Ibn Saʿūd

▪ king of Saudi Arabia

Introduction

in full ʿabd Al-ʿazīz Ibn ʿabd Ar-raḥmān Ibn Fayṣal Ibn Turkī ʿabd Allāh Ibn Muḥammad Āl Saʿūd

born c. 1880, , Riyadh, Arabia (Arabia, history of)

died Nov. 9, 1953, aṭ-Ṭāʾif, Saudi Arabia

 tribal and Muslim religious leader who formed the modern state of Saudi Arabia and initiated the exploitation of its oil.

The young leader.

      The Saʿūds ruled much of Arabia from 1780 to 1880; but, while Ibn Saʿūd was still an infant, his family, driven out by their rivals, the Rashīds, became penniless exiles in Kuwait. In 1901 Ibn Saʿūd, then 21, set out from Kuwait with 40 camelmen in a bold attempt to regain his family's lands.

      Reaching their old family capital, Riyadh, the little group slipped into the town by night (January 1902). The Rashīdī governor slept in the castle but came out every morning after dawn. Ibn Saʿūd lay hidden until the governor emerged. Then, rushing forward with his men, he killed him and seized the castle. This exploit roused the former supporters of his dynasty. They rallied to so magnetic a leader, and in two years of raids and skirmishes Ibn Saʿūd reconquered half of central Arabia.

      Ibn Rashīd, however, appealed for help to the Turks, who sent troops; Ibn Saʿūd suffered a defeat at their hands on June 15, 1904. But he was not driven from central Arabia and soon reconstituted his forces, the years 1907 to 1912 being passed in desultory fighting. The Turks eventually left, unable to supply their troops.

Role of religion in Ibn Saʿūd's policy

      Ibn Saʿūd decided, in the years before World War I, to revive his dynasty's support for Wahhābism (Wahhābī), an extremist Muslim puritan revival. Ibn Saʿūd was in fact a devoted puritan Muslim—to him the Qurʾān was literally the word of God, and his life was regulated by it. Yet he was also aware that religious fanaticism could serve his ambition, and he deliberately fostered it, founding a militantly religious tribal organization known as the Ikhwān (Brethren). This fanatical brotherhood encouraged his followers to fight and to massacre their Arab rivals, and it helped him to bring many nomadic tribesmen under more immediate control.

      He was able to persuade the religious leaders to declare it a religious duty of all Wahhābīs to abandon nomadism and to build houses at the desert wells. Thus settled, they could more easily be levied into his army. But the scheme was unrealistic: nomads who sold their flocks were often unable to cultivate and were reduced to penury. The destitution of the more fanatical tribes, however, made them more eager to raid, and Ibn Saʿūd was not slow to suggest that they plunder the subjects of Ibn Rashīd.

      During World War I Ibn Saʿūd entered into a treaty with the British (December 1915), accepting protectorate status and agreeing to make war against Ibn Rashīd, who was being supported by the Turks. But despite British arms and a subsidy of £5,000 a month from the British government (which continued until 1924) he was inactive until 1920, arguing that his subsidy was insufficient. During 1920–22, however, he marched against Ibn Rashīd and extinguished Rashīdī rule, doubling his own territory but without significantly increasing his meagre revenue.

      Ibn Saʿūd now ruled central Arabia except for the Hejaz region along the Red Sea. This was the territory of Sharīf Ḥusayn (Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī) of Mecca, who had become king of the Hejaz during the war and who declared himself caliph (head of the Muslim community) in 1924. Sharīf Ḥusayn's son ʿAbd Allāh had become ruler of Transjordan in 1921, and another son, Fayṣal (Fayṣal I), king of Iraq. Ibn Saʿūd, fearing encirclement by this rival dynasty, decided to invade the Hejaz. He was then at the height of his powers; his strong personality and extraordinary charm had won the devotion of all his subjects. A skillful politician, he worked closely with the religious leaders, who always supported him. Relying on the Ikhwān to eliminate his Arab rivals, he sent them to raid his neighbours, then cabled the British, whose imperial interests were involved, that the raid was against his orders. In 1924 the Ikhwān took Mecca, and the Hejaz was added to his dominions.

      At this point, there were no more rivals whom Ibn Saʿūd could conquer, for those remaining had treaties with Britain. But the Ikhwān had been taught that all non-Wahhābī Muslims were infidels. When Ibn Saʿūd forbade further raiding, they charged him with treachery, quoting his own words against him. In 1927 they invaded Iraq against his wishes. They were repulsed by British aircraft, but Ibn Saʿūd's authority over them had vanished, and on March 29, 1929, the Ikhwān, the fanatics whom he himself had trained, were crushed by Ibn Saʿūd himself at the Battle of Sibilla.

Foundation of Saudi Arabia.

      This battle opened a new era; thereafter Ibn Saʿūd's task was government, not conquest. In 1932 he formally unified his domains into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. An absolute monarch, he had no regular civil service or professional administrators. All decisions were made by him or by those he personally delegated for a particular task. There was little money, and he himself was not interested in finance. In May 1933 Ibn Saʿūd signed his first agreement with an American oil (petroleum) company. Not until March 1938 did the company strike oil, and work virtually ceased during World War II, so that Ibn Saʿūd was again nearly penniless.

      Saudi Arabia took no part in the war, but toward its end the exploitation of oil was resumed. By 1950 Ibn Saʿūd had received a total of about $200,000. Three years later, he was getting some $2,500,000 a week. The effect was disastrous on the country and on Ibn Saʿūd. He had no idea of what to do with all the money, and he watched helplessly the triumph of everything he hated. His austere religious views were offended. The secluded, penurious, hard, but idealistic, life of Arabia was vanishing. Such vast sums of money drew half the swindlers in the Middle East to this puritan religious sanctum. Ibn Saʿūd was unable to cope with financial adventurers. His last years were marked by severe physical and emotional deterioration. He died at aṭ-Ṭāʾif in 1953.

Sir John Bagot Glubb

Additional Reading

David A. Howarth, The Desert King (1964), is the best biography; J.B. Glubb, War in the Desert (1960), describes Ikhwān raids and meetings with Ibn Saʿūd. See also H.St.J. Philby, Arabia of the Wahhabis (1930). Philby knew Ibn Saʿūd intimately but was strongly prejudiced in his favour. Ameen F. Rihani, Ibn Sa'oud of Arabia (1928), is an account of a visit to Ibn Saʿūd in 1923.

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