page_title: Persecution of Christians
section_title: Saudi Arabia
hierarchical_section_title: Persecution of Christians / Current situation (1989 to the present) / In the Muslim world / Saudi Arabia
caption_attribution_description: English: Road signs in Saudi Arabia. The small Arabic writing reads للمسلمين فقط lil-muslimīn faqat "For Muslims only" and لغير المسلمين lighayr al-muslimīn "For non-Muslims"...
context_page_description: The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targets of persecution, sometimes to the point of being martyred for their faith, ever since the emergence of Christianity. Since the emergence of Christian states in Late Antiquity, Christians have also been persecuted by other Christians over differences in doctrine characterized as heresy.
  Early Christians were persecuted for their faith at the hands of both the Jews, from whose religion Christianity arose, and the Romans who controlled many of the lands across which early Christianity was spread in the Roman Empire. Early in the fourth century, the empire's official persecutions were ended by the Edict of Serdica and the practice of Christianity legalized by the Edict of Milan. Shortly thereafter, Christians began persecuting each other.
  The schisms of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages – including the Rome–Constantinople schisms and the many Christological controversies – together with the later Protestant Reformation provoked severe conflicts between Christian denominations.
context_section_description: Saudi Arabia is an Islamic state that practices Wahhabism and restricts all other religions, including the possession of religious items such as the Bible, crucifixes, and Stars of David. Strict sharia is enforced. Muslims are forbidden to convert to another religion. If one does so and does not recant, they can be executed.
caption: "Non-Muslim Bypass:" Non-Muslims are barred from entering Mecca and Medina.[362][363]
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