Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (4 March 1910 – 25 November 1988) (Arabic: محمد بن عبدالعزيز أل سعود‎ Muḥammad bin 'Abd al-'Azīz Āl Sa'ūd) was one of the wealthiest and most powerful members of the House of Saud and briefly crown prince of Saudi Arabia between 1964 and 1965. His advice was sought and deferred to in all matters by his brothers. Until his death in 1988, he was a close and powerful confidant and senior adviser to his brothers, King Khalid (r. 1975–1982) and King Fahd (r. 1982–2005).[1]

For the airport, see Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport.

Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with his cousin, Mohammed bin Saud Al Kabir
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
Tenure2 November 1964 – 29 March 1965
PredecessorFaisal
SuccessorKhalid
MonarchKing Faisal
Governor of Al Madinah Province
TenureDecember 1925–1954
MonarchIbn Saud
King Saud
King Faisal
Born(1910-03-04)4 March 1910
Riyadh, Emirate of Nejd and Hasa
Died25 November 1988(1988-11-25) (aged 78)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Burial25 November 1988
Al Oud cemetery, Riyadh
IssuePrince Fahd
Prince Abdul Rahman
Prince Bandar
Prince Badr
Prince Sa'ad
Prince Abdullah
Prince Abdulaziz
Full name
Muhammad bin Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Saud
HouseHouse of Saud
FatherIbn Saud
MotherAl Jawhara bint Musaed Al Jiluwi

Early life
Ibn Saud, the father of Prince Muhammad

Prince Muhammad was the fourth son of Ibn Saud[2] in Qasr Al Hukm, Riyadh.[3] His birth date is, according to different sources, either 1909[4] or 1910.[5][6] Indeed, William A. Eddy also states that he was the third son (not fourth son) of Ibn Saud.[7]

Prince Muhammad's mother was Al Jawhara bint Musaed Al Jiluwi.[8][9] She was born into the important Al Jiluwis family,[10][11] which was in fact a cadet branch of the Al Saud family itself. She was a second cousin of her husband (their paternal grandfathers had been brothers). This was in keeping with long-standing traditions in Arabia of marriage within the same lineage, and members of the Al Jiluwi family frequently intermarried with the members of Al Saud family.[12]

Prince Mohammad was one of three children born to Al Jawhara bint Musaed and Ibn Saud. King Khalid was his full brother,[5] and he had a full sister, Al Anoud, who married successively two sons of Saad bin Abdul Rahman. Al Anoud was first given in marriage to Saud bin Saad. After Saud died, she was married to his brother Fahd bin Saad.[13]

Royal duties

From early age Prince Muhammad participated in fights during the formation years of the Kingdom with his older brothers and cousins. He and Prince Faisal were given the responsibility for the Ikhwan in mid-1920s.[14][15] In December 1925 Prince Muhammad was named governor of Madinah following the conquest of the city in which he also involved.[16][17] His tenure lasted until 1954.[6]

In 1934 Ibn Saud ordered his forces to attack Yemen's forward defences.[18] Then, Faisal bin Saad, the son of the Saudi king's brother Saad, advanced to Baqem and the son of his other brother Muhammad, Khaled bin Muhammad, advanced to Najran and Saada. King's son Prince Faisal assumed command of the forces on the coast of Tihama and Mohammed bin Abdulaziz had advanced from Najd at the head of a reserve force to support his brother Saud.[18]

Prince Muhammad's eldest brother, King Saud
Muhammad's brother King Faisal

Prince Muhammad together with then Crown Prince Saud represented Ibn Saud at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in London in 1937.[19][20] Prince Muhammad and Prince Mansour accompanied Ibn Saud in the latter's meeting with the then US president Franklin D. Roosevelt on 14 February 1945.[7][21] They together with their uncle Prince Abdullah also attended the meeting between Ibn Saud and British premier Winston Churchill in Egypt in February 1945.[22] Prince Muhammad also accompanied King Saud during his visit to the US in January 1962.[23]

Prince Muhammad was known as king-maker.[1][24] He was a key prince in the coalition against King Saud.[25] He was head of royal family council and acted as a mediator during the dispute between King Saud and Crown Prince Faisal.[26] He was sent to King Saud's Al Naṣariah Palace in Fall 1964 to demand his and his sons' loyalty to the chosen king, Faisal.[26] On 28 November 1964 Radio Mecca announced the allegiance of eleven of Saud's sons to King Faisal.[26] During the reign of King Khalid he was one of the members of the inner family council headed by the King and included his brothers Crown Prince Fahd, Prince Abdullah, Prince Sultan, and Prince Abdul Muhsin as well as two of his surviving uncles, Prince Ahmed and Prince Musaid.[27] Prince Muhammad was very influential in reducing the power of the Sudairi Seven, who attempted to put to end Prince Abdullah's potential position of future crown prince.[28] After the death of King Khalid on 13 June 1982, the royal family council led by Prince Muhammad expressed its allegiance to the new king, Fahd.[29]

