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A STUDY OF THE POLITICAL ROLE OF SHAYKH

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MUHAMMAD B. cABD AL-WAHHAB IN THE

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WAHHABÏ

STATE, 1744-i792

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By

~ Abdul-Aziz Mohamed FakHro

A Thesis

Presented ta the Facul ty of Graduate Stu,dies

and Research, McGill University, Montreal,

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in partial fulfilment of the require-

ments for the degree of

Master of Arts

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Institute of Islamic Studies

MeG!ll University

Montreal

November, 1983·

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'POLITlCAL ROLE OF IBNllcABD AL-WAHHAB IN THE WAHBABI STATE, 1744-92 l'

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ABSTRACT
J
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Author Abdul-Aziz Mohamed Fakhro

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Title of thesia A Study of the Politieal Role of Shaykh
Mulfâmmad b. cAbd al-Wahhab in the
Es-tabliahment of the Wahhabi State,
1.
1744-1792

Department Institute of Islamic Studies,

MeGill University, Montreal

Degree Maater of Arts

The' \~ahhabI Movement. founded by Shaykh Multammad b. eAbd

al-Wahhab before the middle of the eighteenth centuly, has been

viewed by au thora as mainly a religious revival. This ia due to

•
the fact that the Shaykh did not beeome the head of the Wahhabf

State after his alliance with Muhammad: ibn Suc~d, Chief of

.
e-
al-Dir iyah in Najd. S~~equently, the political role of the

.Shaykh has been eclipsed by his religious propagation. Several

modern writers on the subject bear witness to my statements, as

will be seen.
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0

This thesis, therefore, will address itselfo to the political

"
role which Shaykh Mu~ammad played in the foundation of the WahhabI-

Sucüdf State between 1744 and 1792.

The thes1s 1a divided into four chapters. The first chapter

presents an evaluation of the sources, whieh include both cDntempor-

ary and modern writings. In the second chapter, the state of

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affairs ~n Najd prior to the rise of the Wahhabl Movement is given.'

The third ehapter de aIs with thé Shaykh!s activities in Najd,

c- .
before his arrivaI at al-Dir iyah in 1744. In the fourth ch.apter,

the politieal role whieh the Shaykh pIayed in the found~tion of

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the Wahhabi-Su udi State between 1744 and 1792 will be presented

and analysed.

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AU,teur : Abdul-Aziz Fakhrb

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Ti tre de la _thèse : Étude, p:our la Période de 1744 ~ 1792,

du Rôle PoU. tique d~ Shaykh MuJ.lammad
b. cAbd al-Wahhib dans la Fondation
de l'État Wahhabl.
~

( Départem~nt Institut des Etudes Islamiques,

Université McGill, Montréal

Degré : Mdtrise ès Arts

" - ... l'- ,.

Perçu par ~·les auteurs, le Mouvement Wahhâb! fondé par Sh4ykh

.
Muhammad b.
c "_
Abd al-Wahhab, avant le milieu du dix-huitième

siècle, revêt: plutôt, à leur sens, un réveil religieux. Cette

perception est due au fait que le Shaykh n'est pas devenu le chef'
c-
de l'État Wahhabl après s'être aUié à Muhammad ibn Su ud. chef .
c-
de al-Dir iyah à Najd. Ultérieurement, le raIe politique du .

Shaykh s'est dissipé sous sa propagande religieuse. Comme vous

, .fi ""....-..

le constaterez, ces dires sont appuyés par plusieurs... écrivainS ----

modernes.

Cette thèse élabore donc le rôle politique joué par Shaykh

M~aumad dans
.,
l' établissement de l'Etat - - " c-udi
Wahhabi-Su - entre
\
~1744 et 1792.

Cette thèse se subdivise en quatre chapitres. Le premier

chapitre, basé sur des ~cri ts contemporains et modernes, présente

o ~

l'évalua tian des origines. Le deuxième chapitre rapporte les

iv

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circonstances qui ent1Qurent le Najd avant L'instauration du-
• J!f~
Mciuvement Wahhabl. Le troisième chapitre tràii::e des activités

~u Shaykh à Najd avant son arrivée à a1-Dir I y ah en 1744.

C
Le

quatri'èl1le chapi. t~e élabore et I!lnalyse le rôle poli tique joué

par le Shaykh dans l' é tabl1sseme!Jl t de l' Éta é Wahhabl entre

1744 et 1792.

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~ONTENTS

PREFACE .................................................. , . ix

ACKNOWLEDGEl-iENTS ......................... , •••••••••••••••••••••• xiii

NOTE ON TRANSLlTERATION ....................... ........... .~

xiv

Chapter I?

I. INTRODUCTION: EVALUATŒON OF SOURCES 1

A. Arabie Sources ........................•....... 2

(i) Contemporary Works •.•.•••••••.•••.••••.• 2

(ii) Reeen t Works •.•.•..•••.••••••.••••••••• 8

B. Foreign Sources ..................•....•....... 9

(i) Contemporary Works •••.•.•••••••••••••••• 9

(ii) Other Works ••••••••••••• Il •••••••••••••• 11

No tes ............................. " ................ . 16

II. STATE OF "AFFAIRS IN NAJD PRIOR TO THE RISE

OF THE WAEœABÏ MOVEMENT ..•.••••...••••....••..•••• 19

A. Geographica1 Survey 19

B. His torical Survey ............................ . 22

C. Social and Economie Conditions in Najd ••••••.• 25

D. Po1itica1 Conditions .......................... 27

--- E. Educa tion "" .... """." .. "." .. "...... "......".... . 29
l..) ~----
- - - - - - - - •.

c - -----------
1. Learning and ~' ••••••••••••••••••••• 29

2. Belief and Pi11ars of Islam 30

No tes ..•.. ,." .•... , ... "... "•.•.. ".••.....•• '-, , • " .. 34

III. SHAYlŒl MUHAMMAD B. CABD. AI.-WAHHAB' S ACTIVITIES

IN NAJD uNrIL HIS ARRIVAi AT AL-DIRcÏYAH IN
1157/1744 .. "" ...... "......-!.." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " • • 40
,/

vi

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A. The Shaykh' s Family Back-ground •••••••••••••.•.

B. The Shaykh' s Early Life and Education .•••••.••

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C. The Shaykh' s Journeys In anc;! Outs,ide Arabia •.•

1~ Mad!nah ................ : ................. .

2. Syria. ..................................... .

3. Basrah ................ ~ ................. .

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4. A1-~asa ••••..••..•..••• "..•••••.••••.••••

D. Controversia1 Opinions among Histori~ns

on the Shaykh' s Trave1s ••••.! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

E. The Shaykh' s- ArrivaI at Huraymlla and the

Beginning ,of his DaCwah in Najd ~ ••••..••••••••
c
F. The Shaykh' s Departure ta a1- Uyaynah and the
Beginning of the Spread of Ms Da Cwah ••••••••• .
G. Reac tions to the Da cwah befora the Shaykh r s
Departure_to a1-Dir Clyah in 1157/1744 •••••••••
.
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H. The' Shaykh's ArrivaI at al-Dir iyah
1n 1157/1744 .................................. .
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No tes .......... 1.' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .'

IV. ~ B. c ABD AL-WAHRAB'S INVOLVEMENT IN THE

FOUNDATION AND THE SUBSEQUENT EXPANSIOW OF THE
WABHABÏ MOVEMEN"r IN NAJD AND EASTERN ARABIA
UNTIL BIS DUm IN 1792 ...... ~.. ..... • ...... ...... 76
c-
A. Preparations at al-Dir iyah and- Expansion
into Najd .. ! .................................... . 76

- --
- ••••••.••••..•••••••••••••.•
1. Wahhabi Jihad '\
78

2. Religious Conference at a1-Dir~yah

~in 1167/1751 f'. It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

3. The eonquest of al-Riya~ •••••••.••••••••• 83

4. 'Na.jran ..................... ".................... 87

c B. WahbàbI-Kh8.J.idl Struggle in al-~aaa 88

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C. Leadersh:Ip !n--tlte Wah.ha.bi-Su udf State •••• _ ••• 94

CONCLUSION

Notes
Notes

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... .•--; -;--.-....--..-..-..._.~ . . . • . . . . . . • • . .. . • . • . ..

•••••••••••••• ~-;--.--.~....._ _ 105

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APPENDIX 1 ••• . .......................... . 110

APPENDIX 2 ........................ , .................... . III

112

APPENDIX 4 •••••••••• . ..... . . . ..... ." • •••••••••••• -'--.-r ..... _._. _' ••• 113

BIBLIOGRAPHY • • l' • • • • •• ~ •• ......................... -1-14

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PREFACE

In- introducing the work of Shaykh-MuIJ-ammruLJ:>. cAbd, al-Wahhab,

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----------~--;a-l-Turki, Rector of the University of a1-Riya~, wrote

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that the Shaykh r s Movement was one of the most important events

in the twelfth century A.H. feighteenth century A.D., not only in

Arabia, but a1so throughout the Is1amic wor1d. Moreover, there

has not been a similar Movement since the time of the Prophet
.",.

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Muhammad.

As Jdll be shown, thlshaYkh did dot create a new sect"or

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come wi th innovations (bid ah) as many of his contemporary ,i

Muslim theologians and poli tic~l opponen~s believed. Nei ther

1 was he preaching a new religion as assumed by some early trave11ers

1ike Niebuhr, who wrote:

some\time sinee, a new religion spran.& up in the

~ict of El Ared [sic]. It has already produced
à-~~olution in the government of Arabia, and wHl
proDab;ly hereafter influence the state of this
country still farther. • • . The founder of this
r-
-- religion was one Abd ul Wahheb whol succeeded in
...
converting severa1 independent Schiechs, whose
subjècts consequently became fot1ower's of this new
prophet. 2

'!bese misconceptions were due to misinformation or partial

ignorance of the basic teachings of the, Shaykh.

Modern Musl1m theologia~ apd historians view the da cwah

( OC·
(message) of Shaykh MuIJ-ammad b.
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Abd al-Wahhab as a very simple
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one. For exaapl.e, a!-Nashab&bah states:

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He waa aeeking onl.y to purify lsl.. . fram corruption
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v âD4 superstition and to restore the purity of it8
faith and practice as bel.ieved to have been pra~ticed
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ln the early perlod of lsl.am in the t1ae of the _ 3 ,'.
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Prophet and that of the orthodox cal1phate at Kadlttah.
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When ,the Prophet MuhaDllUd moved ta Madinah in the seventh

century A.D •• his message gained atrength after he allied himself

vith the leaders of the city. Similarly, wben the Shaykh aoved ,to
c-·- . '. c-
...
al-Dir iyah in Najd and allied himsel.f with Muhammad b. Su ud,
II- •

the former's'Movement began ~o flourish. In the lslamlc state,

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. ther~ must be no separation between theological (legislative) L

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and polltieal (executive) pavera.
4
'l1lis concept of the lal.amic
1
atate influenced the W'abhabi Klvement and later on the Wahbabl- o

Suciid! State., Mter the death of Huh8Dlllad b. cAbd al-Wahhab,

the rulera governed according to the laws and teachings of Islam. .,

The cul...a' advised and Kelped the rulers run the affaira of the ,\

state. The aim of both parties was to preach the dacwah and to
Q -

have the Najdis adopt those ideas and fight for them.

t'b.e Wahhabi Havement has been viewed by writers as primaril.y

a religious revival because the Shaylth did not become the head

of the Wahhabl State after his alliance with Muhammad b. Sucüd.

Subsequently, the politieal role of the Shaykh was overshadowed

by his religious teaching in the worka compiied after his death.

1

'lb.ese include: Rentz in Muhammad ibn

c Abd al-Wahhab
- (1703/4-1792)
>i

and the Beginnings of Unitarian Empire in Arabia, Phllby in , .

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Sa ,wU Arabu, El Battik 1.11 ."Turk:1ab aDd Ema.&I1 ltule 1Il Arah1..
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(1810-1841) ." and A.H. Abu-ll.ek 1. . iD. Bist:oq of Eut.rD Arab1.a

1750-1800 •

In th1.s thü18, therefore, -the pol.ltlc.l roIe wb1ch the

-- c-- 7'

Sh.71th p1ayed in the fouadatien of tbe Wabhab1.-Su ud1. Stete

between 1157/1744 and 1206/1792, 1& preseuted and )~yzed.

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(
l Set Dr. I;l.-Turk1' a intTOduction (tagd1.) in

.
lll'allafat Kub_,d b. cAbd al-Wahhib, ed. cAbd al_cA&iz b. Zayd

ü-aü.i et al:, 15 vols. (a1-ll1yid: Imim Huhllftllad b •. Sucüd

!slamic University, 1980). vol. 1. p. 1.

2
Cars ten Niebuhr, Travela through Arabia and Other

CoUDtrte. in the East, transI. into English by Robert Heron,

2 vols. (Beirut: Ltbrairie du Liban, n.d.), vol. 2, p. 131.

3 Risham A. Nashshabah, '''Islam and Nationalism in" the

Arab World: A Selected and Annotat.ed Bibliography," H.A. theaia

MeC!ll University 1955, p. 5.

,,
4 'lbe name ''WahhabI" has been chosen to denote the

followers of the Shaykh despite ita 1naccuracy, since the uae

of oany other term may create confusion •. Later writers9- vith

.
~;rong WahhabI leanings, have reconci1ed themselves to the uae

.. of this terme The term ''Wahh;ibI'' even appea-rs in a footnote .,:

g1ven by a grandson of Shaykh ~ammad b. cAbd al-w~hib in •

new edition of Lamc al-Shihab. See Shaykh cAbd al-~n

- b.
c
t C Abd al-Lat!f b. Al al-Shaykh, ed., Lam al-Sh1h8.b fI sIrat
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MUhammad b.
•
C Abd al-Wahhab (al-Riyad: al-Matb.Cab al-AhlIyab,
•
1939·A.H.), p. 13, no. 1.

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 l vould U.k.e ta thank the Govermaent of QaFar for providlug

a acbolarahip without which this study could not have been

accomplished. His Excellency Hr. c-Isa Ghanim

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al-Kawari, Minister

of Information, was mast encourag1ng and helpful.

l should like to express my gratitude to my professors st

the InstÙute of Islamic Studies and to the staff' of its library.

My thesis supervisor, Professor Ahmad M. Abu-Hakima was generous

vith bath his time and knowledge.

l wish to express my appreciation of the help offered tO

me by Shaykh c Abd al-Malik ibn c Abd Allah

c c-
-- Al al-Shaykh. Secretary
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,General of King Abd al- Aziz Research Centre in al-R1ya~t in

gathering rare research material.

~-- ~
Dr. A.S. al-Hilabi, Dean,

University Librairies, al-R1ya~, was most generous in supplying

aIl the works of Shaykh Mu~ammad b. cAbd al-Wahhab.

c
l also thank Mr. M.A. Abd al-Samad and Miss Susan ~U8cemi

for ryping, and Dr. Randa Abu-Hakima for editing the texte

Last, but not least, l weuld like to thank the staff of the

Scholarships Department of the Qs~ari Ministry of Ed~cation, and

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in particular Mr. Abd Allah Alam for 1nvaluable advice.

Montreal, ~V4DIber. 1983 A.M.P.

