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.
A report for International Christian Concern 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.
The report cites the case of one Christian in the country, “Nicolas”, a foreign-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.
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.”
Nicolas also recounted incidents in which the religious police would confiscate crosses, question those with Bibles and on one occasion beat and forcibly cut the hair of a Muslim man who had long hair.
Since the reforms of 2016, the religious police are no longer able to enforce Islamic morality in quite such a direct way – they retain only the authority to “observe and report”.
As the 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.”