The politics of Saudi Arabia takes place in the context of a unitary absolute monarchy, along traditional Islamist lines, where the King is both the head of state and government. Decisions are, to a large extent, made on the basis of consultation among the King, the Council of Ministers, Islamic scholars, tribal leaders and other traditional elites of the society. Saudi government is authoritarian, although some analysts have characterized the government of Mohammed bin Salman as totalitarian. The Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, is the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. Under his rule, he has centralized policymaking, purged competing political elites, and dismantled pre-existing power-sharing dynamics.
The House of Al 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 faction of the family is primarily led by the descendants of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman, the modern founder of Saudi Arabia. It forms a subtribe of the larger prominent ancient Banu Hanifa tribe of Arabia, from which well known 7th century Arabian theologist Maslama ibn Ḥabīb originates. The most influential position of the royal family is the King of Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarch. The family in total is estimated to comprise 15,000 members; however, the majority of power, influence and wealth is possessed by a group of about 2,000 of them. Some estimates of the royal family's wealth measure their net worth at $1.4 trillion. This figure includes the market capitalization of Saudi Aramco, the state oil and gas company, and its vast assets in fossil fuel reserves, making them the wealthiest family in the world and the wealthiest in recorded history.
Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud was the last emir of Nejd, reigning from 1875 to 1876 and from 1889 to 1891. He was the youngest son of Emir Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah and the father of Abdulaziz, the founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Safar bin Abd al-Rahman al-Hawali al-Ghamdi is a scholar who lives in Mecca. He came to prominence in 1991, as a leader of the Sahwah movement which opposed the presence of US troops on the Arabian Peninsula. In 1993, al-Hawali and Salman al-Ouda were leaders in creating the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights, a group that opposed the Saudi government, for which both were imprisoned from 1994 to 1999.
Saad Rashed Mohammad al-Faqih, also known as Saad Al-Fagih, is a Muslim Saudi national and former surgeon who heads the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) and lives in London. He was a key player in preparing the "Letter of Demands" of 1991 and the "Memorandum of Advice" the following year. Both documents were endorsed by a considerable number of prominent figures, including Sheikh Bin Baz, Al-Uthaymeen and Salman Al-Ouda, and were then presented to the king at the time, Fahd. In 1994, the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR), the then leading Saudi opposition group, which opposed the Saudi government as un-Islamic, was established; Al-Faqih was appointed as the head of CDLR's London office, with another Saudi dissident, Mohammad al-Massari as the spokesperson. The two separated, and al-Faqih went on to set up MIRA in 1996.
The Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights was a Saudi dissident group created in 1993 which opposed the Saudi government as un-Islamic.
Sa'ad bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud was the brother of Abdulaziz, Emir of Nejd. He was one of Abdulaziz's most devoted supporters and a key lieutenant in his early military campaigns.
Madawi al-Rasheed, is a British citizen of Saudi origin and a professor of social anthropology. Al-Rasheed has held a position at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies in King's College London and as a Visiting Professor at the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She gives occasional lectures in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. She is the granddaughter of Muhammad bin Talāl al-Rashid, the last prince of the Emirate of Ha'il, which was conquered by the Al-Saud in the early 20th century. She has written several books and articles in academic journals on the Arabian Peninsula, Arab migration, globalisation, gender, and religious transnationalism. As of 2016, she is a Visiting Research Professor at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore.
Salman bin Fahd bin Abdullah al-Ouda or Salman al-Ouda, Salman al-Oadah, Salman al-Audah, or Salman al-Awdah - kunya: Abu Mu'ad - is a Saudi Islamic scholar. Al-Ouda is a member of the International Union for Muslim Scholars and on its board of trustees. He is a director of the Arabic edition of the website Islam Today and appears on a number of TV shows and authors newspaper articles.
Bani Khalid is an Arab tribal confederation mainly inhabiting the Arabian Peninsula. The tribe ruled southern Iraq, Kuwait, and Eastern Arabia from the 15th century to the 18th century, and again under the auspices of the Ottoman Empire during the early 19th century. At its greatest extent, the domain of Bani Khalid extended from Iraq in the north to the borders of Oman in the South, and Bani Khalid wielded political influence by ruling the region of Najd in central Arabia. Most of the tribe's members presently reside in eastern and central Saudi Arabia, while others live in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. Bani Khalid has both Shia Muslim and Sunni Muslim members.
