Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia

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Saudi Arabia

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Saudi Arabia

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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Islamic theocratic monarchy in which Islam is the official religion. Although no law requires citizens or passport holders to be Muslim, almost all citizens are Muslims. Non-islamic proselytism is illegal,^[1] and conversion by Muslims to another religion (apostasy) carries the death penalty, although as of 2010^[update] there had been no confirmed reports of executions for apostasy in recent years.^[2][6]

Religious freedom is virtually non-existent. The Government does not provide legal recognition or protection for freedom of religion, and it is severely restricted in practice. As a matter of policy, the Government guarantees and protects the right to private worship for all, including non-Muslims who gather in homes for religious practice; however, this right is not always respected in practice and is not defined in law.^[7] Moreover, the public practice of non-Muslim religions is prohibited.^[2] The Saudi Mutaween (Arabic: مطوعين), or Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (i.e., the religious police) enforces the prohibition on the public practice of non-Muslim religions. Sharia Law applies to all people inside Saudi Arabia, regardless of religion.

Religious demography

The country’s total land area is about 2,149,690 km² and the population is about 27 million, of whom approximately 19 million are citizens. There is no accurate figure for the number of foreign residents. The foreign population includes approximately 1.8 million Indians, 1.5 million Pakistanis, 1.3 million Filipinos, 1 million Bangladeshis, 1 million Egyptians, 1 million Yemenis 600,000 Indonesians, 400,000 Syrians, 400,000 Sri Lankans, 350,000 Nepalese, 250,000 Palestinians, 150,000 Lebanese, 100,000 Eritreans, and 50,000 Americans.^[2] Comprehensive statistics for the denominations of foreigners are not available, but they include Muslims from the various branches and schools of Islam, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Sikhs and others.^[2] For example, the Embassy of the Philippines reports that over 90 percent of the Filipino community is Christian.

Accurate religious demographics of citizens are difficult to obtain. A majority of Saudi citizens are Salafi Muslims, the strict interpretation of Islam taught by the Salafi or Wahhabi school is the only officially recognized religion. A minority of citizens are Shia Muslims. They form around 15% of the native population.^[8] They live mostly in the eastern districts on the Persian Gulf (Qatif, Al-Hasa, Dammam), where they constitute approximately three-quarters of the native population, and in western highlands of Arabia (districts of Jazan, Najran, Asir, Medina, Ta'if, and Hijaz). Conversion by Muslims to another religion (apostasy) is punishable by death under the version of Islamic law adopted by the country, but, as of 2010^[update] there had been no confirmed reports of executions for either crime in recent years.^[2]

Status of religious freedom

Saudi Arabia is an Islamic monarchy and the Government has declared the Qur'an and the Sunnah (tradition) of Muhammad to be the country’s Constitution. Freedom of religion is severely limited. Islam is the official religion. Under the law, children born to Muslim fathers are also Muslim, regardless of the country or the religious tradition in which they have been raised.^[2] The Government prohibits the public practice of other religions. The Government bases its legitimacy on governance according to the precepts of the rigorously conservative and strict interpretation of the Salafi or Wahhabi school of the Sunni branch of Islam and discriminates against other branches of Islam. Neither the Government nor society in general accepts the concepts of separation of religion and state, and such separation does not exist.

The legal system is based on Sharia (Islamic law), with Shari'a courts basing their judgments largely on a code derived from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. The Government permits Shi'a Muslims to use their own legal tradition to adjudicate noncriminal cases within their community.

The only national holidays observed in Saudi Arabia are the two Eids, Eid Al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan and Eid Al-Adha at the conclusion of the Hajj and the Saudi national day. Contrary practices, such as celebrating Maulid Al-Nabi (birthday of the Prophet Muhammad) and visits to the tombs of renowned Muslims, are forbidden, although enforcement was more relaxed in some communities than in others, and Shi'a were permitted to observe Ashura publicly in some communities.^[2] On January 12, 2009, Rasid.com reported that students and government employees who missed school or work on a Shi'a holiday, the Tenth of Muharram, without an acceptable excuse were "punished." The nature of the punishment was not specified.^[2]

Restrictions on religious freedom

"Non-Muslim Bypass:" Non-Muslims are barred from entering Mecca. An example of religious segregation.^[9][10]

Islamic practice generally is limited to that of a school of the Sunni branch of Islam as interpreted by Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab, an 18th century Arab religious reformer. Outside Saudi Arabia, this branch of Islam is often referred to as "Wahhabi," a term the Saudis do not use. The teachings of Abd al Wahhab are more often referred to by adherents as "Salafi" or "Muwahhidun," that is, following the earliest generations of Muslims (Salafi), or believers in the divine unity (Muwahhidun).

