Across Cuba, the authorities use all kinds of tactics to harass and discriminate against people of all faiths and beliefs. All religious groups are targeted to varying degrees, usually tied to levels of perceived lack of support of or cooperation with the government.

Sara¹ is a Muslim artist who has experienced significant pressure from the government because of her faith. She explains how this has affected every area of her life.

I graduated from university in visual arts in 1990. Everything was fine until I converted to Islam in 2004. 

A small group began to meet at our home every Friday for prescribed prayers as well as to study the Qur’an, and to learn and teach the basics of Islam. This house of prayers operated until 2017, when an agent who went by the name of José² invaded our home without a search warrant, claiming, ‘I’m sure you have a bomb there.’ 

Later we discovered that some of the people who frequented our house under the pretext of learning about Islam were in reality undercover [government intelligence] agents. We decided to close the house of prayers for this reason.

Targeted at work

During the same period, I was invited to work as a curator at a gallery. While I was working in the gallery, I was constantly harassed by the same official who had invaded my family’s home [in 2017]. 

Then [the authorities] changed their strategy and put more pressure on the gallery director. As they could not do anything legally to fire me because I complied with everything, José began to tell the director that I should not be allowed to dress in the Islamic way, and that he could not allow me to give seminars and talks about art, which was part of my job. 

It was for these reasons that the director was forced to prevent me from offering lectures and from participating in public activities that were part of my job. At times they put pressure on the other artists to discourage them from working with me.

In October 2010 the curator of the art centre invited me to give a conference on women in Islamic society, but it never took place due to obstacles that were imposed by senior individuals in the art scene.³ The curator who invited me, a young feminist, protested this, which resulted in her being fired from the art centre. In solidarity with her, I requested to be let go.

‘Being different is considered a crime’

At the hospital, while giving birth, women are stripped naked. At that point there is no option to request to be treated only by a female doctor, so you are naked in front of a team of doctors. When I asked if they would at least let me cover my head with a piece of green fabric, they responded: What for if I was going to have my private parts exposed anyway?

Entering the bank, in 2016, I was also asked to remove my hijab. It was not the first time that I had been there to pay my social security. I had never had any problems, but that morning everything was different. When I protested, the guard unfastened his gun holster, so to avoid bigger problems for my husband I decided to leave the bank. It was very humiliating.

I am afraid that if I wear a head covering, I will just continue to be humiliated and I do not have the strength. Even at the airport, you cannot attempt to leave Cuba wearing the hijab without pressure from state security.

It is not possible to recount all of the suffering and the worry that we have about the future of our daughters, in a country where being different is considered a crime. In this country we have no right to practise Islam.

The new neighbourhood

Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan to answer someone who asked, ‘Who is my neighbour?’ Jesus had just told him to ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. The man was told that his neighbour is anyone who needs his help – and that really wasn’t what he was expecting to hear. Especially since the person in the story who needed help, was someone he would have considered his enemy.

So what does this mean for us now? Some Christians have pointed out that if Jesus was telling the story of the Good Samaritan today, he might have told it about the Good Muslim.

At CSW we work for religious freedom for all. That means that everyone is entitled to choose and change their religion. We believe God calls us to speak up for the rights of people of all faiths and none.

¹ Name changed to protect the author.

² Names changed to protect the author.

³ Names and titles removed to protect the author.