Saudi Arabia
(2001)
Saudi Arabia is an Islamic monarchy without
legal protection for freedom of religion, and such protection
does not exist in practice. Islam is the official religion,
and all citizens are Muslims. Based on its interpretation
of the hadith, or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, the Government
prohibits the public practice of non-Muslim religions. The
Government recognizes the right of non-Muslims to worship
in private; however, the distinction between public and private
worship is not clearly defined, and at times the Government
does not respect in practice the right to private worship.
There generally was no change in the status
of religious freedom during the period covered by this report;
however, the number of arrests for public worship of other
religions decreased compared with the previous period. Freedom
of non-Muslims to worship privately has received increasing
attention and respect in recent years through published interviews
with government officials and press articles that addressed
the subject in the context of human rights; however, the
right to private worship still is restricted. The Government
has stated publicly that its policy is to protect the right
of non-Muslims to worship privately; however, it does not
provide explicit guidelines for determining what constitutes
private worship, which makes distinctions between public
and private worship unclear. Such lack of clarity, as well
as instances of arbitrary enforcement by the authorities,
force most non-Muslims to worship in such a manner as to
avoid discovery by the Government or others.
Members of the Shi'a minority continued
to face institutionalized political and economic discrimination,
including restrictions on the practice of their faith. However,
the Government lifted the requirement that Shi'a obtain advance
permission to travel to Iran, thus effectively allowing them
to visit religious sites in Iran without prior notice.
The overwhelming majority of citizens support
an Islamic state and oppose public non-Muslim worship. There
is societal discrimination against adherents of the Shi'a
minority.
Senior U.S. government officials and members
of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
raised the issue of religious freedom with the Government
on numerous occasions during the period covered by this report.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country's total land area is 5,273,965
square miles and its population is 15 million. There are
approximately 14 million Sunni Muslims in the country. Approximately
1 million citizens are Shi'a Muslims, who live mostly in
the eastern province, where they constitute approximately
one-third of the population.
Seven million foreigners also reside in
the country, including approximately 1.5 million Indians,
900,000 Bangladeshis, 800,000 Egyptians, nearly 800,000 Pakistanis,
600,000 Filipinos, 130,000 Sri Lankans, and 36,000 Americans.
Comprehensive statistics for the denominations of foreigners
are not available, but they include Muslims from the various
branches of Islam, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews.
For example, the Embassy of the Philippines reports that
over 90 percent of the Filipino community (or over half a
million persons) is Christian. The Embassy of India reports
that the Indian community includes Muslims and Hindus, as
well as Christians and Buddhists. The U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops estimates there are well more than 500,000
Catholics in the country, and perhaps as many as 1 million.
There is no information regarding the number of atheists
in the country.
There is no information regarding whether
there are foreign missionaries in the country. Proselytizing
is not permitted.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
Legal/Policy Framework
Freedom of religion does not exist. Islam
is the official religion, and all citizens must be Muslims.
The Government prohibits the public practice of other religions.
The Government recognizes the right of private worship by
non-Muslims; however, it does not always respect this right
in practice. Saudi Arabia is an Islamic monarchy and the
Government has declared the Holy Koran and the Sunna (tradition)
of the Prophet Muhammad to be the country's Constitution.
The Government bases its legitimacy on governance according
to the precepts of the rigorously conservative and strict
interpretation of the Hanbali 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 Shari'a (Islamic
law), with Shari'a courts basing their judgments largely
on a code derived from the Holy Koran and the Sunna. The
Government permits Shi'a Muslims to use their own legal tradition
to adjudicate noncriminal cases within their community.
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
Islamic practice generally is limited to
that of the Wahhabi order, which adheres to the Hanbali school
of the Sunni branch of Islam as interpreted by Muhammad Ibn
Abd Al-Wahhab, an 18th century Arab religious reformer. Practices
contrary to this interpretation, such as visits to the tombs
of renowned Muslims, are discouraged, as is the practice
of other schools of Sunni Islam. 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,
although there were no reports of such actions during the
period covered by this report.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs supervises
and finances the construction and maintenance of almost all
mosques in the country. 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 Mutawwa'in (religious police, who make up the Committee
to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice) are government employees,
and the president of the Mutawwa'in holds the rank of cabinet
minister.
Foreign imams are barred from leading worship
during the most heavily attended prayer times and prohibited
from delivering sermons during Friday congregational prayers.
The Government states that its actions are part of its "Saudiization"
plan to replace foreign workers with citizens.
Under Shari'a conversion by a Muslim to
another religion is considered apostasy, a crime punishable
by death if the accused does not recant. There were no executions
for apostasy during the period covered by this report, and
no reports of any such executions for the past several years.
