Iffat Al-Thunayan

Iffat Al Thunayan (Arabic: عفت الثنيان‎, 1916 – 17 February 2000), also spelled Effat, was a Saudi princess and the most prominent wife of King Faisal. She is sometimes called Queen Iffat, Emira Iffat, or Princess Iffat. She is known for her efforts on the improvement of Saudi education. She was the founder of Taif model school and the first girl's college in Saudi Arabia.

Iffat Al-Thunayan
Born1916
Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Died17 February 2000 (aged 84)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
SpouseKing Faisal
IssuePrincess Sara
Prince Mohammed
Princess Latifa
Prince Saud
Prince Abdul Rahman
Prince Bandar
Prince Turki
Princess Lolowah
Princess Haifa
Full name
Iffat bint Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Thunayan Al Saud
HouseHouse of Saud
FatherMohammad bin Abdullah Al Thunayan
MotherAsia

Early life and education

Iffat Al Thunayan was part of the Al Thunayan cadet branch of the Al Saud.[1][2] She was born in Constantinople in 1916.[1][3]

Iffat's grandfather was a member of the Al Saud, Abdullah bin Thunayan Al Saud.[4] He left Saudi Arabia for Constantinople where he married a Circassian-origin Turkish woman, Tazruh Hanım.[4] They had four children: Mohammad, Ahmed, Suleiman, and Jawhara.[4] Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Thunayan, Iffat's father, was a military physician in the Ottoman army and her mother, Asia, was a Turkish woman.[4][5] Mohammad was killed while fighting in Balkan War.[4] Iffat had a full-brother, Zaki,[4] and two maternal half-brothers, Kamal Adham and Mozaffar Adham.[6] Her paternal uncle, Ahmed Al Thunayan (1889 - 1921), was one of the advisors to Ibn Saud.[6][7] He was educated in Constantinople and was fluent in French.[8]

Following the marriage of her mother to another man Iffat and her aunt lived together, and she was educated in Constantinople under the care of her aunt— Jawhara bint Abdullah Al Thunayan.[9] 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.[4] Finally, she attained a teaching degree.[4] In 1925, Iffat's family asked for financial assistance for a Makkah pilgrimage for Iffat.[10]

One of Iffat's relatives was married to late Prince Sultan,[11] Laila al Thunayyan.

Marriage with Faisal

In 1931, Prince Faisal met Iffat for the first time while she was undertaking a Makkah pilgrimage with her aunt.[1] Prince Faisal, who served as viceroy of the Hijaz, took Iffat back to Turkey with her aunt.[2] 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 Russia.[12] It follows that he and Iffat went to Jeddah together after this incident.[12][7] They married in Jeddah in 1932[13] and lived in Mecca.[7]

As neither spoke the other's language, they taught each other. They had nine children[3] – five sons and four daughters: Mohammed, Bandar, Saud, Turki, Abdul Rahman, Lolowah, Sarah, Latifa and Haifa.[4][14] Four of their children learned Turkish at home. Iffat became a fluent Arabic-speaker but never lost her Turkish accent.[1]

Their sons are very educated and are alumni of Princeton, Harvard, Georgetown, Sandhurst, and Cranwell. She contracted foreign tutors to educate her daughters. The daughters later received additional education in Switzerland. In stark contrast, only 6 of the 107 children of Faisal's older brother – Saud— even completed high school.[1][15][16]

Queen Iffat

Queen Iffat was an informal title given to her because of her beloved status in Saudi Arabia.[9]

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.[17] Her "Saudi Renaissance Movement" sponsored free clinics and literary classes for women.[18]

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.[19]

Saudi education

In 1943, Prince Faisal and Princess Ìffat established the boarding school —Taif model school for boys and girls.[19] Many children of the extended royal family, including their own, attended.[20] Majority of the teachers were Egyptian or Yemenis. The girls' section was strictly for daughters of the extended royal family.[1]

In 1955, she initiated Saudi Arabia's first private school for women in Jeddah — the Dar Al Hanan (literally "House of Affection").[19] one of her younger daughters attended Dar Al Hanan.[19] Iffat argued that the name of the school is derived from the Quran indicating its emphasis on the care for girls.[20] Its starting class had 15 students.[1] In 1956, she donated money and land to build an orphanage for girls where they would also be educated.[12] She also founded a first college for girls in Riyadh, called Kulliyat ul Banat or the Girls’ College, in 1960.[20][21]

In 1967, she launched the Nahdah Al Saudiyyah, an organization that educated illiterate Riyadh women.[1] In the 1970s, Iffat started the country's first community college for women.[22]

In August 1999, she established Effat University adjacent to Dar Al Hanan[1] just months before her death. Effat University is the kingdom’s first private, non-profit women’s college.[23]

She 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".[24][25]

Personal life

Iffat was dark-haired with bright eyes.[9] She liked to garden roses. She was a fluent French-speaker and loved to read. She was remarkably well organized.[1][16] When her aunt Jawhara was incapacitated, Iffat cared for her.[6]

She appeared at many state functions and received female dignitaries. She traveled far and wide across Saudi Arabia. Her palace had an open-door policy which allowed any Saudi citizen to visit her.[1] She was rarely ever photographed in public and she never appeared on television.[16][26]

In August 1993 Iffat underwent surgery due to bowel ailment at medical center of Duke University.[27]

Death

On 17 February 2000, Iffat Al Thunayan died after an unsuccessful operation.[10][28] She was buried in Riyadh after Friday prayers.[13]

Legacy

The Princess Iffat Al Thunayan Prize recognizes accomplishments of women.[29] In 2014 Joseph A. Kéchichian published a book entitled Iffat Al Thunayan: An Arab Queen.[26][30]

References
  1. Joseph A. Kechichian (7 August 2008). "Pioneer who gave wings to Saudi women's dreams". Gulf News. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  2. Jennifer S. Uglow; Frances Hinton; Maggy Hendry (1999). The Northeastern Dictionary of Women's Biography. UPNE. p. 273. ISBN 978-1-55553-421-9.
  3. Delinda C. Henley (December 2003). "Late Queen Effat of Saudi Arabia". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. 22 (10).  – via Questia (subscription required)
  4. Rania Suleiman Salama. "الأميرة عفت الثنيان". Arabiyat Magazine (in Arabic). Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  5. Coll, Steve. (2009).The Bin Ladens: an Arabian Family in the American Century. New York: Penguin.
  6. Joseph A. Kechichian (20 January 2012). "Self-assurance in the face of military might". Gulf News. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  7. Rebecca Stefoff (1989). "5, The Kingdom". Faisal, World Leaders Past and Present. Chelsea House Publishing.
  8. G. Leachman (May 1914). "A Journey through Central Arabia". The Geographical Journal. 43 (5): 518. doi:10.2307/1778299. JSTOR 1778299.
  9. "Effat's New Roses". Saudi Aramco World. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  10. "Waging Peace: Baghdad: The Movie". Wrmea. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  11. As'ad AbuKhalil (2004). The Battle for Saudi Arabia. Royalty, fundamntalizm and global power. New York City: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 978-1-58322-610-0.
  12. Leon Hesser (1 January 2004). Nurture the Heart, Feed the World: The Inspiring Life Journeys of Two Vagabonds. BookPros, LLC. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-9744668-8-0.
  13. Ghada Talhami (1 December 2012). Historical Dictionary of Women in the Middle East and North Africa. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-8108-6858-8.
  14. Winberg Chai (22 September 2005). Saudi Arabia: A Modern Reader. University Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-88093-859-4.
  15. Sharaf Sabri. (2001). The House of Saud in Commerce: a Study of Royal Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. New Delhi: I.S. Publications. Print.
  16. Mark Weston (28 July 2008). Prophets and Princes: Saudi Arabia from Muhammad to the Present. John Wiley & Sons. p. 450. ISBN 978-0-470-18257-4.
  17. "Gradual Emancipation Greets Saudi Women." St. Petersburg Times 20 Dec. 1967: 3D. Print.
  18. Miranda Miller (1989). A Thousand and One Coffee Mornings: Scenes from Saudi Arabia. Owen. ISBN 978-0-7206-0761-1.
  19. Muhammad Younes (January 2012). "Women and Education" (PDF). In Ahmad Kamal (ed.). History of the Middle East. Fairleigh Dickinson University. ISBN 978-1-4507-9087-1.
  20. Amani Hamdan (2005). "Women and education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and achievements" (PDF). International Education Journal. 6 (1): 42–64.
  21. Andy Liang (30 September 2011). "Opinion: Old and new freedoms for Saudi Arabia". The Tech. 131 (41).
  22. Kaelen Wilson (27 March 2007). "More talk, less distortion by Kaelen Wilson-Goldie". Common Ground News. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  23. 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.
  24. Mai Yamani; Andrew Allen (1996). Feminism and Islam: Legal and Literary Perspectives. Ithaca Press. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-86372-215-8.
  25. Geraldine Brooks (24 February 2010). Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-307-43445-6.
  26. Sinem Cengiz (22 June 2020). "Book Review. 'ʿIffat Al Thunayan: An Arabian Queen' by Joseph Kéchechian". Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  27. "Saudi royalty to be treated at Duke". New Bern Sun Journal. Durham. 4 August 1993. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  28. "Saudi Arabia mourns passing away of princess". KUNA. 17 February 2000. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  29. 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.
  30. "Book Review". Foreign Affairs. 94 (5). September 2015. JSTOR 24483780.
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