Why Saudi Arabia Banned Alcohol After A 1951 Royal Incident

Saudi Arabia's relationship with alcohol is entering a new, carefully managed phase. After more than seven decades of a total ban, the Kingdom has begun allowing limited legal access to alcohol for select groups.

Government-run stores have opened for non-Muslim diplomats, followed by tightly regulated access for high-income non-Muslim residents under premium residency schemes.

Controlled sales are also being planned for specific tourist zones ahead of global events like Expo 2030 and the FIFA World Cup 2034.

Yet, these changes do not undo the original ban. To understand why alcohol remains one of the most tightly controlled substances in Saudi Arabia, one has to look beyond religion alone, and at the incident that changed Saudi's relationship with alcohol.

The Incident That Changed Everything

The modern alcohol ban dates back to 1952, but it all began an evening in 1951, at the Jeddah home of British Vice-Consul Cyril Ousman. He was well known locally as a genial host and drinking companion, a young Saudi prince, Mishari bin Abdulaziz, who drank heavily and began making advances toward an English house guest, that evening.

When Mishari became unruly, Ousman cut him off and asked him to leave.

Humiliated and furious, the 19-year-old prince stormed out. The following day, still intoxicated and blinded by rage, he returned to Ousman's residence, demanding the woman and more alcohol. Once again, Ousman refused and tried to eject him. This time Mishari pulled out a pistol and opened fire, killing the vice-consul and wounding his wife.

The killing sent shockwaves through the kingdom. It was not only a diplomatic scandal but also a deep humiliation for the royal family, laying bare how alcohol, then available in limited diplomatic and expatriate circles, could inflame tempers and jeopardise both governance and foreign relations.

King Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) was enraged by his son's actions. He ordered Mishari's arrest and, in a gesture meant to underscore his horror, offered the bereaved Mrs Ousman the right to determine the prince's method of execution, even promising that Mishari's head would be displayed on a pike outside the British embassy. She refused, instead accepting financial compensation of 70,000 dollars.

In time, the king commuted the death sentence to imprisonment and a punishment of twenty lashes each month. Part of the blame, he concluded, lay less with his son than with the 'foreign habits', especially drinking, that had seeped into elite circles.

Within a year, he issued a sweeping prohibition decree banning the import, sale, and consumption of alcohol throughout Saudi Arabia. By late 1952, supplies of gin and beer had disappeared from the kingdom, and the last remaining whisky was being rationed to Arabian-American Oil Company employees at just three bottles a month, marking the start of Saudi Arabia's total teetotal regime.

Alcohol Did Exist

Contrary to popular belief, alcohol was not entirely absent from the region before 1952. In pre-Islamic Arabia, wine consumption existed in urban centres and among certain communities, including Christian populations. Poetry and historical accounts from that era even reference drinking culture, though it was never universal.

After the rise of Islam, the Quranic prohibition of intoxicants became central to religious life. However, enforcement varied across regions and historical periods. In the early 20th century, as Saudi Arabia unified and began engaging with foreign powers, alcohol quietly re-entered limited spaces, particularly in diplomatic compounds and among expatriate oil workers.

It was tolerated rather than embraced.

Life Under The Ban

For over 70 years, Saudi Arabia enforced one of the world's strictest alcohol prohibitions. Penalties were severe. Saudis caught with alcohol faced lashes and prison sentences, while foreigners were deported. Public, private and commercial consumption were all illegal.

Despite this, a black market persisted. Alcohol was smuggled, home-brewed, or obtained through diplomatic channels. In 2024, the government shut down a long-standing loophole that allowed embassies to import unlimited alcohol for staff, signalling tighter regulation even as broader reforms were introduced.

Even today, the easing of rules does not reflect a change in moral stance. Alcohol remains illegal for Saudi citizens and Muslims. The new policies are framed as economic exceptions rather than cultural shifts.

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