Pakistani columnist Mohammad Taqi has written that " the Saudi regime is also acutely aware that , in the final analysis , the Shiite grievances ... stem from socioeconomic deprivation , as a result of religious repression and political marginalization bordering on apartheid . " Testifying before the US Congressional Human Rights Caucus , Ali al-Ahmed , Director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs , stated Saudi Arabia is a glaring example of religious apartheid . The religious institutions from government clerics to judges , to religious curriculums , and all religious instructions in media are restricted to the Wahhabi understanding of Islam , adhered to by less than 40 % of the population . The Saudi government communized Islam , through its monopoly of both religious thoughts and practice . Wahhabi Islam is imposed and enforced on all Saudis regardless of their religious orientations . The Wahhabi sect does not tolerate other religious or ideological beliefs , Muslim or not . Religious symbols by Muslims , Christians , Jewish and other believers are all banned . The Saudi embassy in Washington is a living example of religious apartheid . In its 50 years , there has not been a single non-Sunni Muslim diplomat in the embassy . The branch of Imam Mohamed Bin Saud University in Fairfax , Virginia instructs its students that Shia Islam is a Jewish conspiracy . In November 2014 at al-Dalwah village in the eastern province of al-Ahsa , three unknown masked gunmen opened fire at a Husseiniya , or Shi'ite religious center , killing eight and injuring dozens
opened fire
2014 al-Dalwah attack
Human rights in Saudi Arabia