Did Sunni Ottoman Turks rule Saudi Arabia before Al Saud’s family? How was the rule under Ottoman Turks?

 The land, which is now called ‘Saudi Arabia’ contains the Muslim’s two holiest cities: Mecca and Medina. Therefore, this land was viewed as sacred for the Ottoman Turks. To give you context I will give you a historical fact from one of the most important Ottoman sultans and officially the first caliph of the Ottoman reign; Yavuz Sultan Selim Khan (May God have mercy on his soul)

After Sultan Selim’s conquest of Egypt and Syria, defeating the Mamluks (another Turco-Islamic empire that held the title of caliph at the time). He was on his journey back to the capital of the Ottomans (Istanbul) basking in his new found glory, Sultan Selim entered the city of Aleppo and was announced as the new ruler of Mecca and Medina by an Imam at a mosque in those lands. Sultan Selim objected and corrected the Imam and istated the following ‘Seek refuge in God and correct your statement, I am only a mere servant to these holy lands not a ruler’. The Sultan’s that succeeded him continued Sultan Selim’s legacy as the ‘Servants of the two holy cities’ and never claimed to be the ‘rulers’ of this sacred land.

So in a political sense these lands were controlled by the Ottoman Sultans/Caliphs but they never found it appropriate to declare themselves as the rulers but only servants to the lands that held the Kaaba and Al Masjid an Nabawi (Prophet Muhammad PBUH’s mosque). This showed their sensitivity towards their religion and is a major factor for their long reign as the Caliphs of the Muslim ummah.

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