Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; 1748 – 27 April 1814) ruled the

First Saudi State The first Saudi state (), officially the Emirate of Diriyah (), was established in 1744, when the emir of a Najdi town called Diriyah, Muhammad I, and the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab signed a pact to found a socio-religious r ...

from 1803 to 1814. Saud annexed Mecca and Medina from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

making him the first Al Saud ruler who received the title of the servant of the Two Holy Cities. During his rule the state experienced a significant level of strength and expansion for which he was called Saud Al Kabeer or Saud the Great.

Early life

Saud was born in Diriyah in 1748. He was the eldest son of Abdulaziz bin Muhammad. The mother of Saud was a daughter of Uthman bin Mu'ammar, ruler of Uyaina. Saud's succession was decided and announced in 1787.

Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Sulaymān al-Tamīmī (1703–1792) was a Sunni Muslim scholar, theologian, preacher, activist, religious leader, jurist, and reformer, who was from Najd in Arabian Peninsula and is considered as the eponymou ...

, religious leader of the state, asked people to express their allegiance to him as heir apparent. It was Abdul Wahhab's last significant function in affairs of state. From early age Saud began to act as the chief military commander of the Emirate together with his uncle, Abdullah bin Muhammad, who was the father of Turki bin Abdullah, the founder of the

Emirate of Nejd The second Saudi state (), officially known as the Emirate of Najd, was a state that existed between 1824 and 1891 in the Najd region of what is now Saudi Arabia. Saudi rule was restored to central (Najd) and Eastern Arabia after the first Sau ...

or the Second Saudi State. Saud led the forces of the Emirate in 1789 and conquered Al Hasa region defeating the army of the Bani Khalid Emirate who had been the ruler of the region. Although the rule of Bani Khalid Emir, Abdul Muhsin bin Abdullah Al Hamid, was ended by them, the Emirate could not completely capture the eastern Arabia. When Abdul Muhsin was killed by his tribe members in 1791, Saud again attacked them and won a victory eliminating the dominance of Bani Khalid in the region in 1792. In April 1802 Saud led an army with 12,000 Wahhabis and attacked

Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...

destroying the tomb of Imam Hussain bin Ali, a grandson of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

. In addition, they stole valuable materials in the tomb and killed the inhabitants of the city. Following the incident Saud sent a message to the Ottoman governor in Iraq stating: "As for your statement that we seized Karbala, slaughtered its people, and took their possessions — praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds! We make no apology for that, and we say: 'And like catastrophes await the unbelievers' uran 47:10"

Reign

The reign of Saud bin Abdulaziz began in 1803. Upon his accession to the throne he held the titles of both Emir and Imam like his father. Saud's reign was a period of religious cleansing in Arabia and in nearby regions. He continued to attack on shrines in Iraq, and Basra was blockaded by his forces for twelve days. The Emirate extended its rule beyond Najd and into the Hijaz which culminated with the capture of Medina in April 1804 and Mecca in 1806. In addition to capturing Hijaz he managed to strengthen his authority there. Furthermore, Bahrain and Oman were annexed to the Emirate, and Saud exerted his influence in Yemen. In 1805 Saud's supremacy was also recognized by the rulers of

Qawasim Al Qasimi (, spelled sometimes as Al Qassimi or Al Qassemi; plural: Al Qawasem and, archaically, Joasmee) is an Arab dynasty in the Persian Gulf that rules Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, today forming two of the seven emirates of the United Arab ...

and

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

, and Saud managed to capture a part of Oman. The same year he also annexed the

Buraimi Oasis Al Buraimi () is an oasis city and a ''wilayah'' (province) in northern Oman, on the border with the U.A.E. It is the capital of Al Buraimi Governorate and is located approximately from the national capital Muscat. It is bordered by the U.A.E. ...

. Saud's forces transformed the

Kaaba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...

in Mecca and destroyed the tombs of numerous religious figures in Medina in accordance with

Wahhabi Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other ...

theology. Due to the differences between Saud and the Ottomans in terms of the interpretation of Islam Saud ordered not to mention the name of the

Ottoman sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Friday prayers Friday prayer, or congregational prayer (), is the meeting together of Muslims for communal prayer and service at midday every Friday. In Islam, the day itself is called ''Yawm al-Jum'ah'' (shortened to ''Jum'ah''), which translated from Arabic me ...

in Mecca. Following the capture of Mecca he sent a letter to Ottoman Sultan

Selim III Selim III (; ; was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, he was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV (). A group of a ...

, inviting him to follow the Wahhabi theology. In the same letter he declared that he had captured Mecca and destroyed all tombs there and that he would not let people from Damascus and Cairo to visit Mecca "with the

Mahmal A mahmal () is a ceremonial passenger-less Litter (vehicle), litter that was carried on a camel among caravans of pilgrims on the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca which is a sacred duty in Islam. It symbolised the political power of the sultans who s ...

and with trumpet and drums." In 1807 Saud did not permit pilgrims from Egypt, Syria and Istanbul to enter Hijaz and expelled Turkish soldiers and settlers from Mecca. Such religious transformations did not sit well with other Muslims, and many other Muslims found his actions to be extreme, and were stunned that the holy cities had been taken so easily. The Ottoman Empire did not want to relent control over the cities to local tribesmen. The Ottomans could not retake the cities on their own though as the bulk of their forces were tied up in Europe.

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

, the viceroy of Egypt, was assigned to recapture the Arabian territories in 1809. One of his sons, commanding the Egyptian troops, succeeded in re-conquering Hijaz in 1813.

Personal life and death

Saud had a very different personality than his father, who was a deeply religious figure. He was interested in material side of the rule. However, like his grandfather and father he dressed in a plain way, and his armaments were not decorated unlike those of the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

and Ottoman rulers. He died in Diriyya on 27 April 1814 due to fever and was succeeded by his eldest son Abdullah. Saud's other sons included Mishari, Turki, Nasser and Saad. His youngest son,

Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal". It also appears as a surname.

, ruled the

or the Second Saudi State from 1838 to 1841 with the support of the Ottomans. Three of Saud's sons were killed in the siege of Diriyah by Ibrahim Pasha, who also arrested Saud's successor, Abdullah bin Saud. Mishari bin Saud returned to Diriyah in 1819 and attempted to establish his rule, but Mohammed bin Mishari bin Muammar who began to rule the region after the collapse of the Emirate imprisoned him.

References

External links

Uncomfortable Contradictions - The Hidden Problem Within Modern Salafism in Relation to Takfir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saud, Saud Abdulaziz 19th-century monarchs in the Middle East 1748 births 1814 deaths

Saud The House of Saud ( ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi State, (1727–1818), and his brothers, though the ruling fac ...

People of the Wahhabi war Saudi Arabian Wahhabis