Shi'a Muslims in The Arab World - Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Almost 20% of Saudi Arabia's population belong to Shia sect. The Shī‘as of Saudi Arabia live predominately in Al-Ahsa and Qatif provinces although large numbers are scattered throughout the kingdom. Ismai'li Shī‘as (Sulaymani) and Zaidiyyah also are significant in Najran. There is also a small community of Shia in Medina known as the Nakhawila

The official state position of Saudi Arabia supported by state-backed theologians consider Shī‘a Muslims as heretics. Since the Wahabi takeover with the help of the Saudi family, Shī‘as were subjected to the harsh, puritanical and anti-Shī‘a ideology of the Wahabis backed by the state. By the 1925 the Saud family had taken Mecca and Medina and through the alliance with the Ikhwan, they damaged important Shi'i tombs in the latter city and were only prevented from destroying the tomb of Muhammad by the personal intervention of Ibn Saud. The harshness of Wahabi rule was relaxed when in 1929-1930, Ibn Saud turned on the Ikhwan and destroyed them. From that time onward, although open manifestation of Shī‘a Islam is prohibited, Shī‘as are better tolerated than the era of 1913-1929. In contemporary Saudi Arabia, the Shī‘a have been denied any significant position in the government and lack autonomy in their regional affairs. Shī‘a are excluded from at least 50 percent of Saudi universities and research institutions. The testimony of the Shī‘a Muslims is not permitted in the court and there are no Shī‘a judges in Saudi courts.