Encyclopedia of Islam

Faysal ibn Abd al-Aziz Al Saud

  

233  J

---

Europe and was named foreign minister after his 

return in 1919. Faysal played an active role in the 

Saudi conquest of the Arabian Peninsula in the 

1920s and 1930s and served as governor of the 

Hijaz, the western part of Arabia where m

ecca

and  m

edina

 are located. At the end of World 

War II, he represented s

aUdi

 a

rabia

 at the United 

Nations. In 1953, he was named the country’s 

crown prince and foreign minister and contended 

with his brother King Saud ibn Abd al-Aziz for the 

upper hand in Saudi affairs. With the help of the 

Ulama

, he successfully forced Saud to step down 

from the throne, and he became the kingdom’s 

third monarch in 1964.

Saudi Arabia experienced a great increase in 

oil

 revenues during Faysal’s reign. This helped to 

finance a far-reaching program of modernization. 

He expanded the state bureaucracy and centralized 

planning and decision making in the hands of the 

royal family. Faysal made substantial improvements 

in the country’s roads, communications, electrical 

supply, and social services. He also modernized the 

country’s educational system, opening new uni-

versities and vocational centers in the kingdom’s 

major cities and towns. With the encouragement 

of his wife, Iffat, he opened more than 100 schools 

for girls, despite opposition from religious and 

social conservatives. Faysal was a staunch oppo-

nent of e

gypt

’s Arab nationalist leader, J

amal

 a

bd

al

-n

asir

 (r. 1954–70) and sought to unite Muslim 

nations against the influence of the Soviet Union 

and the spread of Arab socialism. He also par-

ticipated, with some reluctance, in the oil embargo 

against the United States because of its support 

for i

srael

 in the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war. In 

1975, he was assassinated by a nephew and was 

succeeded by his brother, Crown Prince Khalid ibn 

Abd al-Aziz (r. 1975–82). A major research center 

for Islamic studies in Riyadh and a university 

in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia have been 

named in his honor.

See also  a

bd

 

al

-a

ziz

 

ibn

  s

aUd

;  a

rab

-i

sraeli

conFlicts

; 

commUnism

;  o

rganization

 

oF

 

the

i

slamic

 c

onFerence

; W

ahhabism

.