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There is change in the air in Saudi Arabia. In June 2017, King Salman made his son, Mohammed bin Salman, first in line to the throne. Since then, the Crown Prince has been considered as Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, and seems to be bringing liberal reform to a strictly Muslim nation. But will this change mean more freedom for religious minorities?
No churches. No crosses. A hidden faith. This is the experience of Christians in Saudi Arabia, which was ranked at number 1 on the first ever Open Doors World Watch List in 1993. Being a majority-Muslim country means religions or traditions other than strict Sunni Islam enjoy very little freedom. For native Saudis, openly converting to Christianity is impossible. Apostasy from Islam is (in theory) punishable by death, and many believers from a Muslim background hide their faith from their families for fear of retribution.
But there is change in the air. In June 2017, King Salman made his son, Mohammed bin Salman, first in line to the throne. Since then, the Crown Prince has been considered as Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, and seems to be bringing liberal reform to a strictly Muslim nation.
But will this change mean more freedom for religious minorities?
Open Doors, which supports the body of Christ on the Arabian Peninsula through organising prayer, distributing Scripture resources and training believers and pastors, spoke to foreign Christians in Saudi, who anonymously gave their perspective on the changing times and what that might mean for believers in the country.
“Everything is changing,” said one Christian. “Some people are more open to the Christian message, but others are radicalising. This is a crossroads. If it works, it will bring huge change and more freedom to this country. If it fails, Saudi might be the next Yemen – only worse… this is either going to be a huge [spiritual] awakening, or it will be one of the biggest bloodbaths in history.”
An Indian pastor – another Christian living in Saudi – commented on how things had changed since Saudi’s religious police force, Muttawah, was stripped of its authority to make arrests in 2016.
“Before that, nobody could carry a Bible in the streets without getting arrested and harassed,” he said. “Now we can. Before, it was very dangerous for a non-Christian to visit a Christian meeting, but now there is less fear.”
A third Christian expressed worry over the idea of a more moderate form of Islam becoming the norm.
“A repressive religious system can cause people to ask questions,” he explained. “Look at what is happening in Iran today: the more Christians are persecuted, the more the church seems to grow. If Saudi would adopt a more moderate form of Islam, open to all sorts of ideas, that might actually be more difficult to turn away from than a very strict Islam.”
On his first trip abroad, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited the Coptic Church in Cairo, Egypt, where he met with Coptic Pope Tawadros II.
An Open Doors persecution analyst considers this a very positive step: “This meeting with the head of the Coptic Church gives a clear message that the Crown Prince is taking his promise to promote a more moderate style of Islam seriously. Although this may be a positive step, there is still a long way to go. Saudi Arabia – as the proud custodian of Islamic holy sites – still denies the fact that there are Saudi Christians in its kingdom.”
Saudi Arabia is number 12 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2018, which ranks the 50 countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian.
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Your support helps persecuted Christians continue to courageously follow Jesus.
Together, we can reach those where persecution hits hardest.
