Tarfa bint Abdullah Al Sheikh

In this Arabic name, the surname is Al Sheikh.

Tarfa bint Abdullah Al Sheikh (Arabic: طرفة بنت عبد الله آل الشيخ, romanized: Ṭarfā bint ʿAbd Allāh Al ash Sheikh; 1884–1906) was the third wife and one of the 22 consorts of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman, Emir of Nejd (later King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia), and the mother of Princess Noura and King Faisal.^[1][2]

Tarfa bint Abdullah Al Sheikh
Born	1878
Died	October 1906 (aged 27–28)
Spouse	Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud ​ ​ (m. 1902)​
Issue	Princess Noura King Faisal
Names Tarfa bint Abdullah bin Abdullatif Al Sheikh
House	Al Sheikh (by birth) Al Saud (by marriage)
Father	Abdullah bin Abdullatif Al Sheikh
Mother	Haya bint Abdul Rahman Al Muqbel

Background and early life

Tarfa's son King Faisal

Tarfa bint Abdullah Al Sheikh was born in 1884.^[3] Her mother was Haya bint Abdul Rahman Al Muqbel.^[4] Her family were from a village near Riyadh.^[5]

Tarfa's father, Abdullah bin Abdullatif Al Sheikh, was a member of the Al Sheikh family and one of the principal religious teachers and advisers to the Emir of Nejd, Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman.^[6][7] However, until Emir Abdulaziz captured Riyadh, Abdullah was a supporter of Emir Muhammad bin Abdullah Al Rashid.^[6] Tarfa was one of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's eighth generation direct descendants.^[8][9]

Personal life and death

Tarfa bint Abdullah married Emir Abdulaziz in 1902 immediately after he captured Riyadh.^[4][10] She was his third wife.^[11] Tarfa's sister Munira married Abdulaziz's half-brother Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman,^[12] and her other sister, Sara, married Abdulaziz's full-brother Saad bin Abdul Rahman.^[5][8] These marriages were strategic moves to strengthen the links between the Al Sauds and the Al Sheikhs.^[13][14]

Abdulaziz and Tarfa's first child, Noura, was born in 1904. Their son, Faisal, was born in Riyadh in April 1906.^[5][7][15] Tarfa died in October 1906 when Faisal was just six months old.^[4][15] Her daughter Noura married a cousin, Khalid bin Muhammad, son of Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman.^[16] Tarfa's son Faisal would become king of Saudi Arabia in 1964.^[5]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Tarfa bint Abdullah Al Sheikh
4. Abdullatif bin Abdul Rahman Al Sheikh 2. Abdullah bin Abdullatif Al Sheikh 1. Tarfa bint Abdullah Al Sheikh 6. Abdul Rahman Al Muqbel 3. Haya bint Abdul Rahman Al Muqbel

References

1. Brian Lees (2006). "The Al Saud family and the future of Saudi Arabia". Asian Affairs. 37 (1): 45. doi:10.1080/03068370500457411. S2CID 162227738.
2. Mai Yamani (January–March 2009). "From fragility to stability: a survival strategy for the Saudi monarchy". Contemporary Arab Affairs. 2 (1): 91. doi:10.1080/17550910802576114.
3. "طرفة بنت عبد الله بن عبد اللطيف آل الشيخ". Kachaf (in Arabic). Retrieved 20 September 2020.
4. "في ذكري ميلاده.. تعرف على أهم أسرار حياة الملك فيصل آل سعود". Elzman News (in Arabic). 14 April 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
5. Alexei Vassiliev (2013). King Faisal: Personality, Faith and Times. London: Saqi. pp. 7, 12. ISBN 978-0-86356-761-2.
6. Alexander B. Bligh (1985). "The Saudi religious elite (Ulama) as participant in the political system of the kingdom". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 17: 37–50. doi:10.1017/S0020743800028750. S2CID 154565116.
7. Bernard Reich, ed. (1990). Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: Greenwood Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-313-26213-5.
8. Alexander Blay Bligh (1981). Succession to the throne in Saudi Arabia. Court Politics in the Twentieth Century (PhD thesis). Columbia University. pp. 42, 48. ProQuest 303101806.
9. "File 11/44 Leading Personalities in Iraq, Iran & Saudi Arabia". Qatar Digital Library. 13 January 1948. Retrieved 18 August 2023. Citing from the British India Office Records and Private Papers
10. Madawi Al Rasheed (2002). A History of Saudi Arabia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-521-64412-9.
11. Henri Lauzière (2000). On the Origins of Arab Monarchy: Political Culture, Historiography, and the Emergence of the Modern Kingdoms in Morocco and Saudi Arabia (PDF) (MA thesis). Simon Fraser University. p. 34.
12. Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Faisal Al Saud (PDF). Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman and Family Charitable Organization. p. 55. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2012.
13. Alejandra Galindo Marines (2001). The relationship between the ulama and the government in the contemporary Saudi Arabian Kingdom: an interdependent relationship? (PDF) (PhD thesis). Durham University.
14. Dhaifallah Alotaibi (2017). Ibn Sa'ud and Britain: Early Changing Relationship and Pre-state Formation 1902-1914 (PhD thesis). Bangor University. p. 58. ProQuest 2083742545.
15. "King Faisal and His Family". King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
16. As'ad AbuKhalil (2004). The Battle for Saudi Arabia. Royalty, fundamentalism and global power. New York City: Seven Stories Press. p. 9. ISBN 1-58322-610-9.