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lI)T! ON TBANSLITEBATION

'!he .yatem of traneliterat10n of Arab1.e: 1s that ua.cI

by the Inatieute of Islamic-Studiea, MCG1.1~ Univera1.tfo

, '!bu system 1s as followa:
'.

A. Consonants:

• :f.nitial: u.nexpreaaed; - med1.al and final: ,

... b ~ z ~ f

..;;.. t IJ" a J q f
..:. th ..;. ah .:J k

C j ~
•· J l
1
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C h 0 ~ tJ f la

? Y r: kh J. to u D-

~ ci ... h
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Z

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JI>

~ dh t J.

..J r t ah Il Y

B. Vove1., Dipthongs, etc.

short:~a; _'__:L;
-, u.

10111 : 1 a; ..s 1. ; ..J u•

1
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allf magsürah: ..s &; dip thoqa :. 41' 1 &y; J av •
..
10111 vi th tashd1d: -- 1 -.!ya;
- ~'-.-'
J uva.

ti· 1IUIrbü tah : 6- ah; in iWah: at.

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 1
CHAPTER l
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INTRODUCTION: EVALUATION
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OF SOURCES

'D1e achievements of Shaykh '~ammad b. C Abd al-Wahhab

are'of interest to students of the history of the Gulf àrea.

Bad it not been for the 'alliance between the Shaykh and
c- c- -
Mu9ammad b. Su ud, the Su udi State. as we know it, might not

have been founded.

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Nume~ous primary and secondary Arabie sources dealing vith

, l
the life and works of the Shaykh are available. Ther, are

works on Wahhabism written in other languages, some dating back 1

,to the beginning of the Movement. Emphasis in this evaluation !
of the sources will focus on some of <the Arabie as weIl as the
"
foreign texts.

Detailed information on the doctrinal aspects of the Wahhabl

Movement are to be found almost solely in Arabie sources. For

the origins and background of the Movement, a study of Ibn

Taymdyah and Ibn al-Qayy1m al-JawzIyah, the spiritual fathers

of the Movement, is necessary. The list of their worka and

..
i~troductory studies of their doctrines are given in tbe

Encyclopaedia of Islam (old edition). under "Ibn Tayudyya" (vol. 2,

pp. 421-3) and "Ibn al-~yyim abDjawz1yya fl (vol. 2, pp. 392-3) as

i
-C weIl as in the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, edited by
l,
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James Hastings (New York: Scribner and Sons, 1915) under "Ibn

Taym!yyah" (vol. 7, p. 72).

The sources on the politi~al raIe of the Shaykh in the ,

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establishment of thel\~ahhahi-Su udf State will he divided into: /
~
A. Arabie Sources
(i) Contemporary Works
(ii) Recent Worka

8. Foreign Sources

(i) Con,temporary Works j

(U) Other Works
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A. Arabie S~urces 1

\(i) Contemporary Worka 1

,

(1) Mul]ammad b. c Abd al-Wahhab.

- 'lb.e writings of the Shaykh

constitute the most ~mportant part of this collection. The most

fmaous works are: (a) Kitab al-Tawhi~ dealing with the Oneness

of God, omens, pious visitations, ornaments. invocation and

1

- - 1
intercession. (b) Utab Kashf al-Shubuhat in which the belief

in the intercession of prophets or saints ia considered a poly-

theistic act. The book is considered a continuation of his

U tab al-Tawhld. "because al~

. 0 f the Shaykh' s wri tings revolve _

around the sujeet of tawhld (the Oneness of God). ,,2

Muwalat AitI al-Ishrak which demonstrates that those who side vith
(c) Hukm
-
infi.dels in their poliey are themselv~ infidels.

( The vr1tings of the Shaykh naturally throw an important

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light on the WahhabI doctrine as weIl as its origins in the

teachings of Ahmad b. Hanbal and Ibn Taymiyah. The Shaykh left

almoat twenty-eight books and articles, and about fifty elaborate

.
letters dealing mostly~ith
1 .
tawhId. lt ia not surprising;

therefore, that his followers preferred to calI themselves

"al-MuwaI;tI;tid'i:in" ("the Uni tarians ") , rather than the ''Wahhabis. Il

i
The writings of the Shaykh were a true reflection of the time

and circumstances in which he lived. They were written during

the time when the condition of Muslims was lamentable, especially

c
within his own community. At the beginning of his da wah he
, c -
was opposed by the governors and the ulama' of his time, who saw

~in his ~vement a threat to their politieal and religious influence.

In some instances he wrote books, articles, or letters ta e~ress

his ideas, while at other times he preached in mosques and schools.

The Shaykh wrote mostly in an ornate style when addressing'

e -,
governors or ulama'. However, he seldom refrained from using

the local Najdi colloquia~ Arabi~ to make his ide as reach the

common people. He was not only a writer for the élite, but

also a man of polities. He tried to gain the support of the

c
common people for the spread of his da wah in his native town,

throughout Najd, and subsequently Arabia and the MUslim world.

, Wabhabi Chroniclers:

(2) Ibn Ghannam. Among the Arab writers of the eighteenth

and early nineteenth centuries A.D. whoee vor~ throw light

( on Arabia vas the tiret Wahhabi chronicler, ~U8ayn b. Gbanna.

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al-Ihsa'!. o His work Rawdat al-Afkar wa al-Afham li-MUrtad Hal ,j

al-Imam consists of two volumes. The first volume deals with

the ideo1ogical and re1igious doctrines of the Wahhab! Movement,

whi1e the second deals with the politica1 and mi1itary aspects

of the Movement. The contents of the first volume have been •

explained by Abu-Hakima as 'follows:

In the first volume the author explains the situation

in Najd and neighbouring countries and re1ated that
people at that time, i.e. the eighteenth century,
''were not Mus1ims at aIl." In ,
chapter
c
II, the author
-
detai1s the genealogy of Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab,
his successes and his effect' on contemporary shaikhs.
The remaining three chapters describe
1
the WahhabI creed
as seen fram various dispatches of Shaikh Muhammad to
Wahhabls and other people. Because Ibn Ghannam waa 1
one of the disciples of Shaikh MUhammad, thia volume
is of extreme importance in exp1alning the WahhabI
doctrine. 3 1
J

The second volume, entit1ed Kitab al-Ghazawat a1-BayanIyah

4
ia a collection of the Shaykh' s treatises,' 1etters and discourses.
1

1
It can be considered, in my view, as the earliest chronicle

concerning the po1itical and military aspects of the WahhabI

Movement. The author begins chronic1ing events from the year

1157/1744 to ~e year 1212/1797. However, Yusuf A. al-Shibl

claims that Ibn Ghannam covered tbevperiod between 1212/1797

,'~
; - -~
ti11 his death in 1225/1810. He contend~ that Hamad al-Jasir,
J

a local traditionalist, possesses this last m!ssing part of the

5
second volume.

Ibn Ghannam does not exp1icit1y mention the sources for

( bis book. However, he writes that the campaigna were related te
 5

6
him by re1iab1e persans.

E1-Batrik fee1s that the work of Ibn Ghannam may be taken

as one of the most re1iab1e sources on the rise of the Wahhabi-

c- - 7
Su udi ru1e.
c -
(3) Ibn Bishr. Uthman b. cAbd Allah
-
b. Bishr (1210/1795-

1290/1873) wrote c Unwan

- al-Majd fi
- -
Ta'rikh Najd, a year by year. /

aceount of events in Najd. This task took him nineteen years

(1835-1854 A.D.). Whi1e Ibn Ghannam wrote on the origins of the

Wahhab1s, Ibn Bishr wrote on the historiea1 birth and deve10pment

of the Suc-udi- dynasty in Najd. He started reeord~ng the Wahhabi

Movement from 1ts ear1iest phase unti1 1268/1851.

Abu-Hakima's assessment of this work i8 as fo11ows:

Close- examination of both texts revea1s that Ibn ~

Bishr mode11ed his w~rk on Ibn Ghannam's Ghazawat.
He quotes other h~tor1ans, but does.not mention 8
the history of Ibn Gh~am, though he quotes his poetry.
The events are the same and the wording is simi1ar;
therefore, the main difference 1s that Ibn;B1shr doea
not digress to religious matters as'does Ibn Ghannim. 9

Bamad al-Jasir agreescwith the findings of Abu-Hakima. He

·believes that Ibn Bishr changed the text of Ibn Ghannam, making
10
it easier for a historlan ta fo11ow.

Ibn Bishr records in detai1 the history af the Suc~dI dynasty

in Najd. He starts vith ~e evellts of 1158/1745 and ends with

those of 1225/1810, the same year Ibn GhannBm died. ,Ibn Bisby

states that his writinga were drawn frOll:

•:f

--------
 6

( •
People who had actually seen those e~ents. And if they
had not seen them, they had been informed abou~ tham. •
l have d1rected my endeavor to seeking out thè' truth ••
l have written noth1ng but what l believe to be true •
and l beg of him who may find mistakes in this book of
mine that he should overlook my errors. For whoever
forgives the sins of a Muslim, God will forgive his
slns and over1ook his mistakes. 11

-
He quotes two Najdi sources, namely: Ta'rlkh Ibn Hunayn and .... '

2
Ta'rikh Ibn Sa11Üm, whose worka have sinee been lost.1

Although Ibn Bishr had a biaa towards the Su c-udi- dynasty,

El-Batrik praises hlm for his lnvaluable records. He writes:

• • . his account was generally a faithful portrayal

of success and defeat, tallying in al! important
points with the records in the Egyptian archives and
vith Burckhardt's work. His observations on Su~d! 13
administration in Najd are • • . especially invaluab1e.

(4) Kitab Lame al-Shihab fi Sirat Muhammad b. C Abd al-Wahhab.

This book by an unknown writer gives in detail the history of the

Wahhabls from,the beglnning of their Movement unt!! 1233/1817.

The book 18 divided into five chaptera· and a conclusion. Chapter

one ~eals wi th the biography and subsequent rise of the Shaykh.

t c-
Chapter two explains how ~ammad b. Su ud accepted the ney

doctrine. Chapter three gives the genealogy of Mu~ammad b. Sucùd.

Chapter four gives a detailed account of the rule of the Wahhabls,

c- c - c- '
.
beginning with Muhammad b. Su ud and ending vith Abd Allah b. Su url •

It also'deals with the spread of Wahhabism in 'Eastern Arabia,

c1raq and Syria. Chapter five deals with the spread of the Wahhabl

( Movement in many parts of Arabia, especially al-~ijaz and Yemen.

----------~- ---
_ _ _- - - - - - - - - : - - - -..- J
 "

the book offers soma account of local Arab tribes. In the Con-

clusion, the wr1ter d1scusses some teachings of the Shaykh and

14
illustrates how other Musllms refuted them.

Although the title suggests that the book ls a biography

of the Sh~ykh, he i5 mentioned in less than eighty of the five

h~dred and thirty-three folios. The remaining folios give a

detailed description of the Arab tribes and sub-tribes, their \

15
origins and settlements. Altbough the writer of the book is

no t" a Wahh~bI. he 1s no t prejudiced agains t the Wahh~bis, and

.. 1
he respects the t~achin~s of the Shaykh. The ~drawback of 1
"1,
th~ text, according to A.M. Abu-Hakima, the editor of the

manuscript, ls that many of the events given are with01.iè "dates.

."
1
"
Cons~~uently, other warks must be referred ta in arder ta establish 1
1
the dates of the events.

(5) Ibn Faslh. Ibrahim b. Faslh al-~aydar! al-Baghdad!

is the author of c Unwan

- al-Majd fi- A?wal
- - wa
Baghdad Ba~rah wa

Najd. He wrote his book at Ba~rah in 1286/1869 while working as a

govemment official. His book 1s divided in ta three chapters and

a conclusion. The first chapter deals with the history of Baghdad,

the second with Basrah, and the third with Najd.

"[)
The p~rt de~fing with Arabia in general ,and Najd in particular

occupies fifty-four pages of the book. The chapter on Arabis

consists of six parts in which he deals with the Arabian penin-

sula, its geographical divisions, and the location of Najd and

c
tts tribes. He also writes about the Su üdl rulers from the

J
 . 8
1 i
"

(
twelfth century A.H./eighteenth century A.D. unti1 his t1me.
c- -
He traces the Su" udis' origin, and their governments and writ,es
- c ulama'
about the biographies of sorne Najdi - in general and that
if.

of the Shaykh in particular.

In the fifth and sixth parte of hie chapter \'1l Na j :,::_- ~/ i

Ibn Fa~il~ gives the textfL of letters written by the Wahhabi~ ,_ ;
~ ,
~
rulers to their subjeets. The information gather~fôf those two
~-----
parts was derived from the history of his eontemporary writer
1
Ibn Rishr who died eleven years before him.--How~ver, he on1y
~I :!
mentions Ibn Bishr by name in his book once. J
, 1\
Ibn Fa~I~ also relied on oral information, giving it the l
,~
" weight ~f ~hentic and confirmed historieal faet. As'a result J
/ , , 16
,1
his book is full of mistakes. oHe is critical of the Wahhabi
t
i
\triters. !
" "J-

(ii) Recent Works

(1) Ibn Sahman' s work al-HadIyah al-SanIyah wa al-Tuhfah ,

al-WahhabIyah al-NajdIyah is a collection of essays on doctrines l,

cil
C· -
written by sorne ulama' of Najd. 1
1

(2) Other recent works inc1ude: Ta'rIkh Najd al-Hadith wa

- -' - - - Qa1b Jazirat
-' al- c Arab, by
.
Mu1haqat1h, by Amin a+-Rihani; .
... - c - c-
Fu'ad ~amzah; and Jazirat a1- Arab fi a1-Qarn a1- Ishrin, by

aafiz Wahbah.
c -
(3) The most recent work is ~M=uh~a=mm==a~d~b~.~~A~b~d~a;l-_W~ah~h~a;b~,
-
Hayatuh wa Fikruh, br cAbd Allah
- al- c Uthaymin.
- This was originally
"
\C a dQctoral thesis submitted ta the University of Edinbur~in 1392/

..- '- -._----,---~ .. ,-.

,
, 1
- - -____J
1
.- -~.__,.--.--!LcL_------------- . . . .------
 '0

1912. As new material has appeared since._writing the thesis,

;

the author "found i t peneficial to add o.t:; remove some information

from the original work. ,,17

\
B. Foreign Sources

'.,
(i) Contemporary Works
,~- ...
(1) Niebuhr. Carstenr, Niebuhr (1733-~815), was the best

European authority on eighteenth

.. - century Arabia. He was a
. -. .
mathematician in a scientific" ëxped:ltion- sent by the Ki-ng of
. ~
Denmark to Arabia. His two works are: Voyage en Arabie- and 1

Descriptio~ de l'Arabie. In the Descrip~on

- he deals with the
-

geography of Arabia and Arab man~ers a~d customs. For those

1
1
regions which he was -not able to visit 'personally he obtaineL " i

information from merchants, nomads, and well-informed Arabs.

