Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Saudi Arabian which is known as a conservative country is now more open to other religious festivals or traditions including Hari Raya Christmas.
Since Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) became crown prince, Saudi Arabia is said to be moving in a more moderate direction. He overhauled the conservative rules.
The Saudis have even been able to celebrate Christmas openly for the past three years. They no longer need to buy a Christmas tree on the sly.
So how do the Saudis celebrate Christmas?
Christians around the world, including the Saudis, have been celebrating Christmas since Saturday (12/24) evening. Christmas celebrations in Saudi Arabia can be carried out by complying with royal policies as quoted by Life in Saudi Arabia.
At Christmas this year, several shopping malls and cafes set up fir trees decorated with unique lights and ornaments. Apart from that, there are also snowmen in Jeddah and Santa Claus in Al-Khobar.
A trader who works at Napco National Jeddah, Wejdan Al-Khattabi, said that Christmas goods are selling well this year. Where he works, 70 percent of the employees are Christians.
“Some of them celebrate in their home countries, others celebrate here [Arab Saudi]. They often complain that they cannot celebrate here because there are no products to support Christmas celebrations,” he said, quoted by Arab News on Saturday (24/12).
He then said: “However, today they can celebrate with products [perayaan Natal] with a complete winter set.”
One of the characteristics of Christmas celebrations in Saudi Arabia is that there are no holidays for Christians. In the morning they still work in the office.
Even in Saudi Arabia on Christmas Eve there is no official greeting. However, some residents decorate their homes with twinkling lights and Christmas trees to signal that they’re celebrating the big day.
After decorating the house, the Christian brothers will meet and gather in one place and pray together.
In order for someone to host a Christmas lunch, dinner or party, they must have a Christmas tree. As a rule, the tree is decorated with lights, small star ornaments and bells.
After Christmas Eve, they didn’t go to church in the morning. Until now Saudi Arabia did not officially have a place of worship.
During the celebration of Christmas, Saudi citizens perform simple tasks in two or three days.
On the first day they will host a lunch or dinner together. Then, on the second day, some Christians will have fun at the beach, and on the third day, they will watch a movie together.
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