House of Al-Sabah

For other uses, see Sabah.

Kuwait

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Kuwait

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The House of Al Sabah (Arabic: آل صباح‎) is the ruling family of Kuwait. They are a clan from the Anizah tribe which migrated to Kuwait in the early 18th century from Najd (current day Saudi Arabia). They are also from the Utub tribe. After reaching Kuwait, they entered in an alliance with the other families of the Utub such as Al-Khalifa and Al Jalahma. They have ruled Kuwait since 1752 when Sabah I became Sheikh (chief) of Kuwait. Subsequent sheikhs are the descendants of Sabah I. The sons of Sabah I are Salman, Mohammad, Mubarak, Malik and Abdullah.

The Emir of Kuwait is the head of the executive branch. He is nominated by a family council headed by the most senior and prominent members of the Al-Sabah. The leadership is not strictly hereditary and although many Emirs have succeeded their fathers, the family chooses the leader from each succeeding generation. For example, the late Sheikh Jaber Al-Sabah appointed his cousin, Sheikh Sheikh Saad, as heir apparent.

The Kuwaiti parliament has a say in the appointment of the emir. Although customs prohibit the use of such measures, the parliament (per article 3 of the constitution) has a constitutional right to approve or disapprove of an emir's appointment. The parliament effectively removed then crown prince Sheikh Saad after the death of Sheikh Jaber Al-Sabah in early 2006 due to Saad's inability to rule because of illness.

Only some members of the ruling family receive a monthly stipend from the Amiri Diwan and a year-end bonus. The prime minister is selected by the emir of the state of Kuwait and he could be any Kuwaiti citizen. But historically all prime ministers have been appointed are from Al-Sabah family , Precedents dictate that the Al-Sabahs hold key cabinet posts such as the ministry of defense, the foreign ministry, the ministry of interior, the oil ministry and, most importantly, the office of prime minister. With an estimated multi-billion dollar fortune, mainly from oil revenues, the Al-Sabahs are known for aiding other royal houses in the region who have little or no natural resources like oil for nothing in return. In 1991, right after the Gulf war, Time Magazine published an article stating that the Al-Sabah family have an estimated wealth of $90 Billion, with investments mostly in the United States. "The al-Sabah family by now was unimaginably rich, with an estimated wealth of some 90 billion dollars. They had invested about 50 billion dollars in the stocks of US companies."^[1] By 2010, almost 20 years later, the estimated wealth of the Al-Sabah family is unknown, but many observers predict that it has tripled, or even quadrupled over the years, as the Al-Sabah's have the largest shares in almost all the blue chip corporations in the Western world, with tens of billions of dollars invested in companies from Citibank to Daimler AG to Merrill Lynch.

The two main branches

Mubarak Al Sabah had fourteen children, eight sons and seven daughters.

Sons of Mubarak Al Sabah:

Jaber Sheikh of Kuwait (1915—17), Salim Sheikh of Kuwait (1917—21), Nasser, Fahad, Saud, Hamad, Sabah and Abdullah the offspring of two of them however - Jaber and Salem - rotate the Emirship of Kuwait, in the meantime the situation have been changed because other offspring have been appointed to the most important ministries which will lead them to succeed the throne of the state of kuwait.

Family tree

SABAH I, Sheikh 1752—64

ABDULLAH I, Sheikh 1764—1814

JABIR I, Sheikh 1814—59

SABAH II, Sheikh 1859—66

ABDULLAH II, Sheikh 1866—92

MUHAMMAD, Sheikh 1892—96

MUBARAK, Sheikh 1896—1915

JABIR II, Sheikh 1915—17

SALIM, Sheikh 1917—21

AHMAD, Sheikh 1921—50

Humoud

ABDULLAH III, Emir 1950—65

SABAH III, Emir 1965—77

Muhammad

JABER III, Emir 1977—2006

SABAH IV, Emir 2006 — present

Nawaf, Crown Prince

Ahmad, Interior minister

SAAD, Emir 2006

Muhammad al-Sabah, Former Foreign Minister

Nasser, Prime Minister

Titles

The Emir: His Highness The Amir Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah

The Crown Prince: His Highness Sheikh Nawaf Al Sabah

The Prime Minister: His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al Sabah

Other notable members of Al-Sabah

• Salem Al Homoud Al Jaber Al-Sabah, Amiri Guards creator
• Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, Prime Minister of Kuwait
• Salem Al Ali Al Sabah, chief of the National Guard
• Mesha'al Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, deputy chief of National Guard
• Muhammad Al-Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
• Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense
• Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of State for Development Affairs and Minister of State for Housing Affairs
• Hussa Al-Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Director of Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiya (Kuwait Museum of Islamic Art)
• Saud bin Nasir Al-Sabah, former Kuwait ambassador to the United States , former Oil Minister.
• Nijirah al-Sabah, daughter of Saud bin Nasir Al-Sabah, provided testimony as "Nurse Nayirah" to the US Congressional Human Rights Caucus before the Gulf War
• Prince khalid Al-Sabah Royal Majestic Charity Foundation
• Salem Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah 1938 - 2007 former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Interior, Social Affairs and Foreign Minister
• Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah former Minister of the Interior

His Excellency Sheikh Faisal H. M Al Sabah

Family meetings

The emir of Kuwait holds family meetings and gatherings every year during which they discuss many important issues. The emir holds meetings with the head people of the Al Sabah family who are 40 years old or older.

Current events

Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah was removed by parliamentary action after a prolonged stalemate following the death of the previous emir, Jaber, on 15 January 2006. He was earlier offered the chance to abdicate after taking power provisionally as stipulated by the constitution, but his inability to recite the oath of office prevented his ratification by parliament.

The then prime minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, was nominated for the post of emir by invoking Article 3 of the Kuwaiti constitution. He was sworn in on 29 January 2006 and is the current ruler.

The emir appointed his brother, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, as crown prince. The emir also appointed his nephew, Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah, as prime minister.

On 13 May 2008 the former emir, Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, died after battling health problems for years. He was buried the following day in accordance with Muslim tradition. He was 78 years old.

See also

• Bani Utbah
• History of Kuwait
• Utub
• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

References

1. ^ 1

• Al Sabah: History and Genealogy of Kuwait’s Ruling Family 1752-1987 by Alan Rush (Ithaca Press, 1987)
• Burke’s Ruling Families of the World, Volume 2 (Burke’s Peerage, 1980), includes genealogies and essays on Al-Sabah (Kuwait)
• Records of Kuwait ed., Alan Rush (8 vols. Archive Editions, 1989)
• Unavailable
  • Article listing positions of a few Sabah's
  • Detailed Genealogy of the Sabah family
  • Former emir dies in Kuwait