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:Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques

{{Short description|Islamic title}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}

{{Infobox monarchy

| royal_title= Custodian

| realm= the Two Holy Mosques

| image = File:Salman of Saudi Arabia - 2020 (49563590728) (cropped).jpg

| style= His Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques

| date = 12th century CE (de facto)
November 1986 (de jure)

| residence = Al-Yamamah Palace
(Riyadh)
Al-Salam Palace
(Jeddah)

| native_name= {{nobold|{{lang|ar|خَادِمُ ٱلْحَرَمَيْنِ ٱلشَّرِيفَيْنِ}}}}
{{Transliteration|ar|Khādim al-Ḥaramayn aš-Šarīfayn}} {{nobold|{{in lang|ar}}}}

| first_monarch= Saladin

| incumbent = Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

| incumbentsince = 23 January 2015

| website = {{URL|alharamain.gov.sa}}

}}

His Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques (abbreviated as CTHM; {{langx|ar|خَادِمُ ٱلْحَرَمَيْنِ ٱلشَّرِيفَيْنِ|Khādim al-Ḥaramayn aš-Šarīfayn|Servant of the Two Noble Sanctuaries}}), or Protector of the Two Holy Cities, is a royal style that has been used officially by the monarchs of Saudi Arabia since 1986. The title has historically been used by many Muslim rulers in the past, including the Ayyubids, the Mamluks, the Ottomans and the Sharifain rulers of Hejaz. The title was sometimes regarded to denote the de facto Caliph of Islam,{{cite news|last=Wood|first=Paul|title=Life and legacy of King Fahd|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4734505.stm|work=BBC News|access-date=6 April 2011|date=1 August 2005|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083530/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4734505.stm|url-status=live}} but it mainly refers to the ruler taking the responsibility of guarding and maintaining the two holiest mosques in Islam: Al-Haram Mosque ({{langx|ar|اَلْمَسْجِدُ ٱلْحَرَامُ|Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām|links=no}}, 'The Sacred Mosque') in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque ({{langx|ar|اَلْمَسْجِدُ ٱلنَّبَوِيُّ|Al-Masjid an-Nabawī|links=no}}) in Medina,{{cite web |work=The Saudi Embassy in Tokyo, Japan |title=Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz |url=http://www.saudiembassy.or.jp/En/SA/custodian2.htm |access-date=6 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110120070401/http://www.saudiembassy.or.jp/En/SA/custodian2.htm |archive-date=20 January 2011 |url-status=dead }} both of which are in the Hejazi region{{cite book |title=Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary |page=479 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Co_VIPIJerIC&pg=PA479 |year=2001 |isbn=0-87779-546-0 |access-date=17 March 2013 |last1=Hopkins |first1=Daniel J. |author2=편집부 |publisher=Merriam-Webster }} of Saudi Arabia. The Custodian has been named the most powerful and influential person in Islam and the Sunni branch of Islam by The Muslim 500, as well as the most powerful Muslim and Arab ruler in the world.{{Cite web |url=https://www.britishmuslim-magazine.com/2022/11/the-five-most-influential-muslims-in-the-world/ |title=The Five Most Influential Muslims in the World - British Muslim Magazine |date=18 November 2022 |access-date=28 July 2023 |archive-date=28 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728061055/https://www.britishmuslim-magazine.com/2022/11/the-five-most-influential-muslims-in-the-world/ |url-status=live }}

{{Infobox hrhstyles|royal name=His Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques|image=|dipstyle=His Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques|offstyle=Your Majesty}}

History

File:Khalili Collection Hajj and Arts of Pilgrimage mss 0381 fol 133b-134a.jpg in Mecca (left) and Masjid al Nabawi in Medina (right), illustrated in an 18th-century religious manuscript]]

It is believed that the first person to use the title was Saladin.{{cite web |last=Fakkar |first=Galal |title=Story behind the king's title |url=http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/695351 |website=Arab News |location=Jeddah |date=27 January 2015 |access-date=27 June 2016 |archive-date=4 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804084234/http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/695351 |url-status=live }}

After defeating the Mamluks and gaining control of the Mecca and Medina in 1517, the Ottoman sultan Selim I adopted the title. Rather than style himself the Ḥākimü'l-Ḥaremeyn ({{langx|ar|حَاكِمُ الْحَرَمَيْن}}, Ruler of the Two Sanctuaries), he accepted the title Ḫādimü'l-Ḥaremeyn ({{langx|ar|خَادِمُ الْحَرَمَيْن}}, Servant of the Two Sanctuaries).{{TDV Encyclopedia of Islam|last=Emecen|first=Feridun|title=Selim I|volume=36|pages=413–414}}[http://www.milliyet.com.tr/yavuz-sultan-selim/ilber-ortayli/pazar/yazardetay/16.09.2012/1597012/default.htm İlber Ortaylı, "Yavuz Sultan Selim"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114094333/http://www.milliyet.com.tr/yavuz-sultan-selim/ilber-ortayli/pazar/yazardetay/16.09.2012/1597012/default.htm |date=14 November 2016 }}, Milliyet (In Turkish){{cite news |url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/-/ilber-ortayli/pazar/yazardetay/20.04.2008/519055/default.htm |title=İlber Ortaylı, "Surre alayı Topkapı Sarayı'ndan geçiyor" |language=tr |trans-title=İlber Ortaylı, "The Surre procession passes through Topkapı Palace" |work=Milliyet |date=20 April 2008 |access-date=13 November 2016 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306110500/http://www.milliyet.com.tr/-/ilber-ortayli/pazar/yazardetay/20.04.2008/519055/default.htm |url-status=live }}

The first King of Saudi Arabia to assume the title was Faisal bin Abdul Aziz (1906–1975). His successor Khalid did not use the title, but the latter's successor Fahd did, replacing the term "His Majesty" with it.{{cite news |newspaper=Gulf Daily News |title=Fahad played pivotal role in development |url=http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=118446 |date=2 August 2005 |access-date=2 February 2013 |archive-date=5 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005035939/http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=118446 |url-status=live }} The current king, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, took the same title after the death of King Abdullah, his half brother, on 23 January 2015.

