The House of Al Saud (Arabic: آل سُعُود, romanized: ʾĀl Suʿūd IPA: [ʔaːl sʊʕuːd]) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia.

[2] It forms a subtribe of the larger prominent ancient Banu Hanifa tribe of Arabia,[3] from which well known 7th century Arabian theologist Maslama ibn Ḥabīb originates.

[8] King Salman, who reigns currently, first replaced the next crown prince, his brother Muqrin, with his nephew Muhammad bin Nayef.

Members of the cadet branches hold high and influential positions in government though they are not in the line of succession to the Saudi throne.

[11][12] The earliest recorded ancestor of the Al Saud was Mani' ibn Rabiah Al-Muraydi, who settled in Diriyah in 1446–1447 with his clan, the Mrudah.

Mani' was invited to Diriyah by a relative named Ibn Dir, who was the ruler of a group of villages and estates that make up modern-day Riyadh.

Islamic scholars, particularly Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab and his descendants, are believed to have played a significant role in Saudi rule during this period.

In 1802, Abdulaziz's forces led 10,000 Wahhabi soldiers in an attack on the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala, in what is now southern Iraq and where Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad is buried.

[19] They plundered the city, demolishing the massive golden dome above Hussein's tomb and loaded hundreds of camels with weapons, jewelry, coins and other valuable goods.

After his defeat at Mulayda, Abdul Rahman bin Faisal went with his family into exile in the deserts of eastern Arabia among the Al Murra bedouin.

Supported by a few dozen followers and accompanied by some of his brothers and relatives, Abdulaziz was able to capture Riyadh's Masmak fort and kill the governor appointed there by Muhammad bin Abdullah Al Rashid.

Ibn Saud spent the next three decades trying to re-establish his family's rule over central Arabia, starting with his native Najd.

Though for a time acknowledging the sovereignty of the Ottoman Sultans and even taking the title of pasha, Ibn Saud allied himself to the British, in opposition to the Ottoman-backed Al Rashidis.

In 1964, the royal family forced Saud to abdicate in favor of Faisal, aided by an edict from the country's grand mufti.

The key ministries of Defence, the Interior and Foreign Affairs are usually held by members of the Saud family, as are all of the thirteen regional governorships.

[24] Most portfolios, however, such as Finance, Labour, Information, Planning, Petroleum Affairs and Industry, have traditionally been given to commoners, often with junior Al Saud members serving as their deputies.

House of Saud family members also hold many of the kingdom's critical military and governmental departmental posts.

Ultimate power in the kingdom has always rested upon the Al Saudis, though support from the Ulema, the merchant community, and the population at large has been key to the maintenance of the royal family's political status quo.

In cases where portfolios have notably substantial budgets, appointments of younger, often full, brothers have been necessary, as deputies or vice ministers, ostensibly to share the wealth and the burdens of responsibility, of each fiefdom.

[citation needed] The royal family is politically divided by factions based on clan loyalties, personal ambitions and ideological differences.

[37][38] Amid international outcry over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, members of the Saudi royal family were allegedly distressed over the prospect of the crown prince becoming the next king.

[39] In June 2015, Forbes listed businessman Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a grandson of Abdulaziz, the first king of Saudi Arabia, as the 34th-richest man in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$22.6 billion.

Some estimates of the Royal Family's wealth put the figure as high as $1.4 trillion, which includes holdings in Saudi Aramco.

[42] On 20 November 1979, the Grand Mosque seizure saw the al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca violently seized by a group of 500 heavily armed and provisioned Saudi dissidents led by Juhayman al-Otaybi and Abdullah al-Qahtani,[43] consisting mostly of members of the former Ikhwan militia of Otaibah[44] but also of other peninsular Arabs and a few Egyptians enrolled in Islamic studies at the Islamic University of Madinah.

[47] Since May 2017, in response to protests against the government,[disputed – discuss] the predominantly Shia town of Al-Awamiyah has been put under full siege by the Saudi military.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman kept his own mother away from his father for more than two years, fearing that she would stop the king from giving eventual power to him.

[53] Some Royals have been criticised for various human rights violations, including the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, treatment of workers,[54] the Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain and the Yemen war.

[55] The Reuters news agency reported on 23 June 2020 that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had allegedly threatened and intimidated a former intelligence officer, Saad al-Jabri, along with his family of adult children, from returning to Saudi Arabia from exile in Canada.

[56] A group of intellectuals from Saudi Arabia, exiled in the US, the UK, and elsewhere, launched a political party in opposition to the royal family ruling the kingdom.

Other members of the party include scholar Abdullah al-Aoudh, comedian and vlogger Omar Abdulaziz, and activist Yahya Assiri.