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Dear viewers, good day to you. A prominent lawyer and legal advisor, he is among the first to establish law firms in Saudi Arabia. His work contributed to the advancement and development of legal services in the country, and his name became among the constellation of pioneers and early statesmen. He was honored by the Queen of Britain with a royal medal of excellent grade. The journey of lawyer Salah bin Ibrahim Al-Hujailan in a new episode of the program "The Departed." Welcome.
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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the 1960s witnessed broad economic prosperity that encompassed all fields. The Kingdom began to attract the attention of investors and those working in the finance and business sector from various countries around the world. The expansion of commercial activity in the country was accompanied by engagement in major international economic companies, which created a dire need for law firms and legal consulting offices to draft contracts and document commercial partnerships that began to flow into the region. The sons of that era sensed the requirements of the stage early on, and a generation of pioneering lawyers and legal consultants emerged, at the forefront of whom was the late lawyer Salah Ibrahim Al-Hujailan.
The late Salah Al-Hujailan possessed a high sense of the needs of the promising Saudi market, so he took the initiative to establish a law firm, betting on himself to lead the entire legal sector. He was the first of its kind in legal work and law in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. From this perspective, he is considered a pioneer in this field. This was not the only field in which he was a pioneer; he was also a pioneer in doing good deeds. He has great merits in helping others. I know, not from him directly, but from hearing from others, that some cases that came to him as a lawyer, he would complete them without charge, in appreciation of the situation and capacity of the person who brought him the case. These are among the qualities of the deceased. Another of his qualities is his generosity of spirit, not only in his dealings with his friends and family but also with everyone he met. Therefore, he earned the trust, love, and respect of others.
Salah Ibrahim, the river of knowledge, may God have mercy on him, whom his brothers, friends, and loved ones called "Abu Hussam." His life was a model of success stories achieved through the journey of many sons of this nation. Successes included the field of law, medicine, engineering, economics, and literature. The state considered knowledge its means for growth and its means to achieve the aspirations of its citizens for prosperity. The life of Salah, may God have mercy on him, is one of those models. The human aspect of this personality must be addressed, so that the viewer can know more and better evaluate that experience that this Saudi citizen went through, and know that it did not come from nowhere, but rather was the result of diligent, regular work. The state was not far from him; rather, it sponsored him by sending him abroad to study law.
For me, Salah was initially a relative, before anything else. Then there was a connection, a friendship. This friendship lasted for about forty years or more. What impresses you about him is his good character and sharp intelligence, and quick wit. It is impossible to talk or sit with him without him being a treasure trove of worldly information. He was serious and frank. His frankness makes one admire and trust what he says. Salah was the type of person who, when he spoke, people listened. At the same time, he did not hesitate to express his opinion, interrupt you, and give you his point of view on what he believed. Also, if you asked about him, you would find him always in contact and reaching out, helping, and doing his utmost for anything you wanted from him. He was quick-witted, a joker, and his jokes were always appropriate. It wasn't just physical; he would say something that was actually mostly sarcastic, which makes you admire him because it indicates his intelligence and insight, and makes you admire the personality he possessed.
I think lawyers are also good at getting some defendants out of cases. This is something you see in movies, but in reality, it might not exist. It does exist. Of course, a lawyer must have a certain amount of cleverness and astuteness in procedures. Changing the facts or coloring things, this is not permissible. And I believe that judges and officials, under current circumstances, are not fooled by such tricks. He was a great colleague, a pioneer of the profession, and a neighbor in the office. He was also an excellent lawyer who gained great fame and had good relationships with everyone, with fellow lawyers and others. He gained the trust of businessmen and companies. They entrusted him with their cases and their affairs, and he guided them and advised them in their legal journey. He is undoubtedly a great teacher and a cheerful person who holds a place in everyone's heart. He is nicknamed "Sheikh Salah," and he undoubtedly deserves this title. He played a major role in training a group of young Saudi lawyers.
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From the Arab Republic of Egypt, and also lawyers from the United Kingdom, France, and Canada. Undoubtedly, he is a pioneer of pioneering.
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Salah Al-Hujailan was one of the first to establish a law firm in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia about fifty years ago. Salah Al-Hujailan was distinguished by his high ambitions to establish the principle of law. His ceiling was high, and therefore he attracted many international experiences to work alongside him in his office, Salah Al-Hujailan Law Firm and Legal Consultations. Salah Al-Hujailan was not just a lawyer or a legal advisor, but a captivating and generous personality. He had relationships that enabled him to reach and know all the secrets of law and its requirements, not only in the Kingdom but on a global level. Therefore, he is present in many international committees that consider complex cases. Salah Al-Hujailan is proficient in the profession and knows many of its paths and secrets.
