Abdul Rahman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Abdul Rahman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Arabic: عبد الرحمن بن عبد العزيز آل سعود‎, ʿAbd ar Raḥman ibn ʿAbd l ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd; 1931 – 13 July 2017) was a senior member of the House of Saud and Saudi Arabian deputy minister of defense and aviation. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living member of the Sudairi Seven.[1][2]

Abdul Rahman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Deputy Minister of Defense and Aviation
In office1978 – 5 November 2011
PredecessorTurki II bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
SuccessorKhalid bin Sultan
Monarch
Born1931 (1931)
Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz
Died13 July 2017(2017-07-13) (aged 85–86)
Burial15 July 2017
Al Adl cemetery, Makkah
SpouseMaha Al Ibrahim
Full name
Abdul Rahman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud
HouseHouse of Saud
FatherIbn Saud
MotherHassa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
California Military Academy

Early life and education

Abdul Rahman was born in 1931[3] as the sixteenth son to Ibn Saud and third son to Hassa Al Sudairi.[4] Abdul Rahman was the first of Ibn Saud's sons to study in the West,[3][5] received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated from the California Military Academy.[6]

Career

Prince Abdul Rahman was the counsellor for royal family affairs during the mid-1970s.[7][8] Abdul Rahman replaced his brother, Prince Turki, as the deputy minister of defense and aviation in 1978 when Turki resigned.[9] Prince Abdul Rahman also involved in business activities.[10][9] During the 1980s, when he was deputy minister, Abdul Rahman reportedly provided food service to the ministry with his own company.[11]

During Prince Sultan’s absence from the Kingdom for medical treatment, he increased his activity at the ministry. Abdul Rahman was often described as becoming more irritable with age.[1]

He was relieved from his post as deputy minister on 5 November 2011. According to Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Abdul Rahman was dismissed by King Abdullah when, unhappy at being bypassed as crown prince in favor of Prince Nayef, he refused to declare allegiance to Nayef.[12][13]

Views and succession

Following the Gulf War Prince Abdul Rahman as deputy defense minister objected to the request of Prince Khalid bin Sultan to be named as the chief of staff of the Saudi army.[14]

Prince Abdul Rahman was reportedly the only son of Ibn Saud to oppose the 2007 formation of the Allegiance Council, despite support from nearly all sons of the king. The apparent reason for his protests was the fact that he was next in age, after Crown Prince Sultan; the new succession arrangement is based on merit, rather than age. Prince Salman, his younger brother and the referee in family disputes, reportedly met with Abdul Rahman and told him to "shut up and get back to work".[15]

Personal life

He was married to Maha Al Ibrahim, sister of King Fahd's wife Al Jawhara Al Ibrahim and Al Ibrahim's brothers (including Waleed Al Ibrahim).[16] Abdul Rahman's son-in-law is Nayef bin Sultan bin Fawwaz al-Shaalan.[17] One of Abdul Rahman's son, Mohammed, was named the deputy governor of Riyadh in 2017.[18]

Abdul Rahman died on 13 July 2017 at the age of 86.[19][20] Funeral prayers were performed at the Grand Mosque in Makkah on 15 July, and he was buried at Al Adl cemetery.[21]

Ancestry

References
  1. Nathaniel Kern; Matthew M. Reed (15 November 2011). "Change and succession in Saudi Arabia". Foreign Reports Bulletin.
  2. "Saudi succession developments" (PDF). Foreign Reports Inc. 28 October 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  3. J. E. Peterson (2003). Historical Dictionary of Saudi Arabia (2nd ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. 16.
  4. Winberg Chai (22 September 2005). Saudi Arabia: A Modern Reader. University Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-88093-859-4.
  5. Joseph A. Kechichian (2 August 2001). Succession In Saudi Arabia. Springer. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-312-29962-0.
  6. Sabri, S. (2001). The house of Saud in commerce: A study of royal entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. I. S. Publications.
  7. Lincoln P. Bloomfield (September 1981). "Saudi Arabia Faces the 1980s: Saudi Security Problems and American Interests". Fletcher Report. 243: 255.
  8. Gulshan Dhanani (19 June 1982). "The King Is Dead, Long Live the King". Economic and Political Weekly. 17 (25): 1021–1022. JSTOR 4371042.
  9. Nimrod Raphaeli (September 2003). "Saudi Arabia: A Brief Guide to its Politics and Problems" (PDF). MERIA. 7 (3): 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2012.
  10. William B. Quandt (1981). Saudi Arabia in the 1980s: Foreign Policy, Security, and Oil. Washington DC: The Brookings Institution. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-8157-2051-5.
  11. "The role of Saudi princes in uniform". Wikileaks. 27 May 1985. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  12. Ahmed Masri (7 November 2011). الامير عبد الرحمن اعفي من منصبه لرفضه 'البيعة' [Saudi Prince Abdul Rahman Reportedly Removed for Refusing to Pledge Allegiance]. Al Quds Al Arabi (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 10 November 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  13. Ian Bremmer (2 March 2012). "The next generation of Saudi royals is being groomed". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  14. Caryle Murphy (5 March 1992). "Glass Ceiling' In House of Saud; Princes Find Few Jobs at Top". The Washington Post. Washington DC. ProQuest 307496851. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  15. "Crown Prince Sultan backs the king in family". Wikileaks. 12 February 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  16. "HH Princess Al Jawhara bint Ibrahim". King Abdulaziz University. 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  17. Ireland, Doug (6 May 2004). "Royal Coke". LA Weekly. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  18. Karen Elliott House (June 2017). "Saudi Arabia in Transition: From Defense to Offense, But How to Score?" (Senior Fellow Paper). Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. p. 5. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  19. "عام / الديوان الملكي : وفاة صاحب السمو الملكي الأمير عبدالرحمن بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود". Saudi Press Agency (in Arabic). 13 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  20. Alaa Rajab. "Wafat al'amir ebdalrhmn bin ebdaleaziz ean eumr yunahiz al86 eamana" وفاة الأمير عبدالرحمن بن عبدالعزيز عن عمر يناهز الـ86 عامًا [Prince Abdulrahman bin Abdul Aziz died at the age of 86 years]. Al-Wafd (in Arabic). Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  21. "The King performs funeral prayer on the soul of Prince Abdulrahman". Al Riyadh. Makkah. 15 July 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
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