The year 1902 is etched in the history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as an important one. It was the same year in which King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud — the founder of the modern nation of Saudi Arabia — captured Riyadh from the rival Al-Rashidi clan and also the year in which his second son and successor, Saud, was born.
“Due to his nobility, he dedicated himself to the defense of Islam and Muslims. One of the striking examples of his good manners was embodied in his inclination to help the needy all the time. They considered him as their father for his boundless generosity,” said Saud’s son, Prince Mohamed, while summarizing his father’s life in a few words in the introduction to his father’s recently published biography.
When King Abdul Aziz heard that his wife had given birth to a son, the delighted monarch promptly named the new member of his clan Saud — a name that recurs often among the Al-Saud family and which means “Auspicious Luck.”
It was Jan. 15 and Saud was born in Kuwait in a house known as “Bait Aamir” in a locality inhabited by members of the Anazzah tribe. He was born on the very day his father was laid the foundation of his new Kingdom by recapturing his ancestral capital of Riyadh following a series of adventurous and daring exploits.
The young Saud witnessed the development of Saudi Arabia from the very beginning and during his life was able to take part in both politics and war. He was the second son of his father, having been preceded in birth by Turki (1900 — 1919), who died at a young age. His mother was Wadha, the daughter of Muhammad Hussain Al-Urair of the House of Hameed, the traditional chiefs of the Bani Khalid that once ruled an area covering vast tracts of eastern Arabia. Wadha gave birth to five children out of whom only Saud and a sister Muneerah were destined to see old age. Wadha herself passed away forty days after her son in 1969.
As his father was compelled to devote the majority of his time to laying the foundation of Saudi Arabia, Saud was brought up in Kuwait in the home of his maternal grandparents and then in Riyadh once Saudi authority was firmly established there.
Abdul Aziz took particular care in the upbringing of his son who would one day grow to become king. At the age of five he was handed into the care of Sheikh Abdul Rahman ibn Mufaireej, who imparted lessons in the Qur’an and Islam to the young Saud. Meanwhile, Saud’s father and grandfather ensured he received military lessons in horsemanship, weaponry and lessons in tribal history, genealogy, traditions and lore. From a young age he was given the opportunity to attend the councils held by his grandfather and father and was thus able to develop the skills required to run a country.
At the age of 13 in 1915, Saud participated in the battle of Jirab against the Amir of Hail, Mitib ibn Al-Rasheed. The battle is remembered for the death of a British officer and political representative in Kuwait, Captain Shakespear, who as a friend of Abdul Aziz decided to participate in the battle on the side of the Al-Sauds. Saud took part in other battles, including the battle of Abu Laila in Al-Ihsa against the Sheikhs of the Bani Hajr.
Saud’s training in diplomacy started at a young age when in 1915 at the age of 13 he was sent by his father as his representative to the new ruler of Qatar, Sheikh Abdullah ibn Qasim Al-Thani. The purpose was to build good relations with the Qatari ruler and also to come to some sort of agreement regarding Salman ibn Muhammad ibn Saud ibn Faisal, one of the dissident members of the Saud clan who had fought against Abdul Aziz. The mission proved successful and Salman returned to Riyadh with Saud to be welcomed back into the clan by King Abdul Aziz. He as also sent by his father to Egypt where he met dignitaries including King Fuad I and the Wafd Party President Sa’ad Al-Zaghlul.
“Upon learning of Saud’s fast spreading reputation as a kind, generous, humane, understanding and chivalrous soul — all of them are noble qualities greatly admired and cherished by the Arab of the desert — it was to him that the Amir of Hail Abdullah ibn Mitib Ibn Rasheed turned to surrender himself,” writes Princess Fahda the daughter of King Saud in the biography of her father.
His leniency and benevolence was even attested to by the Ikhwan (a religious group who supported King Abdul Aziz in his battles) who gave him the name Abul Kharain (Father of Double Good).
His son Prince Mohamed writes, “Since I was very close to him, Iused to see him going about Riyadh in a taxi to meet the poor and give them alms. According to him, he was a good-doer, and, therefore, there was no need to reveal his secret to those who were very grateful for his help. Upon meeting them, he put on ordinary clothes, and he deliberately left his embroidered head-cord in the palace... Upon his orders, alms were almost distributed daily.”
