Accurate religious demographics are difficult to obtain in Saudi Arabia, but there were approximately 2.1 million Christians in Saudi Arabia in 2020. [1] [2]
| Christianity by country |
|---|
 |
 Christianityportal |
Accurate religious demographics are difficult to obtain in Saudi Arabia, but there were approximately 2.1 million Christians in Saudi Arabia in 2020. [1] [2]
Christians had formed churches in Arabia prior to the time of Muhammad in the 7th century. Ancient Arab traders had traveled to Jerusalem for trade purposes and heard the gospel from Saint Peter (Acts 2:11) and Paul the Apostle spent several years in Arabia (Galatians 1:17), later further strengthened by the ministry of Saint Thomas who went to Arabia, Mesopotamia, Persia and later to the Indian subcontinent.
One of the earliest church buildings ever, known as Jubail Church, is located in Saudi Arabia; it was built around the 4th century.
Some parts of modern Saudi Arabia (such as Najran) were predominantly Christian until the 7th to 10th century, when most Christians were expelled or converted to Islam or left the region via the Sea route to Asia, with which merchant trade already existed, others migrated north to Jordan and Syria and settled into those new places. Some Arab Christians who remained lived as crypto-Christians, or secret Christians. Some Arabian tribes, such as Banu Taghlib and Banu Tamim, followed Christianity.
Ancient Arabian Christianity has largely vanished from the region, due to prosecution, conversion and migration.
Dhu Nuwas, a Jewish king of Himyar, after seizing the throne of the Ḥimyarites around 518 or 522, attacked Christian Najran and its inhabitants, captured them and, burned their churches. The destruction fell out on Tuesday, during the 15th day of the lunar month Tishri, in the year 835 of the Seleucid era counting (corresponding with year 524 CE). [3] [4] After accepting the city's capitulation, he massacred its inhabitants who would not renounce Christianity. Earlier, the Himyarite monarch had attacked and killed the Abyssinian Christians who had settled in Zafar.[ citation needed ]
On June 15, 1858, 21 Christian residents of Jeddah, then an Ottoman town of 5,000 predominantly Muslim inhabitants, were massacred, including the French and British consuls, by "some hundreds of Hadramites, inhabitants of Southern Arabia". Twenty-four others, mostly Greeks and Levantines, some "under British protection" plus the daughter of the French consul and the French interpreter, both badly wounded, escaped and took refuge, some by swimming to it, aboard the ship HMS Cyclops. [5] [6] [7] [8]
International Christian Concern (ICC) protested what it reported as the 2001 detention of 11 Christians in Saudi Arabia, for practicing their religion in their homes. [9] In June 2004, at least 46 Christians were arrested in what the ICC described as a "pogrom-like" action by Saudi police. The arrests took place shortly after the media reported that a Quran had been desecrated in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. [10]
There are more than 500,000 Catholics in Saudi Arabia. Most of them are expatriate Filipinos who work there, but are not Saudi Arabian citizens. [11] [12] As of 2008 [update] , about 90% of the roughly 1.2 million Filipinos are Christians. [13] In the same year there were also Christians from Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Spain, Australia, Italy, Greece, South Korea, Ireland, the United Kingdom, India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and as well a number of Christians from sub-Saharan countries who are working in the Saudi Kingdom. [13]
Saudi Arabia allows Christians to enter the country as foreign workers for work or tourism, but does not allow them to practice their faith openly. Saudi Arabia states that they are permitted to privately practice their religion, but this is not codified and raids on private practice by the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice do occur, though these have decreased since their powers were curtailed in 2016. [14] Bringing a Bible and other types of religious texts into the country is allowed as long as it is for personal use. [15]
Although textbooks in Saudi Arabia have moderated their extremist content since 2001, they still contain some content classified as "egregious" such as characterizing Christians and other non-Muslims as liars and are considered to promote religious hatred and intolerance towards non-Muslims, [2] while the NGO Human Rights Watch has also reported rising hate speech against Christians by Saudi leaders. [16]
The Saudi Arabian Mutaween (Arabic : مطوعين), or Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (i.e., the religious police) prohibits the public practice of any religion other than Islam. [17] Conversion of a Muslim to another religion is considered apostasy, [17] a crime punishable by death if the accused does not recant. There have been no confirmed reports of executions for either crime in modern times. [17] The government permits non-Muslim clergy to enter the country for the purpose of conducting religious services. [17] In spite of this, a 2015 study estimates that there are some 60,000 Christians with a Muslim background living in the country, though that does not mean that all of those are citizens of the country. [18]
There are also Christian communities on expatriate compounds, including Catholic services in the Aramco compound in Dhahran.
