subcontinent]] was the first great [[iconoclasm|iconoclastic]] invasion into the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>Levy, Robert I. Mesocosm: Hinduism and the Organization of a Traditional Newar City in Nepal. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1990 1990.</ref> According to William Johnston, hundreds of Buddhist monasteries and shrines were destroyed, Buddhist texts were [[Book burning|burnt]] by the Muslim armies, monks and nuns killed during the 12th and 13th centuries in the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]] region.<ref name="Johnston2000p335">{{cite book|author=William M. Johnston|title=Encyclopedia of Monasticism: A-L|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GfC0TDkJJNgC&pg=PA335 |year=2000|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-57958-090-2 |page=335 }}</ref> The Buddhist university of [[Nalanda]] was mistaken for a fort because of the walled campus. The Buddhist monks who had been slaughtered were mistaken for Brahmins according to [[Minhaj-i-Siraj]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eraly |first=Abraham |date=April 2015 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyEoAwAAQBAJ&q=bakhtiyar+mistook+buddhist+fort&pg=PT508 |title=The Age of Wrath: A History of the Delhi Sultanate |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=9789351186588}}</ref> The walled town, the [[Odantapuri]] monastery, was also conquered by his forces. Sumpa basing his account on that of [[Śākyaśribhadra]] who was at [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]] in 1200, states that the Buddhist university complexes of Odantapuri and [[Vikramashila|Vikramshila]] were also destroyed and the monks massacred.<ref>A Comprehensive History Of India, Vol. 4, Part 1, pp. 600 & 601.</ref> Muslim forces attacked the north-western regions of the Indian subcontinent many times.<ref>Historia Religionum: Handbook for the History of Religions By C. J. Bleeker, G. Widengren p. 381.</ref> Many places were destroyed and renamed. For example, Odantapuri's monasteries were destroyed in 1197 by [[Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji]] and the town was renamed.<ref>{{cite book |page=41 |title=Where the Buddha Walked |author=S. Muthiah}}</ref> Likewise, [[Vikramashila]] was destroyed by the forces of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji around 1200.<ref>Sanderson, Alexis. "The Śaiva Age: The Rise and Dominance of Śaivism during the Early Medieval Period." In: Genesis and Development of Tantrism, edited by Shingo Einoo. Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, 2009. Institute of Oriental Culture Special Series, 23, pp. 89.</ref> The sacred [[Mahabodhi Temple]] was almost completely destroyed by the Muslim invaders.<ref>''The Maha-Bodhi'' by Maha Bodhi Society, Calcutta (p. 8)</ref><ref>''The Maha-Bodhi'' by Maha Bodhi Society, Calcutta (p. 205)</ref> Many Buddhist monks fled to [[History of Nepal|Nepal]], Tibet, and [[South India]] to avoid the consequences of war.<ref>Islam at War: A History By Mark W. Walton, George F. Nafziger, Laurent W. Mbanda (p. 226)</ref> Tibetan pilgrim Chöjepal (1179–1264), who arrived in India in 1234,<ref>{{cite book |title=The Holy Land Reborn: Pilgrimage and the Tibetan Reinvention of Buddhist India |date=15 September 2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SjzSpGf1eM0C&q=Ch%C3%B6jepal&pg=PA66 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226356501}}</ref> had to flee advancing Muslim troops multiple times, as they were sacking Buddhist sites.<ref>Roerich, G. 1959. Biography of Dharmasvamin (Chag lo tsa-ba Chos-rje-dpal): A Tibetan Monk Pilgrim. Patna: K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute. pp. 61–62, 64, 98.</ref>

In Japan, the [[haibutsu kishaku]] during the [[Meiji Restoration]] (starting in 1868) was an event triggered by the official policy of separation of [[Shinto]] and Buddhism (or [[shinbutsu bunri]]). This caused great destruction to [[Buddhism in Japan]], the destruction of Buddhist temples, images and texts took place on a large scale all over the country and Buddhist monks were forced to return to secular life.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020|reason=Unsourced}}

During the [[2012 Ramu violence]] in Bangladesh, a 25,000-strong Muslim mob set fire to destroy at least twelve Buddhist temples and around fifty homes throughout the town and surrounding villages after seeing a picture of an allegedly desecrated [[Quran]], which they claimed had been posted on Facebook by Uttam Barua, a local Buddhist man.<ref>{{cite web |title=Protesters burn Bangladesh Buddhist temples |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/09/201293092057855387.html |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]] |date=30 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Religious attacks lead to 300 arrests in Bangladesh |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-02/an_bangladesh-riots/4291778 |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |date=2 October 2012}}</ref> The actual posting of the photo was not done by the Buddhist who was falsely slandered.<ref>{{cite news |date=30 September 2012 |title=Bangladesh rampage over Facebook Koran image |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-19780692 |work=BBC News }}</ref>

===Persecution of Christians===
{{Main|Persecution of Christians|History of Christian thought on persecution and tolerance|Sectarian violence among Christians}}
{{See also|Violence against Christians in India|Armenian genocide|Seyfo|Greek genocide|Hamidian massacres|Persecution of Christians by ISIL|Persecution of Copts}}
[[File:The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer GA&C.jpg|thumb|According to tradition, early Christians were fed to lions in the [[Colosseum]] of Rome.]]
{{cleanup rewrite|section=yes|date=January 2021}}
From the beginnings of Christianity as a [[Split of early Christianity and Judaism|movement within Judaism]], [[Early Christians]] were persecuted for their [[Faith in Christianity|faith]] at the hands of both [[Persecution of Christians by the Jews|Jews]] and the [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|Roman Empire]], which controlled much of the [[Early centers of Christianity|areas where Christianity was first distributed]]. This continued from the [[Christianity in the 1st century|first century]] until the early [[Christianity in the 4th century|fourth]], when the religion was legalized by the [[Edict of Milan]], eventually becoming the [[State church of the Roman Empire]]. Many Christians fled persecution in the Roman empire by emigrating to the Persian empire where for a century and a half after Constantine's conversion, they were persecuted under the Sassanids, with thousands losing their lives.<ref name="Kling">{{cite book |last1=Kling |first1=David W. |title=A History of Christian Conversion |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=9780199717590 }}</ref>{{rp|76}} Christianity continued to spread through "merchants, slaves, traders, captives and contacts with Jewish communities" as well as missionaries who were often killed for their efforts.<ref name="Kling"/>{{rp|97, 131, 224–225, 551}} This killing continued into the [[Early modern period]] beginning in the fifteenth century, to the [[Late modern period]] of the twentieth century, and into the [[Contemporary history|contemporary period]] today.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Walsh |first1=William Pakenham |title=Christian Missions: six discourses delivered before the University of Dublin; being the Donnellan Lectures for 1861 |date=1862 |publisher=The British Library |pages=133–134, including footnotes}}</ref><ref>Buckland, A. R. "Missionary Martyrs of the Nineteenth Century." Quiver 831 (1901): 1–5.</ref><ref>Carbonneau, Robert. "Resurrecting the Dead: Memorial Gravesites and Faith Stories of Twentieth-Century Catholic Missionaries and Laity in West Hunan, China." US Catholic Historian 24.3 (2006): 19–37.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Guidry |first1=Christopher R.|last2=Crossing |first2=Peter F.|title=World Christian Trends Ad30-ad2200 (hb) Volume 2 of World Christian Trends, AD 30-AD 2200: Interpreting the Annual Christian Megacensus, Todd Michael Johnson |date=2001 |publisher=William Carey Library |isbn=9780878086085}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fox |first1=Jonathan |title=The Unfree Exercise of Religion: A World Survey of Discrimination against Religious Minorities |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781316546277 |page=9}}</ref>

[[File:Kharput Greek-Orthodox refugees - C.D.Morris - National Geographic, Nov. 1925.jpg|thumb|[[Greeks|Greek]] [[Greek Orthodox Church|Christians]] in 1922, fleeing their homes from [[Elazığ|Kharput]] to [[Trabzon|Trebizond]]. In the 1910s and 1920s the [[Armenian genocide|Armenian]], [[Greek genocide|Greek]], and [[Assyrian genocide|Assyrian]] [[Genocides in history#Ottoman Empire/Turkey|genocides]] were perpetrated by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman government]]<ref>{{cite news|title = 8 facts about the Armenian genocide 100 years ago |url = http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/world/armenian-mass-killings/index.html|website = CNN.com|access-date = 13 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title = 100 Years Ago, 1.5 Million Armenians Were Systematically Killed. Today, It's Still Not A 'Genocide'|url = https://huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/23/armenian-genocide-controversy_n_7121008.html|website = The Huffington Post|date = 23 April 2015|access-date = 13 December 2015}}</ref>]]
In contemporary society, Christians are persecuted in [[Iran]] and other parts of the Middle East, for example, for [[Proselytism|proselytising]], which is illegal there.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Iran must ensure rights of Christian minority and fair trial for the accused– UN experts|url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2018/02/iran-must-ensure-rights-christian-minority-and-fair-trial-accused-un-experts?LangID=E&NewsID=22629| date= 2 February 2018 | type= press release |website=UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Ensor|first=Josie|date=2018-12-10|title=Iran arrests more than 100 Christians in growing crackdown on minority|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/10/iran-arrests-100-christians-growing-crackdown-minority/|access-date=2023-01-02|issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>[[Economist Intelligence Unit]] (Great Britain), ''Country Profile: Iran'', The Unit (2001), p. 17</ref> Of the 100–200&nbsp;million Christians alleged to be under assault, the majority are persecuted in Muslim-majority nations.<ref name=Thornton>{{cite journal|url=http://www.hoover.org/publications/defining-ideas/article/152651|title=Christian Tragedy in the Muslim World|first=Bruce |last=Thornton|date=25 July 2013|journal=Defining Ideas|publisher=Hoover institution |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728125232/http://www.hoover.org/publications/defining-ideas/article/152651|archive-date=28 July 2013}}</ref> Every year, the Christian non-profit organization [[Open Doors]] publishes the World Watch List—a list of the top 50 countries which it designates as the most dangerous for Christians.

The 2018 World Watch List has the following countries as its top ten: [[North Korea]], and [[Eritrea]], whose Christian and Muslim religions are controlled by the state, and [[Afghanistan]], [[Myanmar]], [[Somalia]], [[Sudan]], [[Pakistan]], [[Libya]], [[Iraq]], [[Yemen]], India and [[Iran]], which are all predominantly non-Christian.<ref>{{cite web|title=World Watch List|url=https://www.opendoors.org.au/persecuted-christians/world-watch-list|website=Open Doors Australia|access-date=10 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613114702/https://www.opendoors.org.au/persecuted-christians/world-watch-list|archive-date=13 June 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Due to the large number of Christian majority countries, differing groups of Christians are harassed and persecuted in Christian countries such as Eritrea<ref name="Eritrea">{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Eritrea |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/eritrea/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 2019 Report |publisher=U.S. Department of State |access-date=3 July 2020}}</ref> and Mexico<ref name="Mexico">{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Mexico |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/mexico/ |website=U.S. Department of State OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. Department of State |access-date=3 July 2020}}</ref> more often than in Muslim countries, although not in greater numbers.<ref name="Kishi">{{cite web |last1=KISHI |first1=KATAYOUN |title=Christians faced widespread harassment in 2015, but mostly in Christian-majority countries |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/06/09/christians-faced-widespread-harassment-in-2015-but-mostly-in-christian-majority-countries/ |website=PEW Research Center Facttank News in the numbers |publisher=Pew |access-date=3 July 2020}}</ref>
 
There are low to moderate restrictions on religious freedom in three-quarters of the world's countries, with high and very high restrictions in a quarter of them, according to the State Department's report on religious freedom and persecution delivered annually to Congress.<ref>{{Cite web|editor =Robert W. Boehme| display-editors=etal| title=2018 Report on International Religious Freedom| url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-report-on-international-religious-freedom/|access-date=2023-01-02|publisher=United States Department of State|work=Office of International Religious Freedom |language=en-US}}</ref> The Internationale Gesellschaft für Menschenrechte<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://ishr.org/about/ishr-at-a-glance/ |website=International Society for Human Rights at a Glance |publisher=International Society for Human Rights}}</ref>—the International Society for Human Rights—in Frankfurt, Germany is a non-governmental organization with 30,000 members from 38 countries who monitor human rights. In September 2009, then chairman Martin Lessenthin,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lessenthin |first1=Martin |title=Martin Lessenthin Executive and press spokesman for the ISHR |url=https://www.igfm.de/igfm-sprecher-martin-lessenthin/ |publisher=International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) |access-date=5 October 2020 |archive-date=8 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008143241/https://www.igfm.de/igfm-sprecher-martin-lessenthin/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> issued a report estimating that 80% of acts of religious persecution around the world were aimed at Christians at that time.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vallely |first1=Paul |title=Christians: The world's most persecuted people |date=28 July 2014 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/christians-world-s-most-persecuted-people-9630774.html |publisher=Independent}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sherwood |first1=Harriet |title=Christianity under global threat due to persecution, says report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/13/christianity-under-global-threat-persecution-says-report |work=The Guardian|date=13 October 2015 }}</ref> According to the [[World Evangelical Alliance]], over 200&nbsp;million Christians are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldevangelicals.org/lausanne/data/resources/IJRF_2008_Vol_1_Issue_1.pdf|author=Godfrey Yogarajah|title=Disinformation, discrimination, destruction and growth: A case study on persecution of Christians in Sri Lanka|publisher=worldevangelicals.org|volume=1|issue=1|year=2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002080241/http://www.worldevangelicals.org/lausanne/data/resources/IJRF_2008_Vol_1_Issue_1.pdf|archive-date=2 October 2011}}</ref>

