Muhammad bin Saud

محمد بن سعود Muhammad ibn Saud ibn Muhammad ibn Migrin
House of Saud
Founder
Offspring
Abdul Aziz Faysal Saud Ali Abdallah

Muhammad ibn Saud (Arabic: محمد بن سعود ‎) (d. 1765), also known as Ibn Saud, was the emir of Al-Dir'iyyah and is considered the founder of the First Saudi State and the Saud dynasty, which are technically named for his father – Saud ibn Muhammad ibn Migrin. Ibn Saud's family (then known as the Al Migrin) traced its descent to the tribe of 'Anizzah but, despite popular misconceptions, Muhammad ibn Saud was neither a nomadic bedouin nor was he a tribal leader. Rather, he was the chief (emir) of an agricultural settlement near modern-day Riyadh.

Descent

Saud bin Mohammed bin Migrin bin Saud bin Mandeel bin Abu Bakr bin Yazid bin Muawiyah bin Migrin bin Al Lat bin Al Uzza bin Harb bin Qahafa bin Abi Sufyan Al Najdi (Arabic:سعود بن محمد بن مقرن بن سعود بن منديل بن ابو بكر بن يزيد بن معاوية بن مقرن بن اللات بن العزى بن حرب بن قهافة بن ابي سفيان النجدي) is of pure Jewish descent, his ancestor Al Lat killed many Arab pre-Islamic polytheist mercenaries who wanted to convert him into their religion. Also, many Arabian rulers tried to invade Najd which was under his control at the time, but they were all repulsed as Al Lat was a skilled commander. To defend Najd, Al Lat built a huge army, which included women and children above 3 years. On one day, 30 armed Hejazi warriors were killed after they attempted to ambush Najdi borderguards. The next day, Al Lat declared war on Hejaz and and quickly invading that area, however were met with heavy resistance from Hejazi militiamen who killed 129 Najdi warriors in the process. Later on, Arabian regional powers, fearing for their territories, formed an alliance (called the Arabian alliance) and put a siege on Najd, banning all food going to that area. As Najd is a desert, and had mostly depended on food from other Arabian city states, and Hejazi militias now controlled half of Hejaz (including the border with Najd, and banned any food going to Najd), Al thought of surrendering but instead escaped with all of his army to Hejaz and invaded it again. As now Najd had no army protecting it, the Arabian alliance (AA) quickly invaded that area, suffering 6 casualties who were killed by local militias trying to protect that area. AA then quickly invaded Hejaz and killed Al Lat. This was now the end of the Najdi Empire

Alliance with Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhab

The initial power base was the town of Ad-Dar'iyah, where he met Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab, who came to Ibn Saud for protection. Muhammad ibn Saud granted this and the two decided to work together to implement Ibn Abdel Wahhab's ideas of purifying Islam from innovations (heresies) in the practice of Islam by bringing the religion back to its purest form. They formed an alliance in 1744 which was formalized by the wedding of Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhab's daughter to Abdul Aziz, son and successor of Ibn Saud. Thereafter, the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud and the descendants of bin Abdul-Wahhab, the Al ash-Sheikh, have remained closely linked.

Using the ideology of Ibn Al-Wahhab, Ibn Saud helped establish the House of Saud among other forces in the Arabian peninsula. The use of religion as a basis for legitimacy differentiated the House of Saud from neighboring clans and built support.

First Saudi State

Flag of the First Saudi State.

Thus, Ibn Saud is considered the founder of what later became known as the First Saudi State. The way he set up his government has served as model for rulers of the House of Saud until the present day. The government was based on Islamic principles and made use of shura. He ruled until his death in 1765.

See also

• Second Saudi State
• Third Saudi State

References

New creation	Imam of First Saudi State 1744-1765	Succeeded by Abdul Aziz bin Muhammad bin Saud
Preceded by Zaid bin Markhan	Prince (Emir) of Diriyah 1726-1744	Recreated Title next held by Himself as Imam of First Saudi State