List of custodians

= Ayyubids =

  • Saladin  (Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, 1137–1193)

= Mamluks (1250–1517) =

{{Main|List of Mamluk sultans}}

Baḥrī (Turkic) Mamluks (1250–1382)

  1. Shajar al-Durr (r. 1250)
  2. Izz ad-Din Aybak (r. 1250–1257)
  3. Nur ad-Din Ali (r. 1257–1259)
  4. Saif ad-Din Qutuz (r. 1259–1260)
  5. Baibars (r. 1260–1277)
  6. Al-Said Barakah (r. 1277–1279)
  7. Solamish (r. 1279)
  8. Qalawun (r. 1279–1290)
  9. Al-Ashraf Khalil (r. 1290–1293)
  10. An-Nasir Muhammad (1st reign: 1293–1294)
  11. Kitbugha (r. 1294–1296)
  12. Lajin (r. 1296–1299)
  13. An-Nasir Muhammad (2nd reign: 1299–1309)
  14. Baybars al-Jashnakir (r. 1309–1310)
  15. An-Nasir Muhammad (3rd reign: 1310–1341)
  16. Sayf ad-Din Abu Bakr (r. 1341)
  17. Ala'a ad-Din Kujuk (r. 1341–1342)
  18. Al-Nāṣir Aḥmad (r. 1342)
  19. Imad ad-Din Abu'l Fida Isma'il (r. 1342–1345)
  20. Sayf ad-Din Sha'ban (r. 1345–1346)
  21. Sayf ad-Din Hajji (r. 1346–1347)
  22. An-Nasir Hasan (1st reign: 1347–1351)
  23. Salah ad-Din Salih (r. 1351–1354)
  24. An-Nasir Hasan (2nd reign: 1354–1361)
  25. Salah ad-Din Muhammad (r. 1361–1363)
  26. Zayn ad-Din Sha'ban (r. 1363–1377)
  27. Ala'a ad-Din Ali (r. 1377–1381)
  28. Salah ad-Din Hajji (1st reign: 1381–1382)

Burjī (Circassian) Mamluks (1382–1517)

  1. Barquq (1st reign: 1382–1389; 2nd reign: 1390–1399)
  2. Nasir ad-Din Faraj (r. 1399–1412) (partial interruptions)
  3. Izz ad-Din Abd al-Aziz (r. 1405)
  4. Barsbay (r. 1422–1438)
  5. Jaqmaq (r. 1438–1453)
  6. Sayf ad-Din Inal (r. 1453–1461)
  7. Khushqadam (r. 1461–1467)
  8. Sayf ad-Din Bilbay (r. 1467)
  9. Timurbugha (r. 1467–1468)
  10. Qaitbay (r. 1468–1496)
  11. Muhammad (r. 1496–1498; again 1498–1500)
  12. Qansuh al-Ghawri (r. 1501–1516)
  13. Tuman bay II (r. 1516–1517)

= Ottomans (1517–1924) =

{{Main|Ottoman Caliphate}}

The Ottoman rulers from the conquest of the Mamluk Egypt in 1517, who claimed the caliphate until its abolition of in 1924 held the title "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques":

  1. Selim I (r. 157–1520)
  2. Suleiman I (r. 1520–1566)
  3. Selim II (r. 1566–1574)
  4. Murad III (r. 1574–1595)
  5. Mehmed III (r. 1595–1603)
  6. Ahmed I (r. 1603–1617)
  7. Mustafa I (r. 1617–1618)
  8. Osman II (r. 1618–1622)
  9. Mustafa I (r. 1622–1623)
  10. Murad IV (r. 1623–1640)
  11. Ibrahim (r. 1640–1648)
  12. Mehmed IV (r. 1648–1687)
  13. Suleiman II (r. 1687–1691)
  14. Ahmed II (r. 1691–1695)
  15. Mustafa II (r. 1695–1703)
  16. Ahmed III (r. 1703–1730)
  17. Mahmud I (r. 1730–1754)
  18. Osman III (r. 1754–1757)
  19. Mustafa III (r. 1757–1774)
  20. Abdul Hamid I (r. 1774–1789)
  21. Selim III (r. 1789–1807)
  22. Mustafa IV (r. 1807–1808)
  23. Mahmud II (r. 1808–1839)
  24. Abdülmecid I (r. 1839–1861)
  25. Abdulaziz (r. 1861–1876)
  26. Murad V (r. 1876)
  27. Abdul Hamid II (r. 1876–1909)
  28. Mehmed V (r. 1909–1918)
  29. Mehmed VI (r. 1918–1922)
  30. Abdülmecid II (caliph: 1922–1924) – last Ottoman caliph, titular custodian until the caliphate’s abolition

= Saudis (1986–present) =

{{Main|Kings of Saudi Arabia}}

In 1986, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia replaced “His Majesty” with the title “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.” All subsequent Saudi kings have continued to use it:

  1. Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (r. 1982–2005) – adopted the formal title in 1986
  2. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (r. 2005–2015)
  3. Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (r. 2015–present)

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Saudi Arabia topics}}

{{Ottoman Empire topics}}

{{Imperial and royal styles}}

Category:1170s establishments in the Ayyubid Sultanate