The Saudi Arabs of United Arab Emirates

The Saudi Arabs of United Arab Emirates, numbering approximately 167,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic Arab group indigenous to the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Hijazi Arabic is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Arab, Saudi

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: United Arab Emirates
People Cluster: Arab, Arabian
Primary Language(s): Hijazi Arabic (acw)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 167,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042888
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Saudi Arabs of United Arab Emirates

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Hijazi Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Hijazi Speakers

Media Resources in Hijazi Arabic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
The SaviorView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Hijazi Arabic:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Hijazi Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Saudi Arabs:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Saudi Arabs of United Arab Emirates

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
readJohn 3:14-15

Pray that the lost among them will look to the One lifted up on the cross, believing in Him and receiving eternal life.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:3

Pray that God will be working in people's hearts, give them opportunities to receive the gospel, and bring many to faith in Himself.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
read2 Corinthians 5:18

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will serve as God's ambassadors, sharing the message of reconciliation with others.

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
read2 Corinthians 3:16

Give thanks to God for believers around the world who are willing to cross cultures to share the gospel with those who are perishing. Pray that He will work through their witness to draw many to turn to Him.

Arab, Hijazi Across Countries (ROP3 - 108748) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Hijazi Saudi ArabsHijazi Saudi ArabsSaudi Arabia12,040,000Engaged yet UnreachedHijazi ArabicSunni Islam
Saudi ArabsSaudi ArabsUnited Arab Emirates167,000Unengaged and UnreachedHijazi ArabicSunni Islam
Saudi ArabsSaudi ArabsJordan36,500Unengaged and UnreachedHijazi ArabicSunni Islam
Saudi ArabsSaudi ArabsQatar32,500Unengaged and UnreachedHijazi ArabicSunni Islam
Saudi ArabsSaudi ArabsUnited States29,000Engaged yet UnreachedHijazi ArabicSunni Islam

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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