 |
| Part of a series on |
| Persecutions of the Catholic Church |
|---|
 Catholicismportal |
Currently there are no official churches in Saudi Arabia. [17] According to the Society of Architectural Heritage Protection Jeddah and the Municipality of Jeddah, a long-abandoned house in Al-Baghdadiyya district has never been an Anglican church, contrary to the "'myth' that had spread on the Internet". However, in 1930 there was a non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah. [19]
Discovered in 1986, the church ruins at Jubail originally belonged to the Church of the East, a branch of Eastern Christianity in the Middle East. The government has placed a fence around the church to prevent potential tourists from entering. However, the fences have not stopped locals from coming in to vandalise and damage the building. [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]
In 2018, Saudi Arabia had its first public Divine Liturgy celebrated by clergy of the Coptic church. [25] [26] In 2022, the taboo around Christmas trees lightened, allowing for open sales and decorations. [27]
According to Pew Research Center, the percentage of Christians in Saudi Arabia in 2018 constituted 4.4% of the country’s population. [28] However, the percentage of Saudi Arabian citizens who are Christians is zero de jure, [29] as Saudi Arabia forbids religious conversion from Islam and punishes it by death. [13] [30]
In 2022, the number of Christians living in Saudi Arabia was estimated at 2.1 million; however, it was unknown how many are Protestants, Catholics or Orthodox [17] Other estimates put this at over 2 million. [31]
In 2023, the Open Doors World Watch List ranked Saudi Arabia as the 13th most difficult country to be a Christian or any type of non-muslim. [32]
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Islamic absolute monarchy in which Sunni Islam is the official state religion based on firm Sharia law. Non-Muslims must practice their religion in private and are vulnerable to discrimination and arrest. While no law requires all citizens to be Muslim, non-Muslim foreigners attempting to acquire Saudi Arabian nationality must convert to Islam. Children born to Muslim fathers are by law deemed Muslim.
The Eastern Province, also known as the Eastern Region, is the easternmost of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. It is the nation's largest province by area and the third most populous after the Riyadh and Mecca provinces. In 2017, the population was 4,900,325. Of these, 3,140,362 were Saudi citizens and 1,759,963 were foreign nationals The province accounts for 15.05% of the entire population of Saudi Arabia and is named for its geographical location relative to the rest of the kingdom.
Dhū Nuwās, real name Yūsuf Asʾar Yathʾar, Yosef Nu'as, or Yūsuf ibn Sharhabil, also known as Masruq in Syriac, and Dounaas (Δουναας) in Medieval Greek, was a Jewish king of Himyar reigning between 522–530 AD who came to renown on account of his persecutions of peoples of other religions, notably Christians, living in his kingdom. He was also known as Zur'ah in the Arab traditions.
Najran, is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia. It is the capital of Najran Province. Designated as a new town, Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom. Its population grew from 47,500 in 1974 to 90,983 in 1992, 246,880 in 2004, and 381,431 in 2021. The city's population mostly originates from the ancient tribes of Yām.
Ṣīr Banī Yās is a natural island located 170 km (110 mi) southwest of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It lies 9 km (5.6 mi) offshore from Jebel Dhanna, which serves as a crossing point to other islands such as Dalma. Sir Bani Yas is 17.5 km (10.9 mi) from north to south and 9 km (5.6 mi) from east to west, making it the largest natural island in the United Arab Emirates. Located just off the shore of the western region of Abu Dhabi, Sir Bani Yas was originally home to Arabia's largest wildlife reserve. Spanning over 87 km2 (34 sq mi), the reserve was established in 1977 by Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Due to decades of conservation work and ecological investment, it is now home to thousands of large free-roaming animals and several million trees and plants. A bird sanctuary as well as a wildlife reserve, Sir Bani Yas showcases nature through activities such as adventure safaris, kayaking, mountain biking, archery, hiking and snorkeling.
