The King of Saudi Arabia is Saudi Arabia's absolute monarch who serves as head of state and head of government. He is the head of the Saudi royal family, the House of Saud. The King is called the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques (خادم الحرمين الشريفين), a title that signifies Saudi Arabia's jurisdiction over the mosques of Masjid al Haram in Mecca and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina, replacing His Majesty in 1986.

History [ edit ]

King Abdulaziz (known in the West as Ibn Saud) began conquering today's Saudi Arabia in 1902, by restoring his family as emirs of Riyadh. He then proceeded to conquer first the Nejd (1922) and then the Hejaz (1925).

Ibn Saud proclaimed his dominions as the Sultanate of Nejd in 1921, shortly before completing the conquest of the region. He was proclaimed king/malik 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 as separate units. In 1932, he formally united his territories into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Succession [ edit ]

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. Sons of Ibn Saud are considered to have primary claim on the throne of Saudi Arabia. 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 absolute 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.

Legal position [ edit ]

Saudi Arabia is ruled by Islamic law (Sharia) and is an Islamic state.[1]

Other functions [ edit ]

The King of Saudi Arabia is also considered the Head of the House of Saud and Prime Minister. The Crown Prince is also the "Deputy Prime Minister". The kings after Faisal have named a "second Deputy Prime Minister" as the subsequent heir after the Crown Prince.

Kings of Saudi Arabia (1932–present) [ edit ]





Current heirs-presumptive [ edit ]

Crown Prince: Mohammad bin Salman, born ( 1985-08-31 ) 31 August 1985 (age 33) ; son of King Salman and Fahda bint Falah bin Sultan Al Hithalayn.

Timeline [ edit ]

Royal Standard [ edit ]

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.

Royal Standard of the King

The script on the flag is written in the Thuluth script. It is the shahada or Islamic declaration of faith:

لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا الله مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ الله lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh, muhammadun rasūlu-llāh There is no other god but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.[2]

See also [ edit ]