The Government prohibits public non-Muslim
religious activities. Non-Muslim worshippers risk arrest,
lashing, and deportation for engaging in overt religious
activity that attracts official attention. 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, it
does not provide explicit guidelines--such as the number
of persons permitted to attend and acceptable locations--for
determining what constitutes private worship, which makes
distinctions between public and private worship unclear.
Such lack of clarity, as well as instances of arbitrary enforcement
by the authorities, force most non-Muslims to worship in
such a manner as to avoid discovery by the Government or
others. During the period covered by this report, the number
of reports of detentions and deportations related to non-Muslim
worship has decreased compared to the previous period, and
there were no reports of lashings.
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.
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.
Proselytizing by non-Muslims, including
the distribution of non-Muslim religious materials such as
Bibles, is illegal. There were no reports during the period
covered by this report of arrests for proselytizing. 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 so-called
"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,
including more than 200 persons in Jeddah each year. The
press often carries articles about such conversions, including
testimonials.
The Government requires noncitizens to
carry Iqamas, or legal resident identity cards, which 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; however, police
presence at the April 2001 Ashura celebrations reportedly
was much less prominent than in previous years. 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.
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.
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.
Since the 1979 Iranian revolution some
Shi'a suspected of subversion have been subjected periodically
to surveillance and limitations on travel abroad. Prior to
2001, the Government actively discouraged Shi'a travel to
Iran to visit pilgrimage sites due to security concerns.
Shi'a who went to Iran without government permission, or
who were suspected of such travel, normally had their passports
confiscated upon their return for periods of up to 2 years.
However, according to press reports, in early 2001, the Government
lifted the requirement that citizens intending to travel
to Iran seek permission in advance from authorities. This
change corresponds with improving relations between Saudi
Arabia and Iran. Advance permission for travel to Iraq, whether
for business or religious pilgrimage, has been necessary
for some time due to security concerns, but such travel remains
possible.
Under the Hanbali interpretation of Shari'a
law, judges may discount the testimony of people who are
not practicing Muslims or who do not have the correct faith.
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. For example, in May 2001, a judge in the eastern
province asked two witnesses to an automobile accident if
they were Shi'a. When they so confirmed, the judge announced
to the court that their testimony was inadmissible. 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.
Customs officials routinely open mail and
shipments to search for contraband, including non-Muslim
materials, such as Bibles and religious videotapes. Individuals
generally are able to bring religious materials into the
country for personal use.
Islamic religious education is mandatory
in public schools at all levels. All children receive religious
instruction, which generally is limited to that of the Hanbali
school of Islam. Non-Muslim students in private schools are
not required to study Islam.
Women are subject to discrimination under
Shari'a as interpreted in the country. In a Shari'a court,
a woman's testimony does not carry the same weight as that
of a man: The testimony of one man equals that of two women.
Female parties to court proceedings, such as divorce and
other family law cases, generally must deputize male relatives
to speak on their behalf.
Although Islamic law permits polygyny,
with up to four wives, it is becoming less common due to
demographic and economic changes. Islamic law enjoins a man
to treat each wife equally. In practice such equality is
left to the discretion of the husband. Some women participate
in Al-Mesyar (or "short daytime visit") marriages,
in which the women relinquish their legal rights to financial
support and nighttime cohabitation. In addition, the husband
is not required to inform his other wives of the marriage,
and any children resulting from such a marriage have no inheritance
rights. Women may not marry noncitizens without government
permission; men must obtain approval from the Ministry of
Interior to marry women from countries outside the six states
of the Gulf Cooperation Council. In accordance with Shari'a,
women are prohibited from marrying non-Muslims; men may marry
Christians and Jews, as well as Muslims.
While Shari'a provides women with a basis
to own and dispose of property independently, women often
are constrained from asserting such rights because of various
legal and societal barriers, especially regarding employment
and freedom of movement. In addition, daughters receive half
the inheritance awarded to their brothers.
Women must demonstrate legally specified
grounds for divorce, but men may divorce without cause. In
doing so, men are required to pay immediately an amount of
money agreed upon at the time of the marriage, which serves
as a one-time alimony payment. Women who demonstrate legal
grounds for divorce still are entitled to this alimony. If
divorced or widowed, a Muslim woman normally may keep her
children until they attain a specified age: 7 years for boys,
9 years for girls. Children over these ages are awarded to
the former husband or the deceased husband's family. Numerous
divorced foreign women continued to be prevented by their
former husbands from visiting their children after divorce.
Failure of Muslim women to wear an abaya
or headscarf can lead to admonishment (and in the past occasionally
has led to arrest) by some Mutawwa'in enforcing their own
interpretation of religious doctrine.
Abuses of Freedom of Religion
During the period covered by this report,
the Government continued to commit abuses of religious freedom.
