Christmas trees are on sale in Saudi Arabia for the first time
By: Benjamin Richards
Tags: Middle East, Christmas, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

For the first time, Christmas decorations and decorative lights in different colours are on sale in a shop in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. Today, in a souvenir shop in the Saudi capital, you will find Christmas trees and decorations, in a scene that was difficult even to imagine years ago in the Islamic Conservative Kingdom.In recent years, after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman vowed to lead a kingdom “moderate and free” of radical precepts, these sales have begun to appear steadily in Riyadh as a sign of easing social constraints.

In its jurisdiction, Saudi authorities ban the practise of religious rituals other than Islamic ones. In addition to Christmas trees, Santa Claus, lights, reindeer, gift boxes, and home decorations for Christian Eve are sold in the gift shop. In Saudi Arabia, I never thought I would see it.”I never imagined I would see it in Saudi Arabia.”Recently, Riyadh saw the end of the position of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Sin, functioning as a religious police force. Christmas products have been purchased almost secretly from a neighbour in the United Arab Emirates for decades, while Christians from the Philippines, Lebanon, and other countries celebrated Christmas behind closed doors or in places where foreigners live.

Mary, a Lebanese woman living in the capital of Riyadh, has mentioned in the past that similar products have been difficult to find in the kingdom, especially during Christmas. “Many of my friends use to buy them from Lebanon or Syria and then secretly took them to Saudi Arabia.” She added. In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman undertook several reforms, enabling concerts, reopening cinemas, and allowing women to drive as part of his plans to modernise the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.The shop manager selling Christmas decorations in Riyadh confirms that in the past, in the midst of the scepticism of their local clients, they have sold Halloween costumes.

In its latest study, the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom states that while Saudi Arabia has made some fundamental legal reforms, especially with regard to women’s rights, the underlying systemic impediments to religious freedom in the country have not been addressed.In April, at the time they reportedly committed their crimes, Riyadh carried out a mass execution of Shia Muslims, including some minors. No public worship for non-Muslims is permitted in the country, and the government continues to harass and surveil members of these groups.

“Women, such as Loujain al-Hathloul, who dissent from the government’s mandatory religious guardianship laws have been detained and subjected to severe mistreatment,” Washington reports, highlighting that the Saudi government released content on social media referring to feminism as a form of extremism on several occasions in 2019.USCIRF Religious Prisoner of Conscience Raif Badawi was refused access to books and medication at the end of 2019 and then went on a protest hunger strike. USCIRF recommended in its 2019 Annual Report that the U.S. Saudi Arabia is designated by the State Department as a “country of special concern” (CPC) because of its systemic, continuing and egregious violations of religious freedom.