Muhammad bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud

Muhammad bin Abdul-Aziz (1910–1988) (Arabic: محمد بن عبد العزيز ال سعود‎) was a member of the royal family of Saudi Arabia. He was heir apparent to the throne of Saudi Arabia from 1964 to 1965. He then stepped aside and allowed his younger brother (and only full brother), Khalid, to take up that position.

Muhammad was a son to the kingdom's founder, King Abdul-Aziz, and a brother of all succeeding kings of Saudi Arabia to date. He was among the wealthiest and most powerful members of the Saudi royal family. His advise was sought and deferred to in all matters by his brothers. Until his death in 1988, he was a close and powerful confidant and senior adviser to his younger brothers, King Khalid and King Fahd.

Renunciation of the succession

Muhammad was Crown Prince during the first few months (November 1964 – March 1965) of the reign of his elder half-brother King Faisal. He then voluntarily stepped aside from the succession to allow his younger and only full brother, Khalid, to become heir apparent to the Saudi throne. He is said to have stepped aside in order to comply with a general family agreement. That agreement had been negotiated during the period of internal crisis that saw the abdication, in late 1964, of Muhammad's elder half-brother, the profligate King Saud, in favour of another half-brother, King Faisal. Muhammad's renunciation therefore helped to defuse that crisis and facilitated the takeover of power by King Faisal.

Muhammad is reputed to have been a powerful personality. He is said to have been of orthodox disposition. However, his rigidity weakened his ability to garner support necessary to gain political power in the kingdom. The King of Saudi Arabia is elected by an informal collegium consisting of the sons and senior grandsons of the kingdom's founder, Ibn Saud, and while age and seniority of birth are important considerations, it is also necessary to accommodate and engage amicably with various family and social factions in order to gain power.

Controversy

Muhammed's granddaughter, Misha'al bint Fahd, was convicted of adultery in Saudi Arabia. She and her lover were given capital punishment because in Saudi Arabia adultery is a crime which carries a death penalty. Muhammad did not intercede on her behalf to grant her clemency.^[1] Western media portrayed the event negatively and claimed it a violation of women's rights though Misha'al's male lover was also executed. A British TV channel presented a fictionalized docudrama, Death of a Princess, which was based on this incident.^[1] The telecast of this docudrama hurt Saudi–UK relations significantly.^[1]

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