Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
Since 2015, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has served as both Saudi Arabia’s head of state and head of government. On 27 September 2022, he appointed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as prime minister. Under the 1992 Basic Law of Governance, the king, who is an absolute ruler, must follow Shari’a (Islamic law). The kingdom’s constitution is “The Holy Qur'an and the Prophet's Sunnah (traditions)”.
Under the late King Abdullah (2005-2015), the country has experienced a gradual modernisation. With 16 percent of the world’s known oil reserves, the country is one of the wealthiest in the region and a leading political and religious power in the Arab world.
In 2016, the Saudi government adopted ambitious plans for economic reform – Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program 2020 – to reduce dependence on oil revenues.
The total Saudi population is around 36 million inhabitants. In 2019, the UN estimated that approximately 38.3 percent of the country’s residents are foreigners. Between 85 to 90 percent of Saudi citizens are Sunni Muslims. Shi’a Muslims constitute between 10 to 12 percent of the population and an estimated 25 to 30 percent of the oil rich Eastern Province’s population.
An unofficial census by the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia estimates that Saudi Arabia’s Catholics number 1.5 million, mainly foreign workers from India and the Philippines. The Kingdom does not have official diplomatic ties with the Holy See.
Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and home to its two holiest cities – Makkah and Madinah – with the Saudi king serving as the official Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. While the law is based on the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence, the interpretations of Muhammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab, upon whose teachings Wahhabism is based, are also highly influential. The strict interpretation of Sunni Islam, Wahhabism, includes restrictions on women and harsh penalties for a range of crimes including capital punishment. A Royal Order has been issued to prohibit the death penalty for underage offenders, but it seems to have not yet been officially promulgated.
Saudi citizens must be Muslims. Non-Muslims must convert to Islam to be eligible for naturalisation. Children born to Muslim fathers are deemed to be Muslim. It is prohibited to publicly promote non-official Islamic teachings.
Religious freedom is neither recognised nor protected. Conversion from Islam to another religion is considered apostasy, which is legally punishable by death, as is blasphemy against Islam. More recently, Saudi courts have tended to be lenient, imposing lengthy prison sentences for blasphemy instead of the death penalty.
Following a Supreme Court ruling in 2020, the government replaced flogging as a ta’zir (discretionary) criminal punishment with prison time or fines. As a result, persons found guilty of blasphemy, public immodesty and a number of other offences are no longer subject to flogging. However, according to judicial representatives, flogging may still be a part of sentences for three hudood offenses: drinking, engaging in sexual activity while not being married to the person, and making false accusations of adultery.
Non-Muslim places of worship and the public expression of non-Muslim creeds are prohibited. Failure to comply can mean discrimination, harassment, and detention. Non-citizens may be deported. Despite government statements that non-Muslims who are not converts from Islam can practise their religion privately, the lack of clear rules has left non-Muslims at the mercy of local police. Some groups of Christian expatriates have been able to discreetly worship on a regular basis without provoking action by the government’s religious police, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), also known as the Mutawa.
Religious instruction based on the official interpretation of Islam is mandatory in state schools. Private schools cannot teach a separate curricula and are required to offer both Saudi and non-Saudi Muslim pupils an Islamic studies program. Non-Muslim students in private schools receive mandatory classes on Islamic civilisation. Other religions or civilisations can be taught at private international schools.
Defendants must be treated equally in accordance with Shari’a. Of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence, the Hanbali school is the one applied in Saudi Arabia for interpreting Islamic law. There is no comprehensive written penal code. Rulings and sentences vary widely from case to case. In civil cases, Christian and Jewish men can receive 50 percent of the compensation a Muslim man would receive; for other non-Muslims, this gap may go up to one sixteenth the amount a Muslim man would receive. In some cases, the evidence presented by Muslims carries greater weight than that of non-Muslims, and the testimony or evidence presented by a Muslim woman is worth half that of a Muslim man in certain cases.
The 2017 counterterrorism law criminalises “anyone who challenges, either directly or indirectly, the religion or justice of the King or Crown Prince.” “The promotion of atheistic ideologies in any form”, “any attempt to cast doubt on the fundamentals of Islam”, publications that “contradict the provisions of Islamic law”, non-Islamic public worship, public display of non-Islamic religious symbols, conversion by a Muslim to another religion, and proselytising by a non-Muslim are also criminalised.
Despite government policy against non-Muslim burial in the Kingdom, at least one public, non-Islamic cemetery exists.
Human rights standards are observed “in light of the provisions of Shari’a”. Saudi Arabia is not a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This means that human rights as defined by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights are neither recognised nor protected. “While Shari’a as interpreted by the government applies to all citizens and non-citizens, the law in practice discriminates against women, non-citizens, non-practicing Sunni Muslims, Shi’a Muslims, and persons of other religions.” During the period under review, there were frequent reports of restrictions on free speech.
