Saudi Arabia: Information on whether recent fatwas or religious edicts have been issued denigrating the Shi's faith and advocating that Shi'as should be killed
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 April 1996 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SAU23610.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Saudi Arabia: Information on whether recent fatwas or religious edicts have been issued denigrating the Shi's faith and advocating that Shi'as should be killed, 1 April 1996, SAU23610.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac4b14.html [accessed 31 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The most recent fatwas or religious edicts referred to by the sources consulted by DIRB appear to date back to the early 1990s, and are referred to below. Most recently, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995 states that the Saudi government "is intolerant of the practice of any non-Islamic religion. It also imposes restrictions on the Shi'a Muslim minority," including discrimination against Shi'as "in government and employment" (14 Mar. 1996). The report further states that "Some Sunni clerics advocate stronger government discriminatory measures against Shi'a citizens, accusing them of polytheism and apostasycapital offences punishable by beheading" (ibid.).
Similarly, a 14 March 1995 commentary in the Tehran publication Keyhan states that
The Shiites in Saudi Arabia are deprived of their basic rights and treated as a minority. The Wahhabi clerics consider Shiites to be renegades and polytheists. In this regard we can cite the fatwa (religious decree) of Mufti of Saudi Arabia Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz-bin-Baz [no date given], who accused Shiites of polytheism and apostatsy and banned marriages with Shiites. We can also refer to the fatwa by Bin-Jabrayn who said in 1991 that Shiites were polytheists and deserved to be killed (68-69).
Amnesty International's 14 September 1993 report Saudi Arabia: Religious Intolerance: The Arrest, Detention and Torture of Christian Worshippers and Shi'a Muslims states that
In recent years there have been a number of officially sanctioned fatwas issued by Wahabi religious scholars in the Kingdon which have denigrated the Shi'a faith. These fatwas are considered by many individual Wahabis to be authoritative and their content has thus caused considerable anxiety within the Shi'a community (16).
The report goes on to describe a particular fatwa issued by Sheikh 'Abdullah bin 'Abdul-Raham bin Jabreen of the Council of Senior 'Ulama on 30 September 1990 which describes Shi'as as "mostly polytheists since they always call on 'Ali [the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law] in times of difficulty as well as in times of comfort... This is the greatest act of polytheism and apostasy from Islam for which they deserve to be killed..." (ibid.; see also United Nations 6 Jan. 1993). As well, the Amnesty International report mentions a number of other fatwas in which Shi'as are described as polytheists and apostates, and describes the 3 September 1992 beheading of Shi'a Muslim Sadiq 'Abdul-Karim Malallah for apostasy and blasphemy (14 Sept. 1993, 16-17).
Further information on this topic could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Amnesty International. 14 September 1993. Saudi Arabia: Religious Intolerance: The Arrest, Detention and Torture of Christian Worshippers and Shi'a Muslims. (AI Index: MDE 23/06/93). London: Amnesty International.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995. 14 March 1996. US Department of State. Washington, D.C. Diskette version provided to DIRB by the Immigration and Naturalization Service Resource Information Center.
Keyhan [Tehran, in Persian]. 14 March 1995. Sa'id Khakrend. "Saudi Arabia Putting 'Pressure' on Shiites." (FBIS-NES-95-059 28 Mar. 1995, pp. 68-69)
United Nations. Economic and Social Council. Commission on Human Rights. 6 January 1993. Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief. Report Submitted by Mr. Angelo Vidal d'Almeida Ribeiro, Special Rapporteur Appointed in Accordance with Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1986/20 of 10 March 1986. (UNHCR REFWORLD database)
Attachments
Amnesty International. 14 September 1993. Saudi Arabia: Religious Intolerance: The Arrest, Detention and Torture of Christian Worshippers and Shi'a Muslims. (AI Index: MDE 23/06/93). London: Amnesty International, pp. 16-17.
Keyhan [Tehran, in Persian]. 14 March 1995. Sa'id Khakrend. "Saudi Arabia Putting 'Pressure' on Shiites." (FBIS-NES-95-059 28 Mar. 1995, pp. 68-69)
United Nations. Economic and Social Council, Commission on Human Rights. 6 January 1993. Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief. Report Submitted by Mr. Angelo Vidal d'Almeida Ribeiro, Special Rapporteur Appointed in Accordance with Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1986/20 of 10 March 1986. (UNHCR REFWORLD database), articles 51-53.
