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History of Wahabis

WAHABIS, or WAHABITES. A Moslem sect, named after its founder, Mohammed Abd at Wahhab. He seems to have been born in 1704 (1116 A.H.), probably at Ayane in the District of Arid, Nejd, Central Arabia, and died at Deriye in 1792 (1206 A.H.). He was the son of Suleiman, a poor shepherd of the tribe of the Beni Tamim. He studied at Basra, Bagdad, and Damascus, and came under the influence of Hanbalite teaching through perusal of the works of Ibn Taymiyya (died 1327; 728 A.H.) and his disciple Ibn Kayyim al Jauziyya, which he copied with his own hand, as is known from two Leyden manuscripts. Like these followers of Ahmed ibn Hanbal, he became a staunch supporter of Koran and Sunna, and an opponent of the Ijma', or consensus of opinion, and the Bida', or novelty. On his pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina he must have been shocked at the formalism, laxity of morals, cult of the saints, and pagan survivals at these shrines. His stern preaching and ascetic life were not calculated to win for him a ready adherence in Nejd where people cared little for religion, and he was forced to leave, both Ayane and Horeimle. In Deriye, however, he made a convert of the ruler, Mohammed ibn Sa'ud, in 1746. Before his death in 1765 this Emir of Deriye had extended his power and the influence of Abd al Wahhab through the neighboring towns. But Riad was not finally captured until 1772 by his successor Abd at Aziz (1765-1863). Mohammed Abd al Wahhab himself never sought political power; he remained to the end a warner and a spiritual guide, faithful to Koran and tradition as interpreted by the Hanbalite school, and fighting all innovations, such as the mention of Mohammed and other men in prayer, and the veneration of local saints, as well as all luxury, the use of tobacco, music, dancing, and gambling. He had in the course of his life 20 wives, by whom he had 18 children; but he followed in this respect the law which he recognized, and his life was free from many of the blemishes attaching to that of the prophet Mohammed. His followers did not call themselves Wahabis, a name given them by their enemies, but Muslimin and Muwahhidin, because they insisted upon the unity and transcendence of Allah. Like the Almohades (q.v.) they regarded all other Mohammedans as Kuffar (unbelievers) and Mushrikin (polytheists).

Abd al Aziz spread the power of the Wahabite state beyond the boundaries of Nejd. In 1801 he sent his son Sa'ud to Kerbelah, the greatest shrine of the Shiites, and he destroyed the sanctuary, killed the priests, and brought back enormous booty. Mecca was plundered in 1803; but in that year Abd al Aziz was murdered at Deriye by a Shiite in revenge for the destruction of Husain's shrine. Sa'ud (1803-14) captured Medina in 1804 and in 1810 opened Mohammed's grave and carried away its treasures; at Mecca he cut the black stone of the Ka'bah to pieces. In 1811 Damascus was held for ransom, and the territory east of Jordan paid tribute. Then Mahmud II directed Mehemet Ali (q.v.), Viceroy of Egypt, to restore Turkish authority in Arabia. He first sent his son Tusun who after an initial defeat captured Jidda, Mecca, and Medina in 1812; then Mehemet Ali came himself and defeated the Wahabis at Bessel in 1815; finally Ibrahim Pasha was sent who destroyed Deriye after a long siege in 1818. The brave defender, Abdallah ibn Sa'ud, was put to death in Constantinople. About 1820 the Egyptian governor was overthrown, and Turki made himself independent Emir at Riad. He was succeeded by his son Faizal (1830-36), and he by his brother Ahdallah (c.1866-92). The recent history of the Sa'udian dynasty is not known.

In 1830 Abdallah ibn Rashid, of the tribe of Abde, in Jebel Shammar, was made governor of Hail as a reward for services to Faizal. Gradually he made himself ruler of northern Nejd, though recognizing the Wahabite Emir at Riad. His son, Talal (1845-68), was an excellent ruler who extended the power of this Wahabite state, and was a capable administrator. His brother Met'ab was murdered by two of Talal's sons; and one of these, Bender, by his uncle, Mohammed ibn Abdallah. In 1892 he gained a victory at Aneiza which forced the southern oases to recognize his suzerainty. European visitors speak highly of his ability, justice, and power. The recent history of the Rashidian dynasty is unknown. The first information concerning the Wahabites came to Europe through Niebuhr who obtained it in Arabia in 1763-65. Derije was visited by Reinaud in 1799, and G. F. Sadlier in 1819; Riad by G. W. Palgrave in 1862, and Lewis Pelly in 1865; Eduard Nolde went to Bereida in 1893. Wallin lived at Hail for two months and at Jof four months in 1845, and visited Hail again in 1848; this capital has since been visited by Palgrave in 1862, Guarmani in 1864, Doughty and Huber in 1875, Lady Anne Blunt and her husband in 1879, and Euting in 1883. From Arabia the Wahabi movement spread into Africa, where it influenced the founder of the Senussi brotherhood (see SENUSSI), into India where Sa'id Ahmed, a reputed descendant of Mohammed, declared a religious war against the Sikhs, but was defeated and slain in 1831, and elsewhere in the Moslem world. Among the works that set forth the doctrines of the Wahabis may be mentioned the Sirat al Mustakin and the Tawiyet al Iman, and among Wahabite theologians especially Abdallah ibn Abd al Rahman al Sindi.

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XXIII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 271.