The Saudi government does not conduct a census on religion or ethnicity, but some sources estimate the Shia population in Saudi Arabia to make up around 10-15% of the approximately 20 million natives of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's Twelver Shia community, the Baharna, is primarily concentrated in the country's Eastern Province, chiefly Qatif and Al-Ahsa. A Twelver Shia community also exists in Medina known as the Nakhawila. Similarly, a tribal Shia community also exists in the Hijaz region, manifesting itself in three tribes: the Banu Husayn (Al Hussaini), the sharifs of Mecca who ruled for more than five centuries, along with two traditionally nomadic Hijazi tribes of Harb and Juhaynah. A few historians believe that these Bedouin tribes belonged to a strain of Shia Islam that is neither Twelver nor Zaydi, with some believing that they profess neo-Kaysanite beliefs. Outside of the eastern province and Hejaz, Shia Islam exists in the southern region of the kingdom, with Najran and its Yam tribe being traditionally Sulaymani Ismaili. Zaydism also exists in the regions bordering northern Yemen. The U.S. Department of State estimated in 2016 that around 700,000 Ismailis inhabit the region of Najran, while around 20,000 Zaydis are also concentrated in the regions bordering Yemen.

Shias in Saudi Arabia face numerous institutional challenges. The modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was formed in 1932 by the House of Saud, who are followers of a movement within Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism. Followers of the Wahhabite mission—who dominate religious institutions, courts and education of the kingdom, believe that "Muslims who seek intercession from holy men, such as the imams revered by Shiites, are not 'true' Muslims."

History While Saudi Arabia has existed only since 1932, an earlier Al Saud state (Emirate of Diriyah) clashed with Shiites. Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab believed that Shiites "imported into Islam" the practice of building mosques on graves, a practice he considered un-Islamic. He referred to the Shiites as Rafida (rejecters), a sectarian name his followers have continued to use.

In 1802, the Saud-Wahhabi alliance waged jihad (or at least qital, i.e. war) on the Shiite holy city of Karbala. There, according to a Wahhabi chronicler ʿUthman bin ʿAbdullah bin Bishr:

Al-Hasa, the main Shiite area of what is now Saudi Arabia, was conquered by Saudi forces in 1913. The initial treatment of Shiites was harsh, with religious leaders compelled to vow to "cease observance of their religious holidays, to shut down their special places of worship and to stop pilgrimages to holy sites in Iraq". Wahhabi ulema also "ordered the demolition of several Shiite mosques" and took "over teaching and preaching duties at the remaining mosques in order to convert the population".

Saudi authorities have acted on Wahhabi desires to eliminate "vestiges of Shia religiosity" in and around Medina. In 1926, the Al-Baqi' mausoleum, which included the tombs of Muhammad's family and his companions, second, fourth, fifth, and six Shiite Imams, was destroyed by Ibn Saud. In 1975, the tomb of a Shiite imam (Ismail ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq) was reportedly destroyed,David Commins may be mistaken as there appears to be no Imam named Ismail ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq. Ja'far al-Sadiq was the 6th Imam and Ismail ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq may have been the son of Ja'far al-Sadiq. and a year later an ancient palm tree that legend had it had been planted under the direction of Muhammad, and visited by Shiite and Sunni pilgrims for generations, was cut down on orders of a high ranking Wahhabi sheikh.

In 1979, the Iranian Islamic Revolution overthrew the Shah of Iran, replacing a pro-Western monarchy with an anti-Western theocratic Islamic republic. Iran is more populous than Saudi Arabia and its borders are relatively close to the latter's oil fields—which is also where most Shiites who are ethnic Baharna have traditionally lived. The Iranian scholars were eager to export their revolution, and ideologically opposed to both monarchical systems of government and any state allied with the West. Leaflets, radio broadcasts and tape cassettes from Iran targeted the Baharna and the other Shiites and attacked the Saudi government for corruption and hypocrisy. That November, Shiites commemorated Ashura (illegally) for the first time in many years. The following February, demonstrations were held on the one year anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini's return to Iran. Saudi officials responded with both "sticks and carrots", arresting activists but also promising more schools, hospitals and infrastructure for the Shia region.

In 1987, following the deaths of over 300 during a demonstration by Iranian pilgrims in Mecca during the Hajj pilgrimage, Khomeini "denounced the House of Saud as 'murderers' and called on all loyal Shiites in the Kingdom to rise up and overthrow them", further alarming Saudi officials. After oil pipelines were bombed in 1988, the Saudi government accused Shiites of sabotage executed several. In collective punishment restrictions were placed on their freedoms and they were further marginalized economically.Nasr, Shia Revival (2006), p. 236 Wahhabi ulama were given the green light to sanction violence against Shia. Fatwas were passed by the country's leading cleric, Abdul-Aziz ibn Baz, denouncing Shia as apostates from Islam.

