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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Saudi Shia Arabs of Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Shia Arabs of Saudi Arabia, numbering approximately 2,835,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a people of Saudi Arabia. They are an Indigenous people in the Arab, Arabian people cluster of the Arab Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Arabic, Gulf and their primary religion is Shia Islam.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Arab, Saudi Shia

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Saudi Arabia
People Cluster: Arab, Arabian
Primary Language(s): Arabic, Gulf (afb)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 2,835,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011922

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Pray for the Saudi Shia Arabs of Saudi Arabia

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Arabic, Gulf
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Gulf Speakers

Media Resources in Arabic, Gulf:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Arabic, Gulf:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Arabic, Gulf bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), 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 Shia 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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Saudi Shia Arabs are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Saudi Shia Arabs:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Saudi Shia Arabs are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Saudi Shia Arabs:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Saudi Shia Arabs of Saudi Arabia

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
readColossians 3:5-6

Pray for God to have mercy and give those who don't yet know Him the gift of Jesus and His salvation for all who call upon His name.

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
readPsalm 96:3

Pray for people to hear and believe the good news of Jesus and joyfully share it with their family and friends.

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
readColossians 4:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving, as they bring needs before the Lord.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
readLuke 10:1

Ask God to raise up, send out, and sustain Christians who can go together to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Arab, Gulf Shia Across Countries (ROP3 - 116092) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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