A report released by the UK's [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]], and a report by the PEW organization studying worldwide restrictions of religious freedom, both have Christians suffering in the highest number of countries, rising from 125 in 2015 to 144 as of 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Persecution of Christians review: Foreign Secretary's speech following the final report|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/persecution-of-christians-review-foreign-secretarys-speech-following-the-final-report|access-date=2023-01-02|website=Foreign & Commonwealth Office|date=8 July 2019 |last= Hunt | first= Jeremy | author-link= Jeremy Hunt}}</ref><ref name="auto3"/><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mitchell|first=Travis|date=2019-07-15|title=A Closer Look at How Religious Restrictions Have Risen Around the World|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/07/15/a-closer-look-at-how-religious-restrictions-have-risen-around-the-world/|access-date=2023-01-02|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US}}</ref> PEW has published a caution concerning the interpretation of these numbers: "The Center's recent report&nbsp;... does not attempt to estimate the number of victims in each country... it does not speak to the intensity of harassment..."<ref name="auto2"/>

In December 2016, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at [[Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary]] in Massachusetts, published a statement that "between 2005 and 2015 there were 900,000 Christian martyrs worldwide—an average of 90,000 per year, marking a [[Christians|Christian]] as persecuted every 8 minutes."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Persecution of Christians in 2016|url=https://us11.campaign-archive.com/?u=060e80f6eebfc8804f8049bad&id=c0d75f13c6&e=88b938d3be|access-date=2023-01-02|website=Center for the Study of Global Christianity | date= 2017}}{{pb}}{{ cite web | title = Status of Global Christianity, 2017, in the Context of 1900–2050 | url= https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/StatusofGlobalChristianity2017-1.pdf | work= Center for the Study of Global Christianity | date= 2017}}</ref> However, the BBC has reported that others such as Open Doors and the [[International Society for Human Rights]] have disputed that number's accuracy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24864587|title=Are there really 100,000 new Christian martyrs every year?|author=Ruth Alexander|date=12 November 2013|work=BBC News|access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="auto"/><ref name="McMillan">{{cite web|url=https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/number-of-christian-martyrs-continues-to-cause-debate/|title=Number of Christian martyrs continues to cause debate|author=Open Doors|date=14 November 2013|publisher=Open Doors|access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref> Gina Zurlo, the CSGC's assistant director, explained that two-thirds of the 90,000 died in tribal conflicts, and nearly half were victims of the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-01-20|title='90,000 Christian martyrs annually' claim disputed|url=https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2017/01/90000-christian-martyrs-annually-claim-disputed/|access-date=2023-01-02|website=World Watch Monitor|language=en-US}}</ref> Klaus Wetzel, an internationally recognized expert on religious persecution, explains that Gordon-Conwell defines Christian martyrdom in the widest possible sense, while Wetzel and Open doors and others such as [[The International Institute for Religious Freedom]] (IIRF) use a more restricted definition: "those who are killed, ''who would not have been killed'', if they had not been Christians."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Christenverfolgung auf einen Blick|url=https://www.igfm.de/christenverfolgung-auf-einen-blick/|access-date=2023-01-02|website=Internationale Gesellschaft für Menschenrechte (IGFM)|language=de-DE}}</ref> Open Doors documents that anti-Christian sentiment is presently based on direct evidence and makes conservative estimates based on indirect evidence.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180614080323/https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/about-the-ranking/]|How the scoring works</ref> This approach dramatically lowers the numerical count. Open Doors says that, while numbers fluctuate every year, they estimate 11 Christians are currently dying for their faith somewhere in the world every day.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/stories/11-christians-killed-every-day-for-their-decision-to-follow-jesus/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190316180829/https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/stories/11-christians-killed-every-day-for-their-decision-to-follow-jesus/|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 March 2019|title=11 Christians Killed Every Day for Their Decision to Follow Jesus |work= Open Doors USA}}</ref>

====Persecution of Copts====
{{Main|Persecution of Copts}}
{{Category see also|Persecution of Copts}}
The persecution of Copts is a historical and ongoing issue in [[Egypt]] against [[Coptic Orthodox Christianity]] and its followers. It is also a prominent example of the poor status of [[Christians in the Middle East]] despite the religion being native to the region. [[Copt]]s are the [[Christ (title)|Christ]] followers in Egypt, usually [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]], who currently make up around 10% of the population of Egypt—the largest religious minority of that country.{{Efn|In 2017, the ''Wall Street Journal'' reported that "the vast majority of Egypt's estimated 9.5 million Christians, approximately 10% of the country's population, are Orthodox Copts."<ref name=RoccaKholaif>{{Cite web|last2=Kholaif|first2=Francis X. |last1=Rocca |first1= Dahlia|title=Pope Francis Calls on Egypt's Catholics to Embrace Forgiveness|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/pope-francis-calls-on-egypts-catholics-to-embrace-forgiveness-1493464066|access-date=2023-01-02|website=Wall Street Journal|date=29 April 2017 | url-access= subscription}}</ref> In 2019, the Associated Press cited an estimate of 10 million Copts in Egypt.<ref name=Elhennawy>{{Cite web|date=14 November 2019|title=Egyptian woman fights unequal Islamic inheritance laws|url=https://apnews.com/article/religion-ap-top-news-laws-international-news-islam-a115f4d4a86c4f9b8cdb0802ccf3e5e5|access-date=2023-01-02|website=AP News|first=Noha | last= Elhennawy}}</ref> In 2015, the ''Wall Street Journal'' reported: "The Egyptian government estimates about 5 million Copts, but the Coptic Orthodox Church says 15–18 million. Reliable numbers are hard to find but estimates suggest they make up somewhere between 6% and 18% of the population."<ref name=WSJ2015>{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2015/02/16/5-five-things-to-know-about-egypts-coptic-christians/|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=16 February 2015|title=Five Things to Know About Egypt's Coptic Christians| last= Fitch | first=Asa | type= blog | url-access= subscription}}</ref> The ''[[CIA World Factbook]]'' reported a 2015 estimate that 10% of the Egyptian population is Christian (including both Copts and non-Copts).<ref name=CIA2015>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/egypt/|title=Egypt |work=The World Factbook |date=11 February 2022 |publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]}}</ref>}} Copts have cited instances of persecution throughout their history and [[Human Rights Watch]] has noted "growing religious intolerance" and sectarian violence against Coptic Christians in recent years, as well as a failure by the Egyptian government to effectively investigate properly and prosecute those responsible.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-01-24|title=Egypt and Libya: A Year of Serious Abuses|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/01/24/egypt-and-libya-year-serious-abuses|access-date=2023-01-02|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Egypt's Persecuted Christians">{{cite news | last = Zaki | first = Moheb | title = Egypt's Persecuted Christians | newspaper = The Wall Street Journal | date = 18 May 2010 | url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703745904575248301172607696 | access-date = 4 June 2010 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100603203131/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703745904575248301172607696.html | archive-date = 3 June 2010 | url-access= subscription }}</ref>

The [[Muslim conquest of Egypt]] took place in AD 639, during the [[Byzantine Empire]]. Despite the political upheaval, Egypt remained a mainly Christian, but Copts lost their majority status after the 14th century,<ref name="FA">{{cite periodical|last1=Shea|first1=Nina|title=Do Copts have a future in Egypt|journal=Foreign Affairs|date=June 2017|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/egypt/2017-06-20/do-copts-have-future-egypt|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620201311/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/egypt/2017-06-20/do-copts-have-future-egypt|archive-date=20 June 2017|url-access=subscription}}</ref> as a result of the intermittent persecution and the destruction of the Christian churches there,<ref>{{cite book|title=Middle East, Region in Transition: Egypt| first=Laura S. |last= Etheredge|year= 2011| isbn= 9789774160936| page =161|publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing}}</ref> accompanied by heavy taxes for those who refused to convert.<ref>{{cite book| page= 72 | title= History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria III, Agathon to Michael I (766)| translator= Basil Evetts | series= Patrologia Orientalis, vol. 1 | date=1910}}{{pb}}Cited in {{Cite periodical | doi= 10.1553/medievalworlds_no6_2017s196 | work= Medieval Worlds | number= 6 |date= 2017 | pages= 196–216 | last= Simonsohn | first= Uri |title=Conversion, Exemption, and Manipulation: Social Benefits and Conversion to Islam in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages |url=https://www.medievalworlds.net/0xc1aa5576%200x00372f27.pdf|quote= ʿUmar is depicted as having ordered that "the poll-tax should be taken from all men who would not become Muslims" | quote-pages=201–202}}</ref> From the [[Muslim conquest of Egypt]] onwards, the Coptic Christians were persecuted by different Muslims regimes,<ref>{{Cite web| date= October 2017 | author=((Minority Rights Group International)) |title=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Egypt : Copts of Egypt |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/49749d2b2d.html|access-date=15 June 2020}}</ref> such as the [[Umayyad Caliphate]],<ref>H. Patrick Glenn, Legal Traditions of the World. Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 219.</ref> [[Abbasid Caliphate]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Goddard|first=Hugh|title=A History of Christian–Muslim Relations|date=2000|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=1566633400 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Bq2oLEvHzl8C&pg=PA71 |page=71|access-date=<!-- print source: 20 January 2016 -->}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Frank |last=Feder |chapter=The Bashmurite Revolts in the Delta and the ‘Bashmuric Dialect’ |title=Christianity and Monasticism in Northern Egypt: Beni Suef, Giza, Cairo, and the Nile Delta |editor-first1=Gawdat |editor-last1=Gabra |editor-first2=Hany N. |editor-last2=Takla |year=2017 |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |pages=33–35}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author-link=Ira M. Lapidus |first=Ira M. |last=Lapidus |title=The Conversion of Egypt to Islam |journal=Israel Oriental Studies |volume=2 |year=1972 |page=257}}</ref> [[Fatimid Caliphate]],<ref name="Robert Ousterhout 1989 pp. 66-78">Robert Ousterhout, "Rebuilding the Temple: Constantine Monomachus and the Holy Sepulchre" in ''The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'', Vol. 48, No. 1 (March 1989), pp.66–78</ref><ref name="Saunders2002">{{cite book|author=John Joseph Saunders|title=A History of Medieval Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_d2KAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT109|date=11 March 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-93005-0|page=109}}</ref><ref name="Rustow2014">{{cite book|author=[[Marina Rustow]]|title=Heresy and the Politics of Community: The Jews of the Fatimid Caliphate|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MGWsBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT219|date=3 October 2014|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-5529-2|page=219}}</ref> [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultanate]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Teule|first1=Herman G. B.|editor1-last=Thomas|editor1-first=David|editor2-last=Mallett|editor2-first=Alex|title=Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History, Volume 5 (1350–1500)|date=2013|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004252783|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dgy7SN3ZixsC&pg=PA11|chapter=Introduction: Constantinople and Granada, Christian-Muslim Interaction 1350-1516 |page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Coptic Identity and Ayyubid Politics in Egypt, 1218–1250| first= Kurt J.|last=Werthmuller |year= 2010| isbn= 9780805440737| page = 76|publisher= American Univ in Cairo Press}}</ref> and [[Ottoman Empire]]; the persecution of Coptic Christians included closing and demolishing churches and [[forced conversion]] to [[Islam]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Cave Church of Paul the Hermit at the Monastery of St. Pau| first=William |last=Lyster|year= 2013| isbn= 9789774160936|publisher=Yale University Press|quote= Al Hakim Bi-Amr Allah (r. 996—1021), however, who became the greatest persecutor of Copts.... within the church that also appears to coincide with a period of forced rapid conversion to Islam}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Coptic Papacy in Islamic Egypt (641–1517)| first=Mark N. |last=  Swanson|year= 2010| isbn= 9789774160936| page =54|publisher=American University in Cairo Press|quote= By late 1012 the persecution had moved into high gear with demolitions of churches and the forced conversion of Christian ...}}</ref><ref>ha-Mizraḥit ha-Yiśreʼelit, Ḥevrah (1988). Asian and African Studies, Volume 22. Jerusalem Academic Press. Muslim historians note the destruction of dozens of churches and the forced conversion of dozens of people to Islam under al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah in Egypt ...These events also reflect the Muslim attitude toward forced conversion and toward converts.</ref>

Since 2011 hundreds of Egyptian Copts have been killed in sectarian clashes, and many homes, Churches and businesses have been destroyed. In just one province ([[Minya Governorate|Minya]]), 77 cases of sectarian attacks on Copts between 2011 and 2016 have been documented by the [[Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights]].<ref name="Eltahawy-nyt-12-16">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/22/opinion/egypts-cruelty-to-christians.html|title=Egypt's Cruelty to Christians|date=22 December 2016|work=The New York Times|last1=Eltahawy|first1=Mona|access-date=22 December 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222173411/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/22/opinion/egypts-cruelty-to-christians.html|archive-date=22 December 2016 | url-access= subscription| type= opinion}}</ref> The abduction and disappearance of Coptic Christian women and girls also remains a serious ongoing problem.<ref>{{cite book|author=((United States Congress Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe))|title=Escalating Violence Against Coptic Women and Girls: Will the New Egypt be More Dangerous than the Old? : Hearing before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session|date=18 July 2012|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington, DC|url=https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo55657|access-date=8 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2012/10/15/sectarian-tensions-rise-in-wake-of-crime-boss-death/|author1=Basil El-Dabh |title= Sectarian tensions rise in wake of crime boss death|date=15 October 2012 | work = Daily News Egypt |access-date=2 January 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019020027/https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2012/10/15/sectarian-tensions-rise-in-wake-of-crime-boss-death/|archive-date=19 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.premier.org.uk/content/view/full/928769|title=Newlywed becomes 8th Egyptian Christian woman to be kidnapped since April|author=Eno Adeogun |date=9 May 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014141429/https://www.premier.org.uk/content/view/full/928769 | archive-date= 14 October 2019 | url-status= dead}}</ref>

====Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses====
{{Main|Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses}}
[[File:Jehovas Zeugen - Länder ohne berichtete Aktivitat.png|thumb|250px|Countries where Jehovah's Witnesses' activities are banned]]
Political and religious animosity against Jehovah's Witnesses has at times led to [[mob action]] and government oppression in various countries. Their stance regarding political neutrality and their refusal to serve in the military has led to imprisonment of members who [[Conscientious objector|refused conscription]] during [[World War II]] and at other times where [[national service]] has been compulsory. Their religious activities are currently banned or restricted in some countries,<ref>{{cite news |title=Countries Where Jehovah's Witnesses' Activities Are Banned |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/countries-where-jehovahs-witnesses-activities-are-banned/29757419.html |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=7 February 2019}}</ref> including China, [[Vietnam]], and many [[Muslim world|Islamic states]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom |publisher=[[Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania]] |year=1993 |page=490 |url=https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101993030 |via=Watchtower Online Library |access-date=25 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses |publisher=[[Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania]] |year=1991 |page=222 |url=https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/301991017 |via=Watchtower Online Library |access-date=25 October 2020}}</ref>

* In 1933, there were approximately 20,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in [[Nazi Germany]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Penton |first=James |author-link=James Penton |title=Jehovah's Witnesses and the Third Reich: sectarian politics under persecution|url=https://archive.org/details/jehovahswitnesse0000pent_f0s7|url-access=registration |location=[[Toronto]] |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0802086785 |page=[https://archive.org/details/jehovahswitnesse0000pent_f0s7/page/376 376]}}</ref> of whom about 10,000 were imprisoned. [[Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Nazi Germany|Jehovah's Witnesses were brutally persecuted by the Nazis]], because they [[Conscientious objector|refused military service]] and allegiance to [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]'s [[Nazi Party|National Socialist Party]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Blainey |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Blainey |year=2011 |title=[[A Short History of Christianity]] |location=London |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |pages=495–496 |isbn=9780281076208}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Chu |first=Jolene |date=September 2004 |title=God's things and Caesar's: Jehovah's Witnesses and political neutrality |journal=[[Journal of Genocide Research]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=319–342 |doi=10.1080/1462352042000265837 |s2cid=71908533}}</ref><ref name="Wrobel 2006">{{cite journal |last=Wrobel |first=Johannes S. |date=August 2006 |url=https://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/rss/34-2_089.pdf |title=Jehovah's Witnesses in National Socialist concentration camps, 1933–45 |journal=Religion, State & Society |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=89–125 |doi=10.1080/09637490600624691 |s2cid=145110013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521084542/https://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/rss/34-2_089.pdf |archive-date=21 May 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=25 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Knox |first=Zoe |year=2018 |chapter=Politics |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtBJDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |title=Jehovah's Witnesses and the Secular World: From the 1870s to the Present |location=London |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |series=Histories of the Sacred and Secular, 1700–2000 |pages=61–106 |doi=10.1057/978-1-137-39605-1_3 |isbn=978-1-137-39604-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1979405 |title=Insight on the News - "Holocaust" Questions |date=1 June 1979 |magazine=[[The Watchtower]] |publisher=[[Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania]] |page=20 |via=Watchtower Online Library |access-date=25 October 2020}}</ref> Of those, 2,000 were sent to [[Nazi concentration camps]], where they were identified by [[purple triangle]]s;<ref name="Wrobel 2006"/> as many as 1,200 died, including 250 who were executed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Garbe|first=Detlef|title=Between Resistance and Martyrdom: Jehovah's Witnesses in the Third Reich|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|year=2008|location=Madison, Wisconsin|page=484|isbn=978-0-299-20794-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Jehovah's Witnesses|url=https://www.holocaust-trc.org/jehovahs-witnesses/|access-date=2023-01-02|website=Holocaust Teacher Resource Center|language=en-US}}</ref>
* In [[Canada in World War II|Canada during World War II]], Jehovah's Witnesses were interned in camps<ref>{{cite book|last=Kaplan|first=William|title=State and Salvation|location=Toronto|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1989}}</ref> along with [[Political dissent|political dissidents]] and people of Chinese and Japanese descent.<ref>{{cite news|last=Yaffee|first=Barbara|title=Witnesses Seek Apology for Wartime Persecution|work=The Globe and Mail|date=9 September 1984|page=4}}</ref> Jehovah's Witnesses faced discrimination in [[Quebec]] until the [[Quiet Revolution]], including bans on distributing [[Jehovah's Witnesses practices#Evangelism|literature]] or holding [[Jehovah's Witnesses practices#Worship|meetings]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1953/1953canlii3/1953canlii3.html|title=Saumur v Quebec (City of)|last=Supreme Court of Canada|series=[1953] 2 SCR 299|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706012152/http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1953/1953canlii3/1953canlii3.html|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1959/1959canlii50/1959canlii50.html|title=Roncarelli v Duplessis|last=Supreme Court of Canada|series=[1959] SCR 121|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112043742/http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1959/1959canlii50/1959canlii50.html|archive-date=12 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In 1951, about 9,300 Jehovah's Witnesses in the [[Soviet Union]] were deported to [[Siberia]] as part of [[Operation North]] in April 1951.<ref name="passat">Валерий Пасат ."Трудные страницы истории Молдовы (1940–1950)". Москва: Изд. Terra, 1994 {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
* In April 2017, the [[Supreme Court of Russia]] labeled Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist organization, banned its activities in Russia and issued an order to confiscate the organization's assets.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-religion-jehovah-s-idUSKBN17M1ZT|title=Russian court bans Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist|publisher=delfi.lt |access-date=20 April 2017|newspaper=Reuters|date=20 April 2017}}</ref>

Authors including [[William J. Whalen|William Whalen]], Shawn Francis Peters and former Witnesses [[Barbara Grizzuti Harrison]], Alan Rogerson and William Schnell have claimed the arrests and mob violence in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s were the consequence of what appeared to be a deliberate course of provocation of authorities and other religious groups by Jehovah's Witnesses. Whalen, Harrison and Schnell have suggested [[Joseph Franklin Rutherford|Rutherford]] invited and cultivated opposition for publicity purposes in a bid to attract dispossessed members of society, and to convince members that persecution from the outside world was evidence of the truth of their struggle to serve God.<ref>{{cite book|last=Peters|first=Shawn Francis|title=Judging Jehovah's Witnesses: Religious Persecution and the Dawn of the Rights Revolution|url=https://archive.org/details/judgingjehovahsw0000pete|url-access=registration|publisher=University Press of Kansas|year=2000|pages=[https://archive.org/details/judgingjehovahsw0000pete/page/82 82], 116–9|isbn=978-0-7006-1008-2}}</ref><ref>Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, ''Visions of Glory'', 1978, chapter 6.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Whalen|first=William J.|title=Armageddon Around the Corner: A Report on Jehovah's Witnesses|publisher=John Day Company|year=1962|location=New York|page=190}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Schnell|first=William|title=30 Years a Watchtower Slave|publisher=Baker Book House, Grand Rapids|year=1971|pages=104–106|isbn=978-0-8010-6384-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Rogerson|first=Alan|title=Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses|publisher=Constable & Co, London|year=1969|page=59|isbn=978-0094559400}}</ref> Watch Tower Society literature of the period directed that Witnesses should "never seek a controversy" nor resist arrest, but also advised members not to co-operate with police officers or courts that ordered them to stop preaching, and to prefer jail rather than pay fines.<ref>{{cite book|title=Advice for Kingdom Publishers|publisher=Watchtower Bible and Tract Society|year=1939|pages=5–6, 14}}</ref>

===Persecution of Druze===
[[File:Qalb Lauzeh - GAR - 11-001.JPG|thumb|[[Qalb Loze]]: in June 2015, Druze were [[Qalb Loze massacre|massacred there]] by the [[jihadist]] [[Nusra Front]].<ref name="AFP">[https://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Sep-08/187193-syria-druze-back-sunnis-revolt-with-words-but-not-arms.ashx Syria Druze back Sunnis' revolt with words but not arms]. [[Agence France-Presse]]. 8 September 2012.</ref>]]
Historically the relationship between the [[Druze]] and [[Muslims]] has been characterized by intense persecution.<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of the Druzes| first=Samy|last=Swayd|year= 2015| isbn= 9781442246171| page = 132|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|quote= Some Muslim rulers and jurists have advocated the persecution of members of the Druze Movement beginning with the seventh Fatimi Caliph Al-Zahir, in 1022. Recurring period of persecutions in subsequent centuries ... failure to elucidate their beliefs and practices, have contributed to the ambiguous relationship between Muslims and Druzes}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Conflict in the Modern Middle East: An Encyclopedia of Civil War, Revolutions, and Regime Change| first=Jonathan|last= K. Zartman|year= 2020| isbn=9781440865039| page = 199|publisher=ABC-CLIO|quote= Historically, Islam classified Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians as protected “People of the Book,” a secondary status subject to payment of a poll tax. Nevertheless, Zoroastrians suffered significant persecution. Other religions such as the Alawites, Alevis, and Druze often suffered more.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Marriage, Divorce, and Succession in the Druze Family: A Study Based on Decisions of Druze Arbitrators and Religious Courts in Israel and the Golan Heights| first=Aharôn|last= Layiš|year= 1982| isbn=9789004064126| page = 1|publisher=BRILL|quote= the Druze religion, though originating from the Isma'lliyya, an extreme branch of the Shia, seceded completely from Islam and has, therefore, experienced periods of persecution by the latter.}}</ref> The Druze faith is often classified as a branch of [[Isma'ilism]]. Even though the faith originally developed out of [[Ismaili Islam]], most [[Druze]] do not identify as Muslims,<ref>{{cite web |title=Are the Druze People Arabs or Muslims? Deciphering Who They Are |url=https://www.arabamerica.com/are-the-druze-people-arabs-or-muslims-deciphering-who-they-are/ |website=Arab America |access-date=13 April 2020 |date=8 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Middle East Today: Political, Geographical and Cultural Perspectives| first=Dona|last= J. Stewart|year=2008| isbn=9781135980795| page = 33|publisher=Routledge|quote= Most Druze do not consider themselves Muslim. Historically they faced much persecution and keep their religious beliefs secrets.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford Handbook of American Islam| first=Yvonne |last=Yazbeck Haddad|year=2014| isbn=9780199862634| page = 142|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote=While they appear parallel to those of normative Islam, in the Druze religion they are different in meaning and interpretation. The religion is considered distinct from the Ismaili as well as from other Muslims belief and practice... Most Druze consider themselves fully assimilated in American society and do not necessarily identify as Muslims..}}</ref> and they do not accept the [[Five Pillars of Islam]].<ref>{{cite book|title= The Political Role of Minority Groups in the Middle East|first=Ronald|last= De McLaurin|year= 1979| isbn= 9780030525964| page =114 |publisher=Michigan University Press|quote= Theologically, one would have to conclude that the Druze are not Muslims. They do not accept the five pillars of Islam. In place of these principles the Druze have instituted the seven precepts noted above..}}</ref> The Druze have frequently experienced persecution by different Muslim regimes such as the [[Shia]] [[Fatimid Caliphate]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Druze between Palestine and Israel 1947–49| first=L.|last=Parsons|year= 2000| isbn= 9780230595989| page = 2|publisher=Springer|quote= With the succession of al-Zahir to the Fatimid caliphate a mass persecution (known by the Druze as the period of the ''mihna'') of the Muwaḥḥidūn was instigated ... }}</ref> [[Mamluk]],<ref>{{cite book | title=Origins of the Druze People and Religion |first=Philip Khūri |last=Hitti |year=1924 |isbn=978-1-60506-068-2 |access-date=4 April 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B_YJAvND0RwC |publisher=Forgotten Books}}</ref> [[Sunni]] [[Ottoman Empire]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Middle East Conflicts from Ancient Egypt to the 21st Century: An Encyclopedia and Document Collection [4 volumes]| first=Spencer C. |last= C. Tucker|year= 2019| isbn= 9781440853531| pages = 364–366|publisher=ABC-CLIO}}</ref> and [[Egypt Eyalet]].<ref>Taraze Fawaz, Leila. ''An occasion for war: civil conflict in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860''. p.63.</ref><ref name=goren>Goren, Haim. ''Dead Sea Level: Science, Exploration and Imperial Interests in the Near East.'' p.95-96.</ref> The persecution of the Druze included [[massacre]]s, demolishing Druze prayer houses and holy places and [[forced conversion]] to Islam.<ref>{{cite book|title=Middle East Conflicts from Ancient Egypt to the 21st Century: An Encyclopedia and Document Collection [4 volumes]| first=Spencer C. |last= C. Tucker|year= 2019| isbn= 9781440853531| page = 364|publisher=ABC-CLIO}}</ref> Those were no ordinary killings in the Druze's narrative, they were meant to eradicate the whole community according to the Druze narrative.<ref>{{cite book|title= Middle Eastern Minorities: The Impact of the Arab Spring|first=Ibrahim|last=Zabad|year= 2017| isbn= 9781317096726|publisher=Routledge}}</ref> Most recently, the [[Syrian Civil War]], which began in 2011, saw persecution of the Druze at the hands of [[Islamic extremism|Islamic extremists]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33092902|title=Syria conflict: Al-Nusra fighters kill Druze villagers|work=BBC News|date=11 June 2015|access-date=27 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/06/11/nusra-front-kills-syrian-villagers-from-minority-druze-sect.html|title=Nusra Front kills Syrian villagers from minority Druze sect|date=11 June 2015|work=thestar.com|access-date=27 July 2015}}</ref>