Information about government practices is incomplete because
judicial proceedings are closed to the public and the Government
restricts freedom of speech and association. In addition,
the media exercises self-censorship regarding sensitive issues
such as religious freedom, there are no independent nongovernmental
organizations that monitor religious freedom, and the Government
does not issue visas to foreign human rights organizations
to conduct independent investigations. Thus, reports of abuses
often are difficult or impossible to corroborate.
The Government continued to commit abuses
against members of the Shi'a minority. Since beginning the
investigation of the 1996 bombing of the U.S. military installation
at Al-Khobar, in which a number of eastern province Shi'a
were arrested, authorities have detained, interrogated, and
confiscated the passports of a number of Shi'a Muslims. The
Government reportedly continued to detain an unknown number
of Shi'a who were arrested in the aftermath of the Al-Khobar
bombing. Government security forces reportedly arrest Shi'a
based on the smallest suspicion, hold them in custody for
lengthy periods, and then release them without explanation.
According to various reports, a number
of Shi'a sheikhs (religious leaders) were arrested and detained
during the period covered by this report. Amnesty International
(AI) reported that Sheikh Ali bin Ali al-Ghanim was arrested
in August 2000 at the border with Jordan and held by the
Mabahith, the national investigative bureau that is part
of the Ministry of Interior. In March 2001, Mabahith officers
reportedly arrested and detained Sheikh Mohammed Al Amri
in Medina.
Early in 2000, a Shi'a sheikh was taken
into custody and three other sheikhs were arrested for unknown
reasons near the border with Jordan. Human Rights Watch reported
that at least seven additional Shi'a religious leaders reportedly
remained in detention at the end of the period covered by
this report for violating restrictions on Shi'a religious
practices. According to AI, Hashim Al-Sayyid Al-Sada, a Shi'a
cleric suspected of political or religious dissent, was arrested
in his home in April 2000 and reportedly remained held incommunicado
at the end of the period covered by this report.
The Government continued to detain non-Muslims
engaged in worship services, although at times it was unclear
whether the services constituted public or private worship.
For example, on November 30, 2000, police broke up a gathering
of 60 Christians worshiping in a rented building and detained
5 of the worshipers for approximately 1 hour for questioning.
In December 2000, authorities broke up a private Christian
worship service of 12 Filipino citizens, arrested 6 of the
Filipinos, and detained 3 of those arrested for nearly 2
months. On April 20, a Filipino Christian man reportedly
was stopped at a routine police checkpoint while driving
a woman from a Christian service. After discovering religious
materials in the car, the police detained the man for 2 days.
In August 2000, authorities released a
Christian Indian national who had been arrested in June 2000
for possession of a videotape of a religious event. According
to the Indian Embassy, the man spent approximately 2 months
in jail and was released pending deportation on charges of
violating the labor law. There were reports during the period
covered by this report that authorities interrogated members
of the tiny Baha'i community regarding the size and status
of their community, although there were no reports of any
additional actions taken against them.
In April 2000, in the city of Najran, in
the southwest region bordering Yemen, rioting by members
of the Makarama Ismaili Shi'a eventually led to an attack
by an armed group of Shi'a on a hotel that contained an office
of the regional governor. Security forces responded, leading
to extended gun battles between the two sides. Some press
reports indicated that the rioting followed the arrest of
a Makarama Ismaili Shi'a imam and some of his followers on
charges of "sorcery." Various other reports attributed
the unrest to the closure of two Ismaili Shi'a mosques and
the provincial governor's refusal to permit Ismailis to hold
public observances of the Shi'a holiday of Ashura. Still
other reports attributed the unrest to a local crackdown
on smuggling and resultant tribal discontent. Officials at
the highest level of the Government stated that the unrest
in Najran was not the result of Shi'a-Sunni tension or religious
discrimination. After the unrest ended the Government stated
that 5 members of the security forces were killed, and Ismaili
leaders claimed that as many as 40 Ismaili tribesmen were
killed. There was no independent confirmation of these claims.
In October 2000, AI reported that two Ismaili Shi'a teachers,
who were arrested in April 2000 following the unrest, were
convicted on charges of sorcery and sentenced to 1,500 lashes;
however, this report could not be confirmed.
Magic is widely believed in and sometimes
practiced, often in the form of fortune-telling and swindles;
however, under Shari'a, the practice of magic is regarded
as the worst form of polytheism, an offense for which no
repentance is accepted and which is punishable by death.
There are an unknown number of detainees held in prison on
the charge of "sorcery," including the practice
of "black magic" or "witchcraft." In
a few cases, self-proclaimed "miracle workers"
have been executed for sorcery involving physical harm or
apostasy.
