Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi

With the passing of King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia has lost a great leader par excellence. The departed leader carved out a niche in the Kingdom’s history and there’s no comparison to him. He holds a unique position in the hearts of the people due to his loving care and bold initiatives for the welfare of people.



King Abdullah shouldered a number of responsibilities before ascending the throne in 2005. He left a unique and distinctive imprint on almost all positions that he held. At the time he took over as the commander of the National Guard, it was the name of a group of desert people living in tents or in modest buildings. He has turned it into a big force to be reckoned with immensely. He brought in military experts to train them, in addition to sending some of them abroad to receive better education and training. They came back after acquiring training as officers and guards having a great deal of awareness and discipline. The late King was instrumental in launching the Janadriyah National Heritage and Culture Festival that showcased the Kingdom’s rich heritage, besides making it a mega Arab cultural forum.



The signs of King Abdullah’s extraordinary leadership qualities were evident when King Fahd suffered a stroke and he was not in a position to discharge the affairs of the state. Abdullah, who was crown prince then, found himself in front of great responsibilities that were to be accomplished in difficult situations, fighting against the odds but he managed to overcome all these hurdles and difficulties.



He started mingling with the poor people and received people who came to redress their grievances and find a solution to their problems. He visited houses of people in the poor neighborhoods of Riyadh and inquired about their living conditions. Eventually, the King constituted a committee to carry out studies about the situation of the poor and how to address their problems. He also moved to popular markets and ate food at  traditional restaurants. Such a gesture was for the first time from any kings or rulers, and that enabled him to win the hearts and love of ordinary people.



Abdullah initiated the reform process well before assuming the throne, beginning with education and then moving to judiciary for which he set aside billions of riyals. The next turn was to transportation with expanding road networks across the Kingdom and making most of them double roads, in addition to taking steps to establish the ambitious Land Bridge Project, a railroad connecting the Kingdom’s east with west and north with south. In addition to this, he established the Makkah Metro to facilitate movement of pilgrims within the holy sites during Haj.



When he ascended the throne, King Abdullah embarked on reforms vigorously and started implementing massive development projects in almost all sectors. He launched the largest ever expansion in the history of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. The King Abdullah Foreign Scholarship Program is a unique scheme of its kind not only in the Kingdom but also in the entire world. It opened vast doors in front of Saudi students to go to advanced countries in pursuit of their higher studies. Currently there are hundreds of thousands of young Saudi men and women doing their higher studies in world class universities, especially in the United States and the European countries. This program is akin to Japanese scholarship program of Emperor Meiji and that of Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt in the 19th century.



During the reign of King Abdullah, the number of universities in the Kingdom jumped from seven to more than 30, of which the most prestigious one is King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). It is a world class university specialized in scientific research where students belonging to all nationalities are being given admission on the basis of their merit and talent.



The late King’s another outstanding contribution was promoting interfaith dialogue in order to build rapport and remove misgivings among followers of various religions. A major aspect of this initiative was organizing interfaith dialogue conferences in various parts of the world and opening King Abdullah International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) in Vienna. In addition to this, he established the National Dialogue Center to promote concepts of tolerance and moderation in the Saudi society. He made historic visits to China, India and Japan, and signed cooperation agreements with these countries in all vital fields and this was part of his keenness to expand relations with all the major countries in the world.



It is very difficult to write down all the major achievements and contributions of King Abdullah in a single article. The King’s legacy includes making available of more freedom of expression and relaxing censorship regulations.



King Abdullah is no more and what we can do for him now is to pray Allah Almighty to bestow him His infinite mercy and forgiveness. At the same time, we have to realize the fact that the transfer of power from King Abdullah to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman was made in the smoothest way. One Saudi citizen tweeted: “In the evening, we were under the rule of a king but in the next morning we became under the rule of another king without having any change in our feelings. There were not any demonstrations, emergency situations, gathering of people or protests…”



Immediately after ascending the throne, King Salman took key decisions appointing new Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister and head of his royal court. No changes have been made in the portfolio of ministers. King Salman is well known for his political acumen and deep sense of history apart from his vast experience in the affairs of the government. The people in the Kingdom are pinning great hopes on him and may Allah help and guide him to accomplish this.



Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com