Practices contrary to this interpretation, such as celebration of Muhammad's birthday and visits to the tombs of renowned Muslims, are discouraged. The spreading of Muslim teachings not in conformance with the officially accepted interpretation of Islam is prohibited. Writers and other individuals who publicly criticize this interpretation, including both those who advocate a stricter interpretation and those who favor a more moderate interpretation than the government's, reportedly have been imprisoned and faced other reprisals.

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs supervises and finances the construction and maintenance of almost all mosques in the country, although over 30% of all mosques in Saudi Arabia are built and endowed by private persons. The Ministry pays the salaries of imams (prayer leaders) and others who work in the mosques. A governmental committee defines the qualifications of imams. The Committee to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice (commonly called "religious police" or Mutawwa'in) is a government entity, and its chairman has ministerial status. The Committee sends out armed and unarmed people into the public to ensure that Saudi citizens and expatriates living in the kingdom follow the Islamic mores, at least in public.^[11]

Saudi law prohibits alcoholic beverages and pork products in the country as they are considered to be against Islam. Those violating the law are handed harsh punishments. Drug trafficking is always punished by death.^[12]

Under Saudi law conversion by a Muslim to another religion is considered apostasy, a crime punishable by death.^[13]

Saudi Arabia prohibits public non-Muslim religious activities. Non-Muslim worshipers risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation, and sometimes torture for engaging in overt religious activity that attracts official attention.^{[citation needed]}

The Government has stated publicly, including before the U.N. Committee on Human Rights in Geneva, that its policy is to protect the right of non-Muslims to worship privately. However, non-Muslim organizations have claimed that there are no explicit guidelines for distinguishing between public and private worship, such as the number of persons permitted to attend and the types of locations that are acceptable. Such lack of clarity, as well as instances of arbitrary enforcement by the authorities, obliges most non-Muslims to worship in such a manner as to avoid discovery. Those detained for non-Muslim worship almost always are deported by authorities after sometimes lengthy periods of arrest during investigation. In some cases, they also are sentenced to receive lashes prior to deportation.^{[citation needed]}.

The Government does not permit non-Muslim clergy to enter the country for the purpose of conducting religious services, although some come under other auspices and perform religious functions in secret. Such restrictions make it very difficult for most non-Muslims to maintain contact with clergymen and attend services. Catholics and Orthodox Christians, who require a priest on a regular basis to receive the sacraments required by their faith, particularly are affected.^{[citation needed]}

Proselytizing by non-Muslims, including the distribution of non-Muslim religious materials such as Bibles, is illegal. Muslims or non-Muslims wearing religious symbols of any kind in public risk confrontation with the Mutawwa'in. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, approximately 50 "Call and Guidance" centers employing approximately 500 persons work to convert foreigners to Islam. Some non-Muslim foreigners convert to Islam during their stay in the country. According to official reports, 942 foreign workers converted to Islam in the past year^{[clarification needed]}. The press often carries articles about such conversions, including testimonials. The press as well as government officials publicized the conversion of the Italian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia in late 2001^{[citation needed]}.

The Government requires noncitizen residents to carry a Saudi residence permit (Iqama) for identification in place of their passports.^[14] Among other information, these contain a religious designation for "Muslim" or "non-Muslim."

Members of the Shi’a minority are the subjects of officially sanctioned political and economic discrimination. The authorities permit the celebration of the Shi’a holiday of Ashura in the eastern province city of Qatif, provided that the celebrants do not undertake large, public marches or engage in self-flagellation (a traditional Shi’a practice). The celebrations are monitored by the police. In 2002 observance of Ashura took place without incident in Qatif. No other Ashura celebrations are permitted in the country, and many Shi’a travel to Qatif or to Bahrain to participate in Ashura celebrations. The Government continued to enforce other restrictions on the Shi’a community, such as banning Shi’a books^{[citation needed]}.