EI-Batrik gives us his assessment of Niebuhr's works as

fol.1ows:

-
Niebuhr's work, therefore, can be accepted as the fir8t
modern attempt at a scholarly description of the'
peninsula." The only-detracting feature of ~is work i8
his lack of material on Najd and Wahhabisme He confuses
Muhannnad ibn cAbd al-Wahhab with Muhammad ibn -Su~d.
He' aoes' not mention the rising SucüdI dynasty at
c
Dar iyy~. 'However, his appreciation of .the importance
and implications of Wahhabism affords an example :of his
sl'i'rewd judgement. 18 '-

(2) Burckhardt. After Niebuhr, John Lewis Bur~hard~ became

the accep ted European authori ty on Arabia. His book Notes on the

t'
-------_.-""------_. ,.
 " ,

10 ...

,
,t Bedouinll' and WahabYs, according to. El-Batrik, IIgave the wo:rld the

most reliable account of the [Arabian] Peninsula:,,19 This book

''" forms~ a comprehensive survey of Najd and a detai-led account of the

WahhabIs in re1igious, po1itical, ~nd social matters.

Burç,khardt's knowledge of Islam was su ch that he accepted the'

e
f' a1th. He was able to gather informa tion from pilgrims, learned, "

men, traders and bedouins, auci supp1y,many new facts on the

~, ('J A

Wahhabis \-:md bedouins of Central Ara1:i~a.

Burckhardt' s interest in Wahhabism 1ed him to p~esent a

~
deta!1ed study of Najd. Althougb he never 'visitied al-Dir iyah,

he was able to constr':lct a description of that capital and provide

.,, '
c- - .
a history of the Su udi dynasty up to his Ume.

In the Notes) =B~khardt deals almost exclusively with the

WahhabIs from their apP,earance in the eighteenth ce~tury, their

• 0

wars wi th the Arabs and the Turks to l8l~ f the year in which

Burckhardt left Arabia for Egypt.

(3) Corancez. H:f.stoire des Wahhabis by J .A. Corancez, is

.
,1
)
another good European account. of th~ early history of the ~ahha~Is.

Co;-ancez, who was the French consul in Aleppo from "1800 to 1808,

carefully selected from the info~tion he had gathered. His'

1 \ . . \
1111 • • ~J
1

informants must have been first-band observers.

Corancez ascribed the WahhabI expansion to the weakness anq

misrule of the Ottomans whose authority ~n most parts of Arabia

was at a11 times very' nominal.' According to Nashshabah, Corancez

'C Uignores the importance of the re1igious fervour stirred up by

• L
\'~
\ .
 )
, ,

c\ -
Abd al-Wahhab which, cochineCi vi th the ~eadership of HuhaDllUld------,
c- .
.
"
.
.
~

.
b. Su ud'. 1IlUSt surely have 'been the main reason for their ~ ~

l ,20 "
aston1.shing Victories." Corancez does. however, give an excellent '

description of the beliefs and cus~dms aL the WahhabIs.

(4) Brydges. The gr~h:of the' WahhabI power wu felt in

"
c - '
Iraq, Syria and Oman. One of the most' reliab1e sources of current

affairs 'in c1raq came from a.rford J. Bi-ydges. whose History of the"
~
21

j
Wahaubys is a valuab1e and scholar1y contribution. Brydges was

the assistant rtsident in B~rah from 1784 to 1794. At tHat tilDe

, '1
c c-' " c- .
Abd al- Aziz b. Muhammad b. Su ud's ~audiJl8 parties continually
." • ~f
'penetrated c1r;'q, 'lIlu~h to the alarm of the Pasha of Baghd8d. the
22 ' ,'
t
."• ~
'

_ Governor of Basrah and rother offieia1s. In 1798 Brydges vas J

the official PoliUeal Agent in Baghda~.
1 -= ,During his eight yea~8

in office he vas able to collect much information about the

Wahhabis. espec1ally' on their inctiTsions into' c 1raq : Abu-Bak1ma , .,

g:ives his evaluation of Brydges 1 work as follows:

Brydges records eventa which he vi tnessed, or.·:in ,

wbich ,he partieipated. He a180 relates events which
he- did not observe, but bis Msto'rian's ability to
select and reject ia exce11ent. • • . Therefore, bis
Wahauby reflects the author', experienee. He mows the
"area and its inhab:i tants. When tresting Wahhabism as a
creed, he refers the reader ta Burckhardt's NDtes on
the Bedouins and Wahabys as the best authority; he 23
e, quotes the latter instead of giving his own accounts. 1

,
,,
• (1.i) O,ther Worka

(1) Selectiou ; frca the Records of the Ballbay GoverDIeUt

1( .
1
) .
i
,

j
-<~_l-__,,"_l
"

t
!' ..
-1
- >z .,Z::::::::::::" ~
 !

12
1
(
f
1"
l'
1
l
~.
vol. no. xxiv. New Ser1es. Part 2. ''Wahabees.'' Bombay Selections 1
~

no .. xxiv gives a very brief and inadequ~te profile ~1n lts ten-

, page stu~Y of WahhabiSlll.. It describes Wahbabism as follows:

This sect was fo~ded about: the year 1615 [sic], by

an Arab of the name Shaikh Mahomed, the son of Abdoo1
Wahab. wqose" name they have taken. Shaikh Mahomed
connected 'nimself, in the attempt ta reform the religion
" of his country, Jrlth Ebin Saood, the Prince of Driah, ,
the capital of the province of Nujd. Through the effort , '
of the saint, and the aid of the temporal power of
Ebin Saood, and his son and successor Abdool Azeez, the
, ,
religion of the Wahabees was established aIl over the
p~ninsula of Arabia. The leading principle of the sect
1s ,to des troy and p,lunder aIl who differ from them;
~

and those Mahomedans who do not adopt their. creed were

represented as far less 'entitled to mercy than either
the Jews or Christians. The finit mention JD.ade of thls
, , in, the Bombay records is in the year'-1787. 24
"
, .
J '!'his material on the WahhabIs is a year by year account of
v ' , "

events from 1787 to 1814. The article deals mostly with the

WabhabI-ottoman co~licts, after the spread of., the WabhabI influence

,-, ,
,
.
" . in Eastern and Western Arabia from the beginning of 1795 onwards.
, 0

Otl;OII8u forces were ma1,nly from c lr~q,

- then under the rule of the

,Turks. and some adjacent Arab tribes.

"
-
'!'hroughout this period of conflict between the Turks and the

WahhâbIs. ehe British po1icy remained indeclsive, but sometimes more

1ement to thè W8hbabIs.

(2) Lorimer. Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, by J .G. Lorimer

was published by the government of India in 1915. lt ia a remarkable

,
c:~ilation based principally upon selections from the records of
1
the Government of India. For material on the eighteenth and mne-

1(
<
,~
1

. ~ ..
'...",
\,

" 13

teenth century Arabia the author depends most1y on the Bombay

Selections no. xxiv, Western travellers and Brydge9' Wahaubys.

'é
Lorïmer neglects to consult any Arabie sources, and "tbi& led h1m

ta the erroneous conclusion that information on certain periods

of Arabia was la1ing. Had he consulted Ibn Ghanna., Ibn Bishr,

\ ,
t -
Lam al-Shihab or other Arabie worka, he would have leaned much
25
f
about al-Hasa," Arabia or the Wabhab! Movement. Regarding the

Shaykh, La rimer 9ays, that, "1691 is given as the year of his birth

and 1787 is mentioned as the day of' his death." Bath

, c- c c-"
1
dates are wrong. Writing about the reign of Su ud b. Abd a1- Aziz
l',
1
(1803-1814), Lorimer gives highly qUâlified and det~~,Jnformation

about the administrative, re1igious, finane!al and mi1itary J

organizations of the state of the WahhabIs at its zenith of growth .1

1

and expansion. The Gazetteer~ therefore, still remains an

-'exceedingly important source of information on the WahhabI State

and the SucüdI rulers during the end of the eighteenth century and

the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Some of ,the dates on Wahhabism mentioned by Lorime~ in,the

1
Gazetteer must be treated cautiously and should be compared with
1
other contemporary' sources on Wahhabism. This i5 especially ,~

.. important for writers wishing to use this work as a primary source.

, "
(3) El-Batrik. In a doctoral thesis entitled "Turkish and

Egyptian Rule in Arabia (1810-1841)," Abdel ~amid M. EI-Batrik

deals with the WahhabI Movement in the introduction and in two

(', of the eight chapters. ' In the introduction he divides his sources

1
Il '/,1

'\
----
 f
:P
t
~
,

'Jr 14
~
,!
Ji
~.

j~
C.
~,
iDto three sections, two of which deal with the Wahbabl Bources. . ,(
\
In the first period he mentions the work of Niebuhr, Ibn GhannSm
1:
t
:~ and SOlDe of the writings of the Shaykh. In the second period hel

analyzes the worka of Ibn Bishr, Burckhardt, Palgrave, Brydges,

,- ~

'" Wellsted and other historians who wrote on the WahhabI MDvement.

In chapter ~o he deals with the Wahhabf doctrines, and in

chapter three he wrltes on the politlca1 and mi1itary activitiee

of the Suc~di rulera.

In concluding chapter two, he states:

In fact, although Muh~ad ibn cAbd al-Wahhab was

distinguished as an ~b1e po1itician, he had no Idea
of establ1shing a new dynaSty of his own to ru1e Arabia.
He lef~.the mi1itary and politicsl tasks to Mu~ammad 1
ibn Sa üd, contenting himse1f with co-operation in ward
and pen. He never took upon himself any polittcal
authority or claimed the right to interfere in govem-
ment affairs. 26

!bus El-Batrik does not actually emphasize the political role

..f of the ShaYkh as he should have. This MOst probably resulted fram
ï
his focussing main1y on Arabia beeween 1810 and 1840.
. ,
1
\.,
i (4) Philby. MDre recent accounts of WahhabI history fram its
i
f' c c- - c-
1"
tise until the end of the reign of Abd al- Aziz Al-Su ud la treated
J
in St. J.B. Philby's Sacudi Arabia. lt la one of the best modern
t
! works on Wahhabisme

The author, who ia an acknowledged authority on Su c-udi-

Arabian life, displays an admirable histor~cal ac~umen,and wrltes

in a smooth style. His information i8 based oot ooly on firsthand

( c
experience and an intimate knowledge of Su udi affairs, but also on

--.----- l
 <',

f
fi
i~ 15
~
i"
~.
'c
p
f C
;:;/
\ >ll> the Arabie texts which constitute the primary sources for a study
,.
~,
:r
"W
of the 'WahhabIs.
"
lO- (5) Abu-Hakima. Abu-Hakima' s book History of Eastern Arabia
I-
, (1750-1800) is a detailed account of the history of Eastern Arabia,
è~
~,

~, Kuwait and Bahrain. He stresses the importance of bath Arabie

and European sources in studies on the States of Eastern Arabia.

Be writes:

Little of their history during that period has been

competently reported, principa11y because those who
dea1t with it were either Arabs who did not consult
European sources, or Europeans who did not consult
the relevant Arabie sources. In this work those
sources have been combined. 27

The book consists of six chapters, a listing of sources

and a conclusion. The sources and footnotes are extensive, making

the book a primary reference for the researcher wishing to study

the history of Eastern Arabia in the eighteenth century A.D.

ln chapter five, entitled "The Wahhabls in Eastern Arabia,"

the author gives:

• • • a brief summary of the basic doctrines' of the

Wahhibiyya • • • because the WahhibI wars with the
, BanI Khalid were to a large extent based on the .
WahhibI interpretation of Islam. • . • Those [WahhabI]
- c-
tribes who fought under the leadership of the Al-Su ud 1
did so primaril~ because of their zeal for the teachings
of Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhib. 28
l
l •

\ (
\

0< 1

\
\
-
i
\ - .l
(

NOTES

1 Some wr1ters are under the impression that m08t of the

materia1 opposing the Shaykh's Movement was lost. See

CAbd Allah s. al-~thaymin, a1-Shaykh ~ammad b. CAbd al-Wahhab:

. -
Hayatuh wa Fikruh (al-Riyad: Matba c at Dar
- a1- c -
. .
Ulum. 1979), pp. 1-2.
2 C
Abd al-~afiz
-
A. Abd a1- c-Al, ''Bayat
C' -
a1-Shaykh Muhammad b.

cAbd al-Wahhab wa Atharuh a1- cIlmlyah," Proceedings of the Confer-

ence on Shaykh Muhammad b. e Abd al-Wahhab

- held at al-Riyad
- 8-15

. .
March, 1980 (al-Riy;d: Imam Muhammad b. Sucüd University, 14001

1980), article 4, p. 26.

3
Ahmad M. Abu-Hakima, Htstory of Eastern Arabia (1750-18002

(Beirut: Khayats, 1965), p. 2. '

1

4
IbiSh, p. 3.
l ,

5 cAbd Allih" Y. al-Shibl, "Ahamm al-Ma~idit:. al-NajdIy~h

li-Ta'r1kh a1-Daw1ah a1-SuC~dIyah," Doctoral thesis University,of

Alexandria 1980. p. 136.

6
'!usayn Ibn Ghannam, Kitab Rawdat al-Afkar wa al-Afham
li-Murtad Hal al-Im8m wa Tacdad Ghazawat DhaWi.a1-Is1am
- c -
(al-Riya~: al-Ma~ba ah al-Ahliyah, 1368/1949), vol. 1. p. 4.

See a1so Ibid, vol. 2. pp. 4 and 8.

7 Abdel Hamid M. El-Batrik, "Turkish and Egyptian Ru~e in

Arabia (1810-1841)," Doctoral thesis London University 1947, p. xv.

1

8 cUthm8n b. CAb~ Allah Ibn Bishr, ~nwan al-Majd fi Ta'r1kh

(

.~,......,-------".
/
-.-1
 ~, ....... " .. ,

17

(.
Najd (a1-Riya~: Maktabat al-Riya~ al-~adithah. n"d.). vol. l, o

p. 95. See a1so Abu-Haktma, Eastern Arabia, p. 4, footnote no. 2.

9
Abu-Hakima. Eastern Arabia, p. 4.
10
. -
. Hamad al-Jasir, -
''Mu'arrikhu Najd," Maja1.lat a1- cArab,

fifth year (al-Riya~:'Bèr al-Yamamah, 1391 A.H.), vol. 10, p. 882.

11 c -
Ibn Bishr, Un~an al-Majd, vol. 1,fP. 5-6.

12 Al-Shibl, "Ahamm al-Mal?adir," p. 221.

13
El-Batdk. "Turkish and Egyptian Rule," p. 17.
14 Abu-Hakima, Ta'rikh al-Kuwayt, 3 vols. (Kuwait: Kuwait

Government Press, 1390/1970), vol. 1, 1, pp. 31-5.

15 c - - -
Abd al-WalJid Raghib, ''Kitab Lam c al-Shihab,"
-
Majallat 1
a1-Darah (al-Riya~: King cAbdul cAz1z Research Centre. Ju1y 1976). 1
Vol. 2, p. 238. ,
1

16 Muhammad Bahjat al-Athari, '~asadir Ta'rlkh a1-Jazlrah

al- cArabiyah,"
- Proceedings of the First International Symposium

on Studies in the History of Arabia, 23-28 April. 1977, sponsored

by the Department of History, Facu1ty of Arts, University of

al-Riya~, Saudi Arabia, vol. l, part l, p. 326.