[[Ibn Taymiyya]] a prominent [[Muslims|Muslim]] scholar [[muhaddith]], dismissed the Druze as non-Muslims,<ref>{{cite book|title= Religious Minorities in the Middle East: Domination, Self-Empowerment, Accommodation|first=Anne Sofie|last= Roald|year= 2011| isbn= 9789004207424| page =255|publisher=BRILL|quote= Therefore, many of these scholars follow Ibn Taymiyya'sfatwa from the beginning of the fourteenth century that declared the Druzes and the Alawis as heretics outside Islam ...}}</ref> and his [[fatwa]] cited that Druzes: "Are not at the level of ′Ahl al-Kitāb ([[People of the Book]]) nor [[Shirk (Islam)|mushrikin]] ([[polytheist]]s). Rather, they are from the most deviant [[kuffār]] ([[Infidel]])&nbsp;... Their women can be taken as slaves and their property can be seized&nbsp;... they are to be killed whenever they are found and cursed as they described&nbsp;... It is obligatory to kill their scholars and religious figures so that they do not misguide others",<ref>{{cite book|title= Middle Eastern Minorities: The Impact of the Arab Spring|first=Ibrahim |last=Zabad|year= 2017| isbn=9781317096733| page =126|publisher=Taylor & Francis}}</ref> which in that setting would have legitimized violence against them as [[Apostasy in Islam|apostates]].<ref>{{cite book|title= Journey to the End of Islam|first=Michael |last=Knight|year= 2009| isbn= 9781593765521| page =129 |publisher=Soft Skull Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= The A to Z of the Druzes|first=Samy|last=S. Swayd|year= 2009| isbn= 9780810868366| page =37 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|quote= Subsequently, Muslim opponents of the Druzes have often relied on Ibn Taymiyya's religious ruling to justify their attitudes and actions against Druzes...}}</ref> [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] have often relied on Ibn Taymiyya religious ruling to justify their persecution of Druze.<ref>{{cite book|title= The Druzes: An Annotated Bibliography|first=Samy|last= S. Swayd|year= 2009| isbn= 9780966293203| page =25 |publisher=University of Michigan Press}}</ref>

===Persecution of Falun Gong===
{{main|Persecution of Falun Gong|610 Office|Organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China}}
The persecution of the [[Falun Gong]] [[spiritual practice]] began with campaigns initiated in 1999 by the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) to eliminate Falun Gong in China. It is characterised by multifaceted propaganda campaign, a program of enforced ideological conversion and re-education, and a variety of extralegal coercive measures such as arbitrary arrests, [[forced labor]], and [[physical torture]], sometimes resulting in death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/3b83b6e00.html |title=China: The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called "heretical organizations"|date=23 March 2000|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=17 March 2010}}</ref><br/>
There have being reports of organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Several researchers—most notably Canadian human rights lawyer [[David Matas]], former parliamentarian [[David Kilgour]], and investigative journalist [[Ethan Gutmann]]—estimate that tens of thousands of Falun Gong [[prisoners of conscience]] have been killed to supply a lucrative trade in human organs and cadavers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bloody Harvest: Revised Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China | author1= David Matas | author2= David Kilgour | author1-link= David Matas | author2-link= David Kilgour | date= 31 January 2007 |url=https://organharvestinvestigation.net/|access-date=2023-01-02}}</ref>

===Persecution of Hindus===
{{Main|Persecution of Hindus}}

[[File:Sun temple martand indogreek.jpg|thumb|right|Ruins of the [[Martand Sun Temple]]. The temple was completely destroyed on the orders of Muslim Sultan [[Sikandar Butshikan]] in the early 15th century, with demolition lasting a year.<ref>''Hindu temples were felled to the ground and for one year a large establishment was maintained for the demolition of the grand Martand temple. But when the massive masonry resisted all efforts, it was set on fire and the noble buildings cruelly defaced.''-[[Firishta]], Muhammad Qãsim Hindû Shãh; [[John Briggs (East India Company officer)|John Briggs]] (translator) (1829–1981 Reprint). Tãrîkh-i-Firishta (History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India). New Delhi</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Keay |first=John |author-link=John Keay |year=2000 |title=India: A History |publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press |isbn=978-0-87113-800-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/indiahistory00keay |page=288}}: "The normally cordial pattern of Hindu–Muslim relations was interrupted in the early fifteenth century. The great Sun temple of Martand was destroyed and heavy penalties imposed on the mainly Brahman Hindus".</ref>]]

For example, Hindus have been one of the targeted and persecuted minorities in [[Pakistan]]. Militancy and sectarianism has been rising in Pakistan since the 1990s, and the religious minorities have "borne the brunt of the Islamist's ferocity" suffering "greater persecution than in any earlier decade", states [[Farahnaz Ispahani]]—a Public Policy Scholar at the [[Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars|Wilson Center]]. This has led to attacks and forced conversion of Hindus, and other minorities such as Christians.<ref name="Ispahani2017p165">{{cite book|author=Farahnaz Ispahani|title=Purifying the Land of the Pure: A History of Pakistan's Religious Minorities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o36uDQAAQBAJ |year=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-062165-0|pages=165–171}}</ref><ref name="LockwoodWomen">{{cite book|author=Bert B. Lockwood|title=Women's Rights: A Human Rights Quarterly Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EhMqAAAAYAAJ |year=2006|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0-8018-8373-6|pages=227–235}}</ref><ref name="Rehman2000p158">{{cite book|author=Javaid Rehman|title=The Weaknesses in the International Protection of Minority Rights |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHRMEoS7-YQC |year=2000|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|isbn=90-411-1350-9|pages=158–159}}</ref> According to Tetsuya Nakatani—a Japanese scholar of Cultural Anthropology specializing in South Asia refugee history, after the mass exodus of Hindu, Sikh and other non-Muslim refugees during the 1947 partition of British India, there were several waves of Hindu refugees arrival into India from its neighbors.<ref name="nakatani1">Tetsuya Nakatani (2000), ''Away from Home: The Movement and Settlement of Refugees from East Pakistan in West Bengal India, ''Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, Volume 12, pp. 73–81 (context: 71–103)</ref> The fearful and persecuted refugee movements were often after various religious riots between 1949 and 1971 that targeted non-Muslims within West Pakistan or East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The status of these persecuted Hindu refugees in India was in political limbo until the passage of [[Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019]] by the Indian Government. Systemically in Pakistan, Hindus are persecuted under the government's Blasphemy Law (with often consequence of death irrelevant of the legal claim's accuracy), and as per the rhetoric of mainstream politicians interpreting vague constitutional law, have second-class rights in the nation regarding places of worship and facets of their religion.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Similar concerns about religious persecution of Hindu and other minorities in Bangladesh have also been expressed. A famous report by Dr. Abul Barkat, a famous Bangladeshi economist and research, projects that there will be no Hindus left in Bangladesh in 30 years.<ref>{{Cite web|last=qayam|date=20 November 2016|title=No Hindus will be left in Bangladesh after 30 years: researcher|url=https://archive.siasat.com/news/no-hindus-will-left-bangladesh-30-years-researcher-1069472/|access-date=11 April 2021|website=The Siasat Daily – Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=20 November 2016|title='No Hindus will be left after 30 years'|url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/11/20/abul-barkat-632-hindus-left-country-day|access-date=11 April 2021|website=Dhaka Tribune}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|agency=PTI|date=22 November 2016|title=No Hindus will be left in Bangladesh after 30 years: professor|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/No-Hindus-will-be-left-in-Bangladesh-after-30-years-professor/article16675228.ece|access-date=11 April 2021|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> The USCIRF notes hundreds of cases of "killings, attempted killings, death threats, assaults, rapes, kidnappings, and attacks on homes, businesses, and places of worship" on religious minorities in 2017.<ref>[https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/BANGLADESH-2018-INTERNATIONAL-RELIGIOUS-FREEDOM-REPORT.pdf Bangladesh 2018 International Religious Freedom Report], US State Department (2019), pp. 11–12</ref> Since the 1990s, Hindus have been a persecuted minority in Afghanistan, and a subject of "intense hate" with the rise of religious fundamentalism in Afghanistan.<ref name="abosep4698" /> Their "targeted persecution" triggered an exodus and forced them to seek asylum.<ref name="emadip316" /> The persecuted Hindus have remained stateless and without citizenship rights in India, since it has historically lacked any refugee law or uniform policy for persecuted refugees, state Ashish Bose and Hafizullah Emadi, though the recent Citizen Amendment Act passed by India is a form of solace for those Hindus having entered India before 2015.<ref name="abosep4698">Ashish Bose (2004), ''Afghan Refugees in India'', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 39, No. 43, pp. 4698–4701</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite journal | last=Emadi | first=Hafizullah | title=Minorities and marginality: pertinacity of Hindus and Sikhs in a repressive environment in Afghanistan | journal=Nationalities Papers | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=42 | issue=2 | year=2014 | doi=10.1080/00905992.2013.858313 | pages=315–317| s2cid=153662810 }}</ref>

The [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] (1971) resulted in one of the largest genocides of the 20th century. While estimates of the number of casualties was 3,000,000, it is reasonably certain that Hindus bore a disproportionate brunt of the Pakistan Army's onslaught against the Bengali population of what was East Pakistan. An article in [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]] dated 2 August 1971, stated "the Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the Muslim military hatred."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,878408,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311141813/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,878408,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 March 2007 |title=World: Pakistan: The Ravaging of Golden Bengal – Printout |magazine=Time |date=2 August 1971 |access-date=25 October 2013}}</ref> Senator [[Ted Kennedy|Edward Kennedy]] wrote in a report that was part of [[United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations]] testimony dated 1 November 1971, "Hardest hit have been members of the Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and shops, systematically slaughtered, and in some places, painted with yellow patches marked "H". All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law from [[Islamabad]]". In the same report, Senator Kennedy reported that 80% of the refugees in India were Hindus and according to numerous international relief agencies such as [[UNESCO]] and [[World Health Organization]] the number of East Pakistani refugees at their peak in India was close to 10 million. Given that the Hindu population in East Pakistan was around 11&nbsp;million in 1971, this suggests that up to 8&nbsp;million, or more than 70% of the Hindu population had fled the country. The [[Pulitzer Prize]]–winning journalist [[Sydney Schanberg]] covered the start of the war and wrote extensively on the suffering of the East Bengalis, including the Hindus both during and after the conflict. In a syndicated column "The Pakistani Slaughter That Nixon Ignored", he wrote about his return to liberated Bangladesh in 1972. "Other reminders were the yellow "H"s the Pakistanis had painted on the homes of Hindus, particular targets of the Muslim army" (by "Muslim army", meaning the [[Pakistan Army]], which had targeted Bengali Muslims as well), ([[Newsday]], 29 April 1994).

Hindus constitute approximately 0.5% of the total population of the United States. Hindus in the US enjoy both ''de jure'' and ''de facto'' legal equality. However, a series of attacks were made on people Indian origin by a street gang called the "[[Dotbusters]]" in [[New Jersey]] in 1987, the dot signifying the [[Bindi (decoration)|Bindi]] dot sticker worn on the forehead by Indian women.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Marriott|first1=Michel|date=1987-10-12|title=In Jersey City, Indians Protest Violence|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/12/nyregion/in-jersey-city-indians-protest-violence.html|access-date=2023-01-02|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The lackadaisical attitude of the local police prompted the South Asian community to arrange small groups all across the state to fight back against the street gang. The perpetrators have been put to trial. On 2 January 2012, a Hindu worship center in New York City was firebombed.<ref>[http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre8010ie-us-crime-newyork/ "New York firebomb attacks hit mosque, Hindu site"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113084911/http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre8010ie-us-crime-newyork/ |date=13 January 2012 }}. ''News Daily''. 2 January 2012</ref> The [[Dotbusters]] were primarily based in New York and New Jersey and committed most of their crimes in [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]]. A number of perpetrators have been brought to trial for these assaults. Although tougher anti-hate crime laws were passed by the New Jersey legislature in 1990, the attacks continued, with 58 cases of hate crimes against Indians in New Jersey reported in 1991.<ref name="pluralism">{{cite web|url=http://www.pluralism.org/ocg/CDROM_files/hinduism/dot_busters.php|title=On Common Ground: World Religions in America – The Pluralism Project|access-date=26 January 2014|archive-date=23 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923053125/http://www.pluralism.org/ocg/CDROM_files/hinduism/dot_busters.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Persecution of Hindus also contemporarily has been seen in the Indian-administered union territory of [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]]. In the [[Violence in Kashmir|Kashmir]] region, approximately 300 [[Kashmiri Pandits]] were killed between September 1989 to 1990 in various incidents.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=19/01/90: When Kashmiri Pandits fled Islamic terro|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/2005/jan/19kanch.htm|access-date=11 April 2021|website=www.rediff.com}}</ref> In early 1990, local Urdu newspapers ''Aftab'' and ''Al Safa'' called upon Kashmiris to wage [[jihad]] against India and ordered the expulsion of all Hindus choosing to remain in Kashmir.<ref name=":0"/> In the following days masked men ran in the streets with [[AK-47]]s, shooting to kill Hindus who would not leave.<ref name=":0"/> Notices were placed on the houses of all Hindus, telling them to leave within 24 hours or die.<ref name=":0"/> Since March 1990, estimates of between [[Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits|300,000 and 500,000 pandits have migrated outside Kashmir due to persecution]] by [[Islamic fundamentalists]] in the largest case of ethnic cleansing since the partition of India.<ref>{{Cite web|date=30 March 2003|title=Kashmiri Pandits in Nandimarg decide to leave Valley|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=131481|access-date=11 April 2021|website=Outlook}}</ref> Many [[Kashmiri Pandit]]s have been killed by [[Islamist terrorism|Islamist militants]] in incidents such as the [[Wandhama massacre]] and the [[2000 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rediff On The NeT: Terrorists kill 23 Kashmiri Pandits in the valley|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jan/27kash.htm|access-date=11 April 2021|website=www.rediff.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Jammu & Kashmir|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040428/j&k.htm|access-date=11 April 2021|website=www.tribuneindia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=6 December 2006|title=CNN.com – ASIANOW – At least 58 dead in 2 attacks in Kashmir – August 1, 2000|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/south/08/01/india.kashmir.massacre/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206120548/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/south/08/01/india.kashmir.massacre/|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 December 2006|access-date=11 April 2021}}</ref> The incidents of massacring and forced eviction have been termed [[ethnic cleansing]] by some observers.<ref name=":0"/>

