islam is the state religion of saudi arabia and its law requires that all citizens be muslims. neither saudi citizens nor guest workers have the right of freedom of religion. the official and dominant form of islam in the kingdom—wahhabism—arose in the central region of najd, in the 18th century. proponents call the movement "salafism", and believe that its teachings purify the practice of islam of innovations or practices that deviate from the seventh-century teachings of muhammad and his companions. the saudi government has often been viewed as an active oppressor of shia muslims because of the funding of the wahhabi ideology which denounces the shia faith. prince bandar bin sultan, saudi ambassador to the united states, stated: "the time is not far off in the middle east when it will be literally 'god help the shia'. more than a billion sunnis have simply had enough of them."