17
Al- c Uthaymin,
-
Muhammad b. cAbd al-Wahhah,
-
p. 2.
., 18
El-Batrik, "Turkish and Egyptian Rule," p. xiv.
19
Ibid., p. xvii.
20 Risham
- Nashshabah,
- "Islam and Nationalism," p. 12
21
Appended to Brydges' "An Account of His Majaesty' s

Mission to the Court of Persia in the Years 1807-1811." Brydges

! '

( vas appointed head of this mission in 1807 .. Before' occupying this

.-.- ----~ -J
 ....

post, he had been in

c Iraq
- aa a memher of the British Factory
"
at Burah.
22 Ibid., p. 10. "
"
23
Abu-Hakima, Eastern Ar..abia, p. 21.
24 B. Hughes Thomas, ed., Selections tram the Records of the
t

Bombay Government, no. xxiv, part ii (Bombay: Bombay Education

Society Press, 1856), p. 428.

25 ...,
Abu-Hakima, Eastern Arabia, p. 23
i,
26 El-Batrik, "Turkish and Egyptian Rule," p. 39. j
27
Abu-Hakima, Eastern Arabia, p. 1.
,
1

28 .ill.!., p. 126.
1
j

'.

\ "

l' •

e_ e' -L
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
 (

-1
CHAPTER II

STAn OF AFFAtRS IN NAJD PRIOR TO '!'HE RISE .,,

-OF THE wAHHA'BÏ MOVEKENT

A. Geographiea! Survey

C
SU udl Arabia occupies most of the Arabian peninsula whieh

lies between the Syrian desert o~ the north, the Red Sea on the

west, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea on the south, and the
,
Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf on the eaat. -The·total·area

of the'peninsula is slightly oV,er 1.. 000,000 square"miles, while 1

t
~

the total area of SucüdI Arabia i8 about 865,000 squate miles. 1

Sucüdi Arabia is divided inta four provinces. The main
1

provinces are: al-Hasa in the east along the Arabian Gulf where

" the ail fields are loeated; Najd, the central province; al-~ijaz,
,1
, \ the western province where the holy cities of Makkah and MadInah 1
1
\
aie located; and al- c Asir,
-
a smali province south of -
al-~ijaz.

Najd 1s the ancestral home of the -Al-Su c-ud. ,The province

of Najd consists of large subdivisions; each of which has pIayed

1
signifieant raIes in the modern history of Arabia. Najd is

bordered on the northwest by the valley WadI al-Sirhan, and two

oases, Jawf and Sakakah. The valley is one of the ma[n routes

ta Jordan, Palestine and Syria. Separated from the valley by

( the Great Nufud is the district of Jabal Shammar (the Mountain

•
 20

( "

of' Sh8llllll&r) which taltes its name from one of the most power'ful

tribes of the northern stretches. Jabal Shammar. with its

capital ~a'il, was the seat of the House of Rashid. Al-RashId

contended with the Al-Sue~d for mastery over the interior 0\ ~~

peninsula and did not give up the struggl~ until after World

War r. 2 Lying aeross the transpeninsular valley af WadI 81-

Rimmah ta the south of Jabal Shammar i9 the district of al-Qa~im,

3
the home of "a prudent, indus,trious and not unintelligent race. Il

Mu~~afa'al-Dabbagh wrote: "The people of al-Qa~im travel more and

know the areas beyond Arabia better than any other inhabitant of

[the province of] Najd; some of the families [of al-Qs;Im]

extend their commercial operations ta India, Egypt and ,other

distant places. ,,4 Al-Sudayr, al-Washm and al-Ma~al, whose settlers

mostly occupy oases in the valleys that cut through the !uwayq

.
mountain~ are located between al-Qaslm and al-Riyad. . Al-Riyad and ..
the old town of al-DirCiyab, with its principal valley w'idi HanIfah,
are located in the district of al-cArId.

The district of al-Kharj with tts base at al-Dilam, is south

of Wadl HanIfah
•
and i8 "the site of unusual resJvoirs
A
of water and

fertile land where wheat, barley and many kinds of fruit are grawn. ,,5

. .
The remote towns of al-Hawtah and al-Harfq are found further south

near the Tuwayq mountains. Beyond the district of al-'Aflaj, the

long southern valley of Wadl al-Dawasir, which was named after

"a numerous tribe that has distributed its nomadic and settled
\

( sections over much of eastern Arabia," ig found. To the' south and

-----------
•
------J
 21

{
c
southeast of Wadi al-Dawasir, la the vast Rub al-Khili (Empty
6
Quarter). lt ahould be ndted that, although these districts of

Najd "are clean-cut entities in the minds of the inhabitants, the

boundaries that aeparate ~ne from the other are not exact1y
- 7
dellneated and cannat be accurately set down on a map."

The total population of the NajdI towns at the end of the

twelfth/the second half af the eighteenth century was about

300,000 people, 50,O~~ of whom ~ere able ta fight. The bedouins

built a force of 9,000 horsemen and more than 40,000 infantry.

The majority of the pop~lation in the NajdI tawns were women.

and the density was 4 persons per square mile, in an area of

8
50,000 square ~les.

The majority of inhabitants of Arabia at that time were

bedouins. The diff~rences between bedouins and townsmen are not

as great as might be supposed. Townsmen are usua11y bedouins who

have se~tled, or descendants of bedouins, and preserve their

tribal affiliation. The true bedouins. on the other hand, will

only settle and take up agriculture whenever they have an

opportunity to do so. Before the discovery of oi1 in 1936, the

tribes in Najd wer~ generally found in specific grazing areas.

It may be assumed, therefore, that the distribution of the tribes

in the elghteenth century was stmi1ar to the dlstrubution in a i'

1916 report from the British War· Office:

AlI the known unsettled Bedouin trioë-s, which OWe

·C fealty ta the Emir of Riyadh, range either outside'

--~------~.------
 22

( ;
.<
tli~ boundaries tof NajcÙ, or for a very sho,rt d,istance
- and very occasionally within them. Su ch are the
Ah1 Hurrah [Al Hurrah], B. KhlUid, and Ajmin on the
aast, the Qahtan on the south and southwest, and the
c r,
Sebei LSubay
OC] and" Sahul on the wes t. Nor do , J
independent tribes, like the Muteir"on the northeast, ~
Sbammar on the north, and the Ateibah on the northwest, j
penetrate Najd except on occasional raids. The settled "1",
folks are, however, almost.all of original Bedouin
stocks--Beni Tamim and Beni Khalid in Qaslm; southern
Anazah, T8lllIm and Dawasir in Central Najd; and Dawasir
and Qahtan in the southwest. • 0 • It ia to this
1
constant homogeneity of its society that Najd owes its_-------r
, common adherence- to Wah~~bbm ____ its -uni-f4eat±u~ 9
,~De ••eptre, and itS, comparative stability and otrenge!>. , , ,
< 1
B. His toriea1 Survey - 'J
i
1
•
Prior to the ~ise of theWabhab! Mov~_Najdhad' centuries J
of disuni~ which made 1t prey for attacks and conque~t by two of !
1ta relative1y strong neighbouring powera.

_ The B~ Jabr, ru1ers of Eas~tern Arabia, carried out several

attacks on Najd during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

..q
" .
. Al-Bassam described the raids which took place in 851/1456-70"
- c- -
Re stated that in that year Zamil b. Jabr a1- Amiri, the ruler of

al-Rasa and al-Qat!f t led ahuge army, consisting of bedouins

~
'. a: _ c-
and townsmen, and raided a1-Kharj, Subho a1-Dawasir and a1- Ayid.
•

There were heavy casua1ties on both sides. The victorious Zamil

stayed for ~enty days at al-Kharj before returning home with

the booty.

-The raids of Ban! Jabr were concentrated against the

. - c
- Dawasir, Subay and _other tr1bes of Najd. These tribes were
 , 23

threatening the caravan routes of trade between àr-~asa and Najd.

The main aim of the raids was to prevent these tribes

attacking the BanI Jaor and trilles under

"'. ___ 11
- '", Bani Jabr's continuous raids were most successful.

BanI <Jabr's inf~ sa great that one of their

~-----------------
~1~Ub~·.ruie~s, Ajwad b. Z~mil, was called by the historian

saiüh~dI, "the chief and head ruler of Najd. ,,12 However, due ta

the struggle for power among the JabrI rulers and the emergenée
".
~f '~e Portuguese colonial power and its conquest of many JabrI

domains, the inflüence of the latter in Eastern Arabia came ta

l '~ 13
an end in 9~2/l525-6. ..... 4

0,
_ With the,conquest of Egypt by the Ottomans in 923J15l7,
-f
,
al-~ijaz came under their rule. The Ottomans wanted to spread ;
~
-1
tqeir influence over the whole of Arabia in arder to defend the ,.. .1
Muslims' sacred shrines in Makkah and
-
Madinah
"

which were being 1

threatened by the Portuguese maritime'activities. The Ottomans

succeeded in capturing,Yemen and Tihamah, and occupied al-Hasa j

t

province ea~ily.
14 Najd was, therefore, surrounded from both

sides by their forces in Eastern and Western Arabia.

The Sharffs of Makkah"being officia11y recognized as

rulers o~al-~ijaz"by the Ottomans, tried'to extend their influ~nce

eastwards in Arabia and carried out several raids into Najd.

The earliest of these attacks was eff~cted by SharIf Abü Numayy

\,
whose forces penetrated deep inta Najd until they reached a1-
.
f cAri~ in 986/1578. Three years later he attacked the southern
l
r
l
.1

----"--'-----------' -J
.»,,'
,
, part of this area.
15
24

While the. Jabri raids were directed against the bedouins,

most of the Sharlfs' raids were aimed at settled popul.ations of 11C

towns and villages. The Sharffs' main purppse for raiding Najdl

towns and villages ws for immediate plunder, ot, to claim

sovereignty over the areas in order to collect tribu te or t~es.

16
<-

The Otta~an influence in tbe.Arabian peni~ula began to

decline by the en~, of the sixteenth century. They were forced to

leave Yemen after the revolution of its Im8ms in, 1642. In

Eastern Arabia, the Bani Khalid tribes led ~y Barrak b. Ghurayr,

succeeded in ousting the Ottoman governor (waIi) and captured

al-~sa
- in 1080/1669. 17 - Khalid
Saon after the Bani - had

established themselves as rulers of al-Hasa, they shifted their

,', ~ - > -

activities ta Najd. Thus Najd was contested by both Bani Kha1id

- ~ !
in the east and the Sharlfs of Makkah in the west. However,

after the Ottomans were forced to leave Arabia, thè Shar!fs' power

remained relati'\'e1y weak, sa that the balance of power in Najd

shifted in favaur of Ban! Kha11d.

Najd remaiu,ed more or less independent fram any outside

" rul~- until the rise of the WahhabIs in 1746, and the establia"nt

....... of their State during the second half of che eighteenth century •

The influence of BaIl! Jabr, the Sharlfs and Bani nAl1d was fe.! t
f'
l
in Najd but i t was transient. Once the raiders had left, the ch1efs
18
of Najd resumed their petty w,rfare 8IIlOI1& themse1ves.. '!he

c· Ottomans began to pay special attention ta Najd after the Wahhib1s

\
i
1 '~
~-
 ~, .

25

c: began rai-ding Ottoman territories in c Iraq

- in the 17808.

C. Social and Economie Conditions in Najd

1
1,

. ~~
Un1ike other areas in the Arabian peninsula, the tribal
.
J,
popu1ltion of Najd remained purely Arab in nature: This wàs due

mostly to the geographiçal isolation of Najd in Central Arabia.

lbe Najdis ~onsisted of townsmen and bedouins. 'nIe towns-

men 'settled in areas where water was abundant: such as valley.

and oases • . 'nIey earned their living by farming.

. Although they

grew vegetables. fruits and other agricultura1 products; date

palma were the b~ia of the NajdI diet. 'l'he towns.en were at

.
. the mercy of changes in the climate, Which sometimes destroyed

most of their crops.l9

Trade was another, but 'mOre minor. factor for choosing

places for settl.ement. lbe NajeiI .people 1.JIlported food-stuff.

cloihes and aras, anc;l exported domest:ic animals, sucb as came18

and horses. 'l'he main port. for isçort and export vere the porta

of al-Basa.
e
One "main problem wu the safe~ of the routes as
20
caravans carrying goods lIere ~osed to plundering.

the bedouina were Il proud' people. 1'he deaert for theIl wu

the mest suitab1e place for k.eeping their tradition and eustOIIII.

'nIey looked down upou towname.n. for they vere less ad..-.neuroua bd
21
th.ir lives vere 1 1ess eventful.

'the ecODDllic life of the bedou:Lna vas centered &round t:bai.r

.1

Q
Il
.' ~

-------------------------------;
0' ("":,
 26

livestock. 'l1le animaIs were affected by the rains and the raids.

RainfaIl in one area would provoki triba~ "

dispute for pastureland. ~
,
Droughts could also induce tribal raids.
.1 f
}
Cameis were the most important animals ta the bedouins.
... "
'l1ley were Iike the date palma ta the townsmen .. 'Cameis were sa
1
IDUch in abundance in Naj d that i t vas called , ummal-bil or . 1 i
umm al-ibii (Mother of Camels).22 They were a me~ of trans-

portation and a source of milk and meat. Horses vere aIso

important ta the bedouins because of their agili~ in battle. 1

Sheep prov1.ded the bedouins with woolf meat and milk, which they
.f
, 23
f
j
cou1d sell ta buy food. clothes and arma. t
i

Caravans of pilgrims crossing Najd on,their vay to and

fram Makkah each yesr presented an important source of incame

to the NajdIs.

wouid loot them.

They traded with them. and sometimes the bedouins
24 .
Early marri.age was cOIIIIIIOn among Najdt women. In additioq
'.
to doing their househo.1-d chores and taking care of the children <>

the woaen helped in the field. in tendi.ng their domestic an1 mals

and also in other matters. 25

the economic and social set-up in Najd was such. therefore.

tbat the people of Najd were almost self-sufficient. The only

necessary goods which casae through the ports of al-~a vere

cotton c.loCbina. rice, sugar and coffee •

..

. ------------~---
"
 27

1
D.,P011tical Conditions

Prior to the rise of the Wahhabl State in Najd, the region

"
was divided into several chieftaittships. The head of each town

was an iOOependent amir or shaykh. Similarly, the bedouin tribes "

'\ - ;
were headed 'by individua! shaykhs. Bringing the shaykhs uuder

one head of state was an impossible task unti! the last,quarter

of the eighteenth century.

From the end of the seventeenth century the Tadm tribe

held a ~trong pOSitiJng the 1~4d~~a.. of the town-dwellers in

'~
Najd. This was due to their large num.ber and their tendency to

settle. Amang the descendants of this tribe 'were the amirs of

1
Tharmadë-, al-~yaynah, Rawdat Sudayr and Buraydah, al1 towns

in Najd.
26
1
'the question of leadership "amans both bedouins and settlers

was not 'always resolved by peaeeful means. Indeed, force,

.,sassinatton or guile were the order of the day. Frequently,

the emirate ~as 1nherited by the eldest son, exeept wben disputes

broke out w:f..thin the family. Such disputés were uot unusua1
( in Najd.
27

In the fifteenth to sixteenth eentury Bani Lam and Ban!

