This past Christmas in Riyadh was unrecognizable to anyone who knew the city five years ago. Hitherto, openly celebrating non-Muslim holidays had been regarded as blasphemy. Now the religious police, who had previously arrested shopkeepers for selling red roses on St. Valentine's Day, were nowhere to be seen. Instead, Christmas trees, lights, decorations, and Santa costumes were openly on sale for the first time.
In a city where the Ministry of Health had regularly informed hospitals not to permit any Christmas displays, shops were arrayed with snowmen and reindeer while high-end cafes like Bateel sold dates in star-shaped boxes decorated in red and green. Restaurants now offered Christmas dinners, while secular carols were heard in shopping malls, where all music hade once been banned. There were no nativity scenes in public squares and not everyone approved of these changes, but they were nevertheless a remarkable step towards religious tolerance.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman and his son Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman initiated these changes on their now initiative as part of the social and economic revolution they are attempting to lead. They are urgently trying to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil and create new, well-paid jobs. They understand that success will require both increasing opportunities for women and promoting religious tolerance.
As a result of aggressive affirmative action programs, Saudi Arabia's female labor force participation rate has nearly doubled since their Vision 2030 plan was announced in 2016. Promoting religious tolerance has likewise become a crucial part of their effort to attract foreign investment and lure talented foreign executives from more tolerant places—even Dubai.
They have therefore removed intolerant passages from school textbooks, reduced the amount of religious studies in classrooms, partially adopted the Gregorian calendar and moved towards a Western weekend. All of their changes, however, from allowing women to drive or sit where they choose in a restaurant to celebrating Christmas and New Year, have been firmly opposed by conservative elements in a still deeply religious society.
These religiously conservative Saudis even consider it wrong to celebrate the prophet Mohammad's birthday as he was a man, not a god. Some still regard it as inappropriate to greet a Christian in the street. One can only imagine what they think of celebrating Christmas or sending Christmas greetings. To be sure they are a minority.
We have long received Christmas greetings from Saudis, but this conservative minority is committed, organized and potentially violent. The king must deal with them in terms they will understand and accept. Thus, it is not surprising that the president of the Muslim World League and former Saudi Minister of Justice Mohammad al-Issa was selected to describe these changes to the Saudi public in terms of Islamic religious law.
Al-Issa is a recognized apostle of moderate Islam who has condemned Holocaust deniers and attended commemorations for the liberation of Auschwitz. Last month he went on television to explain the new acceptance of Christmas. He pointed out that no Muslim scripture condemns Christmas and that in the absence of a clear prohibition, the legal default is acceptance.
As an analogy, he explained that accepting a Christian marriage as valid does not mean one accepts Christianity or rejects Islamic marriages. It means you appreciate that different communities have different customs. He went on to address the concept of public interest, noting that in an increasingly interdependent world it is in Saudi Arabia's own interest to promote coexistence, harmony, and religious tolerance. Finally, for those who still did not get the point, he asked how do you think Muslim minorities will be treated in foreign lands if we prohibit their religion here?
Actively promoting a more tolerant version of Islam in the Muslim Holy Land is a significant change for Saudi society. Saudi leaders are taking a risk in adopting this policy. They have already very publicly met with foreign delegations of Christian and Jewish clerics while quietly allowing priests and rabbis to go about their business in Riyadh. From a foreign policy perspective, they have publicly accepted and privately approved the Abraham Accords under which many of their neighbors have opened diplomatic relations with Israel.
Now they have legalized Christmas celebrations.
All of this contrasts sharply with events in Afghanistan where, after investing so much blood and treasure, we must now watch as the Taliban shut women out of employment and education. Nor does it resemble Iran where women are still arrested for not covering their head and protesters are shot by the hundreds.
Saudi leaders are promoting reform for their own reasons. We need not approve of everything they do regarding human rights or foreign affairs to recognize that in some areas they are moving in the right direction. It would be hard to argue that this year's Christmas in Riyadh was not a cause for celebration.
David H. Rundell is a former chief of mission at the American Embassy in Saudi Arabia and the author of Vision or Mirage, Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads. Ambassador Michael Gfoeller is a former political advisor to the U.S. Central Command and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
