From International Christian Concern
A decade on from reforms to its religious police, Saudi Arabia may not be quite as tough as it once was on its Christian population, but it remains one of the toughest places in the world to believe in Jesus.
In its annual ranking of global persecutors, Open Doors places Saudi Arabia as the 13th worst country for the persecution of Christians.
While foreign-born Christians of a certain status are able to enjoy a very limited amount of religious freedom, the situation is far worse for those lower down in society and for native-born Saudis who wish to follow Christ.
SAUDI ARABIA DOES NOT BOTHER WITH THE PRETENCE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
A report for International Christian Concern (ICC) notes that unlike the world’s number one persecutor of Christianity, North Korea, Saudi Arabia does not even bother with the pretence of religious freedom.
There are no “sham” churches for international observers.
There are no churches at all.
But there are still over two million Christians in the country, the vast majority of whom are migrant workers from poorer countries.
SO HOW DO FOREIGN CHRISTIANS PRACTISE THEIR FAITH?
The ICC report cites the case of one Christian in the country, “Nicolas”, a Lebanese-born Christian who is fortunate to be among the more well-off in society.
Nicolas, and others like him are occasionally able to worship at foreign consulates or can gather privately in their homes.
For poorer immigrant Christians however, police raids on such meetings are a real risk.
IT’S OFTEN POORER FOREIGN CHRISTIANS WHO GET CAUGHT
Police surveillance and intrusion are far more of a reality if you’re poorer and live in apartments that have illegal immigrants.
These were the types of places where foreigners — often from Ethiopia or the Philippines — would get caught as a group partaking in Christian activities.
The laws regarding the practice of such non-Muslim worship remain rather unclear and subject to various interpretations.
Police raids on private Christian gatherings are less common than in previous decades.
And when they do take place, the official reasons given pertain less to religion and more to illicit mingling of genders or the presence of illegal immigrants.
WHAT ABOUT SAUDI CHRISTIANS IF THEY EXIST?
The situation for Saudis of any class is even more serious.
It is impossible to be a Saudi citizen without also being Muslim.
Conversion officially carries the death penalty, although this has never been carried out.
Such is the social and legal pressure that Nicolas said he had never encountered a Saudi Christian: “I’m sure if there are any, they live in complete secrecy or try to leave the country and claim asylum abroad.”
EXPLOITATION BASED ON RACE, NOT RELIGION
Nicolas explained that any exploitation is typically based not on religion, but on race.
“Black people and South Asians get the worst treatment,” he said.
“East and Southeast Asians are treated slightly better.”
He also noted that Gulf Arabs tend to receive preferential treatment over non-Gulf Arabs.
INTERACTIONS WITH SAUDIS USUALLY AMICABLE
Though he tended to socialise with other foreigners, Nicolas’s interactions with Saudi nationals were usually amicable.
“Locals regularly assumed [as Lebanese] we were Muslims,” he said.
“Most of the time, they didn’t care when they found out we weren’t.”
Nicolas explained that he lived in Jeddah, a port city on the Red Sea, and the most liberal and cosmopolitan part of the country.
He added that people in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, tend to be more traditional, and that rural areas would have some serious hard-liners.
FRIEND HAD CROSS RIPPED OFF HER NECK BY RELIGIOUS POLICE
Even in comparatively liberal Jeddah, though, there were incidents that made it clear Nicolas and his family were in a Sharia state.
His friend had a cross necklace “ripped off her neck and confiscated” by the notorious Saudi religious police.
These authorities once arrested his aunt for sitting in the front seat of a taxi without her husband present.
His mother never faced arrest, but was scolded a few times for smoking in public and not covering her head during Ramadan.
GRANDMOTHER ALLOWED TO KEEP ARAB-LANGUAGE BIBLE
His grandmother once had a situation with local airport officials when they discovered an Arabic-language Bible in her possession.
She ultimately avoided any punishment and kept her Bible.
Nicolas suspected this favourable outcome was due to her advanced age.
“Saudis respect elders quite a lot,” he noted.
“BRUTAL” INCIDENT WITH SAUDI RELIGIOUS POLICE
The most vivid incident Nicolas could recall occurred during an evening out with a group of friends, all of them Arab foreigners, some Christian and some Muslim.
Two of these friends had longer hair and were confronted by the religious police, who disapproved of men having such a hairstyle.
Because religious identity is listed on Saudi residence permits, the religious police were quickly able to ascertain that one of these longish-haired men was Christian and the other was Muslim.
These police simply yelled at the Christian.
But because the Muslim was held to a higher standard, the police started beating him and “cut off his hair right then and there,” Nicolas recalled.
“It was brutal.”
“KEEP YOUR CROSSES HIDDEN”
Since the country made reforms in 2016, the religious police have far less power.
Beatings and involuntary haircuts, among other forms of abuse, are less common.
Also, instead of being able to question and arrest people for any reason, the religious police can “only observe and report” to the regular police, Nicolas explained.
As the ICC report puts it, “The glory days of violently righteous authorities seem to have subsided.”
“But Saudi Arabia remains a Sharia kingdom, which means it’s best to stay Christian on the stealth and keep your crosses hidden.”
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