King of Saudi Arabia


The king of Saudi Arabia, officially the king of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is head of state of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who holds absolute power. He is the head of the Saudi Arabian royal family, the House of Saud. The king is the commander-in-chief of the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces and the head of the Saudi national honors system. The king is called the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques", a title that signifies Saudi Arabia's jurisdiction over the mosques of Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina. The title has been used many times through the history of Islam. The first Saudi king to use the title was Faisal; however, King Khalid did not use the title after him. In 1986, King Fahd replaced "His Majesty" with the title of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and it has been since used by both King Abdullah and King Salman. The king has been named the most powerful and influential Muslim and Arab leader in the world according to The Muslim 500.

History

, known in the West as Ibn Saud, regained his patrimony, which is known as today's Saudi Arabia, in 1902. Restoring his family as emirs of the Emirate of Riyadh, he then established the Sultanate of Nejd as his headquarters in 1922. Following the establishment of Riyadh as the capital of his state, Ibn Saud then captured Hejaz in 1925.
Ibn Saud proclaimed his dominions as the Sultanate of Nejd in 1921, shortly before completing the unification of the region. He was proclaimed king of Hejaz in 1926, and raised Nejd to a kingdom as well in 1927. For the next five years, Ibn Saud administered the two parts of his realm, the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd, as separate units. On 23 September 1932, he formally united his territories into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Succession

The kings since Ibn Saud's death have all been his sons, and all likely immediate successors to the reigning King Salman will be from among his progeny. This makes the Saudi monarchy quite distinct from Western monarchies, which usually feature large, clearly defined royal families and orders of succession, and use the primogeniture system of succession. Muhammad bin Nayef was the first grandson of Ibn Saud to be in the line of succession before being deposed from the position of Crown Prince by a royal decree in 2017.

Other functions

The king of Saudi Arabia is also considered the head of the House of Saud and, until 2021, the prime minister. The crown prince was also the "deputy prime minister" until 2021 and is currently prime minister. The kings after Faisal have named a "second deputy prime minister" as the subsequent heir after the crown prince.

Opposition

and can generally mean jail time for the critics. It can also result in death.

Kings of Saudi Arabia (present)

This is a list of rulers of Saudi Arabia, a kingdom on the Arabian Peninsula.

Sheikhdom of Diriyah

  • 1446–1727 Sheikhdom of Diriyah

First Saudi State


Genealogy

Timeline


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from: 1720 till: 1725 color:Imam text:"Saud I" fontsize:10
from: 1744 till: 1765 color:Imam text:"Muhammad I" fontsize:10
from: 1765 till: 1803 color:Imam text:"Abdulaziz I" fontsize:10
from: 1803 till: 1814 color:Imam text:"Saud II" fontsize:10
from: 1814 till: 1818 color:Imam text:"Abdullah I" fontsize:10
from: 1823 till: 1834 color:Imam text:"Turki" fontsize:10
from: 1834 till: 1834 color:Imam text:"Mishari" fontsize:10
from: 1834 till: 1838 color:Imam text:"Faisal I" fontsize:10
from: 1838 till: 1841 color:Imam text:"Khalid I" fontsize:10
from: 1841 till: 1843 color:Imam text:"Abdullah II" fontsize:10
from: 1843 till: 1865 color:Imam text:"Faisal I" fontsize:10
from: 1865 till: 1871 color:Imam text:"Abdullah II" fontsize:10
from: 1871 till: 1871 color:Imam text:"Saud III" fontsize:10
from: 1871 till: 1873 color:Imam text:"Abdullah II" fontsize:10
from: 1873 till: 1875 color:Imam text:"Saud III" fontsize:10
from: 1875 till: 1876 color:Imam text:"AbdulRahman" fontsize:10
from: 1876 till: 1889 color:Imam text:"Abdullah II" fontsize:10
from: 1889 till: 1891 color:Imam text:"AbdulRahman|" fontsize:10
from: 1902 till: 1953 color:Imam text:"Abdulaziz II" fontsize:10
from: 1953 till: 1964 color:Imam text:"Saud IV" fontsize:10
from: 1964 till: 1975 color:Imam text:"Faisal II" fontsize:10
from: 1975 till: 1982 color:Imam text:"Khalid II" fontsize:10
from: 1982 till: 2005 color:Imam text:"Fahd" fontsize:10
from: 2005 till: 2015 color:Imam text:"Abdullah IV" fontsize:10
from: 2015 till: end color:Imam text:"Salman" fontsize:10

Standard of the Kingdom

The Royal Standard consists of a green flag, with an Arabic inscription and a sword featured in white, and with the national emblem embroidered in gold in the lower right canton of the year 1973.
The script on the flag is written in the Thuluth script. It is the shahada or Islamic declaration of faith:

Current heir-presumptive

  • Crown Prince: Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, born ; son of King Salman and Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain.

    Royal Standard

  • The Royal Flag consists of a green flag, with an Arabic inscription and a sword featured in white, and with the national emblem embroidered in gold in the lower right canton.
The script on the flag is written in the Thuluth script. It is the shahada or Islamic declaration of faith:
  • The Royal Standard consists of a green flag, in the center of the national emblem embroidered with gold.