In Bangladesh, on 28 February 2013, the [[International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)|International Crimes Tribunal]] sentenced [[Delwar Hossain Sayeedi]], the Vice President of the [[Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami|Jamaat-e-Islami]] to death for the war crimes committed during the 1971 [[Bangladesh Liberation War]]. Following the sentence, the Hindus were attacked in different parts of the country. Hindu properties were looted, Hindu houses were burnt into ashes and Hindu temples were desecrated and set on fire.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bagerhat Hindu Temple Set on Fire|url=http://dev-bd.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=241410&cid=2|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130407194310/http://dev-bd.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=241410&cid=2|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 April 2013|access-date=20 March 2013|newspaper=bdnews24.com|date=2 March 2013}}</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=June 2023}} This trend has continued, sadly; Islamist groups in Bangladesh, nearing the 50th anniversary of the Bengali Hindu Genocide, set fire to and vandalized several Hindu temples along with 80 houses.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Paul|first=Ruma|date=28 March 2021|title=Bangladesh violence spreads after Modi visit, attacks on Hindu temples, train|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/bangladesh-india-protest-idUSL4N2LQ01T|access-date=11 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Islamic radicals accused of attacking Hindu village in Bangladesh – UCA News|url=https://www.ucanews.com/news/islamic-radicals-accused-of-attacking-hindu-village-in-bangladesh/91806|access-date=11 April 2021|website=ucanews.com}}</ref>

===Persecutions of Jews===
{{Main|Antisemitism|Geography of antisemitism|History of antisemitism|Persecution of Jews|Religious antisemitism|Antisemitism in Christianity|Martin Luther and the Jews|Antisemitism in Islam|Martyrdom in Judaism}}

[[File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 155.png|thumb|Woodcut of the Seleucid persecution depicting martyrs refusing to sacrifice from ''[[commons:Die Bibel in Bildern|Die Bibel in Bildern]]'']]

A major component of [[Jewish history]], persecutions have been committed by [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucids]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=452&letter=S |title=Seleucidæ |publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com |access-date=22 November 2011}}</ref> [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]],<ref name=Flannery>Flannery, Edward H. ''The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-Three Centuries of Antisemitism''. Paulist Press, first published in 1985; this edition 2004, pp. 11–2. {{ISBN|0-8091-2702-4}}. [[Edward Flannery]]</ref> [[Ancient Rome|ancient Romans]], Christians ([[Catholic Church|Catholic]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] and [[Protestant]]), [[Muslim]]s, [[Nazism|Nazis]], etc. Some of the most important events which constitute this [[History of antisemitism|history]] include the [[1066 Granada massacre]], the [[Rhineland massacres]] (by Catholics, but they were committed against papal orders, see also : [[Sicut Judaeis]]), the [[Alhambra Decree]] which was issued after the [[Reconquista]] and the establishment of the [[Spanish Inquisition]], the publication of ''[[On the Jews and Their Lies]]'' by [[Martin Luther]] which furthered Protestant [[anti-Judaism]] and was later used to strengthen [[Antisemitism in Europe#Germany|German antisemitism]] and justify [[pogrom]]s and [[the Holocaust]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

According to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]]'s statistics, the majority of religiously motivated [[hate crime]]s which are committed in the United States are committed against Jews. In 2018, anti-Jewish hate crimes represented 57.8% of all religiously motivated hate crimes; followed by anti-Muslim hate crimes, which were the second most common, representing 14.5%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://religionnews.com/2019/11/12/fbi-report-jews-the-target-of-overwhelming-number-of-religious-based-hate-crimes-2/ |title=FBI report: Jews the target of overwhelming number of religious-based hate crimes |last=Shimron |first=Yonat |date=12 November 2019 |website=Religion News Service |access-date= 28 October 2020}}</ref>

===Persecution of Muslims===
{{Main|Persecution of Muslims}}
{{See also|Sectarian violence among Muslims|Exodus of Muslims from Serbia (1862)|Violence against Muslims in independent India}}

Persecution of Muslims is the religious persecution that is inflicted upon followers of the [[Islam]]ic faith. In the early days of Islam at [[Mecca]], the new Muslims were often subjected to abuse and persecution by the [[pagan]] Meccans (often called Mushrikin: the unbelievers or [[polytheists]]).<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia | edition = 2nd| publisher = [[Brill Academic Publishers]]| volume = 7| pages = 360–376| last2 = Welch| first2 = A.T.| last1=Buhl | first1 = F.| title = Muḥammad| encyclopedia = [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]| isbn = 9004094199| year = 1993}}</ref><ref>''An Introduction to the Quran'' (1895), p. 185</ref> Muslims were persecuted by [[Meccans]] at the time of [[Muhammed]].

Currently, Muslims face religious restrictions in 142 countries according to the PEW report on rising religious restrictions around the world.<ref name="Pew report">{{cite web |title=July 15, 2019 A Closer Look at How Religious Restrictions Have Risen Around the World |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2019/07/15/a-closer-look-at-how-religious-restrictions-have-risen-around-the-world/ |website=Religion and Public Life |publisher=PEW Research Center |access-date=16 August 2020 |date=July 2019}}</ref> According to the US State Department's 2019 freedom of religion report, the [[Central African Republic]] remains divided between the Christian anti-Balaka and the predominantly Muslim ex-Seleka militia forces with many Muslim communities displaced and not allowed to practice their religion freely.<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Central African Republic |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/central-african-republic/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. Department of State}}</ref> In Nigeria, "conflicts between predominantly Muslim Fulani herdsmen and predominantly Christian farmers in the North Central states continued throughout 2019."<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Nigeria |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/nigeria/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. State Department}}</ref>
[[File:After Hama Massacre 18.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Antireligion|Anti-religious]] slogans written by [[Ba'athist Syria]]n regime on the walls of [[Hama|Hama city]] following the [[1982 Hama massacre|Hama Massacre]] in 1982. The propaganda writing, which translates to "There is no god but the homeland, and there is no messenger but the Ba'ath party", mocked the ''[[Shahada]]'' (Islamic testimony of faith). Hama massacre is estimated to have killed over 40,000 Muslims]]

Shia-Sunni conflicts persist. [[Indonesia]] is approximately 87% Sunni Muslim, and "Shia and Ahmadi Muslims reported feeling under constant threat." Anti-Shia rhetoric was common throughout 2019 in some online media outlets and on social media."<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Indonesia |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/indonesia/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>

In [[Saudi Arabia]], the government "is based largely on sharia as interpreted by the Hanbali school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. Freedom of religion is not provided under the law." In January and May 2019, police raided predominantly Shia villages in the al-Qatif Governorate... In April the government executed 37 citizens&nbsp;... 33 of the 37 were from the country's minority [[Shia Islam in Saudi Arabia|Shia community]] and had been convicted following what they stated were unfair trials for various alleged crimes, including protest-related offenses... Authorities detained&nbsp;... three Shia Muslims who have written in the past on the discrimination faced by Shia Muslims, with no official charges filed; they remained in detention at year's end... Instances of prejudice and discrimination against Shia Muslims continued to occur..."<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/saudi-arabia/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>

[[Islamophobia]] can refer [[prejudice]] against Muslims, which can be distinct from [[persecution of Muslims]]. In Finland, "A report by the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) said hate crimes and intolerant speech in public discourse, principally against Muslims and asylum seekers (many of whom belong to religious minorities), had increased in recent years... A Finns Party politician publicly compared Muslim asylum seekers to an invasive species." There were several demonstrations by neo-Nazis and nativist groups in 2019. One neo-Nazi group, the NRM (the Nordic Resistance Movement), "continued to post anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic statements online and demonstrated with the anti-immigrant group ''Soldiers of Odin''."<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Finland |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/finland/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>

The ongoing [[Rohingya genocide]] has resulted in over 25,000 deaths from 2016 to present.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Burmese government 'kills more than 1,000 Rohingya Muslims' in crackdown|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/burma-rohingya-muslims-crackdown-government-crackdown-campaign-reuters-un-report-a7570116.html|access-date=30 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Former UN chief says Bangladesh cannot continue hosting Rohingya|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/chief-bangladesh-continue-hosting-rohingya-190710191318011.html|access-date=30 June 2020|website=www.aljazeera.com}}</ref> Over 700,000 refugees have been sent abroad since 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|title=OHCHR {{!}} Myanmar: UN Fact-Finding Mission releases its full account of massive violations by military in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States|url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23575&LangID=E|access-date=30 June 2020|website=www.ohchr.org}}</ref> [[Gang rape]]s and other acts of [[sexual violence]], mainly against Rohingya women and girls, have also been committed by the Rakhine Buddhists and the Burmese military's soldiers, along with the arson of Rohingya homes and mosques, as well as many other human rights violations.<ref>{{Cite web|title='They raped us one by one,' says Rohingya woman who fled Myanmar|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/167613-They-raped-us-one-by-one-says-Rohingya-woman-who-fled-Myanmar|access-date=30 June 2020|website=www.thenews.com.pk}}</ref>

