section_path: Demographics/Religion
section_name: Religion
paragraph_text: Religion
  
  Virtually all Saudi citizens and residents are Muslim; by law, all citizens of the country are Muslim. Estimates of the Sunni population range between 85% and 90%, with the remaining 10 to 15% being Shia Muslim, practicing either Twelver Shi'ism or Sulaymani Ismailism. The official and dominant form of Sunni Islam is Salafism, commonly known as Wahhabism, which was founded in the Arabian Peninsula by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in the 18th century. Other denominations, such as the minority Shia Islam, are systematically suppressed. Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia are largely found in the Eastern Province, particularly in Qatif and Al–Ahsa.
  
  There are an estimated 1.5 million Christians in Saudi Arabia, almost all foreign workers. Saudi Arabia allows Christians to enter the country as temporary foreign workers but does not allow them to practice their faith openly. There are officially no Saudi citizens who are Christians, as Saudi Arabia forbids religious conversion from Islam (apostasy) and punishes it by death. According to the Pew Research Center, there are 390 000 Hindus in Saudi Arabia, almost all foreign workers. There may be a significant fraction of atheists and agnostics, although they are officially called "terrorists". In its 2017 religious freedom report, the U.S. State Department named Saudi Arabia a Country of Particular Concern, denoting systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.
  
  Najran was home to local Christian and Jewish communities. Prior to establishment of Israel, Najran was home to 260 Jews and had friendly relations with Ibn Saud. They had a Yemenite Jewish background. After the establishment of Israel and the 1948 Arab–Israeli war, all the Jews fled for Yemen and from there headed to Israel.