Iffat bint Mohammad Al Thunayan
A photo of Queen Iffat visiting a school
The Queen visiting Dar Al Hannan School
Born1916
Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Died17 February 2000 (aged 84)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1932; died 1975)​
Issue
List
Names
Iffat bint Mohammad bin Abdullah bin Abdullah bin Thunayan
HouseHouse of Saud
FatherMohammad bin Abdullah Al Thunayan
MotherAsia Hanım
Styles of
Queen Iffat
Reference styleHer Majesty
Spoken styleYour Majesty

Iffat bint Mohammad Al Thunayan[1] (Arabic: عفت بنت محمد الثنيان ʿIffat bint Moḥammad Āl Ṯunayān, Turkish: İffet bint Muhammed es Saniyan; 1916 – 17 February 2000) was a Turkish-born education activist and Saudi princess who was the most prominent wife of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. She is sometimes called Queen Iffat (Arabic: الملكة عفت Al-Malika ʿIffat) or Princess Iffat (Arabic: الأميرة عفت Al-Emira ʿIffat). She is known for her efforts in the improvement of Saudi education. She was the founder of Taif model school and the first girl's college in Saudi Arabia.

Early life and education

Iffat was part of the Al Thunayan cadet branch of the Al Saud.[2][3] She was born in Constantinople in 1916.[2][4]

Iffat's paternal grandfather was Abdullah bin Abdullah bin Thunayan Al Saud.[5] He was born in 1843 on the day his father Abdullah bin Thunayan, Emir of Nejd, died.[6] Due to this coincidence he was named after his father.[6] He left Nejd for Constantinople where he married a Circassian-origin Turkish woman, Tazeruh Hanım.[5] They had four children: Mohammad, Ahmed, Suleiman, and Jawhara.[5] Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Thunayan, Iffat's father, was a physician in the Ottoman army and her mother, Asia, was a Turkish woman.[5][7] Mohammad was killed while fighting in the Balkan War.[5] Iffat had a full-brother, Zaki,[5] and two maternal half-brothers, Kamal and Mozaffar Adham.[8] Her paternal uncle, Ahmed bin Abdullah, was one of the advisors to King Abdulaziz.[8][9]

Following the marriage of her mother to another man Iffat and her aunt Jawhara lived together, and Iffat was educated in Constantinople.[10] She went to school wearing shoes stuffed with paper instead of soles. She attended both Ottoman schools and modern schools following the establishment of the Republic of Turkey.[5] Finally, she attained a teaching degree.[5] In 1925, Iffat's family asked for financial assistance for a Makkah pilgrimage for Iffat.[11]

One of Iffat's relatives, Laila Al Thunayan, was married to Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.[12]

Marriage with Faisal

King Faisal, Iffat's husband

In 1931, Prince Faisal met Iffat for the first time while she was undertaking a Makkah pilgrimage with her aunt.[2] Prince Faisal, who served as viceroy of the Hijaz, took Iffat back to Turkey with her aunt.[3] However, there is another report about their meeting for the first time, stating that they first met in Constantinople in 1932 when Prince Faisal visited the city following an official visit to the Soviet Union.[13] It follows that he and Iffat went to Jeddah together after this incident.[13][9] They married in Jeddah in 1932[14] and lived in Mecca.[9]

As neither spoke the other's language, they taught each other. They had nine children[4] – five sons and four daughters: Mohammad, Bandar, Saud, Turki, Abdul Rahman, Lolowah, Sarah, Latifa and Haifa.[5][15] Four of their children learned Turkish at home. Iffat became a fluent Arabic-speaker, but never lost her Turkish accent.[2]

Their sons are very educated and are alumni of Princeton, Harvard, Georgetown, Sandhurst, and Cranwell. She contacted foreign tutors to educate her daughters. In stark contrast, only six of the 107 children of Faisal's older half-brother Saud even completed high school.[2][16][17]

Queen Iffat

Queen Iffat was an informal title given to her because of her beloved status in Saudi Arabia.[10][18]

In 1967, Iffat began making public appearances at state events. She became honorary president of the "Saudi Arabian Renaissance Society" — a woman's society in Riyadh to teach women skills in crafts, and to assist needy families — in the organization's fifth anniversary.[19] Her "Saudi Renaissance Movement" sponsored free clinics and literary classes for women.[20]

Her comprehensive philanthropic activities included social welfare for women. During the 1960s, she established the first two social agencies in Saudi Arabia — Women's Welfare Association in Jeddah and Al Nahdah Women's Welfare Association in Riyadh. These programs are still available today.[21]

Saudi education

In 1942–1943, Prince Faisal and Princess Ìffat established the boarding school named Al Madrasa Al Numuthagiya (The Model School) for boys and girls.[21][22] Many children of the extended royal family, including their own, attended.[21] A majority of the teachers were Egyptian or Yemenis, and the girls' section was strictly for daughters of the extended royal family.[2]

In 1955, Iffat initiated Saudi Arabia's first private school for women in Jeddah — the Dar Al Hanan (literally "House of Affection").[18][21] One of her younger daughters attended Dar Al Hanan.[21] Its starting class had 15 students.[2] In 1956, she donated money and land to build an orphanage for girls where they would also be educated.[13] She also founded the first college for girls in Riyadh, called Kulliyat ul Banat or the Girls’ College, in 1960.[23]

In 1967, Iffat launched the Nahdah Al Saudiyyah, an organization that educated illiterate Riyadh women.[2] In the 1970s, Iffat started the country's first community college for women.[24]

In August 1999, Iffat established Effat University adjacent to Dar Al Hanan[2] just months before her death. Effat University is Saudi Arabia's first private, non-profit women's college.[25]