The [[Government of China|Chinese government]] has [[Persecution of Uyghurs in China|persecuted the majority-Muslim Uyghur people]] and other ethnic and religious minorities in and around the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of the [[China|People's Republic of China]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=3 October 2020|title=Uyghur American Association holds rally in US to raise awareness about Muslim genocide in China|work=[[Hindustan Times]]|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/uyghur-american-association-holds-rally-in-us-to-raise-awareness-about-muslim-genocide-in-china/story-3CudRMYaUrcvHUpUO3BeBO.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Allen-Ebrahimian|first=Bethany|date=10 February 2021|title=Norway's youth parties call for end to China free trade talks|work=[[Axios (website)|Axios]]|url=https://www.axios.com/norways-youth-parties-call-for-end-to-china-free-trade-talks-cd070721-7390-4e7e-a6e9-b6494793d411.html|quote=...[O]pposition to China's Uyghur genocide is gaining momentum in Norway, where some politicians are fearful of jeopardizing ties with Beijing.|archive-date=10 February 2021|access-date=12 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210183539/https://www.axios.com/norways-youth-parties-call-for-end-to-china-free-trade-talks-cd070721-7390-4e7e-a6e9-b6494793d411.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=8 February 2021|title=Uighurs: 'Credible case' China carrying out genocide|work=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55973215|access-date=8 February 2021}}</ref> Since 2014,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Davidson|first=Helen|date=18 September 2020|title=Clues to scale of Xinjiang labour operation emerge as China defends camps|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/18/clues-to-scale-of-xinjiang-labour-operation-emerge-as-china-defends-camps}}</ref> the Chinese government, under the direction of the CCP during the [[Xi Jinping Administration|administration]] of [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP general secretary]] Xi Jinping, has pursued policies leading to more than one million [[Muslims]]<ref name="aj2018">{{Cite news|date=10 August 2018|title=One million Muslim Uighurs held in secret China camps: UN panel|publisher=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/8/10/one-million-muslim-uighurs-held-in-secret-china-camps-un-panel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Welch|first1=Dylan|last2=Hui|first2=Echo|last3=Hutcheon|first3=Stephen|date=24 November 2019|title=The China Cables: Leak reveals the scale of Beijing's repressive control over Xinjiang|publisher=[[ABC News (Australia)]]|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-25/china-cables-beijings-xinjiang-secrets-revealed/11719016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Mourenza|first=Andrés|date=31 January 2021|title=Los exiliados uigures en Turquía temen la larga mano china|work=[[El País]]|url=https://elpais.com/internacional/2021-01-31/los-exiliados-uigures-en-turquia-temen-la-larga-mano-china.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Child|first=David|date=27 January 2021|title=Holocaust Memorial Day: Jewish figures condemn Uighur persecution|publisher=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/27/holduk-jewish-leaders-use-holocaust-day-to-denounce-uighur-abuses}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=28 June 2020|title=Trump signs bill pressuring China over Uighur Muslim crackdown|work=[[The Daily Star (Lebanon)]]|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2020/Jun-18/507667-trump-signs-bill-pressuring-china-over-uighur-muslim-crackdown.ashx|access-date=12 April 2021|archive-date=12 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212004618/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2020/Jun-18/507667-trump-signs-bill-pressuring-china-over-uighur-muslim-crackdown.ashx|url-status=dead}}</ref> (the majority of them Uyghurs) being held in secretive [[Xinjiang internment camps|internment camps]] without any [[legal process]]<ref name="Xi Jinping">{{Cite news|last=Stroup|first=David R.|date=19 November 2019|title=Why Xi Jinping's Xinjiang policy is a major change in China's ethnic politics|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/19/why-xi-jinpings-xinjiang-policy-is-major-change-chinas-ethnic-politics/|access-date=24 November 2019}}</ref><ref name="hrw._UN:U">{{Cite web|date=10 July 2019|title=UN: Unprecedented Joint Call for China to End Xinjiang Abuses|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/10/un-unprecedented-joint-call-china-end-xinjiang-abuses|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217070044/https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/10/un-unprecedented-joint-call-china-end-xinjiang-abuses|archive-date=17 December 2019|access-date=18 December 2020|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref> in what has become the largest-scale and most systematic detention of ethnic and religious minorities since [[the Holocaust]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=McNeill|first=Sophie|date=14 July 2019|title=The Missing: The families torn apart by China's campaign of cultural genocide|work=[[ABC News (Australia)]]|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-14/chinas-crackdown-on-uyghurs-tearing-families-apart/11221614|quote=It appears to be the largest imprisonment of people on the basis of religion since the Holocaust.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Rajagopalan|first1=Megha|last2=Killing|first2=Alison|date=3 December 2020|title=Inside A Xinjiang Detention Camp|work=[[BuzzFeed News]]|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/meghara/inside-xinjiang-detention-camp}}</ref><ref name="auto4">{{Cite magazine|last=Khatchadourian|first=Raffi|date=5 April 2021|title=Surviving the Crackdown in Xinjiang|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/12/surviving-the-crackdown-in-xinjiang}}</ref> The Chinese Government has subjected hundreds of thousands of members of Muslim minority groups living in Xinjiang to [[forced abortion]]s, [[Compulsory sterilization|forced sterilizations]], and the forced administration of contraceptives (including contraceptive implants), methods of birth control that had exempted ethnic minorities up until that point.<ref>{{Cite news|date=29 June 2020|title=China cuts Uighur births with IUDs, abortion, sterilization|work=[[Associated Press]]|url=https://apnews.com/article/269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=29 June 2020|title=China imposes forced abortion, sterilisation on Uyghurs, investigation shows|work=[[ABC News (Australia)|Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-30/china-forces-birth-control-on-uyghurs-to-suppress-population/12404912}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Allassan|first=Fadel|date=29 June 2020|title=AP: China engaging in campaign of forced birth control against Uighurs|work=[[Axios (website)|Axios]]|url=https://www.axios.com/china-uighurs-birth-control-genocide-1d817193-5d8d-4599-a3e2-70bab45411ce.html|quote=China regularly conducts pregnancy checks, forces intrauterine devices, sterilization and even abortion on some of the Xinjiang region's minority women.}}</ref> Uyghurs and members of other minority groups have been made subject to a widespread forced labor apparatus.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chaudhury|first=Dipanjan Roy|date=15 December 2020|title=China forcing Uyghurs, other minorities into manual labour, shows BBC research|work=[[The Economic Times]]|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/china-forcing-uyghurs-other-minorities-into-manual-labour-shows-bbc-research/articleshow/79735747.cms}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=24 March 2021|title=Facebook finds Chinese hacking operation targeting Uyghurs|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/facebook-finds-chinese-hacking-operation-targeting-uyghurs-76658710}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Davidson|first=Helen|date=15 December 2020|title=Xinjiang: more than half a million forced to pick cotton, report suggests|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/15/xinjiang-china-more-than-half-a-million-forced-to-pick-cotton-report-finds}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Hoshur|first=Shohret|date=7 April 2021|title=Wife of Imprisoned Uyghur Taxi Driver Jailed For Weeping in Front of a Foreigner|work=[[Radio Free Asia]]|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/weeping-04072021144503.html}}</ref><ref name="auto4"/> Uyghurs and other religious minorities detained within the [[Xinjiang internment camps]] have also been subjected to systematic rape and torture.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Hill|first1=Matthew|last2=Campanale|first2=David|last3=Gunter|first3=Joel|date=2 February 2021|title='Their goal is to destroy everyone': Uighur camp detainees allege systematic rape|work=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55794071}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Davidson|first=Helen|date=9 April 2021|title=China hands death sentences to Uyghur former officials|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/09/china-uyghur-death-sentences-xinjiang-education-directors|quote=there is evidence of authorities running enforce labour transfer programmes, as well as systemic rape and torture, forced sterilisation of women, child separation and mass surveillance and intimidation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Qing|first1=Han|last2=Long|first2=Quai|date=6 April 2021|title=China Launches Compulsory Film Screenings to Mark Party Centenary|work=[[Radio Free Asia]]|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/films-propaganda-04062021081649.html}}</ref>

In China, General Secretary [[Xi Jinping]] has decreed that all members of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) must be "unyielding Marxist atheists". In [[Xinjiang]] province, the government enforced restrictions on Muslims. The U.S. government estimates that
{{blockquote|... since April 2017, the Chinese government arbitrarily detained more than one million Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Hui, and members of other Muslim groups, as well as Uighur Christians, in specially built or converted internment camps in Xinjiang and subjected them to [[forced disappearance]], political indoctrination, torture, physical and psychological abuse, including forced sterilization and sexual abuse, forced labor, and prolonged detention without trial because of their religion and ethnicity. There were reports of individuals dying as a result of injuries sustained during interrogations...

Authorities in Xinjiang restricted access to mosques and barred youths from participating in religious activities, including fasting during Ramadan... maintained extensive and invasive security and surveillance... forcing Uighurs and other ethnic and religious minorities to install spyware on their mobile phones and accept government officials and CCP members living in their homes. Satellite imagery and other sources indicated the government destroyed mosques, cemeteries, and other religious sites... The government sought the forcible repatriation of Uighur and other Muslims from foreign countries and detained some of those who returned... Anti-Muslim speech in social media remained widespread."<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: China (Includes Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Macau) |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/china/ |website=OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Report |publisher=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>}}

===Persecution of Pagans and Heathens===
{{Main|Persecution of Heathens (disambiguation){{!}}Persecution of Heathens}}
{{Category see also|Persecution of Pagans}}

===Persecutions of Sikhs===
{{See also|Chhota Ghallughara|Vadda Ghalughara|1947 Mirpur massacre|1947–1948 Rajouri massacre|1984 anti-Sikh riots| Chittisinghpura massacre |Kabul gurdwara attack}}
[[Sikhism]] is a [[Dharmic religion]] that originated in the [[Punjab]] region of the [[Indian subcontinent]]<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last1=Moreno |editor-first1=Luis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5lpveRnSxEC&pg=PA207 |title=Diversity and Unity in Federal Countries |editor-last2=Colino |editor-first2=César |date=2010 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=978-0-7735-9087-8 | pages= 200–226 | last= Arora | first= Balveer | chapter= Republic of India}}</ref>{{rp|207}} around the end of the 15th century CE. The Sikh religion developed and evolved during periods of religious persecution, gaining converts from [[Hinduism]] and [[Islam]].<ref name="Singh2008">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Pritam |title=Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy |date=2008 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=Abingdon-on-Thames, England |isbn=978-1-134-04945-5 |quote=A large number of Hindu and Muslim peasants converted to Sikhism from conviction, fear, economic motives, or a combination of the three (Khushwant Singh 1999: 106; Ganda Singh 1935: 73).}}</ref> [[Mughal emperors]] of India tortured and executed two of the Sikh gurus—[[Guru Arjan]] (1563–1605) and [[Guru Tegh Bahadur]] (1621–1675)—after [[Forced conversion#Islam|they refused to convert to Islam]].<ref name="pashauraarjan">Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan, Journal of Punjab Studies, 12(1), pp. 29–62</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Pashaura |last1=Singh |first2=Louis E. |last2=Fenech |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8I0NAwAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-969930-8 |pages=236–238}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Fenech |first=Louis E. |date=2001 |title=Martyrdom and the Execution of Guru Arjan in Early Sikh Sources |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=121 |issue=1 |pages=20–31 |doi=10.2307/606726 |jstor=606726}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Fenech |first=Louis E. |date=1997 |title=Martyrdom and the Sikh Tradition |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=117 |issue=4 |pages=623–642 |doi=10.2307/606445 |jstor=606445}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=McLeod |first=Hew |author-link=William Hewat McLeod |date=1999 |title=Sikhs and Muslims in the Punjab |journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies |volume=22 |issue=sup001 |pages=155–165 |doi=10.1080/00856408708723379}}</ref>

The persecution of Sikhs during the Islamic era triggered the founding of the ''[[Khalsa]]'' by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, the Khalsa is an order which was founded for the purpose of protecting the [[freedom of conscience]] and [[Freedom of religion|religion]] of the Sikhs,<ref name="pashauraarjan"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Johar|first1=Surinder|title=Guru Gobind Singh: A Multi-faceted Personality|date=1999|publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. |isbn=978-81-7533-093-1|page=89}}</ref><ref name="Gandhi">{{cite book |title=History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606–1708 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers<!--NOT Atlantic Books, of London--> |location=New Delhi |last=Gandhi |first=Surjit Singh |date=1 February 2008 |pages=676–677 |isbn=978-81-269-0857-8}}</ref> with members expressing the qualities of a ''[[Sant Sipahi|Sant-Sipāhī]]''—a saint-soldier.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chanchreek |first=Jain |title=Encyclopaedia of Great Festivals |date=2007 |publisher=Shree Publishers |isbn=978-81-8329-191-0 |page=142}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dugga|first=Kartar|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh: The Last to Lay Arms|date=2001|publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=978-81-7017-410-3|page=33}}</ref>

In February 1762, [[Durrani Empire|Afghan]] emperor [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] perpetrated a massacre against the families and camp followers of the [[Dal Khalsa (Sikh Army)|Sikh Army]], killing between 10,000 and 30,000 people, in a massacre that is now known as [[Vadda Ghalughara]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=L. Jonathan |title=Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present |year=2018 |isbn=978-1789140101 |pages=128 |publisher=Reaktion Books |language=}}</ref> Following the massacre, he attacked [[Amritsar]] and desecrated the [[Golden Temple]] by throwing cow carcasses into its sacred lake and then filling it with rubble from demolished [[gurdwara]]s and [[temple]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=L. Jonathan |title=Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present |year=2018 |isbn=978-1789140101 |pages=128|publisher=Reaktion Books }}</ref>

According to Ashish Bose, a population research scholar, Sikhs and Hindus were well integrated in [[Afghanistan]] until the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet invasion]] when their economic condition worsened. Thereafter, they became the objects of "intense hate" as a result of the rise of religious fundamentalism in Afghanistan.<ref name=abosep4698/> Their "targeted persecution" triggered an exodus and forced them to seek asylum.<ref name=emadip316>{{cite journal | last=Emadi | first=Hafizullah | title=Minorities and marginality: pertinacity of Hindus and Sikhs in a repressive environment in Afghanistan | journal=Nationalities Papers | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=42 | issue=2 | year=2014 | doi=10.1080/00905992.2013.858313 | pages=307–320| s2cid=153662810 }}, Quote: "The situation of Hindus and Sikhs as a persecuted minority is a little-studied topic in literature dealing with ethno-sectarian conflict in Afghanistan. (...) the breakdown of state structure and the ensuing civil conflicts and targeted persecution in the 1990s that led to their mass exodus out of the country. A combination of structural failure and rising Islamic fundamentalist ideology in the post-Soviet era led to a war of ethnic cleansing as fundamentalists suffered a crisis of legitimation and resorted to violence as a means to establish their authority. Hindus and Sikhs found themselves in an uphill battle to preserve their culture and religious traditions in a hostile political environment in the post-Taliban period. The international community and Kabul failed in their moral obligation to protect and defend the rights of minorities and oppressed communities."</ref><ref name=abosep4698/> Many of them started arriving in and after 1992 as refugees in India, with some seeking asylum in the United Kingdom and other western countries.<ref name=abosep4698/><ref name=emadip316/> Unlike the arrivals in the West, the persecuted Sikh refugees who arrived in India have remained stateless and lived as refugees because India has historically lacked any refugee law or uniform policy for persecuted refugees, state Ashish Bose and Hafizullah Emadi.<ref name="abosep4698"/><ref name="auto1"/>