The semi-autonomous Mutawa (religious police) monitors public behaviour, reporting to the regular police to enforce a strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islamic norms. Since 2016, its officers have to carry official identification papers, and their powers have been significantly limited by royal decree. As a result, both Muslims and non-Muslims have reported less harassment and fewer raids.
Ever since 2004, Saudi Arabia has been designated by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC).
Incidents and developments
According to the US Department of State, Shi’a community members have declared that due to decreased sectarian tensions and greater coordination between the Shi’a community and authorities, processions and gatherings continued. Furthermore, Ashura commemorations (18th August 2021 and 7th August 2022) were marked by improved relations between Shi’a and other communities.
On 27 January 2021, the Mediation and Moderation Academy in the Grand Mosque was officially opened. It intends to promote mediation and moderation in all aspects of life, and to reject and combat extremism.
The application of prison sentences and the death penalty linked to religious freedom are most often linked to “crimes” related to freedom of thought and conscience, and the authorities interpret these matters from a religious perspective. Swifter judgement is often visible in the case of non-Sunni detainees, giving little to no time to have a free, fair, and transparent trial. According to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), Saudi Arabia executed 120 individuals in the first half of 2022. These figures, about twice as many as in 2021, have surpassed those of 2020 and 2021 combined. Some examples are listed below.
According to the US Department of State, in 2021 the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) held several hearings regarding the case of cleric Hassan Farhan Al-Maliki. The public prosecutor had requested the death penalty on 14 indictments for Al-Maliki in December 2020. Charges included questioning the fundamentals of Islam by casting doubt on the Prophetic Sunna and Hadith.
In February 2021, Shi’a activists Dawood al-Marhoon, Abdullah al-Zaher and Ali al-Nimr (nephew of Shi’a cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed by the government in 2016) saw their death sentence commuted into a 10-year incarceration. This resulted in their liberation in late 2021 and early 2022. The decision follows the adoption of a 2020 Royal Decree abolishing the death penalty for those who committed crimes as minors replacing it with a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment in juvenile detention centres.
In February, 65-year-old preacher Aisha al-Muhajiri was arrested because she continued to preach and teach the Quran at her home in Makkah. Two other women, one of whom was 80 years old, were also arrested.
On 10 February, Shi’a activist Israa al-Ghomgham was sentenced to eight years in prison.
On 31 March, a media report denounced the health deterioration of imprisoned Shi’a cleric Mohammed al-Habib due to neglect.
In May, it was reported that the ‘Muslims only’ signs on the highway to Madinah and Makkah had been removed.
In May, Foreign Policy magazine published an article about the persistent discrimination against Shi’as in Saudi Arabia, though also referred to positive instances of greater space granted including that: “Shiite religious rituals have been allowed in the Eastern Province […] though under heavy security measures”; “the Ashura ceremonies […] that are central to Shiite worship – have been also recently tolerated (though not officially acknowledged) in Riyadh”; Shiite “schools and publications of books have been allowed but under strict government scrutiny” and “preachers in Saudi mosques are now closely monitored and held accountable if they incite hatred against Shiites”.
At the end of May, the Minister of Islamic Affairs (MOIA) notified mosques of the need to lower the volume of loudspeakers (no more than one third of their maximum level) for the call to prayer (retransmission under certain conditions). These decisions were met with critical reactions which led the MOIA to retract them a few days later. Cleric Omar Abdullah Al-Saadoun was later arrested for writing an article in which he criticised these restrictions on prayer retransmission.
On 15 June, Shi’a citizen Mustafa Hashem Al-Darwish was executed. Although Saudi authorities declared he was sentenced for crimes he committed as an adult, many critics accused them of having arrested Al-Darwish as a minor in 2012 anti-government protests.
In July, the obligation for shops to close during prayer times was lifted. Saudi political and economic observer, Ali Sameer Shihabi, tweeted that ending the rule of keeping shops closed during prayer time was a “hugely symbolic and practical step to end the dominance of the religious class in daily life.”
On 3 August, Shi’a Ahmed al-Janabi was executed as part of a ta’zir punishment for armed insurrection and defiance of the government. On 6 September, another Shi’a citizen, Adnan al-Sharfa, was given a ta’zir death sentence for smuggling and joining a terrorist cell that sought to “destabilise security in the country”.
In September, a report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) concluded that new textbooks in Saudi Arabia showed “significant improvement” as officials altered or removed 22 anti-Christian and anti-Semitic lessons and five lessons about “infidels”. However, they noted: “Christians and other non-Muslims are still labelled as infidels throughout”.
In September, it was reported that a Christian convert had to flee. He was facing different court cases and both he and his family had received threats.
On 1 October, the Riyadh International Book Fair, “the largest book fair in the history of the kingdom” was inaugurated. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), over two dozen antisemitic books were exhibited for sale, including numerous editions of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
On 12 October, Moussa Al-Qarni died in prison while serving a 20-year sentence. A once respected Saudi religious academic, he was close to bin Laden and the Afghan mujahedin in the 1980s. Al-Qarni was described as “a super-star among [Afghan] camp recruits since the 1980s” and bin Laden’s adviser for interpreting the rules of Sharia. Later, he became a supporter of the Saudi regime against bin Laden. According to the Prisoners of Conscience group, Al-Qarni was beaten to death by other prisoners.
On 23 November, local media reported that an arrest order was issued by the Public Prosecutor for a man who released a video of himself making derogatory comments about the Divine Essence. The Public Prosecution announced they would use all reasonable means to track down and prosecute anyone who promotes notions that are insensitive to religious values and bring them to justice.
In late November, Orthodox Jewish rabbi Jacob Yisrael Herzog twitted pictures from his Riyad hotel room lighting a candle on the third day of Hanukah, offering religious services to Jewish residents. The initiative allegedly received a cold reception by the Jewish community in Saudi Arabia.
On 30 December 2021, the initial 15-year prison term that Yemeni journalist Ali Mohsen Ahmed Abu Lahoum received from the Criminal Court was upheld by the Court of Appeal in Najran. On 26 October, he had been sentenced to ten years in prison after being found guilty of apostasy and atheism by the Criminal Court in Najran. According to the court's verdict, he was also given a further five years in prison for posting his writings on social media that “would prejudice public order, religious values and morals”. While still awaiting the Saudi Supreme Court’s judgement on his appeal, his family is unable to visit him.
On 11 March 2022, blogger Raif Badawi was released after spending 10 years in jail for “insulting Islam online”. He is still facing a 10-year travel ban.
On 12 March 2022, a Shi‘a, Asaad Makki Shubbar, was executed. In early August 2021, he had been sentenced to death. On 27 August 2021, UN experts addressed a letter to the government appealing for a fair trial and stating that the crime of which he was accused did not appear to meet the “most serious crimes” as required by international law. Despite this appeal, Shubbar was executed together with 80 other persons.
In May, a two-day multi-faith conference was held in Riyadh to explore shared values and common goals for inter-faith cooperation. Hosted by the Muslim World League, the “Forum on Common Values among Religious” featured about 100 religious leaders. Alongside 15 Jewish rabbis, faith leaders in attendance included those from Evangelical Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism, religious leaders from across the Muslim world, as well as the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and Orthodox Archbishop Ivan Zoria from Ukraine. Areas of agreement included the need to respect religious diversity, the importance of inter-faith dialogue, and ways to work together to counter extremist ideologies.
In June, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published an article on religious reforms in Saudi Arabia, underscoring their cosmetic function without any fundamental change, which, according to the authors, makes all the reforms easy to revert.
In June, Murtaja Qureiris, a Shi’a citizen, was released from prison. He was arrested when he was 13, accused of participating in anti-governmental demonstrations in 2011 when he was 10. His death sentence was commuted into a prison term.
On 31 July, Shi’a citizen Jalal al-Labbad was sentenced to death for crimes he had allegedly committed when a minor.
On 24 August, following an escalation of detentions, the Geneva based Euro-Med Monitor requested an in-situ UN intervention in order to protect prisoners of conscience from the maximum sentences for criticising Saudi Arabian authorities.
Saudi Arabia has made some improvements in its harsh application of religious regulations and its treatment of other faiths. In the field of education, the 2021-2022 Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) report stated that the situation was improving in the way of dealing with religions other than Sunni Islam but noted that there were still issues of concern.
In early September, a Yemeni national was arrested after posting a video clip of himself performing an Umrah pilgrimage on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II. Umrah pilgrimage can be performed on behalf of deceased Muslims, but not for non-Muslims.
On 17 September, an article was published stating that wine, cocktails, and champagne would be served at the futuristic Neom Red Sea resort. In the Islamic kingdom, where the sale or possession of alcohol is currently prohibited and punishable, this is an unprecedented decision.
Prospects for religious freedom
Despite some encouraging signs, Saudi Arabia remains a country of great concern in the field of fundamental human rights and freedom of conscience, thought and religion, and is still designated as a Country of Particular Concern by the USCIRF for its “ongoing violations of religious freedom”. Numerous human rights activists and advocates of reforms have been arrested, imprisoned and, in some cases, tortured, even after the rights they were demanding had been granted.
Although there are certain signs of modernisation – notably the Vision 2030 – acknowledging a population where more than half is under 35 years old, it is clear from the contradictory messages sent out by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that changes (to either a more conservative or a more liberal path) will only happen at the government’s initiative.
As the incidents during the period under review indicate, the government continues to crack down on dissent and to imprison individuals, particularly Shi’as, accused of apostasy and blasphemy, of violating Islamic values and moral standards, and insulting Islam. The prospects for religious freedom remain negative.
Saudi Arabia