My father, may God have mercy on him, was one of those personalities who, when anyone was around him, felt their importance and presence. He was always keen for anyone, whether from his family, in his professional life, or in his social relationships, to know who that person was. He had a way, may God have mercy on him, to break down any barrier between him and the person he was dealing with, to reach an amicable, professional, and even fun way of dealing with the other party. He had that ability, may God have mercy on him. My father came from a generation that was not given anything. He struggled on his journey to reach his goals and, praise be to God, achieved everything he desired in the legal profession. When my father began his legal career, the first job he took or started with was as a consultant in the Experts Department during the era of King Faisal, may God have mercy on him. Then, he worked as a judge in the Board of Grievances in cases of bribery and forgery. After that, King Faisal granted him one of the first law licenses to begin his legal career. He embarked on this journey and faced challenges and obstacles, but praise be to God, he overcame them.
Salah bin Ibrahim Al-Hujailan was born in November 1940 AD. The deceased grew up and spent his childhood and youth in Egypt, where he received his primary education. For me, Salah is a son and a brother. Our father passed away in 1951, and Salah was ten years old. He was the eldest of his younger siblings. I feared for him the consequences of early emotional distress, especially since we had no relatives in Cairo. My father, may God have mercy on him, was from the Al-Ujailat who traded in horses, importing them from Syria and Iraq and bringing them to Egypt to the affluent Egyptians. When my father passed away, Salah remained alone. No one was with him. All his cousins, their children, and the children of his cousins from aunts and uncles and paternal cousins. Therefore, he remained alone, learned alone, graduated from high school alone, and entered university alone. This particular incident, or this reality, made the bond between me and him transcend the relationship of an older brother to a younger brother. Rather, he was the son, the brother, and the one close to my heart. So, I had to establish a relationship with him that was distinct from his relationship with his brothers. Between me and him, as the eldest brother to his siblings. From his childhood, he showed that he was an intelligent, passionate, reading, and ambitious person. After he reached high school, and I was in constant contact with him, whether through my presence in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jeddah or my work in our country's embassies abroad, a unique and rare relationship developed between father and son, and between brother and brother at the same time.
My father was born in November 1940 and grew up in Egypt with his siblings: Najdia, Uncle Mohammed Al-Hujailan, who was an ambassador in Australia, Aunt Wadad Al-Hujailan, and my late uncle Mustafa Al-Hujailan and his son. They grew up in Egypt under his care and lived there. They were among what was called the Al-Ujailat who resided in Egypt. My grandfather, may God have mercy on him, worked in horsemanship, training horses, and horse trading. Horses played a significant role in our family's life. So, my father grew up among a group of Saudi families who resided there. We are not talking about the previous Al-Fawzan, about the sound of the bells, Al-Rabeh, and a group of families. So, my father was surrounded by these families during his childhood until he entered university and completed his university education. Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Hujailan is from the Al-Ujailat family that moved, and their fathers moved from Najd, specifically from Al-Qassim, to the Levant, and then moved to Egypt. So, he had a house in the Levant and a house in Egypt, although his final settlement was in Egypt. There he married my father, Sheikh Salah, and they had Sheikh Salah and their other siblings. Sheikh Salah was born a twin with his sister Najdia and lived under his father's care. Sheikh Salah, and this is a noteworthy observation that remained with Sheikh Salah until the last moment of his life, had a strong sense of language, not just the linguistic content, but the way of delivery. His father's tone of delivery amazed him. When he saw guests and people came, his father would listen to his father's way of how people were drawn to his father. This tone was an experience. Then, when his brother Sheikh Jamil came from the Levant to Egypt to study law, Sheikh Salah was ten years old at the time. He would watch Sheikh Jamil reading law books. What amazed him was the delivery, the style of delivery, the grandeur of preparation and engagement of his brother as he read these texts, not just the content. These matters affected Sheikh Salah and remained with him throughout his life. He lived a very ordinary childhood like all Saudi children from the Al-Ujailat families who lived in Egypt with their father. He knew the prominent figures of the Al-Ujailat in Cairo, Egypt, and knew the great representative Sheikh Fawzan Al-Sabiq and others from the prominent figures of the Kingdom and the Al-Ujailat in Egypt. He also interacted with Egyptian life, so he knew the Egyptian nature, schools, curricula, songs, and symbols of Egyptian life. Therefore, when he studied law later, it was not surprising to him because, on one hand, he watched his brother Sheikh Jamil reading law books, and on the other hand, he was raised and educated in Egypt. So, he entered this faculty without facing any difficulties, even though in the time he studied at the faculty, the faculty still retained its prestige and strength. The Faculty of Law at Cairo University in Egypt at that time was very, very strong. He entered the university around 1377 AH, 1957 AD. At that time, it was the time of entering university, and the faculty was at its peak.