Shi’a have declined government offers to build state-supported mosques because they fear the Government would prohibit the incorporation and display of Shi’a motifs in any such mosques. The Government seldom permits private construction of Shi’a mosques. In March 2001, religious police reportedly closed a Shi’a mosque in Hofuf because it had been built without government permission^{[citation needed]}.

Members of the Shi’a minority are discriminated against in government employment, especially with respect to positions that relate to national security, such as in the military or in the Ministry of the Interior. The Government restricts employment of Shi’a in the oil and petrochemical industries. The Government also discriminates against Shi’a in higher education through unofficial restrictions on the number of Shi’a admitted to universities.^{[citation needed]}

Under the provisions of Shari’a law as practiced in the country, judges may discount the testimony of people who are not practicing Muslims or who do not adhere to the official interpretation of Islam. Legal sources report that testimony by Shi’a is often ignored in courts of law or is deemed to have less weight than testimony by Sunnis. Sentencing under the legal system is not uniform. Laws and regulations state that defendants should be treated equally; however, under Shari’a as interpreted and applied in the country, crimes against Muslims may result in harsher penalties than those against non-Muslims. Observers believe that the new Criminal Procedure Law, passed in late 2001 and became effective on May 1, 2002, should give fairer treatment to all defendants^{[citation needed]}.

Customs officials regularly open postal material and cargo to search for non-Muslim materials, such as Bibles and religious videotapes.^[15] Such materials are subject to confiscation.^[15]

Islamic religious education is mandatory in public schools at all levels. All public school children receive religious instruction that conforms with the official version of Islam. Non-Muslim students in private schools are not required to study Islam. Private religious schools are permitted for non-Muslims or for Muslims adhering to unofficial interpretations of Islam.^{[citation needed]} In the westernized schools operated for Saudi Aramco employees the Islamic education is often a semi-annual introductory course, sometimes taught in conjunction with a brief historical outline of Christianity and Judaism.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, Saudi religious police detained Shiite pilgrims participating in the Haj, allegedly calling them "infidels in Mecca"^[16]

Saudi practices as "religious apartheid"

Saudi Arabia's treatment of religious minorities has also been described by both Saudis and non-Saudis as "apartheid" and "religious apartheid".^[17]

Testifying before the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus on June 4, 2002, in a briefing entitled "Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: The Role of Women", Ali Al-Ahmed, Director of the Saudi Institute, stated:

Saudi Arabia is a glaring example of religious apartheid. The religious institutions from government clerics to judges, to religious curricula, and all religious instructions in media are restricted to the Wahhabi understanding of Islam, adhered to by less than 40% of the population. The Saudi government communized Islam, through its monopoly of both religious thoughts and practice. Wahhabi Islam is imposed and enforced on all Saudis regardless of their religious orientations. The Wahhabi sect does not tolerate other religious or ideological beliefs, Muslim or not. Religious symbols by Muslims, Christians, Jewish and other believers are all banned. The Saudi embassy in Washington is a living example of religious apartheid. In its 50 years, there has not been a single non-Sunni Muslim diplomat in the embassy. The branch of Imam Mohamed Bin Saud University in Fairfax, Virginia instructs its students that Shia Islam is a Jewish conspiracy.^[18]

Amir Taheri quotes a Shi'ite businessman from Dhahran as saying "It is not normal that there are no Shi'ite army officers, ministers, governors, mayors and ambassadors in this kingdom. This form of religious apartheid is as intolerable as was apartheid based on race."^[19]

In 2007, Saudi religious police detained Shiite pilgrims participating in the Hajj, allegedly calling them "infidels in Mecca".^[16]

Until March 1, 2004, the official government website stated that Jews were forbidden from entering the country.^[20]

According to Alan Dershowitz, "in Saudi Arabia apartheid is practiced against non-Muslims, with signs indicating that Muslims must go to certain areas and non-Muslims to others."^[21]

