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Concept
Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia
Summary
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, and conversion from Islam to another religion is considered apostasy and punishable by death. Blasphemy against Sunni Islam is also punishable by death, but the more common penalty is a long prison sentence; there have been 'no confirmed reports of executions for either apostasy or blasphemy' in the 21st century.
Religious freedom is not provided for under the law. The government does not provide legal recognition or protection for freedom of religion, and it is severely restricted in practice. As a matter of policy, the government guarantees and protects the right to private worship for all, including non-Muslims who gather in homes for religious practice; however, this right is not respected in practice and is not defined in law.
The Saudi Mutaween (مطوعين), also known as the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) or "religious police" was enforcing the prohibition on the public practice of non-Muslim religions, though its powers were significantly curtailed in April 2016. Sharia applies to all people inside Saudi Arabia, regardless of religion.
The country’s total land area is about 2,150,000 sq kilometers and in 2022 the population was about 34 million, of whom approximately 19 million were citizens. Comprehensive statistics for the religious denominations of foreigners are not available, but estimated figures show approximately 31.5 Muslims from the various branches and schools of Islam, 2.1 million Christians (including Eastern Orthodox, Protestants, and Roman Catholics), 708,000 Hindus, 114,000 Buddhists, approximately 67,000 Sikhs, and 242,000 atheists.
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