Religion raises many legal questions in confessional systems where a minor child is usually assigned the parents’ religion ex officio. In Iraq, as in many Middle Eastern countries, the conversion to Islam of one of the parents results in the conversion of their minor children. For decades, the Iraqi Court of Cassation has granted children the right to choose their religion upon reaching majority. From the early 21st century, the case law of the Court of Cassation has evolved towards denying children this right of option (iḫtiyār). The child is therefore deprived of his/her right to choose and must remain Muslim. In this article, the author criticizes this reversal of jurisprudence and deplores its dire consequences on social peace. After analyzing the teachings of Islamic law and the texts of positive Iraqi law, he concludes that the new trend of the Court of Cassation is ill-founded and flawed.

宗教在忏悔系统中引发了许多法律问题，在这些系统中，未成年子女通常被依职权指定为父母的宗教。在伊拉克，与许多中东国家一样，父母之一皈依伊斯兰教导致其未成年子女皈依。几十年来，伊拉克最高上诉法院授予儿童在成年后选择宗教的权利。从 21 世纪初开始，最高上诉法院的判例法已经演变为剥夺儿童的这种选择权（iḫtiyār）。因此，儿童被剥夺了选择的权利，必须保持穆斯林身份。在这篇文章中，作者批评了这种法理学的逆转，并对其对社会和平的可怕后果表示遗憾。在分析了伊斯兰法的教义和伊拉克实证法的文本后，他得出结论，最高法院的新趋势是没有根据的和有缺陷的。