Saudi Arabia and the House of Saud: things you should know
King Abdullah’s death has trained a spotlight on Saudi Arabia, one of the most devout and politically insular countries in the Middle East. Here are some facts about the kingdom you may not know.
Saudi Arabia is named after its ruling family, the al-Sauds, and is home to the two holiest sites in Islam, Mecca and Medina.
The only Arab country to be part of the G20 major economies, Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest oil exporter, the third largest oil-producing nation, and was a founding member of Opec (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries).
The modern state of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman al-Faisal al-Saud (often known as Ibn Saud) after a series of conquests to unite four smaller regions of the Arabian Peninsula (Hijaz, Najd, al-Hasa and Asir) under one rule. Riyadh, the capital, the ancestral home of the al-Saud family, is home to about 7 million people.
Saudi Arabia is run as an Islamic state and is governed according to Sharia law, with Sunni Muslims comprising over 80 per cent of its population. It has received sharp criticism from human rights organisations for its authoritarianism, treatment of women and numerous human rights abuses, including unfair trials and arbitrary detention for peaceful political dissent.
High-profile events such as public beheadings, and the detention and corporal punishment of blogger and activist Raif Badawi, have recently put the kingdom’s human rights record back under the spotlight.
Saudi Arabia is a main ally of Washington, holding several key US military bases and acting as a base of operations for much of the second Gulf war. It is also a regional superpower and is locked in a proxy war with Shia Iran for regional dominance. This power struggle is often highlighted as one of the main reasons for Middle Eastern conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebaon.
The House of Saud
Saudi Arabia has been run as an absolute monarchy. A male descendent of the al-Saud family, which first came to power in the 18th century, has run the country since its unification in 1932. The absolute monarchy was legally enshrined in the 1992 basic law of governance which states “Rulers of the country shall be from amongst the sons of the founder King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman al-Faisal al-Saud, and their descendants.”
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Salman bin Abdulaziz has been named the new king by the Saudi royal court. King Salman is a member of the Sudairi clan, a powerful grouping within the al-Saud family that had been weakened by the late king Abdullah.
Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz was declared Saudi Arabia’s crown prince shortly after Prince Salman was appointed King. The country’s Interior Minister, Prince Mohammad bin Nayef, nephew of new King Salman bin Abdulaziz, has been appointed second-in-line to the throne.
The monarch acts as prime minister, head of state, head of government and commander-in-chief of the military of Saudi Arabia. The king’s cabinet, known as the council of ministers, is made up of 22 government ministries appointed by the king every four years, and includes many other members of the extended al-Saud family. There are no political parties in Saudi Arabia.
Wahhabism
A report by the European parliament in 2013 revealed how Wahhabi groups based out of the Middle East are involved in the “support and supply of arms to rebel groups around the world”, and identified Wahhabism as the main source of terrorism around the world.
It has been estimated that Saudi Arabia has invested more than $10bn to promote its Wahhabi agenda through charitable foundations. Fifteen of 19 of the al-Qaeda hijackers involved in the 11 September attacks were Saudi nationals, as was the leader of the group, Osama bin Laden, who was killed by US special forces in 2011.
Wahhabism is an ultra-conservative Islamic religious movement formed in Saudi Arabia named after an 18th century preacher and scholar, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, whose Ikhwan movement led a failed revolt against the al-Saud family in 1927. Al-Wahhab was a hard-liner who sought to purge Islam of what he considered unholy innovations (bidah).
One of the main tenets of Wahhabi doctrine that impacts the world today is the idea of takfir – the notion that those who do not strictly follow the faith in accordance with Sharia law may be excommunicated. While Saudi Arabia has convicted citizens in the past for supporting jihadist organisations, it still faces accusations that “Saudi Arabian donors constitute the most significant source of funding” for Takfiri groups worldwide.