Saudi Arabia is a country with a long heritage and close ties to Islam, which continue to effect the culture and climate of the nation into the present day. In a nation where women are not allowed to drive, not because of any government law, but because of a fatwa from the country's clerics, many people believe that change and progress are not happening soon enough. More than half of the country's graduates are women, but only 17% of these women are in the workforce compared to 75% of the men who are graduates. One main reason for this has been the belief that men and women should not associate with one another, particularly in the work force. This attitude is more strictly enforced in some parts of the country than others. Most of the women who are working are employed by the government. Only about 5% of working women are in private sector jobs. The monarchy says that it is working for change, but that it cannot enact laws that the people are not ready to receive. These restrictions for women are indicative of the restrictions for Christians. Christians are not allowed to meet together and worship. Evangelizing is prohibited and the country has a religious police force to carry out its agenda. It is not only the country's laws that are restrictive to Christians, but the social pressures and cultural attitudes do not allow for freedom of religion; whether to practice Christianity or to convert to Christianity. As Saudi Arabia struggles to find its place in the 21st century, change is coming. How much change and what kind are yet to be seen. As women's rights grow, and more light is shed on that issue, hopefully freedom of religion can grow as well and Christians will have the right to stand up and have their voices heard. As we pray for Saudi Arabia this month, let's pray for the Christians living there and for the people who are taking a stand for change, that their light would shine brightly a midst their present darkness.
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Saudi Arabia
Basic Info: Saudi Arabia is about the size of Europe and it is located in the Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, north of Yemen. About 82% of the population is urban. One of their largest issues is desertification and a depletion of their underground water resources. Due to their lack of perennial rivers and permanent bodies of water, the country has developed extensive seawater desalination facilities. They also have an issue with pollution off their coast from oil spills. Saudi Arabia is a destination country for men and women from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, and many other countries who voluntarily travel to Saudi Arabia as domestic servants or other low-skilled laborers, but some end up facing conditions indicative of involuntary servitude. Women, primarily from Asian and African countries, were believed to have been forced into prostitution in Saudi Arabia. Others were reportedly kidnapped and forced into prostitution after running away from abusive employers. Yemeni, Nigerian, Pakistani, Afghan, Chadian, and Sudanese children were subject to forced labor as beggars and street vendors in Saudi Arabia, facilitates by criminal gangs. Some Saudi nationals travel to destinations including Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh to solicit prostitution. Saudi Arabia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. However, the government undertook some efforts to improve its response to the vast human trafficking problem in its country, including training government officials on its 2009 anti-trafficking law and conducting surprise visits to places where victims may be found. It also achieved its first conviction under its human trafficking law, but the government did not prosecute and punish a significant number of trafficking offenders or significantly improve victim protection services. The government has been working on improving its legislation and enforcement for money laundering, and drug traffickers face the death penalty.
Government: Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, and
the king’s official title is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, referring
to Mecca and Medina. The current state
was founded in 1932 by Abd Al-Aziz bin Abd al-Rahman Al Saud (Ibn Saud) after a
30 year campaign to unify most of the Arabian Peninsula. One of his male descendants rules the country
today as required by the country’s 1992 Basic Law. King Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz ascended to the
throne in 2005. Following Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia accepted the Kuwaiti royal family and
400,000 refugees while allowing Western and Arab troops to deploy on its soil
for the liberation of Kuwait the following year. The continuing presence of foreign troops on
Saudi soil after the liberation of Kuwait became a source of tension between
the royal family and the public until all operational US troops left the
country in 2003. Major terrorist attacks
in May and November 2003 spurred a strong ongoing campaign against domestic
terrorism and extremism. King Abdallah
has continued the cautious reform program begun when he was crown prince. The king instituted an interfaith dialogue
initiative in 2008 to encourage religious tolerance on a global level. In 2009, he reshuffled the cabinet, which led
to more moderates holding ministerial and judicial positions, and appointed the
first female to the cabinet. The 2010-11 uprising across Middle Eastern and
North African countries sparked modest incidents in Saudi cities, predominantly
by Shia demonstrators calling for the release of detainees and the withdrawal
from Bahrain of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Peninsula Shield Force. Protests in general were met by a strong
police presence, with some arrests, but not the level of bloodshed seen in
protests elsewhere in the region. In
response to the unrest, King Abdallah in February and March 2011 announced a
series of benefits to Saudi citizens including funds to build affordable
housing, salary increases for government workers, and unemployment
benefits. To promote increased political
participation, the government held elections nationwide in September 2011 for
half the members of 285 municipal councils.