Iffat frequented many graduation ceremonies. Her motto was “Educate yourself. Be good mothers. Bring up perfect Saudis. Build your country." Her other motto was "The mother can be a school in herself if you prepare her well".[26][27]

Personal life

Iffat was dark-haired with bright eyes.[10] She liked to garden roses. She was a fluent French speaker and enjoyed reading. She was said to be remarkably well-organized.[2][17] Iffat cared for her aunt Jawhara when the latter was incapacitated in Constantinople.[8]

Iffat appeared at many state functions and received female dignitaries. She traveled across Saudi Arabia. Her palace had an open-door policy that allowed any Saudi citizen to visit her.[2] She was rarely ever photographed in public and she never appeared on television.[17][28]

In August 1993 Iffat underwent surgery due to bowel ailment at medical center of Duke University.[29]

Death

On 17 February 2000, Iffat Al Thunayan died after an unsuccessful operation.[11][30] She was buried in Riyadh after Friday prayers.[14]

Legacy

The Princess Iffat Al Thunayan Prize recognizes accomplishments of women.[31] In 2014 Joseph A. Kéchichian published a book entitled Iffat Al Thunayan: An Arab Queen.[28][32]

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ Also spelled Effat
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Joseph A. Kechichian (7 August 2008). "Pioneer who gave wings to Saudi women's dreams". Gulf News. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b Jennifer S. Uglow, ed. (1999). The Northeastern Dictionary of Women's Biography (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: UPNE. p. 273. ISBN 978-1-55553-421-9.
  4. ^ a b Delinda C. Henley (December 2003). "Late Queen Effat of Saudi Arabia". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. 22 (10).
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rania Suleiman Salama. "الأميرة عفت الثنيان". Arabiyat Magazine (in Arabic). Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  6. ^ a b Joseph A. Kechichian (2014). 'Iffat Al Thunayan: An Arabian Queen. Sussex Academic Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-8451-9685-1.
  7. ^ Steve Coll (2008). The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century. Penguin Group. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-101-20272-2.
  8. ^ a b c Joseph A. Kechichian (20 January 2012). "Self-assurance in the face of military might". Gulf News. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  9. ^ a b c Rebecca Stefoff (1989). "The Kingdom". Faisal, World Leaders Past and Present. Chelsea House Publishing. ISBN 9781555468330. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  10. ^ a b c "Effat's New Roses". Saudi Aramco World. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  11. ^ a b "Waging Peace: Baghdad: The Movie". Wrmea. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  12. ^ As'ad AbuKhalil (2004). The Battle for Saudi Arabia. Royalty, fundamentalism and global power. New York City: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 978-1-58322-610-0.
  13. ^ a b c Leon Hesser (2004). Nurture the Heart, Feed the World: The Inspiring Life Journeys of Two Vagabonds. BookPros, LLC. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-9744668-8-0.
  14. ^ a b Ghada Talhami (2012). Historical Dictionary of Women in the Middle East and North Africa. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-8108-6858-8.
  15. ^ Winberg Chai, ed. (2005). Saudi Arabia: A Modern Reader. Indianapolis, IN: University of Indianapolis Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-88093-859-4.
  16. ^ Sharaf Sabri. (2001). The House of Saud in Commerce: a Study of Royal Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. New Delhi: I.S. Publications. Print.
  17. ^ a b c Mark Weston (2008). Prophets and Princes: Saudi Arabia from Muhammad to the Present. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. p. 450. ISBN 978-0-470-18257-4.
  18. ^ a b Nora Derbal (2022). Charity in Saudi Arabia. Civil Society under Authoritarianism. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 52. doi:10.1017/9781009072656. ISBN 9781009072656.
  19. ^ "Gradual Emancipation Greets Saudi Women." St. Petersburg Times 20 Dec. 1967: 3D. Print. [1]
  20. ^ Miranda Miller (1989). A Thousand and One Coffee Mornings: Scenes from Saudi Arabia. London: Peter Owen. ISBN 978-0-7206-0761-1.
  21. ^ a b c d e Muhammad Younes (January 2012). "Women and Education" (PDF). In Ahmad Kamal (ed.). History of the Middle East. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN 978-1-4507-9087-1.
  22. ^ Bilal Ahmad Kutty (1997). Saudi Arabia under King Faisal (PDF) (PhD thesis). Aligarh Muslim University. pp. 85–86.
  23. ^ Andy Liang (30 September 2011). "Opinion: Old and new freedoms for Saudi Arabia". The Tech. 131 (41).
  24. ^ Kaelen Wilson (27 March 2007). "More talk, less distortion". Common Ground News. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  25. ^ Stig Stenslie (2011). "Power Behind the Veil: Princesses of the House of Saud". Journal of Arabian Studies: Arabia, the Gulf, and the Red Sea. 1 (1): 69–79. doi:10.1080/21534764.2011.576050. S2CID 153320942.
  26. ^ Mai Yamani; Andrew Allen (1996). Feminism and Islam: Legal and Literary Perspectives. Berkshire: Ithaca Press. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-86372-215-8.
  27. ^ Geraldine Brooks (2010). Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-307-43445-6.
  28. ^ a b Sinem Cengiz (22 June 2020). "Book Review. 'ʿIffat Al Thunayan: An Arabian Queen' by Joseph Kéchechian". London School of Economics. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  29. ^ "Saudi royalty to be treated at Duke". New Bern Sun Journal. Durham. 4 August 1993. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  30. ^ "Saudi Arabia mourns passing away of princess". KUNA. 17 February 2000. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  31. ^ K.S. Ramkumar (16 June 2012). "Women's empowerment stressed at Effat University function". Arab News. Jeddah. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  32. ^ "Book Review". Foreign Affairs. 94 (5). September 2015. JSTOR 24483780.

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