Is blasphemy illegal in Saudi Arabia?
Death penalty possible
Blasphemy is a criminal offense punishable by penalties up to the death penalty.
Saudi Arabia is one of 5 countries classified “Death penalty possible” for blasphemy — 9% of the 54 with data.
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Blasphemy law
- Last checked
- 17 September 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Kuwait
- Criminal offense Kuwait criminalizes insulting religious figures with imprisonment and fines under cybercrime laws.
- Qatar
- Criminal offense Blasphemy is a criminal offense punishable by up to seven years in prison.
- Yemen
- Death penalty possible Sharia law in Yemen prescribes death as the punishment for blasphemy according to some interpretations.
- Jordan
- Criminal offense Blasphemy is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for up to three years.
- United Arab Emirates
- Criminal offense Blasphemy is a criminal offense punishable by a minimum one-year jail sentence or a fine.
- Palestine
- Criminal offense Blasphemy is criminalized under civil and military laws, leading to imprisonment.
Other laws in Saudi Arabia
- Apostasy Laws
- Death penalty possible
- Holocaust Denial
- No specific law
- Flag Desecration
- Criminal offense
- Conversion Therapy
- No ban
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.