After the deceased completed his general education, Al-Hujailan went to Cairo University, where he enrolled as a student in the Faculty of Law, from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1962 AD. When he finished high school, it was necessary to secure his education and that of his brother Saud, who also finished high school in the same year, and to secure their university education. The family was not financially capable. I mean, the care I provide for my brothers and my loved ones was not capable of facing this with securing university education for both. It was necessary to secure it. They were in Cairo and were not close to the decision-making circles in Riyadh to be able to secure their hope for this scholarship. Circumstances willed that the late Sheikh Nasser Al-Manzour came to Cairo while I was there. He came to complete an official mission and was a friend of the study group at Fouad I University for four years. He was a student, and I was a student of law. Life pushed us both in the same direction. He assumed a leadership position in the Ministry of Education, becoming the Director General of the Ministry of Education. I told him frankly, "If you do not help me, Brother Nasser, to secure scholarships for the others, I will not be able to secure this university education at all. So, please take this matter seriously and accomplish it." He promised good. A month after his departure to Riyadh, I received a letter from Brother Ibrahim Al-Amri, may God have mercy on him, who was the Director General of the office of His Highness the Minister of Education at that time, Prince Fahd bin Abdulaziz, may God have mercy on him. His letter carried the happiest news I received, I believe, in my life up to that point: the issuance of a strong decision to send Saud and Salah on university scholarships. Saud was sent to study architectural engineering at Alexandria University, and Salah was sent to study law at Fouad I University.
The reason for my father's entry into studying law, or my father's study of law, was his uncle Jamil Al-Hujailan. He wanted to follow in his footsteps, and this was one of the primary reasons for his love or desire to study law. Sheikh Salah, may God have mercy on him, when he studied at the university, and this was in his youth, when he attended, he would find the great scholars of law. He was greatly impressed by their theatrical delivery and by their tone of speech. He would describe this speech to the point that he would say that some of them play the words like music. When he graduated in the early Hijri decades or early Western decades, he was one of the rare Saudis who obtained a bachelor's degree in law. He came to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and worked in the Council of Ministers' office in a prestigious position. He knew that his colleagues in his studies or work included Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, Dr. Mohammed Al-Mulla, these were study colleagues. Dr. Mutaleb Al-Nafisa, a study and work colleague. Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Dr. Abdullah Al-Omran. All of these later became ministers. He came and worked in the Council of Ministers. The King saw him constantly, saw the princes constantly, saw ministers, advisors, and senior statesmen constantly. Despite that, he had it in his mind to become a lawyer. Although the position he was in and the ascending path he had taken before and with others qualified him to become a senior official in the country, he preferred to resign and submitted his resignation from work early. So much so that all those around him tried to dissuade him from it. Among the most prominent was Sheikh Mohammed Al-Nuwaysir, who later became a minister. He said, "Wait, how can you proceed with this matter?" He noticed that he was entering a field that was unknown in the country and unprecedented. Therefore, Sheikh Salah was distinguished by the fact that the law license was license number one. If not number one, then number two, but I believe it was number one. And the greatest distinction is that it was a royal license from King Faisal. This is a matter that Sheikh Salah delved into, and he became the first lawyer in the Kingdom.
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After a period he spent in the Experts Committee, he surprised me with his decision to open his office. I was surprised. I said to him, "Salah, there is no room for law in the way you hope. Litigation is still simple among citizens, and all cases are personal matters: divorce, marriage, inheritance, or the like. The market for law has not grown because the economy is still modest." He said, "No, I expect this market to flourish, and I have put my trust in God and will open a law office." Circumstances willed...
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...that the region experienced, after the October war and King Faisal's decision, may God have mercy on him, to ban oil exports to America and Holland. Yes, that economic boom began, and the country flourished suddenly in all aspects of life, especially in the field of legal consulting. Many international subscriptions that followed the news of prosperity in the Kingdom were driven to seek work, participation, and legal and economic opportunities. At the same time, Salah had prepared himself for this mission. Yes, and he was successful in preparing himself for this mission. From here, the signs of success for Salah Al-Hujailan began to emerge as follows. Also, many things, but his passion for law made him continue in it. He left a clear mark on the profession, with much appreciation, respect, and pride from those who practice it in circumstances where the profession was nascent and unknown. He is from the first generation.