-
lCha1td 'influential in Najd. 28
were However, the 1DOst\ powerful
.
tribe in the area at that t1me and 1n the seventeenth century
,
was the c AnazQ tribe. 'lbe eAnazab tr1be acbieved supremacy

( as a result of frequent attaeka on other tribes and tts victory

• .~J
 28

(
29
over them in most cases.

Unlike the tOWIlSlllen, who used force and assassination to

achieve leadership, the bedouins eleèted their leaders. The

election of a leader was based on his ability to rule and his

....

noble characteristics, such as bravery and generosity. The

elected leader among the bedouins maintained the confidence of

his people and had good relations with the members of his tribe.

The leader of the townsmen, however, was in constant fear of his

subjects' possible revoIt against him. \

Shortage of economic s~pplies at that period led those

chiefs to take measures which were considered-unjust by their

subjects. The chiefs often resorted to confiscating the properties

of their townsmen to pay their defence and hospitality expenses.

As the prope~ties of the townsmen were mostly immovable,

.
1 including such items as shops; farmland and houses, they were
"
compe~led to stay and endure the injustice. The e~tent of

injustice varied from one chief to another, although, according to

,
30
Ibn Bishr, wrong-doings were common among them.

Unlike the townsmen, bedouins had movable possessions since

they led nomadic lives. Whenever they felt an injustice being

imposed upon them they had only to roll their tents, move, and take

their animaIs vith them. They could easily find refuge and receive
\ 31
hospital~ty from other tribes.

(
/

-------------------
..
 •
29

t! E. Education

1.,Learning and ~lami' (Muslim Religious Scholars)

/
Learning in eighteenth century Najd was limited to Qur'8n1e

studies. Education was rare among t men. 'Bnd wa,. unavailable

tô the majority of the population of There'

was a very lim.ited number of katatIb g. kuttab, a lov level

" -
elementary school) where ehildren learned reading, writing and
,
mathematics, as weIl as reciting the Qur,an. Adults wishing to

further their education would s tudy 'under Culama', whose teaching

centers (madaris, singe madrasah) were located in al-~asa, al-~jaz

- 32
and Najd, as weIL as in Baghdad, Cairo an~Damascus.

Among the four Sunn! schoo~s of jurisprudence (sharIcah).

namely, ~anaf!, Malik!, ShaficI and ~anbali, the last was prevailing
...
in Najd. J
The seventeenth century witnessed the fleurishing of !
religious learning in Najd vith the emergence of many c~'
-

and local qa~Is (judges). Most of the NajdI towns had their own

local 9adls • The Most prominènt figure among the c ulama'

-
of Najd
- c -
in this period was Sulayman Ali, the Shaykh's grandfather. 33

Learning continued to grow in Najd in the first half of the

~
;. c '
, eighteenth century. For example, in Ushayqir fort y ulama' were
34
qualified for the position of qa~I~ where only one was required.

.
Most towns of Najd had thefr own gad!. lt should be noted that

( the gad!s were not holding salaried positions. The whole or a part
1

---------,.---- --
1_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -
 30

of the,benefit of some local waqfs (religious endowments) was given

, ,
ta them. In addition, some of them were engaged in business' or

farming; others accepted payments from people for settling their

disputes. Later on, this kind of payment was considered a bribe

by the Shaykh, and was one of the many issues on which he disagreed
35
with some of his opponents.
1
However, the income of a qadi covered
36
.
his and his family's expenses.
l C -
Fiqh (jv.~iSf{\l~t\Ct) was the main subject taught by the ulama'

in this period, while other religious subjects were rather

negleeted, sinee the main purpose of teaching at that time was ta

produce scholars qualified to be qa?Is.

announeed"by the qa~i himself.

Verdicts were simply

Indeed, some cases were solved

1
!'

by him in homes, in the masque, or in the street. The qadls

vere respected by the people. "There 18 no doubt," stated

c - - -
a1- Uthaymin, "that most of these qa~is were graced with righteous-
, 37
ness and justice, and therefore, had good reputation. Il It
p - -
must be borne in mind, however, that qa~is practlsed exclusively

in Najdi tOwn8. The bedouins had neither cil im nor qa~i. They
38
settled thelr disputes through their own tradition and eus tom.

2. Belief and Pillars of Islam

Innovations and superstitions are found in religions

throughout history. With the passage of ttme these de~iations are

introdueed intentionally or unintentionally. Islam as a religion

did not escape these innovations and superstitions, which

prevailed especially amang the illiterate. Innovations and

 J • • ",

"
,,.l'
tE
~,
,
7, ~
31 ','
~

" ~
deviations from Islamic teachings included erecting mausoleums
'"
~'. '

i. ,,;. for holy men. These tombs were made places of worship, the
t:
",
tl.t
1$"
deceased were venerated and their blessings requested. Belief

1: in the powers of these people is of course alien to the true

li
i1' tenets of Islam. Such superstitions and innovations were common
~"
~"..
. ;

among Muslims in Arabia in the eighteenth century. Philby's

"',"
\.
description of such practices is worth mentioning here in detail:

50 at Jubaila in Wadi Hanifa, the scene of a great

• \
battle between the Companions of the Prophet and the
old heathena in the early days of Islam, the Practice
had grown up of viaiting the grave of Zaid ibn al Khattab,
whose eloquence was held capable of adjusting the
tribulations of his admirera. Similarly at Dar c iya,
destined to be the scene of a new awakening, a tomb f
reputèd to contain certain Companions was a favourite
resort of those with worldly ends to serve. Wadi
Ghubaira, near by, with its reputed tomb of Dharrar ibn
al Azwar, was another scene of visitiation, and ac 1 !
Bulaidat al Fida there grew a palm tree familiarly 1
known as the "Stallion, Il to which young men and maidens i
resorted ta indulge in shocking practices acceptable 1
ta the tree-God. And women, too, would come to it ~
clamouring for husbands as the y clasped the horrid
trunk to their bosoms in an agony of hope deferred.
Rags were attached to tamarisk trees at the birth of
a male child in the belief that such a proceeding

, wou!d save it alive. And finally, at the extremity of

Dar lya there was a cave believed to have been created
by God especially for a woman knawn as the Amlr's
daughter, who had shrieked for help under threat of
outrage by some low "fellows;, the rock had split to
receive ber in a secure dungeon, and the superstitious
tribes-folk made a practice of taking meat and bread
to deposit in the cave. 39

In one of his letters, the Shaykh deplores the~practices

,
é

of some nomade in Najd who ignored Islamic rites such as praying,

t( fasti~and
- 40
paying the zakat. Indeed, some of them, as stated

1
i

,_ _ _ _ _••___ é_··· 1
-_.~
, '.
...
f
...
32

by the Shaykh, did not even believe in the resurrection.

41
He

also pointed out in his letters that some people in Najd

- 42 /
practised sufism. Apparently the majority of the townsme~

of Najd adhered to strict Islamic teachings. 43 On the other hand,

many of the nomads of Najd deviated from those strict teachings. /

At that time, therefore, Najd{as weIl as other parts of the

.. Arabian peninsula were in need of reform . Al- c Uthaymin

-
comments

on the religious situation prevailing in Najd at that time.

He writes:

If c the. area of Najd at ~hat cime vas in need of such

da wah, it was also a suitable place for its success:
aufism had no root in it, the dominant madhhab (school
of thought) in it was the HanbalI, t~ most adhering
~ to the soundness of fa1th and ,the purity of religion,
and the most militant against innovation. As most of
the nomads had no deep idea about Islam, it was possible
that they would respond ta any refo~call, especially L
if the jihâd whiçh was dear to their hearts was among
its objectives. 44

In addition to religious reform. Najd vas also in need of a

politieal movement to unite the small chieftainships of the towns,

and the bedouin tribes who constantly fought over watersprings

and pastureland. The success of such a polltical movement could

creste a single strong state and guarantee peaee and stability

in the area •
...
!hus, the stage was ge~ for the appearanee of the Shaykh

to prepare the populace of Najd to play their role in both religiou8

and polltlcal reforme In the next cbapter, therefore, the life,

(

'-------'"------- -- -- --------
-

, I_~
 *.'''''....,..'_...,.""'_. . . . . . . . . __._.. _._.. .:._~ _ _.
"~~e~!t~tIJ.4••IIMlII••'*.$III"'It'lI"'lJ.n•__....
/~

/
/
/

33

1
and activities of the Shaykh in the firet half of t~e eighteenth
~

century will be disCU88ed.

i
.
"

, \

'.

'7 _ _ '

----------------------------------------~-------------------

, "

- - - --_._----
 , \ '
1
'

l ÂCcording to Lorimer, Najd or Central Arabia consista of

three provinces; Jabal Shammar or Northern Najd,

, al-Qasfm or .
Middle Najd, and Southern Najd. See J.G. Lotimer, Gazetteer of the
c
Pers1an Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia, Geographicsl and Statistieal

(London: Gregg International Pub1isher Ltd., 1970), vol. II B, p. 1313.

H~ever, the War Office Admfralty did not inc1ude Jaba1 Shammar as
1

\ a part of Najd when it gave the fo1lowing statement: "Our 'Nejd,'

then, 1s bounded north by Jebe1 Shammar; west by the high steppes

lying east of Hejez and Asir; south by the Great Desert; east by

the Dahanah Desert ly!ng ta west of Rasa." War Office AdmiraIt y ,

A Handbook of Arabia (London: May 1916), vol. l, p. 348.

statement of the AdmiraIty i5 inaccurate, for Jabal Shammar i8 a

This
1
.
part of Najd as stated by most historians. See Fu'ad ~amzah,
c '
Qalb JazIrat al- Arab, 2nd. ed. (al-~ya~: Maktabat al-Nasr
"

al-Hadfthah, 1968), p. 23. See a1so the followin~ A.M. Abu-Hakiaa

ed., Lame al-Sh1hab fi sirat Muhammad b. cAbd al-Wahhab (Beirut:

Dar al-Thaqafah, 1967), p. 142. Ibrahim M. al-Haydar!,

al-Hajd fI .
Bayan Ahwal Baghdad wa al-Basrah wa Najd (Baghdad: Dar
.
~ ., !lanshm-it al-B~rI. 1962), p. 196. ~fi~ Wahb~, Jazirat al-cArab
fi al-Qarn a1- c Ishrin,
- 2nd. ed. (Cairo: Matba c at Lajnat al-Ta'lif
-
J
.'
va al-Tarjamah wa al-Nashr, 1946), p. 3. , Amin al-Ril;ani, Ta'rfkh

Najd al-~adith wa ~a9atih, 2nd. ed. (Beirut: Dar al-RlhânI Presa,

1( • <

..
û._ ---,---.~
 35

1 ,1
1954), p.28. Since the statement of the War Office AdmiraIty i9

incorrect in excluding Jabal Shammar as a part of Najd, the infor-

mation concerning the location, boundary and area of Najd is

unre1iab1e.

2 For further detai1s on this conflict ad~ Al-RashId-SucüdI

relations, see cAbd All8h S. a1-~thaymÎn, Nash'at Imarat Al Rash!d

(al-Riya~: al-R1ya~ University, 1401/1981), p. 41.
3
Lor1mer, Gazetteer, vol. lIB, p. 1487.

4 Mll!tafa Murad a1-Dabbagh, Jazlrat a1-cArab, 2 vols.

(Beirut: Mansh~rat c
Dar al-TalI ah, 1382/1963), vol. 1, p. 1~;>'
5 c - c - c -
Abd al-Rahim .
Abd al-Rahman, .
Abd a1-Rabim, al-Dawlah

'al-suC~dIyah al-'Ù1â 1158-1233/1745-1818, 3rd. ed., (Cairo: Dar

- - c-
al-Kitab al-Jami i, 1979), p. 19.
6
Roy Lebkicher et al., The Arabia of Ibn Saud (New York:

1 Russel F. Moore Co. Inc., 1952), p. 77; see also Appendix 1.

..
t
.,,
t ,,/ 7 Ibid.

Su~üdIyah 4 vols., vol. 1, part 1, al-Dawlah al~'Ü1a (Beiruc: qar

c
"
al-Kitab a1- ArabI, n.d.), pp. 418-424.
9 ,
War Office Admira1ty, A Handbook of Arabia, vol. l,

p. 351; see also Appeodix 2. •

10 c - c - ~
Abd Allah S. al- Uthaymin, "Najd mundh al-Qarn al- Ashir
.-
al-Hijri ~atta Zuhür al-Shaykh Muhammad b. cAbd al-Wahhab,"
f• Majallat a1-Darah (Dec., 1975), vol. 4, p. 67, quoting cAbd, Al18h

b. Muhammad b. al-Bassam, "Tuhfat a1-Mushtaq b1-Akhbar Najd wa

._------ ------- -----------<' ---- ------

 , C
al-Hijaz wa al- Iraq," MS, fol. 8.
36

According to cAbd AU8h

Y~uf al-Shibl this book has no historical sources except a

,,"
manuscript possessed bya member of the Al al-Bassam family. The
"
manuscript from which the above information was taken was a copied
'"
manuscript seen by him (a1-Shibl) at the Library of Ara~co (Arab-
"
American Oi1 Company) during his visit ta the library in 1390/
- -
1970. It was copied by Nur al-Din b. al-Sayyid b. c -
Iwa~ Al

Sharibah, whi1e the original had been borrowed from Shaykh cAbd

.
al-Rahman
-
Al SacdI, from wh±ch this copy was written. See ~bd

Allah Y. a1-Shibi, "Ahamm al-Masadir, Il p. _84.

11 -- c - c- -
~- Uthaymin, "Najd Mundh al-Qarn a1- Ashir," Maja11at
..
"

al-Darah, p. 68, quoting al-Bass am , "Tuhfat a1-Mushtaq, Il pp~ 9-11,-

15-16.

l~ CAlI al-S~h~dI, Waf;' al-Wafa' bi-Akhbar Dar al-Mustafa,

1-~---c;--------,--""" ...",~LCa1ro: Matba c at~Adab
- - wa al-Mll'ayyad, 1326/1908),

vol. 2, pp. 282-3.

.. '13 Al- c Uthaymi~,

- "Najd Mundh a1-Qarn al- c- -
Ashir," Majallat

al-Dar ah , p. 68.
14 ) -
J. Mandavi11e,
, "The Ottoman Province of al-Rasa in the

SiJçj:eenth and Seventeenth Centuries," Journal of the American

Oriental Society (1970), vol. 90, p. 488.

15 Ibn Bishr, c Unwan
- -
a1-Majd, vol. 1,_ Sawabiq, pp. 126-7.

16 rbr'8hIm b. ~a1i~ b. crsa, Ta'rlkh Bacd al-Rawad1th

- c ah fi- Najd
al-Waqi -
(al-R1ya~:
- al-Yamamah,
Dar - 1386/1966), p. 70.

17 Ibn Blshr, ~nwan al-Majd, vol~ l, Sawabiq, p. 65.

(
 ~'~

.p..~~~~~~t'{!~~~t>hr _~;;!i J. .pri'~""">.N~--"'1IPII''-''''''~~ ,~ ....._~_ _ _ ~ ... _ ~.,.......~.,..". __.._-~~ ... __ ~-r-"'", ~"",(""""-""::~f,.fl"""~~~R~~~} JI~"'J~I~ ", ,v~llu

, lB c ~ c -
37

Ji}.- Uthaymin, Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab, p. 11.

