Sign Of The Times: Christmas Festivities, Sales Reach Saudi Arabia

Christmas trees and glittery ornaments are for sale at a Saudi gift shop, a once-unthinkable sight in the cradle of Islam where all public non-Muslim worship is banned.

In recent years, festive sales have gradually crept into the capital Riyadh, a sign of loosening social restrictions after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged to steer the conservative Gulf kingdom toward an “open, moderate Islam.”

I didn’t ever imagine I’d see this” in Saudi Arabia, a Riyadh resident told AFP at the shop selling trees, Santa Claus outfits as well as tinsel, baubles and other ornaments.

“I am surprised,” said the resident, declining to be identified.

Until barely three years ago, it was almost impossible to sell such items openly in Saudi Arabia, but authorities have been clipping the powers of the clerical establishment long notorious for enforcing Islamic traditions.

For decades, Christmas sales were largely underground, and Christians from the Philippines, Lebanon and other countries celebrated behind closed doors or in expat enclaves.

“It was very difficult to find such” Christmas items in the kingdom, said Mary, a Lebanese expat based in Riyadh who preferred to be identified by her first name.

“Many of my friends used to buy them from Lebanon or Syria and sneak them into the country,” she said.

In 2018, amid Prince Mohammed’s liberalization drive, Saudi customs authorities warned on Twitter that Christmas trees were forbidden from entering the country.

In a sign of the changing times, the Riyadh shop manager, Omar, who declined to provide his surname, said this year his store sold Christmas items.

Saudi Arabia is the custodian of Mecca and Medina, Islam’s two holiest sites.