Hello dprk007.
Saudi Arabia is officially an Islamic state. You ask, "What
percentage of its citizens are non-muslim?" And the official answer
to that is simple: None. Saudi law requires ALL its citizens to be
Muslim.
International Religious Freedom Report 2004
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35507.htm.
But you appear to be interested in the residents of Saudi Arabia as a
whole, not just its citizens. The population of Saudi Arabia is
approximately 24 million, of which 6 to 7 million are foreigners. Of
that 6 to 7 million, approximately 1.4 million are Indian; 1 million
are Bangladeshi; .9 million are Pakistani; .8 million are Filipino; 1
million are Egyption and Palestinian; 150,000 are Lebanese; 130,000
are Sri Lankan; 40,000 are Eritrean; and 30,000 are American.
International Religious Freedom Report 2004
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35507.htm.
According to the International Religious Freedom Report, statistics on
the religious breakdown of the foreign population are not available.
This is probably the result of it being against the law in Saudi
Arabia for non-Muslims to worship in public, and there is substantial
harassment and official discouragement of non-Muslim worship even in
private. More on that later. We can, however, make educated
estimates. Note that a good proportion of the foreigners in Saudi
Arabia are from other states that also impose Islam as the state
religion. Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Egypt all declare Islam to be the
state religion and are Muslim by a vast, vast majority.
Bangladesh is 88 percent Muslim (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3452.htm)
Pakistan is 97 percent Muslim (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3453.htm)
Egypt is 90 percent Muslim (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5309.htm)
India, the largest contributor of foreign workers to Saudi Arabia, is
majority Hindu but has a substantial (12%) Muslim minority.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3454.htm
The Report indicates that 90 percent of the Filipino population of
Saudi Arabia is Christian. It also indicates that the US Conference
of Catholic Bishops believes that there are between .5M and 1M
Catholics in Saudi Arabia. Since most Filipinos (85%) are, indeed,
Catholic, this would make sense -- 90% of the Filipino population of
.8M would give you 720,000 Catholics, in line with both the Report and
the Catholic Bishops. (See http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2794.htm)
Lebanon's religious makeup is controversial, and depends in part on
whether you consider Druze to be "true Muslim" or not. If you count
Druze as Muslim, Lebanon is about 70% Muslim.
http://www.cfr.org/pub8195/esther_pan/lebanon_election_results.php
If you don't, it's about 40%.
Sri Lanka is about 7% Muslim. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5249.htm
Eritrea is about 50% Muslim. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2854.htm
If we make the assumption that the expat population of Saudi Arabia is
roughly of similar makeup to their home countries' population as a
whole, that gives us:
Bangladesh: 880,000 Muslims
Pakistan: 873,000 Muslims
Egyptian/Palestinian: 900,000 Muslims
India: 168,000 Muslims
Lebanon: 60,000 non-Druze Muslims
Eritrea: 20,000 Muslims
U.S. negligible -- most estimates place the Muslim population of the
U.S. below 1%. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_United_States#Demography_and_Ethnic_Background
Accordingly, of the 6-7M expats in Saudi Arabia, nearly half -- some
2.9M -- are themselves Muslim. Doing the math (24M total population,
4.1M non-Muslim), about 83% of the Saudi Arabian population (including
foreigners) is Muslim.
Your second question -- would there be repercussions if a Saudi Muslim
renounced Islam -- is easier to answer. Emphatically, yes. It is
called "apostasy," and is punishable by death.
Amesty International reports that people have been executed in Saudi
Arabia for apostasy as recently as 1992, and for "magic and
witchcraft" as recently as 1996.
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engMDE230152001?OpenDocument&of=COUNTRIES/SAUDI+ARABIA
However, the death sentence has not been imposed for apostasy in
several years. Instead, convicted apostates have been sentenced to as
many as 300 lashes.
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35507.htm
Finally, you ask what facilities exist to allow non-Muslims to
practice their religion. Again, easy answer -- none. It is unlawful
for non-Muslims to practice their religion in public.
Again, from the State Department report:
"The Government prohibits public non-Muslim religious activities.
Non-Muslim worshippers risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing,
deportation, and sometimes torture for engaging in religious activity
that attracts official attention."
Officially, non-Muslims are permitted to worship in private. However,
in practice, that still carries significant risk. First, it is nearly
impossible for non-Muslims to obtain or import religious items such as
Bibles. It is unlawful to distribute them within the country.
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35507.htm
Second, the definition of "private" is deliberately left vague. Saudi
Arabia deploys religious police, or "mutawwain," specifically to
enforce religious restrictions. If those mutawwain discover
non-Muslim religious observance, they punish it -- without regard to
where it is taking place. For example, Human Rights Watch reports
that eleven foreigners were arrested and detained for practicing their
religion in their homes. Once arrested and detained, harsh punishment
can be assumed -- torture and beatings are routine in Saudi jails.
http://www.hrw.org/wr2k3/mideast6.html
The mutawwain are so zealous about enforcing religious dictates that
they prevented schoolgirls from fleeing a burning building -- because
the girls were not wearing the required abayas and head coverings.
Fifteen girls died as a result, and more than 50 were injured.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1874471.stm
http://hrw.org/press/2002/03/saudischool.htm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-383044,00.html
I hope you found this information helpful and interesting. Let me
know if I can provide any further assistance. |