~' --

).9 ... .
For further detai1s dea1ing with the problems in
c -
agri~ulture'due to c1imate, see Ibn Bishr~ Unwan al-Majd,

vol. l, pp. 23, 46 (sabiqah), 49, 58 (sabiqah), 166 (sabiqah),,.

and 186; for the prob1ems in agriculture due to plundering, see

~., pp. 22, 34, 43, 73, 103 and 111. See also Ibn 18a,

Ta'rikh'ba'd a1-Hawadith, pp. 32, 36 and 50.

20 Ibn Bishr, cUnwan al-Majd, vol. l, pp. 104, 105, 128

\
..and 136 ~

21 Al-cUthayndn, Muhammad b. cAbd al-Wahhab, p. 12.-

22-
John Lewis Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahhabys,

2 vols. (New York: Johnson Reprinting Corporation, 1967),

'-
vol. 1, p. 69.
23 c - - c- - -
hl- Uthaymin, "Najd Mundh al-Qarn a1- Ashir a1-Hijri,"

Maja11at a1~Darah, (Sept. 1977), vol. 3, p. 24.

-)

'-
l
24 Ibn Bishr, c Unwan
- al-Majd, vol. l, pp. 110, 113.

25 Al- c::Uthaymin,
-
Muhammad b. cAbd al-Wahhab,
- pp •. 1.3-4 •.
...,... ~- - --
, 26 Ibid., pp. 73, 124.
27 -- c-
1
1
i Ibn Bishr, Unwan al-Majd, vol. 1, pp. 15-6, 24-5, 103 1
,i,
t 1
(sabigah), 231 (sabigah), 236 (sabigah). 1

28 Hamad b. Lacb~n, Ta'rikh Hamad b. Lacbun, lst., ed.

7~
(Makkah: MatbaCat Umm al-Qura, 1357 A.H~), p. 32.
,29 c - , -
Al- Uthaymin, Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab, p. 15,

.
quoting Abd Allah b. Muhammad b. al-Bas8am, "Tuhfat al-Mushtaq .
- Najd wa
min Akhbar al-~ijaz wa a1- c Iraq,
- "MS fols. 16, 18, 19 ~4,

\
-- . . _--------_._-;::::).
.<""
~,
_ _~ _ _ _ _ _ _..
__ • _T
_ _ _I_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .-.-.-...-I'o ... ~
 38
J
(
37 and 45. A copy of the original 'was made by Nur al-Dio
- ' -
Shar1bah in 1375' A.H.' Thi.s mànuscript included what had been wr1tten

by historians of ~jd about their country in addition to the

- c -
history of a-l-Hijaz. particularly of Makk.ah, and reports on Iraq.
• J

- c -
Ibo Bassam had travelled to Iraq, Syr!a, Egypt aod India where

he met Mce with Doughty and Amin al-llhan1 who benefited from

his knowledge and obse~ations. See al-Shibl, "Ahamm. al-MasacU.r."

.
pp. 82-3; see also Amin al-Rihàn.i, Ta'rikh' Najd al-Hadith, pp. 6-7.
, .
30 Ibn Bishr, c Unwan
-
al-Majd, vol. l, p. 7.
31 c - c - .
, Al- Uthayudn, Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab, pp'. 15-6.
32 _~
ill2..• ~p. 16-7.
33 \
Ibn B'1shr states that Qafl SU:~ b. CAlI b. \Musbr1f.
c -
the grandfatber of Shaykh ~ammad b. Abd al-Wahhab~ pused avay
c- ,
in 1709 A.J). ,He wu a great alim of'l his t1~ with whom the

c u1ama ' of Najd sought consultations for selving their 1egal ." "-
c

quest~ons. See c unwan al-Majd, 'vol. "1, p. 62 (sabiqah).

34 'c - - C:!- ' - -
_ Al- Uthaymin, ttNajd mundh al-Qarn al- Ashir al-Hijri."

Majallat al-Darah, (Sept. 1978), vol. 3, p. 35.

35 '
Ibn GhannBm. l~awdat al-Afi.âr, vol. l, pp. 113 and 133.
~
. .
36 Al- ~thaymin, "Najd mundh al-Qat:u al- cishir al-Hijd.."

Majallat al-narah, p. 3~.

37
Al- c Uthayad.n,
-
.
C -
Mub_ed b. Abd al-Wahhab, p. 19 •
38 c-
Abu-~1ma ed., Laa al-Shibab. p. 33.
39 H.J.B. Pb11by; A.rabia (London: Ernest Benn Led •• - 1930) ,

( pp. 4-6. For further detai~s on the p'ractice of such superstition

'.

\
-'
------._---- ----.---
lit •
-,----_ _- .. ~.
 '.-
39 '

l,
in Najd, aee Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat al-Mur, vol. l, pp. 7-8;
•
c -
see. al.so Ibn B1shr. Unwan a1-Maj d. vol. l, pp. 6-7 and 14.
~ c -
Shayk.h Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab in his le t ter to
c-
Muhammad b. Id wrote that che lIlajority of the nomads had

.
violaced rslam in more than one hundred offeùèes.
-
to Sulayman b. S~aym
In bis lett:.er

he wrote that there were more people in

Najd and a1-Hijaz who denied resurrection than those who confirme,d

lt, chose who were ignorant of the religion than those who knew

it, those who neglected obligatory prayers than those who

preserved it f and those who witheld the zakat than chose who paid

H. See a1- c Uchaymin,

- "al-Rasa- 'il al-S~iyah
- li-a1-Shaykh

Huh8J1!.1D8d b. C Abd al-Wahhab. Il Halallat al-narah (Feb. 1982),

vol. 3,e. p. 77. .

4i' -
Ibn Gbannam. R.awdat: al-Aikir, vol. l, pp. 108 and 144.
•
42 c
Al- U tha'ndo •
-
,[ .
"al-Rasa' 11 al-Sha.khslyab." p. 75.
43 c -
Al- Uthaymin, Mu~....·d b.· c Abd al-Wahhab,
- ~p. 20-1.

44 ~~. p. 22.

f
•
..
 .'-.,

.1"
,

CBAPTER III

SHAYKH MUHAMMAD B. C ABD AL-WAHHAB' S ACTIVITIES

IN NAJD UN'iIL HIS ARRIVAI. AT

AL-DIRcÏYAH IN 1157/1744

\
A. The Shaykh' s Fami1y Background

Shaykh Muhammad b. C Abd al-Wahhab was born in 1115/1703-4 '

in al-'iJyaynah in the province of al- cirId, an oasis known te have

l C -
enjoyed SOlDe posperity at that Unie. His father, Abd al-Wahhab
/1

b. Sulaym8n, was of the ~harifah clan (a branch ef Al Wahbah of

~e Tamim stock) and be10n~ed te a trlbe which ~settled in

Najd for seme time. His grandfa ther, Shaykh Sulayman b.

- c -
Ali
e- 2
.
b. Muhammad ù. Ahmad, was a .ce1ebrated
--
dim. The aneestora of

the Sbaykh, the Masharif ah clan Al "Mushrif, had lived for a long

t:1me at· Ushayq1r. a fameus centre for 1earn1ng dur1ng the fifteenth,

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. From there, SOlDe of the

Al MuahrifÇclan migrated to varioua towna of Najd where they settled.

,r

.
There were severa1 Ranba11 seholan at that time in Najd, and

.
the Sbaykh was himBelt a Hanbali scholar. '!bere were also ether
J
, 3
achelara
, of the 'Ranbal1 school amang hiB faa1ly. Hia gra.n.dfather,

- b. cAli b. Muh..-ad vas the mufti

Sulayaan - of - -2i!.
Najd and -at
--.. i
Raw~at

fatber,
Sudayr durlna the aeventeenth century.

C Abd al-Wahhab, vu 9&41 at al-"yayuah wben c Abd

1he Shaykh f •

AllAh i
1.

...
 41

1· . c
b. Muhammad b.'Mu éUIIIIlar was its chief. Although he vas not as

we~l known a theolog1an as his father (Su1aym4n), he taugbt

~adItb and fiqh in the masques and left severa! books .on HanbalI ~

tenets.

Bistorians have not given much information on the financial

status of the Shaykh 1 s family. However, the fami1y' s income was

probably greater than that of the average family in Najd at tbat

time. Since s01l1e members of the Sbayk.h' s fami.ly held the position

of 9441, a profession higbly esteemed by Najdi people at that

time, this could have provided a good inc01lle for the family. thus

enab"Ilng their children to devote mo8~ of the.ir time to learning.

'lbe Shaykh vas, therefore, born into a well-edùcated and fairly

w'e~l-off family.

B. '!he Shaykh 'a Earl! Life and Education

Early sources do not give mueh information on the early

lite of Shaykh ~ammad b. cAbd al-Wahh8b. However, sinee he wu

rai.ed in a prosperOU8 and learned faadly, he would have had a

O'...

great opportunity to become

e-
alim like his father and grandfather.
4
A--

His father' s house wa8 a meeting place for the c ulam8 t of the

.
district ana their atudenta who would gather together every

night to discuse religioua issues and related subjecta. lbe 1

... l.
Shaykh would often attend tbese meetings. He proved to be

( s:agacioua, eloquent and intelU.gent.!; His facher instructed b.im in

-.
" ,

-------_.--~- - -"
".
 ,1
ï

42

a lsl,am and the HanbalI school of Musltm thought.

5

lhe Shaykh's first great task as a young~ter was to memorize ""

\

the Qur'an, which he was said to have accomplished before

6
reaching the age of ten. His father also taught him fiqh

(lslamic jurisprudence), tafs~r (commentary of the Qur'8n.) and

badIths (traditions 0& the Prophet).7 According to the testimony

•
of his brother SulaymSn, his father was so greatly impressed by

tbe Shaykh 's leaming capabil1ties that he said: "I have benefitèd

from my son ~ammad in the study of the precepts of our faith. ,,8

In addition to leaming fram bis fatber, the young Sbaykh

•.
might have gained knawledge through bis association vith bis

relatives. His patemal uncle Ibrahim b. Sulaym&n, and bis cousin

c' -
Abd al-RaJ:lman , were well-acquainted vith f1gh and other branches

of Mualim scholarsbip. SUlaym8n, the Shaykh's brother, followed

lIlUch the SUIe course of stud1es and training and after several

years was app01nted a ~.

The end of 'the early period of the young ~aykh's life

vas descr1bed by his father in a letter addressed, accord1ng to

Ibn Ghanna., to one of his (cAbd al-Wahh4b' s) brothers:

l d1scovered that he had reached maturity before

completag his twelfth year, and 1 felt that he vas
ready to take his place in the congregational prayera.
So. 1 brought him forward because of his. knowledge of
IslaJlic precepts. 1 found a vife for him in thft
year after he had reache~·maturity.9 Then he asked
me to allow him ta perform his pi1grimag~ ta the
Sacréd H..ouse of Allah" in Makkah. 1 granted h1m his
request and assisted h,im ta achfeve his goal. 10
(:
. -~

...
 •
\
\

43 ,

Early matitage is very cOIIIIIIOn in Arabia, sa there was nothin$

unusual abouot the Shaykh' s early marri age at the age of twelve.

This marriage was probably arranged by bis father, wnose

'11
financial status was good. His father also wanted to protect

bis son from moral deviations and ta increase the members of his
.' 12
faily.

ALter performing the pilgrimage in Makkah, Shaykh Muh8i111D8d . ,

vent to !fadinah where he v1s1ted the tomb of the Prophet. He

reaained in MadInah for two months, and then returned hOlie to

al- eu=,a~ab undoubtedly impressed by all be had seen in al-!I1jaz.

c
On arrivaI at al- Uyaynah be intensified bis effol"ts in
\

learning from his father the ~alI figb as weIl aS tafsIr,

hadith and' tawhId (theology). 13 Afterwards, be scarteci prea~bing •

•
RenU writes:
1
By putting together wbat he read and what be obaened,
Huh~d b. cAbd al-Wahhab acquired the conviction
tbât ft w.. bis duty to apeak out sldnst the siu of
hi. people. He was in his late teeris or very eady
tventies when he belan to point out that many cunent
practices vere forbidden by Islaa. Smae of those who
heard hta found his ar~nts convincing, but the
11110rant 1U8S of the people paid hill no heed and
continue~ in their ways. When Muh....d diacerned that
his varda were haviq slight effe~t. ï% decided to
set off once again on the pilgrt.&ge.

Al-~aynah aeeaed to be too 1iaited a centre of 1earning t:o

•• tisfy the Shaykh'a aabition and hi.s thirat for learning. Be

tberefore 1eft
...
( 1
J

'.

.----~----------------------~------------..-------.-~--~J
l
1_ _ _ _- - - - - ~. . ".~,---- ~--' ~ "'a
 -44

(
c. '!he Shliykh' s Journeys In aud Outs\de Arabia

It may be interesting at this junction to examinè the varioua

versions on the places vislted by the Shaykh before finally

•
c
settling at a1- Uyaynah. ,
{)

l. ~dinah
1 r

!he two !DOst ,reliable chroniclers of the Shaykh' 8 lif e ,

î •
t
i,
Ibn Chanm and Ibn Biahr, present an account of the places whlch
1
the Shaykh visited during his journeys ta seek. more Imowledge 1
l
outaide the province of Najd. These two chronic1ers, as we~l as

others, do not give ,information on the dates of the journeys,

the, routes and length of stay in each of the places the Shaykh
1
1
vis! ted. According ta l'hUby. the Shaykh lef t al- ~aynah

''before bis father's disai.sal frOlll his post at CAyayna [al_cUyaynab],

and it may be that: he re.ched Hakkah, the Urs t' and traditlona1

step in such a tour, while still in his teens,' that ls sa.e tiBe

before 1123. ,,15 ln clocuaenting the route taken by the Shaykh,

his srandson, CAbd -

al-~ b. ~an, states that be 1eft

first for ~rah, proceed.d ta al-BasA, returned to ~rah, and

16
then went ta Kadinah before UnaUy returning to Najd.

Accordiq ta Ibn Gbanua. and Ibn Bishr, the firet place vis1.ted

by the Shaykh on his journey vas al-~jaz.

- 11 lbia view se. . .d

ta bave been acceptecl by Phllby as mentioned before, a1- ~tb.a,.In.

the Shaykb'. graDllson c Abd al-RaJuaan

- b.
. C -
Abd al-Ladf -
.
Al al-Shaykh,
,
18
(, aa vell . . uny other authoritative vriters. The Shaykh'a s,cond

"'

1
\

'-"
 45

viait ta Makkah passed without any noteworthy ,event.· ,Ibn Ghannam

- 1 C _
and Sulayman b. Abd Allah s ta ted tha t the Shaykh vas taugh t by
'c - 19
the ul. . . ' of the city. 'lbe problems in Arabia at that time were
---.
siailar ta those a t the time of the Prophet and the Shaykh was

apparently eager to Und the solutions ta theae through the study

,
of the Prophet f s enviroaœent as he bui1 t up' hiS" lsl81llic s tate in

. ~dInah. 20 /
ç
On his arrivaI at KadInah the Sbaykh met two acholara who
1
,21 c-
later influenced his thought. Th.ey ]I1ere, Shaykh Abd Allah b. 1
Ibr8hIm b. Sayf and Shaykh ~8lIIII8d !Jayat al-SindI al-MadanI •.
f
!
C
", Ibn, Sayf came originally from Najd and was a native of al-Kajma ah
1

in the dia tric t of Sudays:. Like many other Muslims }le- seteled in

Madlnah so that he ",ft be inspired by ita relig10us environment.

