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 Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
readLuke 1:46-47

Pray that those who are lost will recognize their need for a Savior and joyfully embrace the mercy that God offers.

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
readRomans 2:4

Pray that, in God's kindness and according to His nature, He will lead many to repentance.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be humble and give glory to God through their good deeds.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
read2 Corinthians 5:21

Pray that Christians will cross cultures and share the hope of Christ, and that many will trust the One who took their sins and offers them His righteousness.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
Saudi ArabsSaudi ArabsQatar32,500Unengaged and UnreachedHijazi ArabicSunni Islam
Hijazi Saudi ArabsHijazi Saudi ArabsSaudi Arabia12,050,000Engaged yet UnreachedHijazi ArabicSunni Islam
Saudi ArabsSaudi ArabsJordan36,500Unengaged and UnreachedHijazi ArabicSunni Islam
Saudi ArabsSaudi ArabsUnited Arab Emirates167,000Unengaged 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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