Printing and Publishing During the Reign of King Abdulaziz

Printing and Publishing during the Reign of King Abdulaziz refers to the printing and publishing movement under the Founding King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, which began in the cities of Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, and Jeddah on a limited scale. It focused on printing newspapers issued at that time, in addition to literary and religious books. The reign of King Abdulaziz witnessed the beginning of the organization of the printing sector. He also took interest in printing and publishing books at his own expense, both inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and abroad.

The Arabian Peninsula knew printing on a limited scale before the unification of Saudi Arabia. An official press was established in Makkah Al-Mukarramah in 1883, which printed the official calendar of the State of Hejaz, in addition to heritage and cultural books, as well as texts and commentaries studied in the circles of the Grand Mosque, along with the newspapers Hejaz and Shams Al-Haqiqah. In 1909, Majid Al-Kurdi established a press in Makkah al-Mukarramah, which was later inherited by his sons, along with other small private presses. In the same year, Al-Islah Press was founded in Jeddah City, where the weekly newspaper Al-Islah Al-Hejazi was printed.

The government press (Amiriyah Press) in Makkah Al-Mukarramah was renewed during the reign of the Founding King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud. The Saudi government purchased small private presses and merged them with the government press, establishing Umm Al-Qura Press, later called the Government Press. It was used to print government decisions and directives, and some of its employees were sent to Egypt to be trained in printing work. Other presses were also established in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, including Al-Majidiyah Press and Al-Arabiyah Press. In Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, a press imported from Egypt was established in 1936. At that time, Jeddah had three presses: the Arab Company Press, the Oriental Press, and Al-Fath Press.

The reign of the Founding King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud witnessed the issuance of two publication laws, the first in 1928 and the second in 1939. King Abdulaziz also ordered the exemption of paper and equipment imports for presses in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Jeddah, and Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah from customs duties.

The Founding King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud sponsored the printing of literary, religious, and heritage books, as well as books on Quranic exegesis, and published them at his own expense inside the Kingdom and abroad, in the Arab and Islamic worlds. These books were printed at Umm Al-Qura Press and the Salafi Press in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, in addition to presses in India, Egypt, and the Levant, during the period from 1917 to 1954. The number of books printed during this period reached about one hundred, with editions totaling one hundred thousand copies. Some were in languages other than Arabic, such as Hindi and Javanese, and some were scholarly verified editions. King Abdulaziz was keen to ensure that these books reached students of the College of Sharia and distributed them free of charge.

Among these books were: History of Ibn Ghannam (Rawdat Al-Afkar Wal-Afham bimurtad Hal Al-Imam), Diwan ‘Uqud Al-Jawahir Al-Munadhdhamah Al-Hisan by Suleiman Bin Sahman, and other works by Ibn Sahman such as Al-Sawa‘iq Al-Mursalah Al-Shihabiyah ‘Ala Al-Shubuhat Al-Dahidah Al-Shamiyah. Also, History of Ibn Kathir (Al-Bidayah Wal-Nihayah) in fourteen volumes, Al-Mughani by Abdullah Bin Qudamah, Al-Sharh Al-Kabir by Abdulrahman Bin Qudamah, Tafsir Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir, Rawdat Al-Muhibbin Wa Nuzhat Al-Mushtaqin by Imam Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah, Dhikra Al-Kashshafah Al-‘Iraqiyyah (Hajj of 1935), Kitab Al-Tawhid Wa Ithbat Sifat Al-Rabb by Ibn Khuzaymah, published in 1935, Al-Shari‘ah by Abu Bakr Bin Mohammed Bin Al-Hasan Al-Ajurri, printed in 1950, and Majmu‘at Al-Tawhid.