Al-Hujailan completed his educational journey in the United States of America by obtaining a Master's degree in International Relations from the University of Southern California in '86. After his return from his academic journey in the United States, the deceased continued his work in the Council of Ministers' office, which did not last long, as his passion for law and the legal profession led him to resign from his position. He decided to establish his own legal consulting office in 1968. When he came to Saudi Arabia in '62, he was appointed to the Experts Department in the Council of Ministers with Dr. Mutaleb Al-Nafisa. It was a transitional phase or stages in Saudi Arabia, as there were changes taking place in the sixties. So, my father lived through this phase and later went to study for his Master's in America, in Los Angeles. Later, when he returned, he continued his work in the Experts Department, but the state granted licenses to lawyers, despite their work in the state, so that they could provide advice to companies present at that time. So, he worked in his government job and had an office later. He resigned from the state and focused on his professional work. He was among the personalities or people who supported my father and guided him and clarified things. In addition to Sheikh Jamil Al-Hujailan, who was the Minister of Information, the first Minister of Information, a journalist later, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Nuwaysir, who was the head of the diwan. He had a strong relationship with my father in the sixties. Later, he was the head of the diwan. So, he played a guiding role for my father, and their relationship was good. Sheikh Mohammed Al-Jubair, may God have mercy on him, also played a role when he worked in the judiciary, by giving advice and support to my father in this field. Later, he moved to the Ministry of Justice. So, my father looked at him with the view of someone he could rely on, someone from whom he could get advice and guidance. Sheikh Mansour Al-Malik, who was also the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Grievances for a period, played a role in the commercial sector. Sheikh Suleiman Al-Olayan also mentioned that my father used to seek his advice and guidance, and he played a role in this from the businessmen who were present in the country. Of course, in addition to Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz, my father also looked at him with the view of an older brother, from whom he could seek advice and guidance. It was important. My father also had a long-standing relationship with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman, when he was the Emir of the Riyadh region. So, he also looked at him as an older brother, someone he could rely on, or from whom he could seek advice and guidance. It was very important for my father. My father worked with him in the Emirate on some cases related to citizens. So, my father found support from these people I mentioned.
When he entered this field, he entered it intelligently. He did not enter to rescue someone from a mistake or a legal problem. He entered to prevent companies from making mistakes and adhered to a beautiful methodology called preventive lawyering. This means being a consultant to companies, preventing them from making mistakes so they don't have to go to court. The Kingdom was undergoing a renaissance, especially after the oil boom years. Companies were flocking to it, and all companies needed someone who understood the Saudi system and Saudi law, understood cooperation with courts and Islamic Sharia. So, Sheikh Salah Al-Hujailan's office became the refuge for these major multinational companies. His office and his person were also a destination for embassies and foreigners. They benefited greatly from him. It was due to Sheikh's foresight and intelligence that any senior Egyptian legal figure who retired, he would immediately contract with them and bring them to his office. He would translate between the foreign company and the officials. This happened specifically between major oil companies and Prince Musaed bin Abdul Rahman, the Minister of Finance. The companies trusted Sheikh Salah, and Prince Musaed trusted Sheikh Salah. So, he was a trusted figure for both sides. Salah, when he was a consultant in the Council of Ministers, and from the Council of Ministers, how he was keen to have a societal presence and a legal professional as a specialization in law. He started from a modest office, but with his ability, his knowledge, his beautiful feeling, and his love for everyone. So, I loved him as a brother and a friend, and my acquaintance with him was very dear. We used to meet in many countries around the world. I saw how, even outside his country, outside the Arabian Gulf, Salah was highly regarded and respected in many countries, and on an international leadership level, not just a law firm. International leaders would receive him, and they would appreciate him, and they would respect him. I met many people through Salah, these international personalities. So, Salah was a distinguished man, not just as a law firm, but as a person. He was known for his communication, his love, his appreciation. So, Salah, from his name, Salah, was righteous and reformed many matters and guided many, I believe, in law in the Kingdom. So, he had a long hand. May God have mercy on my father. He managed to promote the profession at a time when it was perhaps viewed with ambiguity. He managed to promote it and perhaps gained followers and created popularity for himself as a lawyer in a time when social media networks, as known today, were not available or accessible. He used his profession, his writings, and his opinions in social circles, and was able to create popularity for himself solely through word of mouth and continuous discussions among people. This was something that was admired, especially today, how he was able to achieve this. My father, may God have mercy on him, was very keen on the presence of women in the legal profession and always expressed this when he spoke to me. His desire was for me to be a lawyer, even though in his time, education was not available for women to be lawyers. But nevertheless, this was his desire, and he predicted that a time would come when Saudi women would have the opportunity to enter the legal profession and practice it fully like their male counterparts.