Al-S1ndI was a native of MadInah. although his ancestors came from

Sind. Like Ibn Sayf. he vas alao a grea t scholar. especially on

the Prophetie tradition.

.-
, , At ter cOIIPle tins hie s tudies vi tH Ibn S'ayf, the Sh~Y~ was

4W4t'ded an ijazah .. 22 According ta al- ~thaymIn the influence

of al-Sind! over the Shaykh vas greater than that of Ibn Sayf. 23

It ia related that one day .. while the SbaykJl was standing

beaid, Çhe chamber of the Prophet' 8 tomb inside the great mosClue_

aC Hadlnab, a gro?p of people gathered about, praying to the

1 Prophet aud 'eaking his help. lbe Shaykh asked his teacher

,J,
, . al-Sind! his opi~bout au~h a practice. He ,answ"ered that,1t

(. vas a futile aad~e1e~s one.

24
This op1nion vas later adopted

,,'

---"---::r ~
t
~. • ';il •
_ .Iv 1

..
~
 ,
• .
~~"""'.J$J)'NIIIH""I~',_ _ ~",_,~.""._ .. ,

46

by the Shaykh in his Unitarian doctrine where he advocated that"

,ptayers should"be directed to Allah àlone and not to any other,

• aven- the Prophet.

There is no information 'on how long the Shaykh remained and

studied in Madlnah and how he supported,himself there. He might have

received some shares from the waqf intended for students studying

in M4dlnah, he might have used his skill in copying books for which
25
he was paid, or, he might have been a. gues t of his teacher Ibn

Sayf, since both came from the Bame area, Najd. At that time

such hospitality was not uncommon. It is more likely, however,

,.
" 26
that the Shaykh relied on the income of his relatively rich family.

2. Syria

On his return ta al-CUyaynah, "the Shaykh continued consulting

books on fiqh, especially the works of Ibn Taymlyah. In this

period he acquired some knowledge which enabled him to criticize

some innovations practised by his fellow countrymen.

27 How-

ever, as he wished to still further increase his knowledge, he

28
left his hometown for Syria one year later. The famous

.
Hanball school in Damascus at that t~e might have attracted him

to seek more knowledge there.

1
1
" 3. Basrah

One of the cities which the Shaykh visited in the course of

- 19
his journeys was Basrah in c Iraq. There, he devoted his time to

the advancement of his Arabie. 30 . The caUm from whom he learut

(

1
" ~-
.e
 47

~ -e-
the 1DOst in Basrab was Shaykh ~ammad al-Maj1llU i, who was:

• • • renowned for his uprightness and his mastery of

Tauhld, the branch of learning that dea1s with the
aspects of the Unity of God. • •• In Basrah Shaykh
MUhammad b. cAbd al-Wahhab came into c1o~e touch
[t~oJ wi th Shi! te form of Islam [sinee] there is much 1n
Shiism that is an abomination to Sunnite.fundamental-
~sts like the ~anbalites of Najd, part~cularly sinee
the worship of saints is widespread and tenacious
amang the Shiites. 3l
.
.
Basrah, a busy port of trade, was at that time abounding with

irreligious praetiees. "

The Shaykh began to denounce privately

and publfcly the innovatiops and examples of shirk'(association

, 32
of Allah with others) whieh he saw aIl about him. During his

.stay in Ba~rah, he established a tircle. where people came to hear

his rellgious sermons and discuss ceJain religious issues with

~

~im. 'He described what used to take place in that religious

CÎfC\e.. as follows:

Certain men among the mushrlkIn [i.e. those who

o •
associate Allah with others] of Ba~rah used to bring
equlvocations and 1ay them before me. Then l would say
while they were sitting ln front of me: 'The whole of
worship'belongs to God alone,' whereupon they would
all be left amazed and speechless. 33

-c-
...
Although the Shaykh's teacher al-Majmu i and some of the
•" culama'
- approved of such sermons, othe~s, including some of the

chief tains , considered him a troublemaker and forced him ta le~e

. 34
Basrah, and head for Zubayr.

(
/ "
, 4. Al-Rasa
-,
48

-The Sh~ykh gave '.up the .idea of travelling to Syria ~ecause

35'
he ~y have lacked funds for the journey. Re travelled southwards

to the central oasis of al-~asa which seems to have been his last

stop on his way back to Najd. He stayed as a guest of Shaykh

CAbd Allah b. MUQammad b. CAbd al-La~if, a scholar of the ShaficI

school, in the oasil which was probably locaeèd at the settlement -,"

of al-Huf~f.36 There he had discussions with the ~anbalI scholar

"
Shaykh M~amma~ b. cAfaliq37 and other shaykhs of al-~asa.

Finally, the S?aykh continued his travels back to his native country,
l
Najd. His years of study, travel and preparation for his mission l
- i
were coming to an end, and the beginning of his mission was soon

to commence. 1
,,
1

D. Controversial Opinions among Historians on the Shaykh's Travels

1
1·
J
Writers have different opibions about the Shaykh's journeys !

for study. For example, Niebuhr stated that thè Shaykh, after

studying at home, "spent some time at Basra, and made several

journeys to Baghdad and Persia. ,,38 Rowever, Niebuhr is not an

authority on this subject. Indeed, his statements on the wahbabIs

are of ten erroneous. He s ta ted tha t. the Shaykh: ,

• • • considered Mahomet, Jesus. Moses, and many

others respected by the Sunnis in the character of
prophets ~. merely great men. who se history might be
read vith rr~~:; denyiDg that any book had ever
.' ,
 ~
~

1
, 49

beeu written by divi~ inspiration, or brought down

.li

',"

4
'!
f.
~
f
l'