Saud was to serve his father and his fellow countrymen for two decades before assuming the reigns to the Kingdom at his father’s death. It was a particularly crucial period in the realm’s history marked with the process of transformation and modernization from a tribal society into a modern state.
His bravery also became well known. In 1935, at the time of Haj, two Yemenis attempted to stab King Abdul Aziz as he performed the Tawaf in the Grand Mosque in Makkah. He was saved by Saud who flung himself between his father and the assailants and received curved dagger blows to his shoulder and back. Likewise, he once saved his father from harm’s way by moving him away from a wall which was about to crumble following a storm.
During the Haj of 1947, Saud was appointed by King Abdul Aziz to represent him in leading the pilgrimage and delivering the annual address in Arafat.
In the same way that he was passionate about the welfare of the poor, Saud was particularly concerned about the welfare of Muslims living in other countries. On a visit to the Palestinian town of Tulkaram, he was greeted with an ode sung by the poet Abdulraheem Mahmoud. When he heard the verse: “The Al-Aqsa Mosque — have you come to visit it, or to bid early farewell!” — Saud, his eyes brimming with tears and a voice choking with emotion, responded, “No, by God we will never bid farewell to Palestine so long as we have an Arab vein pulsating in our bodies.”
He participated in the adoption of a famous resolution that declared the Palestinian cause was the cause of all Arabs and not merely the Palestinians. In 1947, Saud visited London and also the United States to acquaint governments there with the plight of the Palestinians and what his father King Abdul Aziz felt about the issue.
When the Suez Crisis erupted in 1956, King Saud unreservedly placed his Kingdom’s resources at Egypt’s disposal, providing its fellow Arab neighbor with financial and strategic help in a number of ways. During his rule he helped Jordan financially and also the Algerian struggle against French colonial occupation from the very beginning. He regarded the Palestinian cause as the “apple of his eye” missing no opportunity to help the Palestinian people.
As a trusted successor of his father, Saud even attended the coronation ceremony of King George VI of Britain in 1937. With the objective of modernizing the Saudi army, he was appointed Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces in 1939 and during his father’s rule contributed towards various achievements, including the establishment of an annual state budget and the implementation of a whole range of vital infrastructural projects relating to the improvement of facilities for pilgrims. The projects included an ease of water supply, roads, broadcasting service, health, municipal affairs, port improvements, customs reorganization and higher education institutes.
The Prophet’s Mosque was expanded in 1953 at the suggestion of Saud. This was followed by the first major expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkkah, which saw the incorporation of the masaa between Safa and Marwa into the Grand Mosque and an additional floor to the Haram.
At the dawn of his reign, Saud had proclaimed publicly in one of his speeches his cherished desire, or “one of his holiest duties,” as he put it, to visit “each and every tribe” and “village after village” of his realm “in order to inspect the affairs of my people and hear with my own ears...their aspirations, and get acquainted with their needs from close.”
In his very first speech as king, Saud announced to the Council of Ministers that while his father’s reign was noted for military conquests, he intended his reign to be “a war on poverty, ignorance and disease with the equitable application of the dictates of the holy Shariah law to all without exception, and the creation of a strong army.”
During his time, roads were built and improved to accommodate pilgrims, and a modern slaughterhouse was built for use during the Haj. Female education was encouraged; in 1957 Saud established the King Saud University in Riyadh and laid the foundation of the Islamic University of Madinah.
A radio telephone network, initially for internal calls, was established for public use in 1954 and the King Saud Hospital was established in Riyadh in 1956. It was during his rule that the Muslim World League was established, a body whose service to Islam and the Muslims is well known.
Princess Fahda writes: “If we call King Abdul Aziz, may God have mercy on his soul, the founder of the Kingdom, we can call his eldest son, King Saud, the builder of its modern day boom. He laid down the foundation of the Kingdom’s stability and progress, which was handed over to his brothers, who proved to be worth rulers of the nation. He devoted his life to the service of the country, and thus was called Abul Khairain.”
She continues: “King Saud strived hard to achieve the best for his country and people, by ushering the country into a new era despite immense challenges both internal and external.”
King Saud passed away in Athens on Jan. 24, 1969. His body was brought to Makkah where prayers were offered for him by a congregation from all corners of the Muslim world in the Grand Mosque. He was buried alongside his father in the famous graveyard of Al-Aud in Riyadh.