For the sake of fairness to the state, attention should be focused on and highlighting the importance of these systems you have mentioned: the Penal Procedure Law, the Civil Procedure Law, the Lawyers Law, and other systems. These systems aim to deepen the sense of justice, and the sense of justice is one of the most important things to rely on in human life. People's trust in the judiciary is important. The reality is that people's trust in the ruling stems from their trust in the judiciary, praise be to God. So, these systems are worthy of discussion and explanation. They are a civilized, honorable, and bright facade, and attention must be paid to them in your media activities in this field, because the citizen...
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...must realize several aspects. First, that the state stands by him, not against him, naturally. Second, that reminding the citizen of his duties is accompanied by reminding him of his rights. I have not seen legislation in this good country or others that imposes certain duties on people, except in مقابل of these duties, there are rights. But the citizen must know his rights. He knows his duties by virtue of what the relevant authorities publish to you, and you must do this and that. But he may not know what his rights are. The important task of the media and the citizen is to strive to dispel ignorance in order to raise awareness of his rights and to learn about them according to his profession or his life path. Correct.
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The deceased began practicing law and providing all legal consulting services to contribute to facilitating international cooperation between the Kingdom and major global companies and institutions. Salah Al-Hujailan was a lover of life, a lover of his work, and he invested what he gained through his work to elevate the level of his office and give it more consulting capabilities than other offices. He enlisted English and French legal experts and some professors from Egypt. This development in his office enabled him to expand his successes in his work. As I told you, when I say he was a lover of life, he looked at money with a perspective that did not involve excessive attention, as some people do. On a personal level, just as he was successful in his profession, he also excelled socially. He established numerous relationships with various segments of society. He opened his home and his personality, which was characterized by cheerfulness, hospitality, and welcoming everyone who visited his home, made him a gateway to knowing many of his countrymen and achieving success on a personal relationship level. Few have achieved this, and I bear witness to that. His office became not just a famous office in the Kingdom, but on the level of the Middle East. It was an office for many contracts for major foreign companies, foreign banks, Saudi banks, and joint Saudi-foreign banks. I observed this during my acquaintance with him. They all sought the services of this office, and his office was truly, you could say, a beehive of foreign experts, and he enlisted many old Egyptians for the Arabic language. So, his office was successful by all standards and measures. The legal profession, for him, was the most suitable profession for his personality. My father's love for the profession was not more of a commercial love than a love for helping and supporting. He was a source of support for anyone who felt in a predicament or needed someone to defend him and could not express his case or the problem he was suffering from. This particular aspect gave you a lot of happiness, and we felt it. He always told us that he did not like to take on an easy case and defend it simply. He sought cases that were difficult or complicated. The purpose of this was his passion for developing the profession and setting certain precedents. So, he always sought any case that had a new aspect that had not been addressed before, or even the system in the Kingdom had not dealt with this matter. This was always in cooperation with the guardians and the relevant institutions in the state through discussion and coordination with them. He undertook the role of a lawyer in such cases, with the aim of contributing to setting future policies in such new matters. Among the important achievements in his legal life is that he was perhaps the first to file a corruption case against an official in the Kingdom. I believe he may have been the first. It was a famous case, and people talked about it at the time, and there were deliberations and a lot of discussion. He also had relationships, as I mentioned, with leaders. He was close to local leaders like Prince Hassan of Jordan and Sheikh Rafic Hariri, the Prime Minister of Lebanon. And even though in some discussions, he may have had lawsuits against Hariri's companies, his relationships were still good. His activity in intellectual or media fields, so to speak. I recall once, about forty years ago, in the eighties, there was a campaign against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in some American media. He sent me a draft of an article he sent to one of the major newspapers, and I recall it might have been The Washington Post, in which he refuted some of what was published, I believe, from lies or...
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...allegations, an article or a campaign against the Kingdom. He was the initiator of this. So, this activity was something he practiced and did not hesitate to do. I recall when I started my legal career under my father's supervision, I worked with him on a case that was difficult and challenging for my father because he represented a Saudi entity that was weak against the other party, which was a foreign, international company with political and economic power. So, of course, he always resorted to amicable means in any case or matter he worked on as a lawyer, and resorting to litigation was the last option, not the first. One of the lessons I learned from my father is that not every case is dealt with solely by legal means. Cases can be dealt with by other means, whether political, social, or otherwise. He taught me many things. He taught me the importance of demanding rights, even if obtaining those rights is difficult. A person has the right to demand them, and the difficulty in achieving the goal is not an excuse for not trying. He used to say that if it was difficult for someone to obtain his rights, at least as a minimum, he should express his desire to obtain those rights.