On 7 November 1947, thousands of Hindus and Sikhs were targeted in the [[Rajouri Massacre]] in the [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir princely state]]. It is estimated 30,000+ Hindus and Sikhs were either killed, abducted or injured.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZBwNAAAAIAAJ|title=Operations in Jammu & Kashmir, 1947–48|last1=Prasad|first1=Sri Nandan|last2=Pal|first2=Dharm|date=1 January 1987|publisher=History Division, Ministry of Defence, Government of India|pages=49–50}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first1=Vijay Kumar|last1=Singh|title=Leadership in the Indian Army: Biographies of Twelve Soldiers|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJDsk_g6tXUC&q=9780761933229 |isbn=978-0-7619-3322-9 |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |page=160}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=D.P. Ramachandran |title=Empire's First Soldiers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Q7EiZmcMPMC |year=2008| publisher=Lancer Publishers |isbn=978-0-9796174-7-8 |page=171}}</ref> In one instance, on 12 November 1947 alone between 3000 and 7000 were killed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/the-day-rajouri-was-recaptured/ |title=The day Rajouri was recaptured |last=Maini |first=K.D. |date=12 April 2015 |website=dailyexcelsior.com|publisher=Daily Excelsior |access-date=19 October 2020}}</ref> A few weeks after on 25 November 1947, tribal forces began the [[1947 Mirpur massacre]] of thousands more Hindus and Sikhs. An estimated 20,000+ died in the massacre.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dpTpCAAAQBAJ|title=Jammu and Kashmir|last=Gupta|first=Jyoti Bhusan Das|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer|isbn=9789401192316|page=97}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5amKCwAAQBAJ&pg=167|title=Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|last=Snedden|first=Christopher|date=15 September 2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9781849046213|page=167}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ItY3BAAAQBAJ|title=Across the Line of Control: Inside Azad Kashmir|last=Puri|first=Luv|date=21 February 2012|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231800846|pages=28–30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=65I98RN-qzUC|title=A Story of Bungling in Kashmir|last=Madhok|first=Balraj|date=1 January 1972|publisher=Young Asia Publications|page=67}}</ref><ref>Sharma (2013), "Growing overlap between terrorism and organized crime in India: A case study", ''Security Journal'', 26(1), 139</ref><ref name="Khalid Hasan">{{cite book |last=Hasan |first=Khalid |chapter=Mirpur 1947 |editor-last=Gupta |editor-first=Bal K. |title=Forgotten Atrocities: Memoirs of a Survivor of the 1947 Partition of India |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N2BIAwAAQBAJ |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-1-257-91419-7 |pages=141–144 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://udayindia.org/content_08may2010/statescan.html |title=Horrific Tales: Over 3,00,000 Hindus, Sikhs from PoK still fighting for their acceptance |last=Prakriiti Gupta |date=8 September 2011 |publisher=Uday India |archive-date=8 September 2011 |access-date=17 May 2017 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908063433/http://udayindia.org/content_08may2010/statescan.html }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.koausa.org/massacres/mirpur.html|title=Kashmir History and Politics|last=Ram Chander Sharma|date=April 2011|website=www.koausa.org|series=Extracted from a survivor Bal K. Gupta's accounts|access-date=17 May 2017}}</ref>

In June 1984, during [[Operation Blue Star]], [[Indira Gandhi]] ordered the [[Indian Army]] to attack the [[Harmandir Sahib|Golden Temple]] and eliminate any insurgents, as it had been occupied by Sikh separatists who were stockpiling weapons. [[Operation Woodrose|Later operations]] by Indian paramilitary forces were initiated to clear the separatists from the countryside of [[Punjab (Indian state)|Punjab]] state.<ref name="Charny1999">{{cite book|last=Charny|first=Israel W.|title=Encyclopaedia of genocide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Q30HcvCVuIC&pg=PA516|access-date=21 February 2011|year=1999|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-87436-928-1|pages=516–517}}</ref>

The 1984 anti-Sikhs riots were a series of [[pogroms]]<ref name="toiprog">{{Cite web|date=31 December 2005|title=State pogroms glossed over | work= Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/State-pogroms-glossed-over/articleshow/1353464.cms|url-status= live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811083708/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2005-12-31/india/27838902_1_communal-tension-communal-violence-gujarat-riots |archive-date=11 August 2011 }}</ref><ref name="rediffprog">{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/09sikh.htm |title=Anti-Sikh riots a pogrom: Khushwant |work=Rediff.com |access-date=23 September 2009 | date= 9 May 2001 | author1= Basharat Peer }}</ref><ref name="2009BBCremember">{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8306420.stm|title=Indira Gandhi's death remembered|last=Bedi|first=Rahul|date=1 November 2009|publisher=BBC|quote=The 25th anniversary of Indira Gandhi's assassination revives stark memories of some 3,000 Sikhs killed brutally in the orderly pogrom that followed her killing|access-date=2 November 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091102113639/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8306420.stm| archive-date= 2 November 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> directed against [[Sikh]]s in India, by anti-Sikh mobs, in response to the [[assassination of Indira Gandhi]] by her Sikh bodyguards. There were more than 8,000<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ndtv.com/cheat-sheet/delhi-court-to-give-verdict-on-re-opening-1984-riots-case-against-congress-leader-jagdish-tytler-518591|title=Delhi court to give verdict on re-opening 1984 riots case against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler|website=NDTV.com}}</ref> deaths, including 3,000 in Delhi.<ref name="2009BBCremember"/>

The violence in Delhi was triggered by the assassination of [[Indira Gandhi]], India's prime minister, on 31 October 1984, by two of her Sikh [[bodyguard]]s in response to her actions authorising the military operation. After the [[assassination of Indira Gandhi|assassination]] following [[Operation Blue Star]], many [[Indian National Congress]] workers including [[Jagdish Tytler]], [[Sajjan Kumar]] and Kamal Nath were accused of inciting and participating in riots targeting the Sikh population of the capital. The Indian government reported 2,700 deaths in the ensuing chaos. In the aftermath of the riots, the Indian government reported 20,000 had fled the city, however the [[People's Union for Civil Liberties]] reported "at least" 1,000 [[displaced person]]s.<ref name="Mukhoty 1984">{{Citation |title=Who are the Guilty ? | last1 =Mukhoty | first1 =Gobinda | last2 =Kothari | first2 =Rajni |url=http://www.sacw.net/aii/WhoaretheGuilty.html |year=1984 |publisher=[[People's Union for Civil Liberties]]| access-date=4 November 2010 <!--DASHBot-->}}</ref> The most affected regions were the Sikh neighbourhoods in Delhi. The [[Central Bureau of Investigation]], the main Indian investigating agency, is of the opinion that the acts of violence were organized with the support from the then Delhi police officials and the central government headed by Indira Gandhi's son, [[Rajiv Gandhi]].<ref name="IBN23April">{{cite news|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/1984-antisikh-riots-backed-by-govt-police-cbi/251375-37-64.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425011626/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/1984-antisikh-riots-backed-by-govt-police-cbi/251375-37-64.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 April 2012 |title=1984 anti-Sikh riots backed by Govt, police: CBI |publisher=[[IBN Live]]|date=23 April 2012 |access-date=27 April 2012}}</ref> Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister after his mother's death and, when asked about the riots, said "when a big tree falls (Mrs. Gandhi's death), the earth shakes (occurrence of riots)" thus trying to justify communal strife.<ref name="HT18NOV">{{cite news |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/India/India/Article1-352523.aspx |title=1984 anti-Sikh riots 'wrong', says Rahul Gandhi |newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]] |date=18 November 2008 |access-date=5 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012025532/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/India/India/Article1-352523.aspx |archive-date=12 October 2013 }}</ref>

It has been alleged that at that time, the [[Indian National Congress]]'s government destroyed evidence and shielded the guilty. The ''[[Asian Age]]'' front-page story called the government's actions "the Mother of all Cover-ups"<ref name=coverup-1>{{cite news | last = Mustafa |first = Seema | title = 1984 Sikhs Massacres: Mother of All Cover-ups | work = Front page story | page = 1| publisher = The Asian Age | date = 9 August 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last = Agal |first = Renu | title = Justice delayed, justice denied | work = BBC News | date = 11 August 2005}}</ref> There are allegations that the violence was led and often perpetrated by Indian National Congress activists and sympathisers during the riots.<ref name="Leaders">{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4130962.stm | title=Leaders 'incited' anti-Sikh riots | work=BBC News | date=8 August 2005 | access-date=23 November 2012}}</ref> The government, then led by the Congress, was widely criticised for doing very little at the time, possibly acting as a conspirator. The [[conspiracy theory]] is supported by the fact that voting lists were used to identify Sikh families. Despite the communal conflict and despite the record of the riots, the Indian National Congress claims that it is a secular political party.

The Chittisinghpura massacre, the murder of 35 villagers who were members of the [[Sikhism|Sikh]] faith, was committed on 20 March 2000, in the Chittisinghpora (Chittisinghpura) village of the [[Anantnag district]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], India, on the eve of President [[Bill Clinton]]'s state visit to India. The identities of the perpetrators of the massacre remain unknown. The Indian government asserts that the massacre was conducted by the Pakistan-based [[Militant Islam|militant]] group [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]] (LeT). Other accounts accuse the [[Indian Army]] and [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh|RSS]] of the massacre.<ref>{{cite news| title=  Retired Lt Gen says Indian Army was involved in Sikh Massacre of Chittisinghpura| newspaper   = Southasian Monitor| author = SAM Staff Bangla| date = March 23, 2021| url = https://southasianmonitor.net/public/en/focus/retired-lt-gen-says-indian-army-was-involved-in-sikh-massacre-of-chittisinghpura|access-date = June 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title= Retired Sikh Gen says Indian Army involved in Sikh massacre| website= Radio Pakistan| date = March 21, 2021| url= https://radio.gov.pk/21-03-2021/retired-sikh-gen-says-indian-army-involved-in-sikh-massacre| access-date = June 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Chattisingpora massacre masterminded by RSS| newspaper   = The News| author = Humayun Aziz Sandeela | date= March 22, 2021| url = https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/807874-chattisingpora-massacre-masterminded-by-rss| access-date = June 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title = Chattisingpora massacre masterminded by RSS| newspaper= Pakistan Observer|author= News desk| date= March 22, 2021| url = https://pakobserver.net/chattisingpora-massacre-masterminded-by-rss/ | access-date = June 14, 2022}}</ref>

On [[Kabul gurdwara attack|25 March 2020]], ISIS-[[Haqqani network]] Gunmen and Suicide bombers attacked the Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib (a [[Sikh]] shrine) in [[Kabul]], Afghanistan.

According to reports, about 200 worshipers were inside the building, 25 of them were killed and at least 8 others were wounded after an hour-long siege ended when all of the assailants were killed by responding security forces. At least one child was said to have been among the people who were killed, according to the ministry of interior's statement.

===Persecution of Yazidis===
{{Main|Persecution of Yazidis|Yazidi genocide}}
{{Category see also|Persecution of Yazidis}}
The Persecution of [[Yazidis]] has been ongoing since at least the 10th century.<ref name="Oxford">{{Cite book|last=Naby|first=Eden|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t236/e1282|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023141910/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t236/e1282|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 October 2020|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2009|isbn=9780195305135|editor-last=Esposito|editor-first=John|editor-link=John Esposito|chapter=Yazīdīs|author-link=Eden Naby}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Acikyildiz|first=Birgul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3RNEBAAAQBAJ&q=Sindi+Kurds&pg=PA45|title=The Yezidis: The History of a Community, Culture and Religion|date=20 August 2014|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-78453-216-1}}</ref> The [[Yazidism|Yazidi religion]] is regarded as [[devil worship]] by [[Islamist]]s.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Jalabi|first=Raya|date=11 August 2014|title=Who are the Yazidis and why is Isis hunting them?|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/07/who-yazidi-isis-iraq-religion-ethnicity-mountains|access-date=1 December 2020|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Yazidis have been persecuted by Muslim [[Kurds|Kurdish]] tribes since the 10th century,<ref name="Oxford"/> and they were also persecuted by the [[Ottoman Empire]] from the 17th century to the 20th century.<ref>Evliya Çelebi, The Intimate Life of an Ottoman Statesman: Melek Ahmed Pasha (1588–1662), Translated by [[Robert Dankoff]], 304 pp., SUNY Press, 1991; {{ISBN|0-7914-0640-7}}, pp. 169–171</ref> After the 2014 [[Sinjar massacre]] of thousands of Yazidis by the [[Islamic State]], Yazidis still face violence at the hands of the [[Turkish Armed Forces]] and its ally the [[Syrian National Army]], as well as discrimination at the hands of the [[Kurdistan Regional Government]]. According to Yazidi tradition (based on oral traditions and folk songs), it is estimated that during the last 800 years, 74 [[genocide]]s were committed against the Yazidis.<ref>
* {{cite journal |last1=Kizilhan |first1=Jan Ilhan |last2=Noll-Hussong |first2=Michael |title=Individual, collective, and transgenerational traumatization in the Yazidi |journal=BMC Medicine |date=2017 |volume=15 |issue=1 |page=198 |doi=10.1186/s12916-017-0965-7 |pmid=29224572 |pmc=5724300 |issn=1741-7015|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |last1=Hosseini |first1=S. Behnaz |title=Trauma and the Rehabilitation of Trafficked Women: The Experiences of Yazidi Survivors |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-07869-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DFzsDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT16}}
* {{cite journal |last1=von Joeden-Forgey |first1=Elisa |last2=McGee |first2=Thomas |title=Editors' Introduction: Palimpsestic Genocide in Kurdistan |journal=Genocide Studies International |date=1 November 2019 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.3138/gsi.13.1.01 |s2cid=208687918 |url=https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/gsi.13.1.01 |issn=2291-1847|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Six-Hohenbalken |first1=Maria |title=The 72nd Firman of the Yezidis: A "Hidden Genocide" during World War I? |journal=Genocide Studies International |date=1 November 2019 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=52–76 |doi=10.3138/gsi.13.1.04 |s2cid=208688838 |url=https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/gsi.13.1.04|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Persecution of Zoroastrians===
{{main|Persecution of Zoroastrians}}
[[File:A_Zoroastrian_Family_Teheran_1910.JPG|right|thumb|A Zoroastrian family in [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar]] Iran, about 1910]]
The [[persecution of Zoroastrians]] is the religious persecution which has been inflicted upon adherents of the [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] faith. The persecution of Zoroastrians has occurred throughout their religion's history. The discrimination and harassment began in the form of sparse violence and [[Forced conversion to Islam|forced conversions]]. According to Zoroastrian records, [[Muslims]] destroyed [[fire temples]]. Zoroastrians who lived under Muslim rule were required to pay a tax which was called the [[jizya]].<ref name=hou100>{{Cite book | last =Houtsma | first =Martijn Theodoor | title =First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913–1936: E.J.Brill's| publisher =BRILL |year=1936 | id =9789004097964 | isbn =90-04-09796-1 |volume=2 |page=100}}</ref>
 
