Religion in Saudi Arabia
[1] Religion in Saudi Arabia has had a reach beyond its borders as since the 1970s the Saudi government has spent tens of billions of dollars of its petroleum export revenue throughout the Islamic world and elsewhere promoting Islam and specifically the strict revivalist Salafi school based on the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.
However in 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, eliminated many of Wahhabi restrictions (bans on amusement parks, cinemas, driving of motor vehicles by women, etc.
[14] The kingdom is called the "home of Islam"; it is where Prophet Muhammad lived and died, and united and ruled the Arabian Peninsula,[2] and the location of the cities of Mecca and Medina, now the two holiest cities of Islam, (the official title of the King of Saudi Arabia is "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques"—the two being in Mecca and Medina.
Referred to by supporters as "Salafism" and by others as "Wahhabism", this interpretation of Islam became the state religion and interpretation of Islam espoused by Muhammad bin Saud and his successors (the Al Saud family), who eventually created the modern kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.
[30] Starting in late 2017, under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, dramatic changes have been made in religious policy, including the elimination of the power of the religious police, the lifting of bans on amusement parks, cinemas, concert venues, and driving of motor vehicles by women.
Twelvers are predominantly represented by the Baharna community living in the Eastern Province, with the largest concentrations in Qatif, and half the population in al-Hasa.
According to Human Rights Watch, the Shia Muslim minority face systematic discrimination from the Saudi Arabian government in education, the justice system and especially religious freedom.
[1][38] Foreign workers are not allowed to celebrate Christmas or Easter; private prayer services are suppressed, and the Saudi Arabian religious police reportedly regularly search the homes of Christians.
[38] In 2007, Human Rights Watch requested that King Abdullah stop a campaign to round up and deport foreign followers of the Ahmadiyya faith.
[38] The classical Arabic historians tell us that in the year 20 after the hijra (Muhammad's move from Mecca to Medina), corresponding to 641 of the Christian calendar, the Caliph Umar decreed that Jews and Christians should be removed from Arabia to fulfill an injunction Muhammad uttered on his deathbed: "Let there not be two religions in Arabia."
The process was also gradual rather than sudden, and there are reports of Jews and Christians remaining in Khaybar and Najran for some time after Umar's edict.
According to the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence, accepted by both the Saudi Arabians and the declaration's signatories, for a non-Muslim even to set foot on the sacred soil is a major offense.
In the rest of the kingdom, non-Muslims, while admitted as temporary visitors, were not permitted to establish residence or practice their religion.
According to the government of the United Kingdom: The public practice of any form of religion other than Islam is illegal; as is an intention to convert others.
However, the Saudi Arabian authorities accept the private practice of religions other than Islam, and you can bring a religious text into the country as long as it is for your personal use.
While the official charge was “mixing with the opposite sex” - a crime for unrelated people in Saudi Arabia - the offenders complained they were arrested for praying as Christians.
[48][42] Ava Morkos was originally invited to Saudi Arabia by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in March 2018.
[64] A government official announced in that same year that 850 websites and social media pages espousing views deemed to be "atheistic" in nature have been blocked in the country over a span of 16 months.