After the 1991 Gulf War ended, weakening Iran's enemy Saddam Hussein and exhibiting the strength of Saudi ally the United States, "there was a noticeable thaw in relations between the two countries". In 1993, the Saudi government announced a general amnesty resulting in various Shiite leaders being released from jail or returning from exile. "Hundreds of young [Shiites]" were provided with jobs in the governmental and private sectors. The anti-Shiite Imam of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina was even sacked after he attacked Shiism in a Friday sermon in the presence of Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

In 2003, the political direction turned again, and a series of "National Dialogues" were initiated that included Shiites (as well as Sufis, liberal reformers, and professional women), to the strong disapproval of Wahhabi purists. In late 2003, "450 Shia academics, businessmen, writers, and women" presented a petition to Crown Prince Abdullah demanding a greater rights including the right for Shia to be referred to "their own religious courts as Sunni courts do not recognize testimonies by Shia".

As of 2006, more militant Saudi Wahhabi clerics were circulating a petition calling for an intensification of sectarian violence against Shiites, while the official religious establishment was calling for them to renounce their "fallacious" beliefs voluntarily and embrace "the right path" of Islam, rather than be killed, expelled, or converted by violence.

Community structure, political and religious authority In modern-day Saudi Arabia, the Sunni rulers limit Shiite political participation to "notables", according to scholar Vali Nasr. These notables benefit from their ties to power, and in return are expected to control their community.Nasr, Vali, The Shia Revival (W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2006) p. 84 Much political activity takes place outside these parameters. Since 1979, hundreds of Saudi Shiites have been jailed, executed, and exiled.

Opposition According to Ondrej Beranek of Brandeis University, Shiite opposition in Saudi Arabia has "undergone various stages of development". Saudi Shiites found Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian Revolution a "political inspiration", but an "important ideological source" was the organization (literally "the Movement of Vanguards' Missionaries"), established in 1968 not in Iran but in the Iraqi city of Karbala under the auspices of (religious authority) Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi al-Shirazi. Other organizations include (Organization of Islamic Revolution), established after the Intifada of 1979. Focusing on peaceful change it changed its name to (Reform Movement).

In response to this change, King Fahd met several of al-Saffar's followers and in October 1993 a pact was signed. Fahd promised to work towards improving conditions for Shia in Saudi Arabia, ordering the elimination of derogatory terms for them from textbooks, removing certain other forms of explicit discrimination, allowing many Shiite exiles to return to Saudi Arabia, and other acts. In return, was dissolved and its members formally agreed to dissociate themselves from foreign groups and movements.

As of 2009, the main spokesman and representative of the Saudi Shiite movement in its more moderate incarnation has been Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar (b. 1958). Al-Saffar represents one of the few voices publicly calling for moderate, pragmatic action, tolerance and reconciliation between Shiites and Sunnis, and a political system based on civil society, free elections and freedom of speech.

At the other end of the Shiite political spectrum is the Saudi Hizballah or Hezbollah Al-Hejaz. Established in 1987, it supports the overthrow of the absolute monarchy. In 1988 and 1989, Saudi Hizballah led a couple of attacks on oil infrastructure and also murdered Saudi diplomats in Ankara, Bangkok, and Karachi. They were also allegedly involved in 1996 Khobar Towers bombing which killed dozens of US army personnel. Some of its members went through training in Iran. The group also is thought to use Iranian training camps in the Biqa' valley in Lebanon. The group throughout the 1980s and 1990s became notorious for killing Saudi police and army personnel, Wahhabi preachers, people from the interior ministry and intelligence as well as conducting specialized attacks on Aramco facilities and the Saudi naval forces. During the late 1990s however, the insurgency abruptly stopped as the Saudi government tired by the carnage and constant defeat of its forces to terminate the insurgency committed itself to genuine reforms. These reforms were brokered with Iraqi Shia scholars of the al-Badr organization."Hezbollah of Greater Bahrain", Ahmed al-Khaz'Ali

In addition to these two factions, there are also smaller groups of traditionalists who look at the Saudi regime with suspicion and do not intend to become part of any reconciliation talks.

Following the 9/11 attacks and 2003 Riyadh compound bombings, Saudi Arabia seemed determined to stop the brutal campaign against its Shiite community, which in previous decades had resulted in hundreds of Shiites being jailed, executed, and exiled. Such a liberal move, however, could easily be understood as merely part of a new campaign aimed at improving the image of Saudi Arabia in the West.

Restrictions and persecutions

The Saudi government has often been viewed as an active oppressor of Shiites because of the funding of the Wahhabi ideology which denounces the Shiite faith.

In 1988 fatwas passed by the country's leading cleric, Abdul-Aziz ibn Baz denounced the Shiites as apostates.A Top Saudi Cleric Declares Shiites to Be Infidels, Calls on Sunnis to Drive Them Out, Associated Press, 22 January 2007. Cited in David Pollock, ed. (June 2007). With Neighbors Like These Iraq and the Arab States on Its Borders . Washington Institute Policy Focus 70. p. 33. Abdul-Rahman al-Jibrin, a member of the Higher Council of Ulama, sanctioned the killing of Shiites in 1994. According to Vali Nasr, this was still be reiterated in Wahhabi religious literature as late as 2002. By 2007 al-Jibrin wrote that [Shiites] "are the most vicious enemy of Muslims, who should be wary of their plots"

According to a 2009 Human Rights Watch report, Shiite citizens in Saudi Arabia "face systematic discrimination in religion, education, justice, and employment"."Saudi Arabia: Treat Shia Equally". Human Rights Watch. 2 September 2009.