The deceased's efforts formed an important link connecting the Kingdom with the countries of the first world. His office helped establish strategic companies and collaborations in the public and private sectors. The deceased served as an honorary legal advisor to the British ambassadors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 1976 AD until his last days of professional activity in 2004 AD. The deceased received a prestigious British royal medal from the Queen of Britain in recognition of his contributions to serving Saudi-British relations. He was a friend to the United Kingdom, a friend to the British government, a friend to the management of large British companies. He was a great lawyer for Saudi lawyers, and a client here as well.
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Of course, Sheikh Salah, being the first, oldest, and most knowledgeable and famous lawyer among foreigners, many foreign companies and many embassies made him their lawyer. This gave him very strong relationships inside and outside the Kingdom with these companies. It is enough for you to know that many major companies, car companies, oil companies, some important supply companies, and embassies, resorted to Sheikh Salah. This matter, in fact, benefited us in the Kingdom, that the person providing these services to these embassies and major companies is a son of the country, keen on it, loving it, understanding it, and understanding its nature, and can clarify some issues for them without making them feel any discomfort or anger, because some things are dictated by our culture, our traditions, and our pride that we preserve, but we explain them to others as much as possible.
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The office of the late Salah Al-Hujailan was considered a practical qualification and training center for Saudi students who had recently graduated in law. The deceased was keen to empower junior Saudi lawyers and provide them with the necessary practical experience in the job market. Lawyers found in Salah Al-Hujailan's Law Firm and Consultations an open door to learn and benefit from the experience of Salah Al-Hujailan and the international and Arab team working alongside him in the office. Many of these underwent free, donated training periods from Salah Al-Hujailan to spread throughout a number of cities in the Kingdom as distinguished lawyers due to the establishment of true, honest, and effective lawyering through their work. The training period with Salah Al-Hujailan and his colleagues in the office was, perhaps, a limited time. The information was always updated. You would always hear surprising names of those who are now considered the biggest names in the legal sector, and you find that they are, in essence, graduates of the Salah Al-Hujailan school. You hear their stories about the beginning of their work, the beginning of their journey in the profession, how they took this progression, this knowledge, and this information directly and without any reservation, transferring knowledge and information and giving timely guidance. Some lawyers have told me personally that when they decided to start their personal practice in their own office, perhaps some had a negative or adverse reaction, saying, "How can you leave the office and so on?" But with the professor, he truly deserves this title in every sense of the word. Professor Salah, may God have mercy on him, it was the opposite. There was always a blessing and support, and even some people, more than one, started their work through clients who were already in the office. He supervised their work, but Salah Al-Hujailan, to start his office from scratch, no, because he preferred it, and this is your client, with you. This is something from little of a person, or a drop in the ocean of his life. His name, regarding the deceased, may God have mercy on him, his support for the profession, his passion for it, his communication and follow-up, his suggestions. Sometimes he would even call and say, "If you do this, if you do the following suggestion, it would be like this." And even for his colleagues in the profession, always, may God have mercy on them, Sheikh Salah Al-Hujailan, in my opinion, was a school of Arab law. Many lawyers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia graduated from this school, and I am one of them. I stayed in the office for six years. These six years were the true foundation for today's success. Sheikh Salah Al-Hujailan gave us 25 years ago. He enabled us and was passionate about the work succeeding and that you practice law correctly and professionally, achieving the interest of the client and the office. Sheikh Salah Al-Hujailan, may God have mercy on his soul, opened great horizons for meeting. The office was, and still is, one of the most important offices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. When I started working in my father's office in 1999, I was very new. I had just returned from Britain, and there were a group of Saudi lawyers working with my father, and I was an intern with them. So, the role I played was to support these Saudi lawyers. They always mentioned to me how my father was one of the first to establish the image of the Saudi lawyer globally, and how he was one of the people who brought foreign firms and made cooperation agreements with them, and laid the foundation. Of course, the sector has developed more than this with the contribution of others, but he was one of the first people to launch the image or character of the Saudi lawyer with foreign companies. And this was, for me, who studied in Britain, and he was keen for me to study abroad, he instilled in