(Umm al‑Qura, Issue 1583 — 5 Safar 1375 / 23 September 1955)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
From Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud.
Peace and God’s mercy and blessings be upon you.
May God bless you. You know that God Almighty has entrusted us with the affairs of the Muslims. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “Each of you is a shepherd, and each of you is responsible for his flock. The ruler is a shepherd and is responsible for his subjects.” You are likewise responsible for those under your authority. You also know that the heavens and the earth stand only by justice, as God Almighty said: “Be just; that is nearer to righteousness.” And in the traditions: “Justice is the foundation of governance,” and “Religion is strengthened by the state, and the state endures through religion.”
I counsel you—and myself—to fear God in private and in public, to speak the truth in anger and in satisfaction. You know that God sees the treachery of the eyes and what hearts conceal; nothing is hidden from Him. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that God does not look at your forms or your words, but He looks at your hearts and your deeds.
You have under your authority subjects for whom you are responsible before God. He will recompense you for your dealings with them—good for good, and evil for evil. I counsel you to follow the Muhammadan Sharia in all matters of rights, disputes, and problems among people. Do not burden yourselves with what you cannot bear. God has commanded you to follow His Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet, peace be upon him. There is no justice or fairness except through adherence to the Book and the Sunnah; they are what will save you from God’s punishment and from the burden of governance.
After that comes justice among people, fairness, and refraining from favoring the great over the small, or the rich over the poor. The weak and the helpless are the ones who deserve your care, for the strong and wealthy can take their rights and defend themselves, while the weak have no refuge but God, then the guardians of the Muslims.
I advise you and place upon you the responsibility before God—on the day you meet Him barefoot and unclothed, when nothing will save you except your righteous deeds—to fear God in the affairs of the Muslims entrusted to you, to be just among people, and to give them their due even against yourselves. Be humble toward the Muslims, refine your character, treat the elder as a father, the peer as a brother, and the younger as a son. Safeguard their religious and worldly interests, and attend to their conditions. Whatever you can do to ease their burdens, do it; and whatever is difficult for you, raise it to us. You will find, God willing, that my doors and my heart are open to my subjects. I follow their interests and remove harm from them whenever I learn of it.
Do not hold back from reporting anything you see that harms religion or the interests of the Muslims. Verify matters first with people of knowledge, goodness, and righteousness, then raise them to us. By doing so, you clear your conscience and fulfill your duty. What concerns me is the welfare of the Muslims, attending to their conditions, and supporting them. After that comes fulfilling God’s commands and caring for those whom God has placed under your authority in ways that preserve their religion and creed.
Strengthen the institution of enjoining good and forbidding evil—with wisdom and prudence, as God Almighty said: “Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good exhortation, and argue with them in the best manner.” Support the people of virtue and make them your close advisors, for a person is shaped by the company he keeps.
Thus I have discharged my responsibility and given you the necessary guidance. My opinion of you is good, God willing; had it not been so, I would not have entrusted you with the affairs of the Muslims. But it is my duty to advise you and guide you toward what benefits my subjects and my country, and to safeguard myself from responsibility before God.
We ask God Almighty to grant victory to His religion, to exalt His word, to show us truth as truth and grant us the ability to follow it, to show us falsehood as falsehood and grant us the ability to avoid it. May God’s prayers be upon Muhammad, his family, and his companions.