Fahda bint Asi bin Shuraim Al Shammari was an Arab woman of the Shammar tribe who was first married to her kinsman Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Rashid, Emir of Jabal Shammar, and later to King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia. By her first marriage, she had two sons: Abdulaziz and Mishaal. By her second marriage, she was the mother of King Abdullah, Princess Nouf, and Princess Seeta.
The Sultanate of Nejd was the third iteration of the Third Saudi State, from 1921 to 1926. It was a monarchy led by the House of Saud, and a legal predecessor of modern-day Saudi Arabia. This version of the Third Saudi State was created when Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, Emir of Riyadh, declared himself sultan over Nejd and its dependencies. On the 2 December 1922, the Nejd signed an agreement with Kuwait defining their border with each other. The border would be a straight line along the 29th parallel. In December 1925, the Kingdom of Hejaz surrendered to the forces of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, who was thereafter proclaimed king of Hejaz in January 1926 and merged his dominions into the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd.
Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, formerly also called The Red Prince, was a Saudi Arabian politician, dissident, businessman, and philanthropist. A member of the House of Saud, he was notable for his liberal stance, striving for a national constitution, the full rule of law and equality before the law. He was also the leader of Free Princes Movement in the 1960s.
The Al ash-Sheikh, also transliterated in a number of other ways, including Al ash-Shaykh, Al ash-Shaikh, Al al-Shaykh or Al-Shaykh is Saudi Arabia's leading religious family. They are the descendants of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. In Saudi Arabia, the family is second in prestige only to the Saudi royal family, the Al Saud, with whom they formed a power-sharing arrangement nearly 300 years ago. The arrangement, which persists to this day, is based on the Al Saud maintaining the Al ash-Sheikh's authority in religious matters and the Al ash-Sheikh supporting the Al Saud's political authority.
Noura bint Abdul Rahman Al Saud was the eldest daughter of Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, Emir of Nejd, and the elder sister and adviser of King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia. Madawi Al Rasheed argues that she is the first example of Saudi royal women who are introduced to support the view of a progressive royalty.
Dissidents have been detained as political prisoners in Saudi Arabia during the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s and earlier. Protests and sit-ins calling for political prisoners to be released took place during the 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests in many cities throughout Saudi Arabia, with security forces firing live bullets in the air on 19 August 2012 at a protest at al-Ha'ir Prison. As of 2012, recent estimates of the number of political prisoners in Mabahith prisons range from a denial of any political prisoners at all by the Ministry of Interior, to 30,000 by the UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission and the BBC.
The king of Saudi Arabia, officially the King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is the monarch and head of state/government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who holds absolute power. He is the head of the Saudi Arabian royal family, the House of Saud. The king is the supreme commander-in-chief of the Royal Saudi Armed Forces and the head of the Saudi national honors system. The king is called the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques", a title that signifies Saudi Arabia's jurisdiction over the mosques of Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina. The title has been used many times through the history of Islam. The first Saudi king to use the title was Faisal; however, King Khalid did not use the title after him. In 1986, King Fahd replaced "His Majesty" with the title of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and it has been since used by both King Abdullah and King Salman. The king has been named the most powerful and influential Muslim and Arab leader in the world according to the Muslim 500.
Abdullah bin Ali Al Rashid was the founder of the Emirate of Jabal Shammar. He founded the Emirate in 1836 and ruled it until 1848. He was called Sheikh due to his noble lineage and military ability.
Mujtahidd is the Twitter handle of a pseudonymous activist, described as a 'whistleblower' and a 'household name among Saudis who use social media', who publishes information alleging to expose corruption, inner state of affairs, and under the table workings of politics within the Saudi royal family. His Twitter account was created in 2011, and before 2015, he focused mostly on exposing corruption and the rise to power of Khaled al-Tuwaijri, previous King Abdullah's chief of court. In 2015, his Twitter account was suspended after he posted a series of documents regarding Princess Maha Al Sudairi.
Feminism in Saudi Arabia dates back to the ancient, pre-Roman Nabataean Kingdom in which women were independent legal persons. Twenty-first century feminist movements in Saudi Arabia include the women to drive movement and the anti male-guardianship campaign. Madawi al-Rasheed argued in 2019 that the Saudi feminist movement was "the most organised and articulate civil society" in Saudi Arabia.
