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Saudi Arabia
The King
As one of world's last absolute monarchs, the Saudi Arabian king
exercised very broad powers. He was both head of state and head
of government. Ultimate authority in virtually every aspect of
government rested with the king. All legislation was enacted either
by royal decree or by ministerial decree, which had to be sanctioned
by the king. In his capacity as prime minister, the king appointed
all cabinet ministers, other senior government officials, and
the governors of the provinces. In his capacity as commander in
chief of the armed forces, the king appointed all military officers
above the rank of lieutenant colonel. He also appointed all Saudi
Arabia's ambassadors and other foreign envoys. All foreign diplomats
in the country were accredited to the king. In addition, the king
acted as the final court of appeal and had the power of pardon.
The legitimacy of the king's rule was based on the twin pillars
of religion and the dynastic history of the Al Saud. The family's
most important early ancestor, Muhammad ibn Saud (1710- 65), had
been a relatively minor local ruler in Najd before establishing
a political and family alliance with the puritanical Muslim preacher
and reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab (1703-87) in 1744. Muhammad
ibn Saud and his descendants--the Al Saud-- ardently supported
the preacher and his descendants--the Al ash Shaykh--and were
determined to introduce a purified Islam, which opponents called
Wahhabism (see Glossary), throughout Arabia. Religious fervor
facilitated the conquest of Najd and at the height of their power
in the early nineteenth century, the Al Saud had extended their
control over most of the Arabian Peninsula (see The Saud Family
and Wahhabi Islam, 1500-1818 , ch. 1). Subsequent conflict with
the Ottoman Empire and dynastic rivalries both diminished and
enhanced the political fortunes of the Al Saud throughout the
nineteenth century. Nevertheless, the Saudi alliance with the
Al ash Shaykh endured.
The founder of the modern state of Saudi Arabia, Abd al Aziz
ibn Abd ar Rahman Al Saud (1876-1953), was a grandson of the last
effective nineteenth-century Saudi ruler, Faisal ibn Turki (1810-
66). Abd al Aziz restored the family from virtual political extinction
by reintroducing the crusading zeal of Wahhabi Islam (see The
Rise of Abd al Aziz, 1890-1926 , ch. 1). By 1924, when the Ikhwan,
a select force of beduin religious fighters created by Abd al
Aziz, conquered the Hijaz, almost all the territory of the present-day
Saudi state was under Abd al Aziz's authority. In 1932 he proclaimed
this territory the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and himself its king.
Abd al Aziz ruled until his death in 1953. Although he had named
his eldest son, Saud ibn Abd al Aziz Al Saud (1902-69), crown
prince, he had not instituted an mechanism for orderly succession.
Because Abd al Aziz was survived by more than thirty sons, the
lack of a process for passing on the mantle of kingship constituted
a source of potential political instability for the country. Problems
emerged soon after King Saud began his reign. Like his father,
Saud had more than thirty sons, and he was ambitious to place
them in positions of power and influence. The new king's numerous
brothers, who believed their nephews were too young and inexperienced
to head ministries and major government departments, deeply resented
their exclusion from power. The political and personal tensions
among the Al Saud, combined with the extravagance and poor judgment
of Saud, climaxed in a 1964 family coup. A number of brothers
joined together to depose Saud and install as king the next eldest
brother, Faisal ibn Abd al Aziz Al Saud (1904-75). The transfer
of power was endorsed by Saudi Arabia's ulama, or religious authorities.
King Faisal strengthened the powers of the monarchy during his
eleven-year reign. Although he had acted as prime minister during
most of Saud's rule, he issued a royal decree stipulating that
the king would serve both as head of state and as head of government.
Faisal also increased central control over the provinces by making
local officials responsible to the king, creating a Ministry of
Justice to regulate the autonomous religious courts, and establishing
a national development plan to coordinate construction projects
and social services throughout the country. Faisal's concern for
orderly government and durable institutions extended to the monarchy.
In 1965 he persuaded his brothers to observe the principle of
birth order among themselves to regulate the succession, although
the next eldest brother, Muhammad (born 1910), voluntarily stepped
down in favor of Khalid (1912-82).
Faisal's rule ended abruptly in 1975 when he was assassinated
by one of his nephews. A meeting of senior Al Saud princes, the
sons and surviving brothers of Abd al Aziz, acclaimed Crown Prince
Khalid the new king. Because some of Khalid's brothers, who would
have been next in line of succession according to age, renounced
their right to the throne, the king and the princes designated
a younger brother, Fahd (born 1921), crown prince. Fahd ascended
to the throne in 1982 after Khalid suffered a fatal heart attack.
In consultation with his brothers, Fahd named Abd Allah (born
1923) crown prince and Sultan (born 1927) third in line of succession.
The relatively smooth transitions following the deaths of Faisal
and Khalid thus seemed to have resolved the issue of succession
among the sons of Abd al Aziz. In 1992, however, Fahd altered
the procedure for designating future kings. In the same royal
decree that announced the impending appointment of a majlis, Fahd
declared that the king would henceforth name and could remove
the crown prince. Furthermore, the crown prince would not automatically
succeed on the death of the king, but serve as provisional ruler
until he, or a descendant of Abd al Aziz deemed more suitable,
was enthroned.
Fahd's decree on succession established two precedents: a royal
prerogative to choose and to withdraw approval for the crown prince;
and an acknowledgement that the more than sixty grandsons of Abd
al Aziz were legitimate claimants to the throne. Previously, Saudi
kings had not asserted the right to dismiss a designated crown
prince. By proclaiming such a right, Fahd revived persistent rumors
originating in the 1970s that he and his half brother Abd Allah
disagreed on many political issues. To forestall speculation that
his intent was to remove Abd Allah as crown prince and replace
him with his full brother Sultan, Fahd reaffirmed Abd Allah's
position. However, in declaring that successor kings would be
chosen from the most suitable of Abd al Aziz's sons and grandsons,
Fahd implied that Abd Allah or any future crown prince was not
necessarily the presumed heir to the throne. The decision to include
the grandsons in the selection process and as potential candidates
for the throne symbolized the readiness of Fahd and his surviving
brothers to pass substantive decision-making responsibilities
to a younger generation of the Al Saud. However, this decision
also introduced more uncertainty into the succession process.
At least a dozen men of this Al Saud younger generation, including
sons of Faisal, Fahd, Abd Allah, and Sultan, were actively involved
in the Saudi government and presumably had a personal interest
in the question of succession.
Data as of December 1992
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