me the idea that everything is possible and that we, as Saudis, even at a time when we were still in a transitional phase as a sector, can aspire, keep pace with the outside world, and compete with it. We looked at Salah Al-Hujailan's office, may God have mercy on him, as a legal academy in every sense of the word. The importance of this academy lies in the fact that there was no law system at all at that time, and there was no civil procedure law as we see it today, nor a criminal procedure law. He was always keen to gather family and friends at his home, with the help of his wife, Aunt Safiya, because she is a hospitable person, and he is too. Not a week goes by without seeing his house, God willing, filled with family, friends, or even acquaintances. His personality was cheerful, simple, close to people, in addition to being one of the pillars of law in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and one of the first practitioners of the legal profession. He was not the first; he was a school in himself. His office was always open for training Saudi talents, and many of the lawyers currently practicing graduated from his office. He was always keen to encourage us in our studies and always told me, "I am proud of you because I am the first in the family to take the academic path." So, he always told me, "I am proud of you, and the whole family is proud of you." And this testimony, I always remember it until now. It carries the responsibility for me that I must indeed reach my goal and not disappoint him. As I said, he is a teacher, a father, who planted this seed in his children, and God willing, they will continue this path. Professor Hussam, Professor Fares, Professor Sultan, and of course, Ms. Hanin, to the extent that their passion and love for law have led them to recently offer scholarships to الفيصل University, the Department of Legal Studies. I hope that they, and I support them, will continue his path. The name Salah Al-Hujailan will live on through them, God willing. My father, may God have mercy on him, was very keen on the presence of women in the legal profession and always expressed this when he spoke to me. His desire was for me to be a lawyer, even though in his time, education was not available for women to be lawyers. But nevertheless, this was his desire, and he predicted that a time would come when Saudi women would have the opportunity to enter the legal profession and practice it fully like their male counterparts. Speaking of your daughter, God willing, success and prosperity. She is a female element, God willing, in society. Given that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia now allows Saudi girls and women to work in many fields, such as commerce, education, medicine, etc., do we expect to see Saudi women working in the legal profession? This is absolutely certain. This is absolutely certain, and I see you as I see you now, because this profession has changed. It now has a preventive aspect and a field aspect. The preventive aspect of this profession is providing advice and drafting contracts and documents. Women have an ability that may exceed that of men in this aspect.
The preventative for the profession of law, the man is more capable than the woman. It is possible in field work. The Saudi woman is prepared to provide legal and Sharia advice in the fields available to her, which are women's issues, personal status cases, child custody, inheritance, and cases related to the commercial work that women undertake. There are many women who have institutions and need someone to help them prepare specific theses or documents. If there is an experienced Saudi woman who studied law in the known fields, there is no harm in that. On the contrary, I expect her to be more successful than her success in other businesses. The deceased was known for his love of doing good, as his social contributions were widespread among people. His home was also full of guests and visitors, and many considered the deceased's home one of the most important literary salons that gathered state men and society dignitaries. The most distinguishing characteristic of Abu Hussam, may God have mercy on him, was humility. He was a very humble man and easy to deal with, both in work and socially. He was a man who could deal with everyone, the great and the small, the important and the unimportant, at work and outside of work. He had a distinctive personality that attracted everyone. It was not difficult to get to know Salah Al-Hujailan, even though he was busy and had undertaken great work in the field of law, either through his office or by representing the country, as mentioned, in international forums. What distinguished him was his easy, always smiling, always cheerful personality, and his willingness to listen to all opinions. Mr. Salah is one of the best speakers and listeners in the sessions I have attended with him, whether social gatherings, at his home, or in public occasions. He was keen to be present at public occasions to a great extent. Sheikh Salah's majlis is diverse; you see princes, ministers, senior state officials, lawyers, wealthy individuals, his neighbors, friends, and relatives, journalists, and intellectuals. It is truly a diverse majlis, and he holds continuous gatherings at his home, receiving people, and engaging in beautiful conversations and discussions, accompanied by delicious food and pleasant conversation. The Sheikh was truly keen for people to visit him and welcome them. During the meal, the conversation would also be beautiful, filled with fond memories, with the presence of photos and some items, Sheikh Salah would launch into his memories and conversations.
