Population
21.5 million
Arab
Bedouins
Najdis
Various expats
Capital City
Riyadh
Leadership
Head of State
King Fahd
Religion
Islam
Saudi
Ambassador
to the U.S.
Ambassador Prince
Turki Al-Faisal
Royal Embassy of
Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire
Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20037
Phone: (202) 337-4076
or (202) 337-4134
Email:
info@saudiembassy.net
BIO
Islam is the official religion of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and all citizens must be Muslims. The
Government prohibits the public practice of other
religions. Although, according to statements issued by
senior Saudi officials, private worship by non-Muslims is
permitted.
The Constitution declares Saudi Arabia to be an Islamic
state that depends on the Koran for its definition of law.
Islamic practice adheres to the Hanbali school of the
Sunni branch of Islam, a particularly strict and con-
servative form. According to Article 13, “Education aims
at the implantation of the Islamic creed in new gen-
erations…” Article 40 of the constitution prohibits inter-
ference with communications and “protects human rights
in accordance with Islamic Sharia.”
In a pamphlet provided by the Saudi Arabian
government, “Anyone in Saudi Arabia is entitled to his
own beliefs and practices. But Saudi Arabia cannot allow
the public practice of any religion which contradicts
Islam. Saudi Arabia is a special place; it is the cradle of
Islam and the Prophet Mohamed declared it a preserve
of Islam. A lot of so-called dissidents want all non-
Muslims thrown out of Saudi Arabia. But the government
takes a far more moderate stance.” These are the
reasons given by the Saudi government for forbidding
public worship by other religions.
Both atheism and apostasy (conversion to another
religion) are punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. And
the possession of non-Islamic religious objects, including
Bibles, rosary beads and crosses is strictly prohibited.
In 1997, the Saudi Defense Minister said in an interview:
“People who worship quietly in their homes are not a
concern of the Saudi government”. In a statement to the
UN in April 2000, Prince Dr. Turki Ibn Mohammed Ibn
Saud Al-Kabeer said : “No non-Muslims had ever been
subjected to prosecution or punishment because of their
religious faith.” However, the evidence suggests
otherwise, with Christians continuing to be arrested,
detained and deported, as the following section
illustrates.
RECENT
EXAMPLES OF RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE AGAINST CHRISTIANS
Since January 2000, Christian Solidarity Worldwide has
taken
up the cases of no less than 38 Christians
in Saudi Arabia
who have all faced harassment from the authorities in
connection with their private
Christian activities. All 38 were
foreign nationals residing in the Kingdom.
In the most recent clampdown, 14 foreign nationals were
arrested in Jiddah, a city on the south-west
coast of Saudi Arabia, over a period of seven weeks from July to September
2001.
The arrests followed the late-night raid of the residence of
Indian national, Prabhu Isaac. Prabhu’s
personal computer, which contained names and addresses of other Christians in
the city, was seized
and is thought to have led to the
further arrests.
Prabhu and his family had been due to leave Saudi
Arabia
permanently and had held a farewell party, which Saudi
nationals are alleged to have attended.
CSW believes that one of the reasons for the spate of
arrests was to try to track down any Saudi citizens
with
Christian sympathies, since the penalty for changing
religion is death.
In an unrelated incident, Filipino Christian Wilfredo Caliuag
was arrested in early July on fabricated
charges of the illegal
use of an alias. During his detention, Wilfredo was accused
of being a religious
teacher and was interrogated to try to
extract information about the underground network of
Christian
believers in Jiddah.
As a result of the appalling conditions in his detention cell,
Wilfredo was admitted to
hospital and lay in a coma for two
days. Tell-tale bruising was reported. He was finally deported
to the
Philippines on August 9th.
HUMAN RIGHTS DIALOGUE
Over the past two years, Saudi Arabia has engaged in an
unprecedented level of debate regarding the
human rights situation in the kingdom.
In a statement to the UN Commission on Human Rights,
2000, the
Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs said that
equal rights were granted to all citizens and foreign
residents. Later, a Saudi official described critics of its
human rights record as enemies of God, religion
and
humanity. Saudi Arabia became a member of the Commission on Human Rights in 2001.
In a rare public rebuke, the UN Committee on the Rights of
the Child said that the “narrow interpretations
of Islamic
texts” by Saudi state authorities have led to violations
against minors.