saudi arabia christianity

Even though it is illegal, some reports have revealed that non-Muslims have been able to enter Mekkah while they were disguised as Muslims.These forms of discrimination was exercised against Arab Christians. But, in the decade that I have lived there, I have come across several religious minorities including those who belong to the fellow Abrahamic religion, Christianity.

Religious minorities do not have the right to practice their religion.Non-Muslim propagation is banned, and conversion from Islam to another religion is punishable by death as apostasy. This group often scans public places demanding men to pray during prayer time, and ordering women to cover their hair and/or faces. There were only 80 Christians in the UAE in 1910 (0.1 per cent of the population) and 50 in Saudi Arabia, even less than 0.1 … While the country’s history with discrimination against different races, genders, and socio-economic classes has been making headlines for years, a certain kind of discrimination, however, has been hushed and that is religious discrimination.It might come as a surprise that not everyone living in the kingdom is a Muslim because it is noted to be the birth place of Islam. It was very common to have Caucasian women fight with the religious police when told to cover up, and one incident went as far as resulting in physical violence against a member of the Hay’ah.The notion of religious freedom is not recognized by the nation. One read “road for Muslims” pointing towards one of the fork roads, and another saying “road for non-Muslims.” Non-Muslims are allowed to enter the city of Madinah, however they banned from entering the holy city of Mekkah, home of the Ka’aba. Proselytizing by non-Muslims, including the distribution of non-Muslim religious materials such as Bibles, Bhagavad Gita, Ahmedi Books are illegal. There are a few Muslim-born Christians, and conversion from Islam is punishable by death. However, they are not allowed to publicly practice or display their faith. We know the challenges each convert faces and intercede for their safety. Christians may be arrested, imprisoned, tortured and deported for … If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] In Saudi Arabia, it is strictly prohibited to publicly eat or drink during the holy month forcing Christians to quite literally fast, and avoid all restaurants during the day. I recall that, on those occasions, there was often extra security in the capital city, Riyadh, to ensure that no potential private celebrations would be taking place. Nonetheless, some Christians did attend lectures about Islam, but what was astonishing was that the lecturers would then make it a point to insult and degrade Christianity driving many Christians towards the door.On one occasion, we were driving on the road towards Madinah. This is extremely problematic because the marginalized group is compelled to suppress its own religious identity while … There are, however, some 1.4 million Christians living in the country.

According to a study earlier this year, 4.4 per cent of Saudi Arabia's population identifies as Christian – up from less than 0.1. per cent (50 people) just over 100 years ago in 1910.

There are a few Muslim-born Christians, and conversion from Islam is punishable by death. Christians may be arrested, imprisoned, tortured and deported for their faith.” Students are conditioned to believe that a follower of any other religion (or no religion) aside from Islam is considered “najis”(impure). May God grant them His divine protection.Finally, we thank God for using our material to give secret believers an outside view of what He is doing around the world. They see thousands of Christians worshipping God and this emboldens them in their new-found faith. Figures show that in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Christianity was practically non existent just over a hundred years ago. In fact, it is so strictly prohibited to the extent that Christians cannot walk around wearing a cross, and if spotted, they will face harassment and possible charges because it is considered a punishable offense by the local authorities.The infamous religious police who are often locally referred to as ‘Hay’ah’ or ‘Mutaween’ is the morality police which reinforces the Islamic Shari’a law’s religious behavior code.