Mutawwa'in practices and incidents of abuse
varied widely in different regions of the country. While
reports of incidents were most numerous in the central Nejd
region, which includes the capital Riyadh, reports of incidents
in the eastern province increased during the period covered
by this report. In certain areas, both the Mutawwa'in and
religious vigilantes acting on their own harassed, assaulted,
battered, arrested, and detained citizens and foreigners.
The Government requires the Mutawwa'in to follow established
procedures and to offer instruction in a polite manner; however,
Mutawwa'in do not always comply with the requirements. The
Government has not criticized abuses by the Mutawwa'in directly,
but criticism of the group has appeared in the largely government-controlled
English-language press. The Government has sought to curtail
these abuses; however, the abuses continue.
Mutawwa'in enforcement of strict standards
of social behavior included closing commercial establishments
during five daily prayer observances, insisting upon compliance
with strict norms of public dress and dispersing gatherings
in public places. Mutawwa'in frequently reproached citizen
and foreign women for failure to observe strict dress codes,
and detained men and women found together who were not married
or closely related.
The Mutawwa'in have the authority to detain
persons for no more than 24 hours for violation of strict
standards of proper dress and behavior; however, they sometimes
exceeded this limit before delivering detainees to the police.
Procedures require a police officer to accompany the Mutawwa'in
at the time of arrest. Mutawwa'in generally complied with
this requirement. According to reports, the Mutawwa'in also
are no longer permitted to detain citizens for more than
a few hours, may not conduct investigations, and may no longer
allow unpaid volunteers to accompany official patrols.
Forced Religious Conversion
Under the law, children of Saudi fathers
are considered Muslim, regardless of the county 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, although forcible
conversion is prohibited. There were no reports of the forced
religious conversion of minor U.S. citizens who had been
abducted or illegally removed from the United States during
the period covered by this report, or of the Government's
refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United
States. However, there was a report that prior to the period
covered by this report, at least one U.S. citizen child in
the country was subjected to pressure--and at times force--by
her Saudi relatives to renounce Christianity and conform
to Islamic norms and practices. The child has since returned
to the United States.
Improvements and Positive Developments
in Respect for Religious Freedom
The Government welcomed two delegations
on freedom of religion from the United States: Members of
the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom visited
in March 2001 and the Director of the Office of International
Religious Freedom in the U.S. Department of State visited
in January 2001. In meetings with these officials and others,
senior Saudi government officials stated that the Government
will not interfere in private non-Muslim worship and invited
the U.S. Government to provide specific information if that
policy is violated.
According to press reports, in early 2001,
the Government quietly lifted the requirement that Shi'a
obtain advance permission to travel to Iran, thus effectively
allowing them to visit pilgrimage sites in Iran without prior
notice.
Section III. Societal Attitudes
There is societal discrimination against
members of the Shi'a minority; however, improved relations
between Iran (a predominately Shi'a nation) and Saudi Arabia
in the period covered by this report continued to improve
the climate of Sunni-Shi'a relations in the country.
The overwhelming majority of citizens support
an Islamic state and oppose public non-Muslim worship. The
majority of non-Muslims who undertook religious observances
privately and discreetly during the period covered by this
report were not disturbed; however, problems occurred after
some Saudis complained to the authorities about services
by their neighbors. While some non-Muslims claim that paid
informants infiltrate their private worship groups and that
employers did not renew the work contracts of non-Muslim
employees who were found to be participating in worship groups,
employers indicated contracts were not renewed because of
performance problems or efforts to increase employment opportunities
for Saudi workers.
Relations between Saudi Muslims and foreign
Muslims are generally good. Each year the country welcomes
approximately 2 million Muslim pilgrims from all over the
world and of all branches of Islam, who visit the country
during a 2-week period to perform the Hajj. Foreign Muslims
of all denominations may pray freely in mosques as long as
they follow Saudi Sunni prayer practices, although foreign
imams have a more difficult time obtaining employment in
mosques than their Saudi counterparts.
In certain areas, religious vigilantes
unaffiliated with the Government and acting on their own
harassed, assaulted, battered, arrested, and detained citizens
and foreigners.
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
Senior U.S. government officials and members
of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
raised the issue of religious freedom with government officials
on numerous occasions during the period covered by this report.
U.S. government officials met with senior government officials
to confirm the Government's commitment to permit private
non-Muslim worship and to discuss other concerns related
to religious freedom. In September 2000, U.S. Embassy officers
met with Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) officials to deliver
and discuss the U.S. Government's 2000 Annual Report on International
Religious Freedom and to protest the detention of Filipino
worshippers arrested in December 2000. In addition, Embassy
officers met with MFA officials at various other times during
the year on matters pertaining to religious freedom.
Sources: U.S. State Department - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor |