by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Arabic Naming Conventions

• Al – family/clan of…
• bin or ibn – son of…
• bint – daughter of…

Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said is the first Crown Prince of Oman. Before January 11, 2021, the day Theyazin became Crown Prince, the succession to the throne was handled in a somewhat unusual way. Upon the death of the Sultan, the royal family council was charged with naming his successor within three days. If they were unable to agree upon a new Sultan, there was a sealed envelope from the late Sultan naming his personal choice to succeed him. On January 11, 2020, the day after the death of Sultan Qaboos of Oman, Theyazin’s father Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Sultan Qaboos’ first cousin, was named as Sultan of Oman after a sealed letter from Qaboos was opened identifying whom he wished to take his place.

Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said was born in Muscat, Oman on August 21, 1990. He is the eldest of the four children and the elder of the two sons of Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Sultan of Oman and Ahad bint Abdullah bin Hamad Al Busaidia. Theyazin’s grandfather was Tariq bin Taimur Al Said, the son of Taimur bin Feisal, Sultan of Muscat and Oman who reigned from 1913 until 1932 when he abdicated in favor of his eldest son Said bin Taimur, the father of the previous Sultan Qaboos of Oman.

Theyazin has one brother and two sisters:

• Bilarab bin Haitham (born 1995)
• Thuraya bint Haitham
• Omaima bint Haitham

From 2014 – 2019, Theyazin gained experience by working at the Omani Embassy in London. He also has worked at the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Theyazin attended Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, England where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in history. In 2022, he graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom.

On January 11, 2021, Theyazin bin Haitham, the eldest son of Sultan Haitham, became the Sultanate’s first Crown Prince following constitutional amendments approved by Sultan Haitham. He is also the Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth.

On November 11, 2021, in Mazay Hall of Al Alam Palace in Muscat, Oman, Crown Prince Theyazin married his double first cousin Meyyan bint Shihab bin Tariq Al Said, the daughter of his paternal uncle Shihab bin Tariq Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for Defence Affairs and his maternal aunt Rawdah bint Abdullah bin Hamad Al Busaidia.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Sultan of Oman, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/haitham-bin-tariq-al-said-sultan-of-oman/ (Accessed: 06 July 2023).
• Nasrallah, Tawfiq. (2021) Oman’s first ever Crown Prince to marry this week, Oman – Gulf News. Available at: https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/oman/omans-first-ever-crown-prince-to-marry-this-week-1.83519615 (Accessed: 06 July 2023).
• Theyazin bin Haitham (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theyazin_bin_Haitham#:~:text=Theyazin%20bin%20Haitham%20Al%20Said,the%20rule%20of%20Sultan%20Qaboos). (Accessed: 06 July 2023).

• ذي يزن بن هيثم آل سعيد  (Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said) (2023) Wikipedia (Arabic). Available at: https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B0%D9%8A_%D9%8A%D8%B2%D9%86_%D8%A8%D9%86_%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%AB%D9%85_%D8%A2%D9%84_%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%AF (Accessed: 06 July 2023).

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Embed from Getty Images 

Born on August 13, 1910, in Muscat, Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, now in the Sultanate of Oman, Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Oman was the eldest child of Taimur bin Feisal, Sultan of Muscat and Oman (1886 – 1965) and the first of his six wives, Sheikha Fatima bint ‘Ali Al-Sa’id (1891 – 1967).

Said’s father Taimur was married to six women and had five sons and one daughter, therefore Said had five half-siblings:

Wife 2: Unknown woman from Yemen:

• Prince Majid bin Taimur al-Said (1912 – ?)

Wife 3: Unknown slave from the Dhofar

• Prince Fahr bin Taimur al-Said (1920 – 1996)

Wife 4: Kamila Khanum, later took the name Madame Kamile lgiray, divorced

Prince Tarik bin Taimur al-Said (1921 – ?)

Wife 5: Kiyoko Oyama (1916 – 1939, divorced

• Princess Buthainah bint Taimur Al Said (1937 – ?)

Wife 6: Sayyida Nafisa Bundukji, divorced

• Prince Shabib bin Taimur al-Said (1943 – ?)

Said was first educated at home. However, his father was strongly against his children learning the ways of the Western world and speaking English. When Said and his brother Majid were found with an English primer, a first textbook for the teaching of reading, their father ordered all their books to be burned. At the age of twelve, Said was sent to Ajmer, Rajputana, India to attend Mayo College, a boys-only independent boarding school where Said became proficient in Urdu and despite his father’s feelings about the language, in English. After Said finished his education at the Mayo College, advisers suggested to his father that Said continue his education in Beirut, Lebanon. However, since his father feared he would be influenced by the Christian element in Lebanon, Said was sent to Baghdad, Iraq to study Arabic literature and history for a year.

In 1932, Said’s father, Taimur bin Feisal, abdicated. Apparently, he had little desire for life in Muscat, or anywhere else in Oman. Afterward, the former Sultan lived in exile in India where he died in Bombay in 1965. The new 21-year-old Sultan of Oman inherited a country that was heavily in debt to the United Kingdom and India. To break away from the United Kingdom (Oman had become a British protectorate in 1891) and maintain autonomy, Oman needed to regain economic independence. During his reign, Said maintained close oversight of Oman’s budget.

Said had two wives who were cousins, his first wife Sheikha Fatima bint Ali al-Mashani and his second wife (married 1936) Sheikha Mazoon bint Ahmed al-Mashani (1925 – 1992). Some serious issues arose during Said’s second marriage. The wedding was interrupted because the bride’s Al-Mashani tribe thought that the bride price was not high enough and so they kidnapped Sheikha Mazoon and brought her into the mountains. Another tribe, the Tabook tribe, rode after the kidnappers in pursuit. They succeeded in stopping the kidnappers and forced them to return the kidnapped Sheikha Mazoon.

Said had no children with his first wife but he had one son and two daughters with his second wife:

• Qaboos bin Said Al-Said, Sultan of Oman (1940 – 2020), unmarried, no children, succeeded by his first cousin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said
• Hujaima bint Sa’id bin Taimur Al-Sa’id (? – 1968)
• Umaima bint Sa’id bin Taimur Al-Sa’id (1934 – 2002)

Oil wealth would have allowed Said to modernize his country. However, his policies were extremely conservative and he opposed any modernization, therefore, Oman was isolated from the outside world. He did achieve Oman’s independence from the United Kingdom in 1951.

Embed from Getty Images
Sultan Said with British Lord Privy Seal Edward Heath at the Foreign Office, London, August 1961

During the 1950s, there were several confrontations between Said’s regime and religious leader Ibadi Imam Ghalib bin Ali, whose revolt in Jebel Akhdar was suppressed in 1955 with British help. In 1964, when Said’s son Qaboos returned from his educational studies in the United Kingdom at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and a year of service in the British Army, Said placed Qaboos under house arrest. In 1965, the Dhofar Rebellion broke out resulting in an assassination attempt on Said in 1966 by Dhofari rebels. On July 23, 1970, Said was overthrown in a coup d’etat led by the supporters of his son Qaboos who became the Sultan of Qaboos.

Said bin Taimur, former Sultan of Oman lived out the rest of his life in exile in the United Kingdom. He lived the last two years at the Dorchester Hotel in London, where he died on October 19, 1972, at the age of 62. Said was originally buried at Brookwood Cemetery in Woking, Surrey, England. His remains were eventually transported back to Oman, and he was buried in the Royal Cemetery in Muscat, Oman.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Ar.wikipedia.org. 2020. سعيد بن تيمور. [online] Available at: <https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%AF_%D8%A8%D9%86_%D8%AA%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B1> [Accessed 12 August 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Mazoon Al-Mashani. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazoon_al-Mashani> [Accessed 12 August 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Said Bin Taimur. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_bin_Taimur> [Accessed 12 August 2020].
• Royalark.net. 2020. Oman Genealogy. [online] Available at: <https://www.royalark.net/Oman/oman9.htm> [Accessed 12 August 2020].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Arabic Naming Conventions

• Al – family/clan of…
• bin or ibn – son of…
• bint – daughter of…

Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Sultan of Oman was born on October 11, 1954, in Muscat, the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, now the Sultanate of Oman. His father Tariq bin Taimur Al Said was the son of Taimur bin Feisal, Sultan of Muscat and Oman who reigned from 1913 until 1932 when he abdicated in favor of his eldest son Said bin Taimur, the father of the late Sultan Qaboos of Oman. Haitham’s mother was Shawana bint Hamud bin Ahmad Al-Busaidiyah, the first of his father’s three wives.

Haitham has six brothers (listed first) and two sisters. Because his father had three wives some of these siblings are half-siblings.

• Talal bin Tariq (born 1947), married Tahira (from Turkey), had four children
• Qais bin Tariq (1952 – 2011), married Susan Schafer (Princess Sayyida Susan Al-Sa’id), had four children
• Asad bin Tariq (born 1954), Deputy Prime Minister of Oman since 2017, married Na’emah bint Badr Al-Busa’idiyah, had five children
• Shihab bin Tariq (born 1956), married ? , had six children
  Adham bin Tariq (born 1959), married ?, had three children
• Fares bin Tariq (1961 – 1982)
• Amal bint Tariq (born 1950) married a Lebanese national
• Nawal bint Tariq (Kameela) (born 1951), married Qaboos, Sultan of Omanin 1976, divorced 1979, no children

In 1979, Haitham graduated from the Oxford University’s Foreign Service program and then continued his postgraduate studies at Pembroke College, Oxford.

Haitham married Ahad bint Abdullah bin Hamad Al Busaidia and the couple had two sons and two daughters:

• Theyazin bin Haitham, Crown Prince of Oman (born 1990)
• Bilarab bin Haitham (born 1995)
• Thuraya bint Haitham
• Omaima bint Haitham

On January 11, 2021, Theyazin bin Haitham, the eldest son of Sultan Haitham, became the Sultanate’s first Crown Prince following constitutional amendments approved by Sultan Haitham., Theyazin bin Haitham, the eldest son of Sultan Haitham, became the Sultanate’s first Crown Prince following constitutional amendments approved by Sultan Haitham.

Haitham was the President of the Oman Football  Association (soccer) from 1983 to 1986. In 1986, Haitham joined the Omani Ministry for Foreign Affairs and held the following positions in the Omani government:

• Under Secretary 1986-1992
• Under Secretary for Political Affairs 1992-1996
• Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1996-2002
• Minister for Heritage & Culture 2002-2020

Before January 11, 2021, the succession to the throne was handled in a somewhat unusual way. Upon the death of the Sultan, the royal family council was charged with naming his successor within three days. If they were unable to agree upon their choice, there was a sealed envelope from the late Sultan naming his personal choice to succeed him.  On January 11, 2020, the day after the death of Sultan Qaboos of Oman, Haitham’s first cousin, Haitham was named as Sultan of Oman after a sealed letter from Qaboos was opened identifying whom he wished to take his place. On the same day, Haitham was sworn in as the Sultan of Oman during an emergency session of the Council of Oman at the Al-Bustan Palace in Muscat, Oman. In his first public speech, Sultan Haitham promised to continue Sultan Qaboos’ peace-making foreign policy and to further develop Oman’s economy.

Embed from Getty Images 
Sultan Haitham speaks during the swearing-in ceremony

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Ar.wikipedia.org. (2020). هيثم بن طارق آل سعيد. [online] Available at: https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%AB%D9%85_%D8%A8%D9%86_%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%82_%D8%A2%D9%84_%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%AF [Accessed 12 Jan. 2020]. (Haitham, Sultan of Oman in Arabic)
• En.wikipedia.org. (2020). Haitham bin Tariq Al Said. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitham_bin_Tariq_Al_Said [Accessed 12 Jan. 2020].
• Royalark.net. (2020). Oman Genealogy. [online] Available at: https://www.royalark.net/Oman/oman9.htm [Accessed 12 Jan. 2020].

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2014

Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Sultan of Oman

Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Sultan of Oman was born on November 18, 1940, in Salalah, Oman, the only son of Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, and his second wife, Princess Mazoon bint Ahmed Ali al-Maashani.

He was educated initially in Oman, and from 1958-1960, attended a private boarding school in the United Kingdom. In 1960, he enrolled in the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, graduating two years later. He joined the British Army, serving with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) for a year in Germany. Following his military service, he returned to Britain for a year, studying local government systems and taking several courses in management. Following a world tour, he returned to Oman in 1964.

In 1970, Qaboos staged a coup that overthrew his father as Sultan. His father was exiled to Britain, where he lived at the Dorchester Hotel in London until his death in 1972. The New Sultan Qaboos immediately began efforts to modernize and develop the country, even changing the name to The Sultanate of Oman.

In March 1976, he married his first cousin, Nawwal bint Tariq Al-Said (daughter of his uncle Tariq Al-Said). The couple had no children, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1979.

The Sultan was a lover of classical music and established his own symphony orchestra in the mid-1980s. This orchestra performs locally in Oman and very often accompanied the Sultan when he traveled abroad. The Sultan’s other interests included horses, the arts, and shooting.

The Sultan had been under treatment for colon cancer since at least 2014 and had spent much time in Germany undergoing treatment. In December 2019, he traveled to Belgium for medical treatment.

Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Sultan of Oman died at the Al Alam Palace in Muscat, Oman on January 10, 2020, at the age of 79.  “With great sorrow and deep sadness… the royal court mourns His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who passed away on Friday,” said a statement from the royal court.  The funeral of the late Qaboos bin Said Al Said was held on January 11, 2020, the day after his death, at the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, the capital of Oman, and he was buried at the Royal Cemetery in Muscat.

Qaboos was succeeded by his first cousin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said who was named Sultan of Oman after a sealed letter from Qaboos was opened identifying whom he wished to take his place.

Embed from Getty Images 
Qaboos’ successor, the newly sworn-in Sultan Haitham, on the right, carries his coffin during the burial

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.