Also in September, the king announced that women will be allowed to run
for and vote in future municipal elections-first held in 2005-and serve as full
members of the advisory Consultative Council.
The legal system is Sharia law with some elements of Egyptian, French
and customary law; several secular codes have been introduced.
Economy: Saudi Arabia has an oil-based economy with strong government controls over major economic activities. It possesses about one-fifth of the world's proven petroleum reserves, ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading role in OPEC. The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 80% of budget revenues, 45% of GDP, and 90% of export earnings. Saudi Arabia is encouraging the growth of the private sector in order to diversify its economy and to employ more Saudi nationals. About 80% of the work force is non-nationals. Diversification efforts are focusing on power generation, telecommunications, natural gas exploration, and petrochemical sectors. Almost 6 million foreign workers play an important role in the Saudi economy, particularly in the oil and service sectors, while the capital city of Riyadh is struggling to reduce unemployment among its own nationals. Saudi officials are particularly focused on employing its large youth population, which generally lacks the education and technical skills the private sector needs. Riyadh has substantially boosted spending on job training and education, most recently with the opening of the King Abdallah University of Science and Technology - Saudi Arabia's first co-educational university. As part of its effort to attract foreign investment, Saudi Arabia acceded to the WTO in December 2005 after many years of negotiations. The government has begun establishing six "economic cities" in different regions of the country to promote foreign investment and plans to spend $373 billion between 2010 and 2014 on social development and infrastructure projects to advance Saudi Arabia's economic development. Broadcast media are controlled by the state and Saudi Arabia is a major market for pan-Arab satellite TV broadcasters.
Religion: Claim 100% Muslim (Muslim 92.41%, Christians 5.43%, Hindu .78% and other 1.38%) Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and all other religions are forbidden. The Wahhabi brand of Sunni Islam is implemented and regulated by the state. Attacks against Christians and human rights abuses have been on the rise since King Abdullah came to the throne in 2005. The country has one of the worst human rights records in the world. Saudi citizens do not have the freedom to choose or change their religion. Any person involved in evangelism, including the distribution of literature, faces jail, expulsion, or execution. It is common for false charges, like drug allegations, to be made against evangelists. Even foreign visitors are not allowed to gather together for religious worship. Converts to Christianity face the death penalty if discovered and executions are definitely known to happen. In August 2008, a young Saudi woman in Buraydah was killed by her brother, a Muslim cleric and religious police member of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, after she proclaimed her Christian faith to her family. Saudi authorities arrested a 28 year old Christian man in January 2009 for describing his conversion from Islam and criticizing the kingdom’s judiciary on his blog. On January 1, 2011, new regulations went into effect, requiring all Saudi news blogs and electronic news sites to be strictly licensed, to “include the call to the religion of Islam” and to strictly abide by Islamic Shariah law. The requirements are being combined with strict regulations on what topics Saudi bloggers can write on; which means Saudi authorities will have the right to shut down blogs at their discretion.
Information compiled from CIAWorldFactBook "Saudi
Arabia"; VOMC "Saudi Arabia"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Inside the Saudi Kingdom (BBC Documentary) (Nov 25, 2012)
Saudi Arabia planning a city just for women (Aug 13, 2012)
Saudi woman campaigns for right to drive (May 21, 2011)
Workplace rules eased for Saudi Arabia's women (Dec 15, 2012)
