Religion
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Islamic theocratic monarchy in which Islam is the official religion; the law requires that all Saudi citizens be Muslims. Religious freedom is non-existent. The Government does not provide legal recognition or protection for freedom of religion, and it is severely restricted in practice. Moreover, the public practice of non-Muslim religions is prohibited. The Saudi Mutaween (Arabic: مطوعين), or Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (i.e., the religious police), enforces the prohibition on the public practice of non-Muslim religions.
For this reason, Saudi culture lacks the diversity of religious expression, buildings, annual festivals and public events that is seen in countries where religious freedom is permitted.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of Saudi Arabia
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“When Religion and Royalty are swept away, the people will attack the great, and after the great, they will fall upon the rich.”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)
“Ethics and religion differ herein; that the one is the system of human duties commencing from man; the other, from God. Religion includes the personality of God; Ethics does not.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“You sir, will bring down that renowned chair in which you sit into infamy if your seal is set to this instrument of perfidy; and the name of this nation, hitherto the sweet omen of religion and liberty, will stink to the world.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)