page_title: Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
section_title: Domestic affairs
hierarchical_section_title: Abdullah of Saudi Arabia / King of Saudi Arabia / Domestic affairs
caption_attribution_description: English: King Khalid Iinternational Airport, Riyadh. At an official welcome ceremony with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.Русский: Эр-Рияд, Аэропорт имени Короля Халеда. Официальная церемония встречи Владимира Путина с Королём Саудовской Аравии Абдаллой бен Абделем Азизом аль-Саудом. العربية: في مطار الملك خالد الدولي بمدينة الرياض ، استقبال رسمي بين الرئيس الروسي فلاديمير بوتين والعاهل السعودي عبدالله بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود.
context_page_description: Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques from the death of his half-brother, King Fahd, on 1 August 2005 until his own death in 2015.
  Abdullah, like Fahd, was one of the many sons of Ibn Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia. Abdullah held important political posts throughout most of his adult life. In 1961 he became mayor of Mecca, his first public office. The following year, he was appointed commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, a post he was still holding when he became king. He also served as deputy defense minister and was named crown prince when Fahd took the throne in 1982. After King Fahd suffered a serious stroke in 1995, Abdullah became the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia until ascending the throne a decade later.
  During his reign he maintained close relations with United States and United Kingdom and bought billions of dollars worth of defense equipment from both states. He also gave women the right to vote for municipal councils and to compete in the Olympics. Furthermore, Abdullah maintained the status quo when there were waves of protest in the kingdom during the Arab Spring.
context_section_description: King Abdullah's administration attempted reforms in different fields.
  In 2005, King Abdullah implemented a government scholarship program to send young Saudi men and women abroad for undergraduate and postgraduate studies in different universities around the world. The program offered funds for tuition and living expenses up to four years. It is estimated that more than 70,000 young Saudis studied abroad in more than 25 countries, with the United States, England, and Australia as top three destinations aimed for by the students. There are more than 22,000 Saudi students studying in the United States, exceeding pre-9/11 levels. Public health engagement included breast cancer awareness and CDC cooperation to set up an advanced epidemic screening network to protect 2010's three million Hajj pilgrims.
  In 2005 King Abdullah declared that the national day of the country, 23 September, would be a public holiday in an attempt to reduce the influence of religious figures and some of the social restrictions. It was criticized by the religious figures who argued that such celebration was not part of Islam.
  King Abdullah implemented many reform measures. He re-shuffled the ministry of education's leadership in February 2009 by bringing in his pro-reform son-in-law, Faisal bin Abdullah, as the new minister. He also appointed Nora Al Fayez, a U.S.-educated former teacher, as deputy education minister in charge of a new department for female students.
  He brought about a top-to-bottom restructuring of the country's courts to introduce, among other things, review of judicial decisions and more professional training for Shari'a judges. He developed a new investment promotion agency to overhaul the once-convoluted process of starting a business in Saudi Arabia and created a regulatory body for capital markets. He also promoted the construction of the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (the country's new flagship and controversially co-ed institution for advanced scientific research). King Abdullah invested in educating the workforce for future jobs. The Saudi government also encouraged the development of non-hydrocarbon sectors in which the Kingdom had a comparative advantage, including mining, solar energy, and religious tourism. The Kingdom's 2010 budget reflected these priorities—about 25 percent was devoted to education alone—and amounts to a significant economic stimulus package.
  The response of his administration to homegrown terrorism was a series of crackdowns including raids by security forces, arrests, torture and public beheadings. He vowed to fight terrorist ideologies within the country. He also made the protection of Saudi Arabia's critical infrastructure a top security priority. His strategy against terrorism was two-pronged: he attacked the roots of the extremism that fed Al-Qaida through education and judicial reforms to weaken the influence of the most reactionary elements of Saudi Arabia's religious establishment.
  In August 2010, King Abdullah decreed that only officially approved religious scholars associated with the Senior Council of Ulema would be allowed to issue fatwas. Similar decrees since 2005 were previously seldom enforced. Individual fatwas relating to personal matters were exempt from the royal decree. The decree also instructed the Grand Mufti to identify eligible scholars.
  In light of the Arab Spring, Abdullah laid down a $37 billion (€32.8 billion) programme of new spending including new jobless benefits, education and housing subsidies, debt write-offs, and a new sports channel. There was also a pledge to spend a total of $400 billion by the end of 2014 to improve education, health care and the kingdom's infrastructure. However, Saudi police arrested 100 Shiite protesters who complained of government discrimination. Later during the 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests, in September 2011, the King announced women's right to vote in the 2015 municipal council elections, a first significant reform step in the country since the protests. He also stated that women would become eligible to take p
caption: King Abdullah with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 11 February 2007
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