Raif Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in jail, 1000 lashes and a 10 year ban on appearing in media outlets. What for you ask? Simply for criticising Islam. Raif started up a website promoting women’s rights and critiqueuing the state religion. As he is a vocal atheist, Raif is now threatened with a beheading for apostasy. (Write. amnestyusa. org) Mussie Eyob, was arrested whilst sharing his religion on the streets of Saudi Arabia at a local mosque. The death penalty now awaits him. (Christian Freedom International) Surprisingly these stories didn’t occur in ancient times, not even 100 years ago.
It happened in the 21st century. These are just a few snapshots of religious persecution that exists in the country of Saudi Arabia. Yearly, hundreds of innocent men, women and children are jailed and executed for the so-called crime of practising their faith or none at all. To date, Saudi Arabia has performed more beheadings than ISIS. Today I will be speaking about the voiceless religious and political minorities in this Arab Nation who are oppressed under a theocratic dictatorship.
Background Information Saudi Arabia is an Arab state located in Western Asia. It covers a landmass of around 2 million km2 and borders Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. This oil rich nation has a population of 30 million and is one of the wealthiest in the region. It is officially known as the ‘birthplace of Islam’ and it hosts a yearly mass pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca. Saudi Arabia is a theocracy, meaning that the laws are detirmined by Interpretations of religious text and there is no separation between religion and state.
The nation has come under constant fire for its arbitrary and oppressive laws which undermine the freedoms of its citizens. It is a punishable offence for a women to drive, vote, show any skin and walk around in public without the presence of a male. It is legal to marry someone at any age and anyone who critics the government risks execution. Being gay or lesbian and having sex outside of marriage is also prohibited. Today I will be focusing on one aspect of rights abuse, and that is the abuse of religious and non-religious minorities.
Such restrictions on religion include, the prohibition of non-Islamic places of Worship, bibles, atheistic literature, discussion and changing of religion, criticising Islamic ideas or so called ‘blasphemy’ against the prophet Mohammad. (Cia. gov) Who is being persecuted? The official religion in Saudi Arabia is the Sunni form of Islam. As stated before, Saudi Arabia’s theocratic rule prohibits the free practise of any other religion. It is also illegal to convert from Sunni Islam to another faith. This means that persecution falls heavily on anyone who does not practice this form of Islam.
This includes Buddhists, Shi’ite Muslims, Christians, Jews and individuals who espouse atheistic or agnostic worldviews. Shia Muslims make up roughly 5% of the population and are often subject to discrimination by law enforcement officers due to their differing interpretation of the Koran. Up until 2004, the countries’ website prohibited Jews from entering and to date anyone with an Israeli passport cannot enter the country. Atheism is defined as ‘terrorism’ by the nation’s leaders and non-religious communities are often the victim of the largest amount of persecution.
Christians risk being killed or abused by their own families. House churches are often raided by the religious police. (Arabicbible. com) Who is doing the persecuting (Power Structure? ) The power structure of Saudi Arabia is controlled by the King, who is both the head of state and the head of government. Islamic Scripture is declared to be the constitution of the country. The laws relating to religion are managed by the royal family while “justice, education, and family matters”, being related to religion, are handled by “the religious establishment”.
Saudi Arabia has remained a religious nation ever since the birth of Islam in 600AD, the means that the culture has retained the values and traditions which were present back then. This has fostered a cultural view of religion which sees it not just as a personal and private matter, but a political and civil matter. This is unlike developed western democracies where faith is a personal choice and religious tolerance is a paramount value. (Countrystudies. us) What’s being done (punishments? The following information is an overview of the different punishments for individuals who violate the prohibitions on religious freedom. Death by hanging is given to anyone who willingly converts away from Islam, burns the Koran or criticises the prophet Muhammad.
The distribution of non-Islamic literature or openly discussing religion result in hefty gaol sentences Non-Muslim worshipers risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation, and sometimes torture for engaging in overt religious activity that attracts official attention. Wikipedia) UN Human Rights Violations Religious persecution in Saudi Arabia stands in violation of articles 1, 2, 5, 7, 18, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Un. org) • Article 1 and 7 states that citizens entitled to equality before the law. Whilst article 2 states ‘everyone is entitled to rights and freedoms without distinction to their religion. ‘ – Saudi Arabia has failed to treat all of its citizens equally and actively promote the segregation of nonSunni Muslims and Sunni Muslims.
• Articles 5 states that ‘No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. – Saudi Arabia contradicts this clause by unjustly executing prisoners of conscious and subjecting minority groups in prison to cruel and unusual forms of punishment such as whip lashing. • Articles 18, 19 and 20 declare that all humans have a right to freedom of thought, religion, expression and peaceful assembly. – Even the smallest analysis of laws in Saudi Arabia would indicate that the country stands in violation of all of these articles. Religious minorities are forbidden from openly practising and expressing their religion. Non-Islamic places of worship are permanently banned in the kingdom.
