Hello Reinhold,

Wednesday, September 19, 2001, 6:33:36 PM, you wrote:

RS> Al-Saud is the clan name of the ruling family.

The fastidious spell this "Aal Saud", not "Al-Saud". While the
distinction is clear in the Arabic spelling, it is easily lost in
English transliteration. The first, "Aal", is used to designate people
who share a common ancestor, in this case, a man named Saud. Bedouin
Arabs do not have surnames but have since the remote past, identified
themselves by referring to a prominent ancestor. The progeny of the
late King Faisal, while being members of the Aal Saud, often refer to
themselves as Aal Faisal.

"Aal" should not be confused with "al-" which is merely the definite
article, a common component in quite a few Arabic personal names,
usually male.

The Aal Saud dynasty is named for a remote ancestor Muhammad ibn Saud,
founder of the first Saudi state, who died in the late 18th century,
and not for King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, the father of the present king.

I have never heard Saudis refer to themselves as "Sauds".

Omar

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