Zoroastrian [[fire temple|places of worship]] were desecrated, [[fire temple]]s were destroyed and mosques were built in their place. Many libraries were [[book burning|burned]] and much of the cultural heritage of the Zoroastrians was lost. Gradually, an increasing number of discriminatory laws were passed, these laws regulated the behavior of Zoroastrians and they also limited the Zoroastrians' ability to participate in society. Over time, the persecution of Zoroastrians became more common and it also became widespread, and as a result, the number of believers significantly decreased by force.<ref name=hou100 />

Most Zoroastrians were forced to convert to Islam due to the systematic abuse and discrimination which was inflicted upon them by followers of [[Islam]]. Once a Zoroastrian family was forced to convert to [[Islam]], the children were sent to an [[Madrasa|Islamic school]], where they were required to learn [[Arabic]] and study the teachings of Islam, as a result, some of these people lost their Zoroastrian faith. However, under the [[Samanids]], who were Zoroastrian converts to Islam, the [[Persian language]] flourished. On some occasions, the Zoroastrian clergy assisted Muslims when they launched their attacks against people who they considered Zoroastrian heretics.<ref name=hou100 />

A Zoroastrian astrologer who was named [[Mulla Gushtasp]] predicted the fall of the [[Zand dynasty]] to the Qajar army in Kerman. Because of Gushtasp's forecast, the Zoroastrians of Kerman were spared by the conquering army of [[Mohammad Khan Qajar|Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar]]. Despite the aforementioned favorable incident, the Zoroastrians  remained in agony during the [[Qajar dynasty]] and as a result, their population continued to decline. Even during the rule of Agha Mohammad Khan, the founder of the dynasty, many Zoroastrians were killed and some of them were taken captive and deported to [[Azerbaijan]].<ref name=sh21>{{Citation|last =Shahmardan|first =Rashid|title =History of Zoroastrians past Sasanians |page=125}}</ref> Zoroastrians regard the Qajar period as one of their worst.<ref name=price111>{{Citation|last =Price|first =Massoume |title =Iran's diverse peoples: a reference sourcebook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gzpdq679oJwC&pg=PP1|page=205|year=2005|edition=Illustrated|publisher =ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781576079935}}</ref> During the Qajar dynasty, the religious persecution of the Zoroastrians was rampant. Due to their increasing contacts with influential [[Parsi people|Parsi]] philanthropists such as [[Maneckji Limji Hataria]], many Zoroastrians left [[Iran]] and migrated to India. There, they formed the [[Irani (India)|Iranis]], India's second largest Zoroastrian community.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/zoroastrianism-02-arab-conquest-to-modern|title=ZOROASTRIANISM ii. Arab Conquest to Modern – Encyclopaedia Iranica|website=www.iranicaonline.org|access-date=3 April 2020}}</ref>

==Persecution of philosophers==
{{Main|Persecution of philosophers}}
{{Category see also|Persecution of philosophers}}
Throughout the [[history of philosophy]], philosophers have been imprisoned for various offenses by courts and tribunals, often as a result of their philosophical activities, and some of them have even been put to death. The most famous case in which a philosopher was put on trial is the case of [[Socrates]], who was tried for, amongst other charges, corrupting the youth and impiety.<ref>{{cite book |last=May |first=Hope |title=On Socrates |url=https://archive.org/details/onsocrates00mayh |url-access=registration |year=2000| publisher=Wadsworth/Thomson Learning| isbn=978-0-534-57604-2 | pages= 20, 30}}</ref> Others include:
* [[Giordano Bruno]] – a pantheist philosopher who was [[burned at the stake]] by the [[Roman Inquisition]] for his heretical religious views<ref>{{multiref2
|1= Michael J. Crowe, ''The Extraterrestrial Life Debate 1750–1900'', Cambridge University Press, 1986, p. 10, "[Bruno's] sources... seem to have been more numerous than his followers, at least until the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century revival of interest in Bruno as a supposed 'martyr for science.' It is true that he was burned at the stake in Rome in 1600, but the church authorities who were guilty of this action were almost certainly more distressed by his denial of Christ's divinity and his alleged diabolism than they were by his cosmological doctrines."
|2= [[Adam Frank]] (2009). ''The Constant Fire: Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate'', University of California Press, p. 24, "Though Bruno may have been a brilliant thinker whose work stands as a bridge between ancient and modern thought, his persecution cannot be seen solely in light of the war between [[science and religion]]."
|3= White, Michael (2002). ''The Pope and the Heretic: The True Story of Giordano Bruno, the Man who Dared to Defy the Roman Inquisition,'' p. 7. Perennial, New York. "This was perhaps the most dangerous notion of all... If other worlds existed with intelligent beings living there, did they too have their visitations? The idea was quite unthinkable."
|4= {{cite book| last = Shackelford| first = Joel| editor = Numbers, Ronald L.| editor1-link =Ronald Numbers| title = Galileo goes to jail and other myths about science and religion| chapter = Myth 7 That Giordano Bruno was the first martyr of modern science| publisher = Harvard University Press| date = 2009| page = 66}} "Yet the fact remains that cosmological matters, notably the plurality of worlds, were an identifiable concern all along and appear in the summary document: Bruno was repeatedly questioned on these matters, and he apparently refused to recant them at the end.14 So, Bruno probably was burned alive for resolutely maintaining a series of heresies, among which his teaching of the plurality of worlds was prominent but by no means singular."
}}</ref> and/or his cosmological views;<ref>{{cite book |last=Martínez |first=Alberto A. |year=2018 |title=Burned Alive: Giordano Bruno, Galileo and the Inquisition |url=https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/B/bo28433424.html |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-1780238968}}</ref>
* [[Tommaso Campanella]] – he was confined to a [[convent]] for his heretical views, chiefly, for his opposition to the authority of [[Aristotle]], and later, he was imprisoned in a castle for 27 years, during which he wrote his most famous works, one of them is ''[[The City of the Sun]]'';<ref>{{Citation | mode=cs1 |last1=Ernst|first1=Germana|title=Tommaso Campanella|date=2021|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2021/entries/campanella/#year  |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|editor-last=Zalta|editor-first=Edward N.|edition=Summer 2021|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=2023-01-02|last2=De Lucca|first2=Jean-Paul | translator= Jill Kraye}}</ref>
* [[Baruch Spinoza]] – a Jewish philosopher who was put in [[Herem (censure)|cherem]] (similar to excommunication) by the [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] leadership of the  [[Portuguese Synagogue (Amsterdam)|Portuguese synagogue]] in [[Amsterdam]] for [[Heresy in Orthodox Judaism|heresies]] when he was 23 years old. His views were controversial, among them, were his ideas regarding the authenticity of the [[Hebrew Bible]], which formed the foundations of modern [[biblical criticism]], and his belief that the nature of the [[God in Judaism|God of Israel]] is [[Pantheism|pantheistic]]ic.<ref name="Scruton 2002" />{{rp|144}}<ref>{{multiref2
|1= {{cite book |last1=Nadler |first1=Steven M. |title=Spinoza: A Life |date=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-00293-6 |pages=2, 7, 120 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iSe95FJrfeYC&pg=PA120}}
|2= {{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Steven B. |title=Spinoza's Book of Life: Freedom and Redemption in the Ethics |date=2003 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-12849-9 |page=xx |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j0dMphwIwQ8C&pg=PT19}}
|3= {{cite web |last1=Nadler |first1=Steven |title=Baruch Spinoza |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spinoza/#Bio |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |date=2020}}
|4= {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y3Cd7Yd73esC&pg=PA186|title=Tractatus Theologico-Politicus: Gebhardt Edition 1925|first=Benedictus de|last=Spinoza|date=4 September 1989|publisher=Brill|access-date=<!-- print source: 4 September 2019-->| page= 186|via=Google Books|isbn=9004090991}}
}}</ref> Prior to his excommunication, Spinoza was attacked on the steps of the Portuguese synagogue by a knife-wielding assailant who shouted "Heretic!",<ref name="Scruton 2002">{{cite book |last=Scruton |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Scruton |date=2002 |title=Spinoza: A Very Short Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mRf9C8H6SPUC&pg=PA21 |publisher=[[OUP Oxford]] |pages=21, 144 |isbn=978-0-19-280316-0}}</ref>{{rp|21}} and later his books were added to the [[Roman Catholic Church]]'s [[Index of Forbidden Books]].

==Religious persecution for political reasons==
[[File:HooperBurning.jpg|thumb|Protestant Bishop [[John Hooper (bishop)|John Hooper]] was burned at the stake by Queen [[Mary I of England]].]]
{{Main|Political violence}}
More than 300 Roman Catholics were put to death for [[treason]] by English governments between 1535 and 1681, thus they were officially executed for secular rather than [[religious offense]]s.<ref name="John Coffey 2000, p. 26"/> In 1570, [[Pope Pius V]] issued his [[papal bull]] ''[[Regnans in Excelsis]]'', which absolved Catholics from their obligations to the government.<ref>Coffey 2000: 85.</ref> This dramatically worsened the persecution of Catholics in England. The 1584 [[Parliament of England]], declared in "[[An Act against Jesuits, seminary priests, and such other like disobedient persons]]" that the purpose of all Catholic missionaries who had come to Britain was "to stir up and move sedition, rebellion and open hostility".<ref>Coffey 2000: 86.</ref> Consequently, even strictly apolitical priests like [[Saint John Ogilvie]], [[Dermot O'Hurley]], and [[Robert Southwell (priest)|Robert Southwell]] were subjected to torture and execution, as were members of the laity like Sts. [[Margaret Clitherow]] and [[Richard Gwyn]]. This drastically contrasts with the image of the [[Elizabethan era]] as a golden age, but compared to the antecedent [[Marian Persecutions]] there is an important difference to consider. [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary]] was motivated by determination to exterminate [[Protestantism]] from all her Kingdoms and to restore the independence of the English Church from control by the state. During her short reign from 1553 to 1558, about 290 Protestants<ref>Coffey 2000: 81.</ref> were burned at the stake. While Mary's sister [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]] allegedly, "acted out of fear for the security of her realm",<ref>Coffey 2000: 92.</ref> she sought to coerce both Catholics and Protestants to embrace a [[national church]] that was completely [[Caesaropapism|subservient to the state]].

Over the centuries that followed, English governments continued to fear and prosecute both real and imaginary conspiracies like the [[Popish Plot]], an alleged plan to assassinate [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] and massacre the Protestants of the [[British Isles]]. In reality, the plot was a fictitious concoction by [[Titus Oates]] and [[Whig (British political party)|Whig]] politician [[Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury|Lord Shaftesbury]]. Before the falsity of their claims were exposed, however, at least 22 innocent clergy and laity, including Archbishop [[Oliver Plunkett]], had been unjustly convicted of [[high treason]] and executed at [[Tyburn]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Religion}}
{{col div|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Belief bias]]
* [[Blasphemy law]]
* [[Christian persecution complex]]
* [[Christian privilege]]
* [[Conversion of non-Islamic places of worship into mosques]]
* [[Crimes against humanity]]
* [[Cultural genocide]]
* [[Democide]]
* [[Discrimination]]
* [[Freedom of religion]]
* [[Fundamentalism]]
* [[Genocide]]
* [[Hindu terrorism]] 
** [[Hindutva]] 
** [[Hindu nationalism]]
* [[Human rights#Violations|Human rights abuses]]
* [[Islamic religious police]]
* [[List of Christian women of the patristic age]]
* [[Martyr]]
* [[Oppression]]
* [[Persecution]]
* [[Prejudice]]
* [[Price tag attack policy]]
* [[Religious censorship]]
* [[Religious fanaticism]]
* [[Religious intolerance]]
* [[Religious pluralism]]
* [[Religious segregation]]
* [[Supremacism#Religious|Religious supremacism]]
* [[Religious terrorism]]
* [[Religious war]]
* [[Sectarian violence]]
* [[State atheism]]
* [[State religion]]
* [[Talibanization]]
* [[1984 anti-Sikh riots]]
* [[Gaza Genocide]]
{{colend}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* John Coffey (2000), ''Persecution and Toleration in Protestant England 1558–1689'', Studies in Modern History, Pearson Education.
* {{cite journal |last=Stausberg |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Stausberg |date=March 2021 |title=The Demise, Dissolution, and Elimination of Religions |journal=[[Numen (journal)|Numen]] |editor1-last=Feldt |editor1-first=Laura |editor2-last=Valk |editor2-first=Ülo |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=68 |issue=2–3 - ''Special Issue: The Dissolution of Religions'' |pages=103–131 |doi=10.1163/15685276-12341617 |doi-access=free |issn=1568-5276 |lccn=58046229|hdl=11250/2977936 |hdl-access=free }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Religious persecution}}
* [http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/religion/index.htm United Nations] – Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on freedom of religion or belief
* [https://www.uscirf.gov/ United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]
* [https://www.learnreligions.com/atheism-and-agnosticism-4684819 About.com section on Religious Intolerance]
* [https://2001-2009.state.gov/documents/organization/72238.pdf U.S. State Department 2006 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140518010942/http://xtome.org/ xTome: News and Information on Religious Freedom]}}

{{Criticism of religion}}
{{Discrimination}}
{{Religious persecution}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Religious Persecution}}
[[Category:Religious persecution| ]]
[[Category:Religious pluralism]]