</ref> On December 14, 2005, Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Democrat Representative Shelley Berkley introduced a bill in Congress urging American divestiture from Saudi Arabia, and giving as its rationale (among other things) "Saudi Arabia is a country that practices religious apartheid and continuously subjugates its citizenry, both Muslim and non-Muslim, to a specific interpretation of Islam."^[22] Freedom House showed on its website, on a page tiled "Religious apartheid in Saudi Arabia", a picture of a sign showing Muslim-only and non-Muslim roads.^[23]

In 2007, there were news reports that according to Saudi policy for tourists it was not permissible to bring non-Muslim religious symbols and books into the kingdom as they were subject to confiscation, and that the U.S. State Department disputed this, saying that the regulation restrictions were no longer in place.^[24][25] The 2007 U.S The U.S State Department International Religious Freedom report detailed several cases in which bibles were confiscated in Saudi Arabia, but said that there were fewer reports in 2007 of government officials confiscating religious materials than in previous years and no reports that customs officials had confiscated religious materials from travelers.^[26] In 2010, the U.S. State Department also reported reductions in confiscations of religious material, and reported that individuals were able to bring personal Bibles, crosses, DVDs of sermons, and other religious materials into the country without difficulty. The 2010 report also contained the information that proselytizing by non-Muslims is punishable by death under the Islamic laws adopted by the country, but that there have been no confirmed reports of executions for that crime in recent years.^[2]

2006 Freedom House Report

According to Freedom House's 2006 report,^[27]

The Saudi Ministry of Education Islamic studies textbooks ... continue to promote an ideology of hatred that teaches bigotry and deplores tolerance. These texts continue to instruct students to hold a dualistic worldview in which there exist two incompatible realms – one consisting of true believers in Islam ... and the other the unbelievers – realms that can never coexist in peace. Students are being taught that Christians and Jews and other Muslims are "enemies" of the true believer... The textbooks condemn and denigrate Shiite and Sufi Muslims' beliefs and practices as heretical and call them "polytheists", command Muslims to hate Christians, Jews, polytheists and other "non-believers", and teach that the Crusades never ended, and identify Western social service providers,centers for academic studies, and campaigns for women's rights as part of the modern phase of the Crusades.

Forced religious conversion

Under the law, children of Saudi parents are considered Muslim, regardless of the country or the religious tradition in which they may have been raised. In some cases, children raised in other countries and in other religious traditions who came to Saudi Arabia or who were taken by their Saudi fathers to Saudi Arabia reportedly were coerced to conform to Islamic norms and practices; forcible conversion is prohibited. During 2009, there were no reports of forced religious conversion.^[2]