The deceased was loving towards his wife, Safiya bint Suleiman Suleiman, and all members of his family. He was keen to instill the importance of knowledge and adherence to values. He and his wife would hardly meet their four children, individually or collectively, without patiently and convincingly emphasizing the importance of knowledge and learning. His relationship with his mother was that he loved his mother very much, and he always confirmed this to me. In general, the father has a high opinion of women. He even loved all the daughters of my family and my relatives. He always cared for them and enjoyed talking with them, being like a friend to them. For me, he was my role model in life, and more than a role model, he was perhaps the beacon in my life. His relationship with his mother was that she was his life partner. They had been married for 52 years, and he loved her very much, and he always confirmed this to me. I always heard my father laughing with my mother; he had a playful relationship with her, in addition to a serious relationship in matters concerning the family. Because the father lost his father at an early age, I feel he tried to compensate for this with his children. We felt the blessing of a father. Salah bin Ibrahim Al-Hujailan passed away on Friday, the ninth of Shawwal, in the year 1442 AH, corresponding to May 21, 2001. He was loyal to his family, loyal to his brothers, and loyal to those who praised him. I used to meet with him every Friday evening at the farm, just him and me and my wife, and talk with him. The last meeting with him was that day. He seemed extremely happy, honored himself and honored those around him from his family, and lived – I cannot say extravagantly, but as I said, he did not give importance to money. He seemed extremely happy. "There is no god but Allah." I said to him, "Salah, I have fulfilled my duty and taken care of the two families in Egypt and Syria. Now the responsibility falls on you. You are indebted. Yes, and I want you to fulfill this debt." And he used to say to me, "Abu Imad, your grandmother's marriage has reached its end, and God willing, you have a long life, and you are well, with all the health and blessings of life. And the happy meeting with your brothers are all reasons, God willing, that will lead you to be well. But God Almighty knows, and we do not know. Yes, it is in God's hands." I was surprised after four or five hours of that meeting. What God willed to be a reality. Memories. He was always in touch. If something came up, or he was asked for help or assistance, he never hesitated. May God protect his children, all of them, and his daughter too. They all became lawyers. They are all lawyers. What a great study and what great achievement. May God grant them all success and guide them in his footsteps. We all remember his memory and his love. Eid used to come, and we would be together in southern France, and suddenly they called me and said that he, Naim, may God have mercy on him, had passed away. It was a shock, a shock indeed. I was greatly affected and felt lost, but undoubtedly my sister and his grandchildren, his grandchildren, plus their patience, will find a way to raise his memory. May God have mercy on him. The news came to me as a surprise, in fact, from a close friend. Our meetings were always at his home, the friend's home, the doctor's home, or my home. He called me on the phone and said, "May God grant you condolences for the passing of Dr. Salah." A few days before that, we had met at one of the occasions, so the news was a shock, in fact. But what I can say is that he left behind a good legacy, whether in friendships, in doing good deeds, or in good offspring. This is what God Almighty promised believers and doers of good that if they leave these things, they will have an impact in the hereafter. For me, I felt orphaned for the second time. As I told you, my father passed away, and he took his place. I feel, God willing, that the children of my cousins, Mr. Hussam, Mr. Sultan, Fares, and Hanin, will continue his path because they have the ambition to ensure that Salah Al-Hujailan continues as a lawyer. At the same time, as I mentioned, he was keen on the family, and we will also be keen, God willing, to gather and complete this. But undoubtedly, he left a very empty space. In a gesture of loyalty that aligns with the deceased's vision of supporting and caring for the legal profession, the deceased's family announced in November 2022 AD the launch of the Salah Al-Hujailan Scholarship Program for Lawyers to support and fund students of the College of Law and International Relations in cooperation with Al-Faisal University in Riyadh, and to achieve the deceased's vision of contributing to supporting and developing the legal profession in Saudi Arabia. There is no room for doubt that the deceased, lawyer Salah Al-Hujailan, had an impact, whether in his life and professional and family career, and after his passing. This stems from his children's love for him, from their aspiration for the continuation and sustainability of this impact. The cooperation between Al-Faisal University, Mr. Fares Al-Hujailan, and Ms. Hanin Al-Hajlan was about how to sustain the impact of the forgiven. The idea emerged of how there could be initiatives with a sustainable impact, especially in education, given that we are a university. From here, the starting point was to create the Salah Al-Hujailan Scholarship initiative for the College of Law and International Relations. From here, a number of meetings were also held. We tried to think about how this impact could continue. Indeed, we established or created one of the initiatives that we presented to Mr. Fares and Mr. Hanin, which is a naming initiative at Al-Faisal University. After that, it did not stop there. They said, "We are satisfied." We are still in dialogue about what else we, as Salah Al-Hujailan's children, can do. We found in them a passion to truly offer something, to truly love knowledge, from their father's love for knowledge, their love for work, from what their father instilled in them of love for work, love for diligence, how to be distinguished, their love for serving others. I imagine this also stems from what their father, may God forgive him, planted in them. They always have an aspiration and a desire to offer more. In my opinion, this stems from their love for their father, from the impact their father left on them, and also in my opinion, it stems from their confidence in Al-Faisal University and its outputs. As a university, we always look forward to partnerships being sustainable partnerships, partnerships with impact, and integrated success for everyone. Our outputs are outputs that benefit society, from students, research, and initiatives. All of these contribute to the university's journey and also to the journey of all university supporters and donors. This is perhaps the sustainable impact that we all aspire to, which is knowledge that benefits, whether during a person's life or after their death. This is all part of a journey full of leadership and achievement. The deceased, Salah bin Ibrahim Al-Hujailan, succeeded in inscribing his name among the constellation of pioneers and early state men on whose hands and efforts the foundations of the initial renaissance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were built.