Christians reached the shores of the Persian Gulf by the beginning of the fourth century. According to the Chronicle of Seert, Bishop David of Perat d'Maishan was present at the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, around 325, and sailed as far as India. Gregory Bar Hebraeus, Chron. Eccles, 2.10 indicates that David had earlier ordained one of the other bishops present at the Council. The monk Jonah is said to have established a monastery in the Persian Gulf "on the shores of the black island" in the middle of the fourth century. A Church of the East bishopric was established at Reishahr, nearly opposite Kharg Island in the northern Persian Gulf, before the Council of Dadisho in AD 424.
The Banu al-Harith is an Arabian tribe which once governed the cities of Najran, Taif, and Bisha, now located in southern Saudi Arabia.
Islam is divided into two major sects, Sunni and Shia Islam, each with its own sub-sects. Large numbers of Shia Arab Muslims live in some Arab countries including Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the UAE, and Qatar.
Banu Yam is an Arabian tribe that belongs to the Qahtanite branch of Arabian tribes, specifically the group known as Banu Hamdan, and are, therefore, native to southwestern Arabia.
Jewish history in the territory of modern Saudi Arabia begins in classical antiquity.
According to the 2005 census, Christians accounted for 9 percent of the total population of the United Arab Emirates; estimates in 2010 suggested a figure of 12.6%.
Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia.
The existence of a Christian community in the city of Najran in present-day southwestern Saudi Arabia is attested by several historical sources of the Arabian Peninsula, where it recorded as having been created in the 5th century AD or perhaps a century earlier. According to the Arab Muslim historian Ibn Ishaq, Najran was the first place where Christianity took root in South Arabia.
Jubail Church is a church building near Jubail, a city in the Eastern province on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the oldest churches in the world. It contains two still visible crosses that have been carved into the wall on either side of the middle inner doorway leading from the nave towards the sanctuary.
Saudis or Saudi Arabians are an ethnic group and nation native to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who speak the Arabic language, a Central Semitic language, and share a common ancestry, history, and culture. They are mainly composed of Arabs and live in the five historical Regions: Najd, Hejaz, Asir, Tihamah and Al-Ahsa; the regions which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded on or what was formerly known as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd in the Arabian Peninsula. Saudis speak one of the dialects of Peninsular Arabic, including the Hejazi, Najdi, Gulf and Southern Arabic dialects, as a mother tongue.
Ahmadiyya is a persecuted religion in Saudi Arabia. Although there are many foreign workers and Saudi citizens belonging to the Ahmadiyya movement in Saudi Arabia, Ahmadis are officially banned from entering the country and from performing the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. This has led to criticisms from multiple human rights organizations.
Christianity was one of the prominent monotheistic religions of pre-Islamic Arabia. Christianization emerged as a major phenomena in the Arabian peninsula during the period of late antiquity, especially from the north due to the missionary activities of Syrian Christians and the south due to the entrenchment of Christianity with the Aksumite conquest of South Arabia. Christian communities had already surrounded the peninsula from all sides prior to their spread within the region. Sites of Christian organization such as churches, martyria and monasteries were built and formed points of contact with Byzantine Christianity as well as allowed local Christian leaders to display their benefaction, communicate with the local population, and meet with various officials. At present, it is believed that Christianity had attained a significant presence in Arabia by the fifth century at the latest, that its largest presence was in Southern Arabia (Yemen) prominently including the city of Najran, and that the Eastern Arab Christian community communicated with the Christianity of the Levant region through Syriac.
The Al-Qalis Church was a Miaphysite Christian church constructed sometime between 527 and the late 560s in the city of Sanaa in modern-day Yemen. The church's lavish decorations made it an important place of pilgrimage, placing it in competition with Kaaba in Mecca. According to the National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, Abraha built Al-Qullays in Sana'a. He also built a similar one in Najran for Bani Al-Harith, the House of Allat in Taif for the tribe of Thaqeef, the House of Yareem and the House of Ghamdan in Yemen.
The Church of the East monastery on Sir Bani Yas is an archaeological site in the United Arab Emirates discovered in 1992. The site is significant as evidence of the presence of Christianity in the UAE in the pre-Islamic period. Believed to be Nestorian, the Christian community continued for at least a century after the arrival of Islam.
Al-Okhdood or Al-Okhdood Archaeological Site, is an ancient and historic town located in Najran Province in Saudi Arabia. Currently in ruins, the town dates back to at least 500 BCE and was formerly a hub for trading and commercial purposes. It is also famous for being the location where the Himyarite king Dhu Nuwas massacred the majority of the population of the city which had converted to Christianity from South Arabian polytheism.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