Renunciation of the succession
Khalid bin Abdulaziz, Prince Muhammad's only full brother, succeeded him as Crown Prince

Muhammad bin Abdulaziz was Crown Prince during the first few months (November 1964 – March 1965) of the reign of King Faisal. He then voluntarily stepped aside from the succession to allow his younger and only full brother, Prince Khalid, to become heir apparent to the Saudi throne.[1] Prince Muhammad's nickname was Abu Sharayn or "the father of two evils" (bad temper and drinking). In fact, his original nickname was "the father of evil" due to his aggressive and violent character during his youth which was first said by Ibn Saud.[20] In addition, Prince Muhammad was a frequent visitor to the parties in Beirut which he himself did not consider a proper act for a royal.[15] All such traits were the reasons for not being selected as the king by his brothers.[30][31]

It is also argued that Prince Muhammad, the oldest surviving son of Ibn Saud after Faisal, either declined the role of crown prince or was passed over because of his close association with King Saud during the latter's reign.[32]

Controversy

Prince Muhammad's granddaughter, Misha'al bint Fahd, was convicted of adultery in Saudi Arabia; she and her lover were sentenced to death on the explicit instructions of her grandfather, Prince Muhammad, who was a senior member of the royal family, for the alleged dishonour she brought on her clan and defying a royal order calling for her to marry a man selected by the family, and were subject to public execution. Western media criticized the event as a violation of women's rights. A British TV channel presented a dramatized documentary, Death of a Princess, which was based on this incident. The broadcast hurt Saudi–UK relations significantly.[33]

Following the execution, segregation of women became more severe,[34] and the religious police also began patrolling bazaars, shopping malls and any other place where men and women might happen to meet.[35] When Prince Muhammad was later asked if the two deaths were necessary, he said, "It was enough for me that they were in the same room together".[35]

Wealth

Prince Muhammad had considerable wealth which was based on his share of the sales of crude oil.[36] In the early 1980s his daily share was half a million barrel of oil.[36]

Views

Prince Muhammad objected to Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz's role as Crown Prince immediately after his installation to the post.[37] Prince Muhammad sent a letter to his father, King Abdulaziz, stating his negative views about Prince Saud's capacity to rule the state.[37]

Following the announcement that Prince Khalid was chosen as Crown Prince on 29 March 1965 Radio Mecca reported a statement by Prince Muhammad: "I would rather stay away from positions and titles."[38] Prince Muhammad later stated that he would not be a good king if he would have been chosen as the king.[15]

Prince Muhammad led the conservative members of the royal family.[39] They did not support the fast modernization of the society witnessed at the end of the 1970s and thought that modernization and the presence of too many foreign workers in the country would lead to the erosion of traditional Muslim values.[39][40]

Personal life and death

Muhammad bin Abdulaziz married five times to women linked to the Al Saud family.[20] He also had concubines.[20] He had twenty-nine children, seventeen sons and twelve daughters.[20] One of his daughters, Al Anoud bint Muhammed, was the spouse of Khalid bin Saud.[41]

Prince Fahd, the eldest son of Prince Muhammad, was one of the members of Al Saud Family Council established by Crown Prince Abdullah in June 2000 to discuss private issues such as business activities of princes and marriages of princess to individuals who were not member of House of Saud.[33] One of his grandsons, Muhammad bin Abdulaziz bin Muhammad, was named deputy governor of Jizan Province in May 2017.[42]

Prince Muhammad died at approximately 78 years of age[43] and was buried in Riyadh on 25 November 1988.[1][4]

Legacy

Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Airport is named after him. A hospital in Riyadh, Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Hospital, is also named after him.[44] In 2014 Saudi Ministry of Health started a medical complex in Sakakah, Al Jawf region, which is named after him, Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Medical City.[45]

Ancestry

References
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  2. Nabil Mouline (April–June 2012). "Power and generational transition in Saudi Arabia" (PDF). Critique Internationale. 46: 1–22.
  3. ""قصر الحكم" يحتفظ بأجمل الذكريات لأفراد الأسرة ... - جريدة الرياض". Al Riyadh (in Arabic). 23 May 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
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  44. "Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Hospital website". Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Hospital. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  45. "Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Medical City (PMMC)". MENA report. London. 11 February 2014. ProQuest 1497076165. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
Saudi Arabian royalty
Preceded by
Faisal		 Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
2 November 1964 – 29 March 1965		 Succeeded by
Khalid
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