See also

• Human rights in Saudi Arabia

References

1. ^ Rodlofo Estimo Jr., 12 Filipinos arrested for proselytizing out on bail, October 6, 2010, arabnews.com.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} International Religious Freedom Report 2010: Saudi Arabia. U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. November 17, 2010. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2010/148843.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-02 
3. ^ "Saudi Arabia - An upsurge in public executions". Amnesty Intarnational. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE23/004/1993/en/2c19d3ca-ecc7-11dd-85fd-99a1fce0c9ec/mde230041993en.html. Retrieved 2011-11-02. "On 3 September 1992 Sadiq 'Abdul-Karim Malallah was publicly beheaded in al-Qatif in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province after being convicted of apostasy and blasphemy." 
4. ^ 3/25/2010: Saudi Arabia: Release Hadi Al-Mutif, March 25, 2010, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
5. ^ Freedom of Apostasy : The Victims.
6. ^ Regarding apostasy in Saudi Arabia:
   • On 3 September 1992 Sadiq 'Abdul-Karim Malallah was publicly beheaded in Al-Qatif in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province after being convicted of apostasy and blasphemy. Sadiq Malallah, a Shi'a Muslim from Saudi Arabia, was arrested in April 1988 and charged with throwing stones at a police patrol. He was reportedly held in solitary confinement for long periods during his first months in detention and tortured prior to his first appearance before a judge in July 1988. The judge reportedly asked him to convert from Shi'a Islam to Sunni Wahhabi Islam, and allegedly promised him a lighter sentence if he complied. After he refused to do so, he was taken to al-Mabahith al-'Amma (General Intelligence) Prison in Dammam where he was held until April 1990. He was then transferred to al-Mabahith al-'Amma Prison in Riyadh, where he remained until the date of his execution. Sadiq Malallah is believed to have been involved in efforts to secure improved rights for Saudi Arabia's Shi'a Muslim minority.^[3]
   • In 1994, Hadi Al-Mutif a teenager who was a Shi’a Ismaili Muslim from Najran in southwestern Saudi Arabia, made a remark that a court deemed blasphemous and was sentenced to death for apostasy. As of 2010^[update], he was still in prison, had alleged physical abuse and mistreatment during his of incarceration, and had reportedly made numerous suicide attempts.^[4][5]
7. ^ "A Catholic Indian priest had just celebrated mass in a private house, when seven religious policemen (muttawa) broke into the house.... The Saudi religious police are well known for their ruthlessness; they often torture believers of other religions who are arrested. AsiaNews sources said there were around 400,000 Indian Catholics in Saudi Arabia who were denied pastoral care. Catholic foreigners in the country number at least one million: none of them can participate in mass while they are in Saudi Arabia. Catechism for their children – nearly 100,000 – is banned." AsiaNews, April 10, 2006 (archived from the original on 2008-07-17)
8. ^ Lionel Beehner (June 16, 2006). "Shia Muslims in the Mideast". Council on Foreign relations. http://www.cfr.org/publication/10903/shiite_muslims_in_the_middle_east.html. Retrieved 2007-05-08. 
9. ^ Ibrahim, Yousseff (2007-02-08). "Assignment Forbidden To Some". New York Sun. http://www2.nysun.com/article/48233. Retrieved 2008-04-27. 
10. ^ "Pilgrimage presents massive logistical challenge for Saudi Arabia". CNN. 2001. Archived from the original on 2008-03-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20080315162733/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/hajj/stories/logistics/index.html. Retrieved 2008-04-27. 
11. ^ Michael Slackman (May 9, 2007). Saudis struggle with conflict between fun and conformity. International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/09/news/saudi.php. Retrieved 2008-01-20  (page one of two pages)
12. ^ "Saudi Arabia". United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. http://www.unodc.org/egypt/en/country_profile_saudiarabia.html. Retrieved 19 July 2010. 
13. ^ Saeed, Abdullah; Saeed, Hassan (2004). Freedom of religion, apostasy and Islam. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 227. ISBN 0754630838. http://books.google.com/books?id=HzFZKWc9SCgC&pg=PA1. 
14. ^ "Consular Information Sheet - Saudi Arabia". U.S. Department of State. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1012.html. Retrieved 2011-11-02. 
15. ^ ^{a b} Cordesman, Anthony H. (2003). Saudi Arabia enters the 21st century. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 297. ISBN 027598091X. http://books.google.com/?id=-8JV06RxCw8C&pg=PA297. 
16. ^ ^{a b} "Saudi religious police accused of beating pilgrims". Middle east Online. August 7, 2007. http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=21680. Retrieved 2007-08-21. 
17. ^ Saudi Institute (2001).
18. ^ Congressional Human Rights Caucus (2002).
19. ^ Taheri (2003).
20. ^ United States Department of State. Saudi Arabia, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004, February 28, 2005.
21. ^ Alan M. Dershowitz, Treatment of Israel strikes an alien note, Jewish World Review, November 8, 2002.
22. ^ To express the policy of the United States to ensure the divestiture... 109th CONGRESS, 1st Session, H. R. 4543.
23. ^ Religious Apartheid in Saudi Arabia, Freedom House website. Retrieved July 11, 2006.
24. ^ Michael Freund (August 9, 2007). "Saudis might take Bibles from tourists". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20080616054209/http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1186557401034&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull. Retrieved 2010-09-14. 
25. ^ "Saudi Arabian Government Confiscates Non-Islamic Religious Items That Enter Country". Fox News. August 9, 2007. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292796,00.html. Retrieved 2010-09-14. 
26. ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2009 : Saudi Arabia". U.S. State Department. 2007-08-09. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292796,00.html. Retrieved 2010-09-14. 
27. ^ Saudi Arabia's Curriculum of IntolerancePDF Report by Center for Religious Freedom of Freedom House, 2006. (archived from the original on 2006-09-27)

External links

• Religious Freedom and the Middle East at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy PolicyWatch
• Does Saudi Arabia Preach Intolerance in the West?
• Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia