Problems and needs
The Christian Church in Saudi Arabia is living under the most difficult circumstances. The regime has declared the entire Arabian peninsula 'haram,' forbidden to all other religions, and it is enforcing this prohibition strictly. Freedom of religion does not exist. The Government prohibits the practice of other religions, be it in public or in private. Saudi law states that no churches may be built north of Yemen and south of Jordan. It is impossible for foreigners to visit Saudi Arabia as tourists. One can only enter the kingdom on business visa (i.e. on the invitation of a company already active in the country), or as a Muslim pilgrim.
The survey of problems and needs of the Church in Saudi Arabia is completely determined by the total prohibition of any religion but Islam.
1. Heavy surveillance of Saudi society by the Mutawwa'in and the Ministry of the Interior
The Saudi religious police (Mutawwa'in) is practically omnipresent in Saudi Arabia. Their power is almost limitless. The Mutawwa'in have special prisons where they torture their victims. Their behaviour is often ruthless. Their aim is to ascertain that all citizens (and expatriates) adhere to strict Islamic legislation.
On church meetings
As already stated, it is totally forbidden to practise any religion in Saudi Arabia except for Islam. The religious police see it as their main task to track down believers of other religions and of preventing gatherings of these believers. For this reason they have constructed a wide network on informers. Meetings of Christians therefore have to take place in the deepest form of secrecy. It is also one of the reasons why expatriate Christians are reluctant to admit Saudi nationals to their meetings.
Meetings of Christians can only take place informally in people's homes or at embassy compounds. These secret gatherings are hunted down with increasing diligence and the leaders subjected to humiliating beatings, imprisonment and expulsion from the country. This is particularly so for the Asian Christians who have been the most effective witnesses for Jesus. Few expatriates have meaningful contacts with Saudis under these circumstances.
Expatriate Christians live under strict surveillance. They can show no outward signs of being a Christian. They must be very careful especially with Christmas holidays when the Mutawwa'in further step up their already tight surveillance.
On daily life
The Mutawwa'in control every aspect of daily life. They patrol the streets in their cars, check in shops if women are dressed according to Islamic dress codes, see that all shops are closed during prayer times, watch that no signs of other religions are visible, etc.
The Mutawwa'in have the authority to detain people for no more than 24 hours for violation of behaviour standards. However, they sometimes exceed this limit before delivering prisoners to the regular police. Current procedures require a police officer to accompany the Mutawwa'in before the latter makes an arrest, although this requirement is often ignored. A number of long-term foreign residents have attested that the Mutawwa'in are much more active in harassing individuals than a decade ago, and have become increasingly active since the Gulf War.
A few examples of the activities of the Mutawwa'in will suffice to show their tactics.
On the eve of the new year, Mutawwa'in raided a private party and arrested dozens of young Saudis and foreigners, including minors, for associating with unrelated persons of the opposite sex, and for suspicion of possessing alcohol. One prisoner was chained to a chair after arrest and struck by several Mutawwa'in. He was later forced to stand with his arms outstretched; whenever his arms lowered from exhaustion a uniformed policeman would ignite a cigarette lighter under his outstretched arms and fingers. Other persons attending the party were also physically abused during and after their arrest.
Systematic discrimination based on sex and religion are built into Saudi law. By religious law and social custom, women have the right to own property and are entitled to financial support from their husbands or male relatives. However, women have few political and social rights and are not treated as equal members of society. There are no active women's rights groups, nor would one be tolerated by the Government. Women, including foreigners, may not legally drive motor vehicles or ride bicycles and are restricted in their use of public facilities when men are present. Women must enter city buses by separate rear entrances and sit in specially designated sections. Women risk arrest by the Mutawwa'in for riding in a vehicle driven by a male who is not an employee or a close male relative. Women are not admitted to a hospital for medical treatment without the consent of their male relative(s). By law and custom, women may not undertake domestic and foreign travel alone.
In public women are expected to wear the abaya, a black garment covering the entire body. A woman's head and face should also be covered. The Mutawwa'in generally expect women from Arab countries, Asia and Africa to comply more fully with Saudi customs of dress than they do Western women; nonetheless, in recent years they have increased pressure on Western women to wear the abaya and cover their hair.
On media and telecommunications
The law severely limits freedom of speech and press. The authorities do not countenance criticism of Islam, the ruling family, of the government. Persons whose criticism align with an organised political opposition are subject to arrest and detention until they confess their crime or sign a statement promising not to resume such criticisms, which is tantamount to a confession.
There are as many as 300,000 satellite receiving dishes which provide citizens with foreign broadcasts. The legal status of these devices is ambiguous. The government ordered a halt to import in 1992 - at the request of religious leaders who objected to foreign programming available on satellite channels. In March 1994, the Government banned the sale, installation, and maintenance of dishes and supporting devices, but the number of dishes continues to increase and residents may legally subscribe to satellite decoding services that require a dish.
On borders
Customs officials routinely open mail for contraband including material deemed pornographic as well as non-Muslims religious material. They regularly confiscate materials deemed offensive. This may also include personal Bibles in foreign languages. The authorities use informants, wiretaps, and open mail in internal security matters.
2. Underground church is strong but not rooted in the country
The number of expatriate Christians in Saudi Arabia is high. The number of (nominal) Christians is several hundreds of thousands, but the number of practising Christians is only a fraction of that. All expatriate Christians are under surveillance of the Mutawwa'in (see previous paragraph). When they suspect a person, the Mutawwa'in will not hesitate to bug telephones, perform house searches, or to follow people.
In fact, one can say that there are three 'layers' of churches in Saudi Arabia:
the 'tolerated fellowships' on compounds and in embassies;
the underground evangelical house groups meeting in private homes;
and the secret believers who do not meet in larger groups.
The gatherings on compounds and in embassies are more or less formal, but they can only happen when Christians keep a low profile and allow no Saudis to join their meetings. Christians in Saudi Arabia have stated that their underground, expatriate church is strong. It has to be admitted, though, that this church is not rooted in the country. There are no believers with Saudi citizenship in these churches. Saudis who have converted often want to stay secret, they never meet in larger groups. This means that there is very little contact between local and expatriate Christians.
Apart from this problem, most expatriate believers stay for only a few years. The underground congregations are very mobile, often turning over completely in about five years time. This has an advantage as it makes them more difficult to track down for the Mutawwa'in. The vast majority of the expatriate Christians in Saudi Arabia have no desire to reach out or get involved in evangelistic activities. It was not the aim of their coming to Saudi Arabia. Most of the expatriates are hard, materialistic, isolated and frustrated.
3. Maltreatment of (Christian) prisoners
There were credible reports that the authorities continued to torture and otherwise abuse prisoners, including foreigners in 1998. A common method of torture is beating, especially 'fallaqa,' which is a beating on the soles of the feet. The authorities also deprive prisoners of sleep.
Expatriate Christians who have been in jail in Saudi Arabia have made well-known the situation in Saudi prisons. Filipino Christian Oswaldo Magdangal wrote a horrifying booklet ('Sentenced to Death') about his time of imprisonment in Saudi Arabia. Arrested in 1992, Magdangal was sentenced to be hanged on 25 December 1992. He was kept in strict isolation, was interrogated many times and tortured excessively. Beatings on his foot soles were common practice. Magdangal was unexpectedly released after foreign pressure and deported to the Philippines on the day he was supposed to be hanged.
More recent examples are seven Indian Christians who were arrested on 22 December 1995 when the Mutawwa'in raided a house congregation. 54 Christians had gathered for Christmas prayer as the religious police intervened. They interrogated the Christians and arrested seven Christians whom they suspected of being church leaders. The Christians were abused so severely that friends could hardly recognise two of them when they were released. The released Christians told their friends that the Mutawwa'in had made extensive use of kicking, hitting, and slapping them while at the same time extolling the greatness of Islam.
Roman Catholic lay worker Donnie Lama was arrested in November 1995 and was accused of acting as a lay preacher. The Muttawa'in raided his house and discovered some photographs of Lama leading a prayer meetings. Before his release on 18 March 1997, Lama and his fellow cellmates had to share their cell with a violent Saudi madman who had killed his brother. He showed abnormal and unusual behaviour by attempting suicide by hanging himself and hitting his head on the wall and on the floor. The guards ignored the calls for help by Lama. Later, a court sentenced Lama to 1.5 years. At the end he received 70 lashes and was deported from the country.
Eight Filipinos and one Dutch citizen detained by Saudi police in a sweep of arrests begun June 5 were deported to their home countries in mid-July. The Saudi Ministry of Interior had kept the men under incommunicado detention from 10 to 37 days.
Eight of the prisoners said they were investigated for distribution of Christian materials in the Arabic language, while one Filipino was accused of pastoring a church of expatriate Christians in Riyadh. Some of the deported Christians had worked in Saudi Arabia for as long as 18 years. They were employed as engineers, sales personnel, laboratory technicians, defense subcontractors and multi-media staff.
Stories like the above indicated the necessity of making the cases of Christian prisoners in Saudi Arabia know to the public. It seems that the Saudi authorities can be influenced by negative Western publicity. In practically all cases known so far, the result was speedy deportation of Christians from the country. At present there are at least three Filipino Christians in Saudi priosons: Rene Camahort, Rudy Martin and Gino Moriones.
4. National mind-set of Saudis
World view based on religion
Islam was founded in Saudi Arabia more than 1300 years ago. For Muslims the Arabian peninsula became the centre of the world. The two holiest mosques of Islam are located in Saudi Arabia, and today more than one billion Muslims turn five times per day towards Mecca in prayer (or rather they should do so if they are faithful Muslims). It has also resulted in at least two million Muslims coming to Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj.
Islam provides a framework for all thinking. Of course the Koran does not provide answers for all questions of life and the problems encountered in daily life, but Muslims can always turn to the Hadieth. The example set by Mohammed in his lifetime still determines the life of every faithful Muslim. Central theme in Islam is the Oneness of Allah, which is (or rather should be) reflected in the Oneness of society (the umma). In politics this means a great stress of the unity of the Islamic world (hardly visible for realistic people) and of the unity of Islam.
What this means for the world view of Muslims is also clear. Muslims define the world into two separate realms: the Dar el Islam (the world where Islam rules), and the Dar el Harb (literally: the house of war). This is the part of the world still to be conquered by Islam. Since Islam is the superior religion, all non-Muslims are seen as potential converts.
Sad very sad!
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.