Irreligion in Saudi Arabia

Irreligion in Saudi Arabia is difficult to measure as it is illegal to leave the Islamic faith in the country.[1][2][3] Most atheists in Saudi Arabia communicate with each other via the internet.[4][5]

According to a Gallup poll, 19% of Saudi Arabians are not religious and 5% are atheists.[6][7][8]

According to Richard Dawkins in a 2016 interview with Matt Dillahunty an illicit arabic translation of his book The God Delusion exist and it has been downloaded about 10 million times in Arab world and 3.0 to 3.5 million times in Saudi Arabia, which gives an estimate of about 10% people who are irreligious. [9]

In March 2014, the Saudi interior ministry issued a royal decree branding all atheists as terrorists, which defines terrorism as "calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based."[10]

Apostasy is punishable by the death penalty.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Why Are Saudis Tearing Up the Quran?". Vocativ. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  2. ↑ "Atheists Classified As Terrorists Under New Saudi Arabian Laws". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  3. ↑ "Saudi Arabia: A wave of atheism or a misunderstanding". Al Arabiya. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
  4. ↑ "'Fighting Reality': Life as an atheist in Saudi Arabia". Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
  5. ↑ "Interview with a Saudi atheist". Your Middle East. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  6. ↑ "Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism" (PDF). Gallup. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
  7. ↑ "A surprising map of where the world’s atheists live". Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  8. ↑ "Atheism explodes in Saudi Arabia, despite state-enforced ban". Salon. Retrieved 2014-06-14.
  9. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHg5ONEajjM
  10. ↑ Adam Withnall (1 April 2014). "Saudi Arabia declares all atheists are terrorists in new law to crack down on political dissidents - Middle East - World". The Independent. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Saudi executioner tells all". BBC News. 5 June 2003.

Further reading

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