Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia.
The government of Saudi Arabia has been criticized for its restrictions on religious freedom. Approximately two-thirds of the country's residents are Muslim and the Basic Law states that it is the duty of every citizen to defend Islam; most non-Muslim foreigners attempting to acquire Saudi Arabian nationality must convert to Islam. Hanbali is the official version of Sunni Islam and it is used in the legal and education systems.
In 2022, the law bans the promotion of atheism, as well as any proselytizing by non-Muslims.
Freedom of religion
Saudi Arabia is an Islamic theocracy. Religious minorities do not have the right to practice their religion openly. Conversion from Islam to another religion is punishable by death as apostasy. Proselytizing by non-Muslims, including the distribution of non-Muslim religious materials such as Bibles, Bhagavad Gita, Torah and Ahmedi Books are illegal. In late 2014, a law was promulgated calling for the death penalty for anyone bringing into the country "publications that have a prejudice to any other religious beliefs other than Islam" (thought to include non-Muslim religious books).
The 2019 annual report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) noted that Saudi Arabia was seen as one of 16 “countries of particular concern” for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations [of religious freedom]”. That status continues in 2022.
In 2023, the country was scored zero out of 4 for religious freedom. In the same year, it was ranked as the 13th worst place in the world to be a Christian.
Religious groups
Islam
The official form of Islam is Sunni of the Hanbali school, in its Salafi version. According to official statistics, in 2020, 85-90% of Saudi Arabian citizens were Sunni Muslims, 10-12% are Shia. More than 30% of the population was made up of foreign workers who are predominantly but not entirely Muslim. The two holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, are in Saudi Arabia. For many reasons, non-Muslims are not permitted to enter the holy cities, although some Western non-Muslims have been able to enter, disguised as Muslims.
Non-Muslims
In 2022, the kingdom's total population was approximately 35 million; it was estimated that of these, over one-third were foreign workers. Foreign workers applying for visas are informed that they have the right to worship privately and to possess personal religious items; however, there is no freedom of religion in the legal system, and there are reports of non-Sunnis being arrested and found guilty of religious crimes.
According to Human Rights Watch, the Shia Muslim minority face systematic discrimination from the Saudi Arabian government in education, the justice system and especially religious freedom. Shias also face discrimination in employment and restrictions are imposed on the public celebration of Shia festivals such as Ashura and on the Shia taking part in communal public worship.
As no faith other than Islam is permitted to be practiced openly; no churches, synagogues, temples, gurudwaras, or other non-Muslim houses of worship are permitted in the country although there were nearly three million Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs in 2022. Foreign workers are not allowed to celebrate Christmas or Easter; private prayer services are suppressed, and the Saudi Arabian religious police reportedly regularly search the homes of Christians. In 2007, Human Rights Watch requested that King Abdullah stop a campaign to round up and deport foreign followers of the Ahmadiyya faith.
Proselytizing by non-Muslims is illegal and conversion by Muslims to another religion (apostasy) carries the death penalty, though there have been no confirmed reports of executions for apostasy. Religious inequality extends to compensation awards in court cases. Once fault is determined, a Muslim receives the full amount of compensation determined, a Jew or Christian half, and all others a sixteenth. Saudi Arabia has officially identified atheists as terrorists; calling "into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based" is seen as terrorism and is a punishable offence.