King

Abdullah of

Saudi Arabia
Joe Strehlow
4/1/09
3°
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Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, commonly known as King Abdullah of Saudi

Arabia, was born to Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdur Rahman Al Saud, known in the west as Ibn

Saud, and Fahda bint Asi Al Shuraim, who was the eighth wife of Ibn Saud (King Abdullah

Biography 1). Although King Abdullah has not been king until relatively recently, he has

had much power as a leader in his country, as well as a world leader. King Abdullah seems

not to have chosen a side between traditional Islamists and westerners; he seems to agree

with some of both of their ideas. Abdullah’s various royal connections and relationships

have helped him establish his power; with his power, he has gained many relationships with

foreign countries.

Abdullah was born in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, in 1924, and is the fifth

son of Ibn Saud; he has somewhere between fifty and sixty siblings altogether. When

Abdullah was born, his father was then called Amir Abdul Aziz, and Saudi Arabia included

only the northern and eastern parts Arabia. Abdullah’s father conquered the Sharif of Mecca

and then, in 1928, Amir Abdul Aziz declared himself king. The family had little wealth

until the 1940s, as they struck much oil at that time. There is little detail on Abdullah’s

education; the Saudi Information Directory states that his education was formal and

religious, it included Arab history, and he was required to read frequently. At one point in

his education, he lived with the Bedouins, who are a nomadic Muslim people that live in
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the Sahara, the Sinai Peninsula, as well as other nearby desert regions. While living with

the Bedouin tribes, Abdullah learned of their values of honor, simplicity, generosity, and

bravery, which inspired him to instill these values into his people (Bio of Custodian 2-3). As

a young man, his first major political position was the mayor of Mecca, and in 1962, he

was appointed commander of the National Guard, a position which he continues to hold.

King Abdullah has always loved the desert, and he also loves horses. He is a pure breeder

of Arabian horses and he established the equestrian club in Riyadh. Because Abdullah loves

to read, he founded the King Abdulaziz Library in Riyadh, as well as another library in

Casablanca, Morocco (Kjeilen 1-2).

Abdullah’s current position and his rise to power have been greatly influenced by

his family connections and his early political career. Abdullah’s early political positions,

such as his positions as the mayor of Mecca and the commander of the National Guard,

have helped him gain political experience. Abdullah helped carry out many of the National

Guards duties, such as providing security for the royal family, preventing rebellions, and

guarding the holy cities Medina and Mecca; the National Guard is made up of one hundred,

twenty-five thousand men and twenty-five thousand people of a tribal militia. In 1975,
when King Faisal, one of Abdullah’s half-brothers, was assassinated, another one of

Abdullah’s half-brothers, Khalid, took the throne. Khalid then appointed Abdullah to

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Second Deputy Prime Minister, an occupation where he was one of many advisors to King

Khalid; the large group of advisors is known as the Council of Ministers. In 1982, the

Khalid passed away and King Fahd, another one of Abdullah’s half-brothers, took the

throne. Abdullah was then promoted to Deputy Prime Minister, the second highest rank in

the Council of Ministers. King Fahd also declared that Abdullah was next in line for the

throne. In December 1995, King Fahd had many strokes that impeded his ruling for many

years; for the next nine years, Abdullah acted as a regent for King Fahd. This all ended on

August 1, 2005 when Fahd deceased and Abdullah took his place as King. As king,

Abdullah was forced to deal various conflicts, especially those regarding terrorism. Saudi

Arabia is torn between fundamentalist Muslims and modernizing reformers; both of these

together cause the fundamentalists to launch terrorist attacks. Several international terrorist

groups like Al-Qaeda have been linked to various terrorist attacks, which have been caused

because Abdullah promotes modernization and Islamic values. Members of terrorist groups

think that the Prophet Muhammad commanded that all non-Muslims should be exiled from

the Arabian Peninsula. These cause various uprisings and rebellions; Abdullah usually

responds with security raids, arrests, torture, and public beheadings. He has vowed to fight
terrorism plots and ideas throughout the country and the world. On the second anniversary

of the attacks on September 11, Abdullah wrote a letter of mourning to former President

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Bush, stating that he hopes a new and better world will surface from destruction of the

attacks. King Abdullah is an Arab nationalist, yet he has greatly helped other countries

(King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia 2-3).

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has established various relations with others

throughout his lifetime. Although many support Abdullah, he does have some opposition.

In January 2007, the Human Rights Watch organization sent Abdullah to cease persecuting

those of the Ahmadi religious faith, and in 2006 and 2007, two letters were sent to remove

the travel ban on critics of the Saudi government; the Human Rights Watch has not

indicated whether they have received a response to those letters. While visiting the United

Kingdom on October 30, 2007, many protesters accused him of being a murderer and a

torture; many people also had concerns regarding the situation of females and homosexuals

in Saudi Arabia. There have also been alleged bribes involving weaponry between the

United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. In 2005, Abdullah attempted to revive his 2002 Arab

Peace Initiative, which was supposed to help relations between Israel and the entire Arab

region. It received much attention in 2005, yet there is no recent news (Tore 2). Moreover,

Abdullah is often considered an altruist due to his various donations. With his current
wealth estimated at over twenty-one billion dollars, he has made many donations in his

past. In January 2005, he paid for the surgery for two conjoined twins so that they could

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live. Abdullah has also donated fifty million dollars and ten million dollars worth of relief

materials to the Great Sichuan Earthquake, a drastic seismic activity that killed sixty-nine

thousand individuals. Abdullah also donated ten billion dollars to help found the King

Abdullah University of Science and Technology, a research institution that was recently

constructed (King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia 4). King Abdullah is often viewed either as a

philanthropic individual, or, on the contrary, an inhumane being.

Abdullah’s birth into a royal family greatly helped him begin his political career, and

his influential education still affects his ways of ruling. Furthermore, his opposition to

terrorism and his support of benevolence has gained him many supporters; however, he still

faces criticism due to what many perceive as horrific torture, as well as poor treatment

towards females and homosexuals. The correlations between other powerful individuals and

Abdullah have significantly assisted him in his gain to power, which he has used to

establish relationships with foreign countries.