J
f~om he aven ~ the Angel Gabriel. 39 " "l
.~

'.
v
c
Lam
~~~=-~~~ a1- Shihab gi ves a more detail e d account 0 f t h e Sh aykh ' s
i
f
journeys. It states that he spent five years in Baghdad where "•
Î' "
Po -,:t
he married a rieh woman who bequ~thed him two thousand dinars ll
~
when he died. Fr~ ~aghdad he drifted on to Kurdistan for a
1,
year, then ~ast to Ramadan in Persia for two years, and then -,-
;,
'southeast to Isfahan in 1148/1736. From Isfahan hE!' wandered on

""+ ta Qum, a site revered by the shicis for the tomb of Fa~imah, a

\ dster of cAli al-Rida the eighth shici imam,' after which he.
c
foresook Sufism for the legal school of Ahmad b. Hanbal. Lam

a1-Shihab states further that the Snaykh visited Aleppo, Damascus

.' and Egypt, sfter which he arrived at MadInah and Makkah on his

vay home. Throughout his journeys he studied philosophy and

-
sorne branches of science and, in addition to this, he 1earnt to
40
speak Turkish f1uently.

the foregoing remark of the Lamc iB undoubtedly an exagger-

ation, as none of the Shaykh's contemporary chroniclers ever

c >

recorded such events. Another example of the ~ 's incorrect

statements is that the Shaykh's journeys started when he was-

thirty-sevep years old. Since we know that he was born in 1115/

1703-4, this means that his journeys 8t~rted in, or before the

year 1152/1739, the date at which he had a1ready finished his

c
studies. If we accept the Lam 's account that the Shaykh'spent

not 1e88 than ~,nty-five years travelling to acquire knowledge,

--~-----------~-----------
 1
. 50 'CJD
, \Jt
~~
,(.
.fJ

it would mean that he "%'eturned home in 1177/1763 and not in 1151/ ~

l' l
1738-9 as we know. The 1ast ,place he visited on his way home, 'J
~".
c f
according to the Lam , was Makkah during the reign of SharIf ~
",
.':
5
Safrur; however, we know that Sarrur réigned in Makkah in 1186/ ,J
M - ~ .
,<
1772, when the Shaykh had already sett1ed at al-Dir iyah more :~

than thirty years earlier. .1

.\1
Some writers have, unfortunately, taken.as fact the information i
,'l
'1
. c 42
about the Shaykh's journeys found in the Lam. His visit to
" . . , . 43 44 45
Baghdad was mel1.tioned by Niebuhr, Waring, Rousseau, _Hogarth,

and
1-
al-~aydari.
46
"

A1-~aydari 's
-
statement shou1d, however, be
1
1 )

taken more serious1y, since he claims that his father had told him , !
l
J
of-the Shaykh's visit to Baghdad and had studied with his (al- 1

" 1
. - s) grandfather Sibghat Allah
Haydari' .
- al-Haydari.
- 47 Accepting 1

C
thi~ statement, Munir a1- AjlanI does not rule out the possibility 1
- 48 1
of the Shaykh's visit to Baghdad. AI- c Uthaymin,
-
however,

con tends that i f such a visit had taken place, it would have
j
!
. been recorded by the Shaykh' s contemporary chroniclers, since 1
J
c - i
it would have increased his reputation among the ulama' of hi~
-,.
ttme to have been a student of-such a ~reat scholar as ~ibghat
49
.
A118h al-HaYdarI.
c
The Shaykh's visit to Damascus was mentioned in the Lam
50
an~ by some Iater historians, such as Brydges. However, Ibn
.\. l
51
Biahr rules out such a visit. . The only source which mentions
c
the Shaykh's visit to Egypt ia ~, which states that he spent

two years there before his final return te Najd through MadInah

-----~----
'.
.-.A ___ -'.~ ... _ _ _ .
..
 "'f~II/'~~~~IIU:,,,,~t~-T""f~~,..~~~..,r.:.'~~~h.""" ,.d.l;Jtt~ ......~_!' •.• p

"1'

, and---.Na~ah •
52
51

The journeys of' the Shaykh were limited t~al-~asi, al-~ijaz

and Basrah based on the records of the Shaykh's chroniclers, Ibn

Ir _!..-

Ghannam and Ibn Bishr. 53 Since these chronicl~rs were eager· to

o

7,
reco~d a11 the detai1a of t~e Shaykh's 1ife, they wou1d not have

nmitted such important events.

E. The Shaykh's Arrival at Huraymila and the ~eginning of

his Dacwah in Najd

While the Shaykh was away on his ,trave1s, diseas~_ swept

. c'
through th~ town of al~ Uyaynah in 1138/1725 killing many of its

inhabita~ts,54 incl~ding its chief CAbd Allah b. Mucrummar. Re

was succeeded by his grandson Muhammad b. Ahmad, nicknamed . . 1

'1
• 1

Khirfash. The new ruler did not get along with the Shaykh's

father, e,Abd al-Wahhab

- -
b. Sulayman, - --
who was the qadi at the time.
c -- - --
After a dispute with Abd -al-Wahhab, Khirfash deposed hi~ in

1139/1726-7 and gave' the post to Ahmad b. eAbr al-Wahhab b. cAbd . 1

\ Il
...• o AllSb. The Shaykh'slfather 1eft al-CUyaynah and settled in o

Ruraymila, ~here he was established when his son arrived from

. 1
. - 55
al-Rasa. ,·1
1
The Shaykh, on his arrival at Huraymila from abroa<l, "found 'y

"-
that times had not changed ainee his, départûre; the\majority of

the people were still sunk in moral ignorance and they were as
1,
actively engaged in superstitious practices as ever.,,56 He .i
( urged the people to seek and follow God's guidance i~ the Qur'an,
 ,
\

'\

, 52

and to follov the example of the Prophe t and his companions. On

wi tnessing the relue tance of the ;:>eople to ~eed the preaching of

the' Shaykh, his fa ther remons tra t.ed ln. th niD!. This protes t dlti

not result in open hostility be~een father and SOD.

Si Bowever,
l'

it undoubtedly lnfluenced t.'le Shaykh. sinee he decided to bide ' ~

his time and Dot precipitate matters. Rentz renders the Shayk.h· 5

strategy in hl.s da cwah as follows;

,,( 03

As long as his father rem.ained a~ive Muhammad proceeded

with restraint. nevet concea1ing his v1êws or~~r~ng
his beliefs, yet making no pub11c'issue,of his ~onvict1on
that many i,f not moet of his fellow 'toWnsmen were s1nners
. • It"appears that his poliey dur1ng tlfes~ years
vas to gain aq.herents by quiet 'persuasion. 58

It vas during that period t~at he wrote hl.s'mo.~ famous book.

59
Kitab al-Tawhld.

Soon after the death of his father in 1153/1740-1, the

c ~

c -
Shaykh adopted a new poll.ey in his da wah, n~ a declaration

of var against.those who denied by w~rd and action the oneneSS of

60
God. 50 vi.gorous was his challenge that f01lowers flocked to
61'
him, and his fame became widespread. He became the m08t

auth~ càJ.1m in his town.

, ,
- The years spent study1ng.
. c
."
conducting discussionlt and preparing for his da wah prdved to be

fruitful. He had'a circle of intimate friends that had been

built up during his stay in Huraymi1a, to assist him in his daCwah.

They sat at his feet and read books with him on the Prophet' 5

tradi tion (hadith), Is.lamic jur;isprudence (fiqh) and Qur'in1c

(

1
-"'
 ..

1
exegesis (taf.lr). !hev were fsithful to h~m, and vere guided
·62
by his words a'f; sc t ~ons. f '

Word of the Shaykh's actlVl.ty at Huraym11a spreaa al1 over

c- - c c- -
the districts of 41- Ar1d. a1- Uyaynah, al-Dir 1yah, al-Riyad and

Manf~ah. ~~~eoPle ~ere ready and eager to accept the doctr~nes

~e preached, a::'thougn they wet'e our:numberec bv ,those who denounceè,

" ana were aga i ost h ~. 63

revl 1 ea, :ne stage vas be~ng set for the

conflict betveen the Unitar~ns and anti-Unitarians whic:h vas to

". ~
occur in Najd for many vears.

The Uni tarj;an~sm of the Sh'aykh was bued on the concept of

the pure and inviblate oneness of ~d. There vas nothlng new
'.
in the Shayk:h's creed. The essence of h1s dacvah vas\to bring

people back to the Qur''in and the Prophet-"s tradition. ln his

vi ev , the people of his time had strayed from the teachings of

Islam, worshiping idols . .

'.
~ (ascribing of plural1ty to God) and bidcah (innovation\)

vere two grave sins committed by people 1n the Shaykh' ~ t1me.

"-"=0.-'"

Mu8~ims to follow, any pra~tice invented later vas considered

by the Shaykh as u~worthy and an innovat1on. The Unitarians vere~

::
ready to fight ta achieve their goals.

c
F. The Shaykh' s Departure to a1- Uyaf1!!b and the Beginn!ng of
the Spread of his DaCwah

( When the Shaykh be~an his pub1i~ preaching of Uni.tarian:isD

-- --'-~--- -- --------------------
 54

1
in ~uraym1~a. the rule over the tovn ",as being contest.ed by two

branches of one fam11y. The members of one braoch were supported

by thelr slaves. Ihe slaves. knovn as ~i;umayyan. were notor1ous

for tbeir vile behaviour. Since one of the missions of the

Shaykh. in order to br~ng people into ~he fold of Islam, was to

correct the WTongd01ngs of the slaves, he approached the ~umayyâo •

. ~' Their reaction, as reported by Ibn Bishr, was ta plot to kill

him secretly at n~ght. They cl~bed the wall -that protected

4
..... his. dw~l1.l.ng. When some people saw them and c ried ou t, thèy fled. ,6

'-'nlis incident," Rentz states. "vas enough to mak.e the Shayk.h

<.111
- 65
wonder whether i t was desirable to rem.a1.n 80y l'Onger in Huraymila. tf
. 1

The atteapt:ed assassination of the Shaykh was not the only

c , .
re_on for the Shaykh' 5 c1eparture to a1- t!yaynah. as R;entz" po1nted

out.. Ibn Ghannâm stated that the Shayk.h"'s decision to Leave

• •
~ura,..lli tor al.- cUyaynah came after "Allah the Exal t.ed had
~ c' c
guided '~t..tUI4n b. Mu &llDar. the ruler of a1- Uyaynah. to accep.t
tb1s rel1g.l.on. ,,&6 c
Koreover, a1- Uyaynah at chat tiDe W$B Brronger

than the politically d1viçied HuraYlllla. Anot:her re_on for the

c.
aove to a1- Uyaynah, was that the Shaykh's fsaily still had a

good reputation there .•

Conteaporary' sources on the blography of the Shaykh db

not spec1fy the yeer in, vhich the Shayk.h left Huraya1.1â for
c c
al-CUyaynah. In ra'tÎkb al-BUad al- Aràb1rab al-Su üd.l:rab 9

- c. --
H.w:li.r al- Ajlani 1tIT1tes that the Shaykh left in 1155/1742. ,mile

eLsrihere in. the tUt he wr1L :1"31.'1738.

67
Accord:1ng to LaoWlt

--, ~ -~ ~---_ ...... , - - - - - - - - - - - - ,.g .- - - - -

 ..

55
., ,
f
l.

1
'~uhàmmad b. cAbd al-Wahhab left ~uraymila in about 1153/1740 for
c 68
Uyayna. " Since the Shaykh' s father died at the end of 1153/

1740, it is possible that .the Shaykh remained in Hur~ymlla for

at least one year after his father's death. 69

c •.
On arrivlng at a1- Uyaynah the Shaykh was received by

its new ru1er, c Uthm8n b', Ahmad b. Mu c ammar, who had beeome one

of his t01lowers. He also married cUthman's paternal aunt,

..
al-Jawharah bint C Abd Allah b. Mucammar. He proposed to his new

.a11r that if he supported the Unitarian doctrine, then through

•
God's help he would rule Najd and lts people.
70 c -
, Uthman on his -")
,
part ordered the people of the town to obey the precepts of ~7

Islam as expounded by tbe Shaykh.

71
• , -=-'"
Strengthened by the active support of a ruler, the Shaykh
, e
se~ out to destroy visible evidence of idolatry in al- Uyaynth

and adjacent towns. He ordere.d the so-called "saeJ;'ed ': trees to

\ ' -
be eut down and che copulas over the graves of saints to be

d~liBhed. Ibn Ghann&m reported that the Shaykh h1Da~f took

part. ln f elling the "Tree of the ~olf. Il being the one to s trik.e

the Hut blow vith an axe. When anocher cree, knOWll U the

"Tree of QaryÙ,htt vas eut down. the Uniurians were jolned by Il

-
- and !U.shari.
nusber of people aIIOng who. were Thunayyan brochera -
of ~ _ _d
c-
b. Su ud, the ruler of al-Dir iyah.
c- 72

The cutting down of thése trees vu a daring act on the 'parc

of the Sh-'ykh and !bn Huc . . . . r; bùt even IIOre dariq. however.

( vu the Sbaykb' 5 dec1510D te raz.e the copula over the repuœd

,1
1 J grave of Zayd b. al-Khattab at al-Jubaylah.
56 <0 /

The Shaykh carried

out the work protected by Ibn Muc~ar ~nd a force of fighters,

because he expected an armed opposition by the people of a1-

73
Jubaylah. The residents were intent on protecting their shrine,

but Ibn Mucammar's force of six hundred men intimidated them,

and they léft withOüt fighting. When the Unitarians reached

c
the copula, Ibn Mu ammar hesitated. The Shaykh asked for the axe

and levelled ~he copula to the ground. That night the superstitious

bedouins expected a disaster to overtake th~perpetrator, but •

the Shaykh awoke healthy and sound the next morning. 74

The demolition
, of the copula and the cutting down of tne

trees made the people more aware of the new Movement. However,

these actions were not as dramatic as the stoning of an adulterous

c
woman at a1- Uyaynah. Philby, exaggerating somewhat, has called

this e~ent-"the beg~nning of the stQry of modèrn Arabia. ,,75 The

Sbaykh ordered the stoning of that ~oman till death in accordance

c - -c '
with the teachings of the holy Qur'an. Utbman b. Mu ammar cast ,
the firat stone. 76
c
In his da wah the Shaykh also exchanged letters vith the
c - '
ulama' and rulers of other towns, and sent preacbers to nearby

towns to propagate nis teachings. One of those vith whom he

- - of al-Dir ~iyah, c Abd
exchanged letters was th.e qadi Al~
- b. ____
c-las.
- As he was well-knaJo and had a good reputation in the area,

the Sbaykh sent his letters to the people of al-Riya~ and Manf~ab
.
(' \. throUgh
.
him vith"a. requeat to give his ca.aents on them. He

• ~'110 .... ~~ ft' zen'" t kIL t!t' l' , . qi t F

'. 1 1: q Ill" T
, iI."IIrT' Il 'C t -
t 1:' a' I,il.-' fit
 /

, 57

was, as stated by the Shaykh, the most revered calim ever known
-
in al-Riyad, .
al-c-Arid~
-
'or elsewhere. 77
. Whether. this statement was

sincere or merely an aet of courtesy ia not'known. cAbd All8h

b. cÏsa's support of the Shaykh served to attract people to the-

/ j ~ c h 78
5haykh's da wa •

G.Reactians ta the Dacwah before the Sha arture

to al-Dirc yah in 1157/1744

The news of the stoning of the adu1teroua waman convinced

the enemies of the Unitarians of the Shaykh's seriousness in

'àpplying the teachings he was propagating. In casting about for

a way ta stop the Movement befare it grew te a dangerous level,

they decided ta enlist the aid of the Chief of Ban! Kha1id and the

Lord of al-~asa, Sulayman b. Muhammad of A1-~umayd. The enemies

of the Shaykh, including som,e c ulama',

- - b, Muhammad
led Sulayman
.
ta believe that the Shaykh intended ~o change the existing
traditions in his realm and ta even have him deposed. 79

Sulayman. who was alarmed by thia news. wroté ta cUthman

c '
b. Mu ammar ordering him in no uncertain terms to ki11 or banish
80 c ~
the Shaykh. The Lord of al- Uyaynah at that'time received
-.81
certain dues each year from the region of al-Rasa.

SUlaym8n threatened to cancel' these dues if Ibn Mucammar did not

comply with the arder. Ibn Mucammar was canfused. On the one

hand, he wanted to .maintain his loyalty to the Shayll, and on t~e .

(, -~ -
other he did not w1sh to displease Sulayaan and consequently l08e
"
•

, t
/
 his income or his cbiefta1nship. After reflecting 011 this matter,
82
Ibn Mue aaau.r, wi th much sorrow, told tbe Shaykh to leave town.

H. The Shaykh"s ArrivaI at al-Dir iyah in 1157/1744

c-
/

When cUthmin b. Mue ammar asked the Shaykh to 1eave

c
al- Uyaynah, he appointed a cavalry to escort him out of the ,Je'

town and aeeompany him to .whatever place he chose~. The Shaykh

c- 83
chose a1-Dir iyah. '~s first venture into the sphere of

poli tics and his firat alliarlce had failed, but he vas not

disheartened, his fa1th buoyed him up.,,84 He already had

• c-, - --
influential supporters at al-Dir iyah in Thunayyan and K1shari,
/ c-
the, brothers of the ruler, Muhammad b. Su ud. He might have
, c-
singled out Mu~ammad b. Su ud as an 8,l1y vith great potent1.al,

for he vas known in Najd as.a man.of noble char~cter, although

- • 85'
he had no t ye,t embraced the Wabhab1 teachings.
c- /
The Shaykh arrived at al-Dir iyah in the late afternoon.
'c - C ll' - - •
Be vent to the house of Abd Allah b. Abd; al-~~ b. SuvayliJI,
86
where he spent the night. Be then moved to the house of
c Abd Allah'
- s cous in, Shaykh Ahmad b. Suwaylim, who had s tud.:j.ed
. .
• e - 87
under the Shaykh at a1- Uyayna or p~ssibly Hurayai1a.

The members of the Bouse o~ SuwayUJIl consu!-ted. vith

Thunayyën, the brother, and Mawc!â bint Abü w~~in, the '1fe, of

the ruler. Maw~, who was impres'sed vith the Shaykh' s teachi",.,

( told her husband that the Shaykh was a God-sent gift to hia, 'and

----.. . . . ----~-,,...'--,-.- -~L

 1 ..'1

\'

59

1 Maw9.
. "
should be treated vith honour and respect. suagested éhat

he should go ta the Shaykh. 88

The meeting took place in Shaykh ~d b. Suwaylim's houae._

e- ,
Wben Muhammad b. Su ud greeted the Shaykh he told h1a that

he was welcollle in Chat nev home. The Shaylth. in turn, answered

that he vas bring1ng him good tidings, for whoever held to

o

89
Unitar~an1sm would rule lands and peop~e. Then che Shaykh

expounded his doctrines and spoke of the evil practices of the

people in Najd whieh needed correction. On hearing this,

H~amm8d b. Sucüd was convinced by che statements of the Shaykh

and vowed to stand by ha.

The local bistorieal tradition in Najd holda that Muha..

'
'd .
b. S~c~. at this junction, requeated that ~he Shaykh reaain
c-
a1vays at al-Dir 1yah. Re a180 requested that the Shaykh not

interfera with the ruler' s right to collee t revenue f,rom the

crop8 of his chieftainship. The Shaykh 4 grJ,d, eiting the

90 )'
traditional expres8ion: "Blood ri,th blood a ruin vith ruine Il
/
'lbe Shaykh added: IIPerhaps God has kept for you conque.ts and

booty better than the share f~oll the harveated crope." ~~. . .d

b. Su c-ud was allowed to continue collecting local revenue unt!l

-1. ,c- 91
later, whetîbooty did pour into al-Dir iyab. Henceforward,

al-D1r
e-1ya~ vas the Shaykh's home till the end of his life. ,
t
lt should be noted that there were already Unitariana in
e- .
al-Dir 1yah before the arrivaI of the Shaykh. W1th their help

(
, ,

. ----------
, 60

almost aU the ruidents of the tOWll to accept his teachinga in

• 92
his firat two yeara there. nUis powera of persuasion and

peraonal . .~tt~ and the coapelling rightness of his ~ause

drev lUlly40 him, not ouly from saong the dvellers in his ovn

oasis but frolll other tovns as vell. ,,93 Me.bers of his fot'1ler
c
circle at al- Uyaynah, includ1ng some members of the Ho~se of
c c- , r i \
Mu ammar. left their hometown and moved to al-Dir lyah to jo1n

bill. On seeing soa.e lDeIlbers ,of his OWD house leavtng to follov
c - c
the Shaylc.h t U~n b. Hu a-mar, hav1ng earI1er expelled the
c
Sbaykh froa al- Uyaynah, swalloved his pride, and vent to
c-
al-Dir lyah vith a party of his notables to try and persuade the
c
Shayth to return to &1- Uyaynah. The Shaykh refused, 81çly
." c-
saying th~t he had pledged to r~in ln al-Dlr tyah. ..
b. Su c,-udf when approached by c Uthllan
- ' b. Hu c'a.aar vas aduant

ln his refusa! to let the Shaykh go. 94

C
..
During the
"',
first tvo years ln al-Dlr lyah the Shaykh apent

much of his time WTiting latters to rulers of oth!r towns and ta

95
judges and scholara to convince tham of his teachings. Although

sa.et1lles his correspondents showed a w111ingness to uphold the

doctrines of Unitarianism, they vere often indifferent or hostile.

The uae of force seemed to be inevitable. As Rentz states:

(
Alvays a pract1cal man, the Sh~kh realised that
words and lettera and books alone ,would not secure the
tr1umph of his beliets, given the corr~t and chaotie
~ondit1on of Najd at that time. The weapon of Ibn Sayf '.
li.e. books] would have to be supplemented by weapons
( of another klnd. The Prophet had made use of the 4tmies

..
. '

. ...
------.-. -------~~-'-!
\
- 0---_-----___---______
....
, 61

of Ialaai the Shaykh coula ask for DO becter or .

M8ber precedent. The Aair ~-.d b. SuCQd at the
t188 of the aak1n8 of the pact had Indicated his
radinas a to take the field for tbe atru8gltl in"
God's patb. 96 1

c-
ln conclusion, the arrival at al-Dir iyah aarks the

bea1anin.g of a ne\l phase in the Wahbabl Movaaent and thé end

of the old one. Practlee replaeed theory. The Shaykh, dUrin\_

th;::.. , pb. . . of th. lIcv_nt, play.d, in' our vi... , th. ,..jor\
role ln building,up the first WahhâbI State (sa.ett.8a referred

to as the Firat SacüdI State).

lt ls the,polltlcal role of the Shaykh durlng thia period

chat the wrl ter wanta to trace and exaa1ne. ln the fOllow1ng

chapter.

.., J

--_.- ....-- - ---- --.,--~""'. ___

.... - -
,_"''''_.
---_._~-_.-

-~---------~--
---
 1 /
i

l
Rawdat al-Afk4r, vol. 1. p. -. 25. , Early

historians disagree on the Shaykh's date and place of birth.

!
Burckhardt mentioned that he was born at El Hovta, see J.L. Burck-

barde. Notes on the Bedouins, vol. 2, p. 97. Pal grave mentio~~

however, that
, .
the Shaykh was born at Huraymila, see W.G. Palgrave,

Narrative of a Year' s Journe~ through Central and Eas-tern Arabia

(1862-63'), 2 vols., 3rd. ed. (London & Cambridge: Macmillan & Co. t

1866), vol. 1, p. 363. Lor1mer, on the other hand, wrote:

Il
• 1691 18 given as the year of his birth and the 14th of June

1787 ls mentioned as the day of his death. If See J .G. Lorimer,

Gâzetteer, Historiea!, vol. l, part 1 B, pp. 1051-2.. Accordlng

to Sa1danha, the Shaykh "died in 1787 at the advauced age of

ninety-five. " See J .A. Saldanha;

,
Persian Gulf
i
Gazèttéer, Part 1.

Nejd Affairs 1804-1904 (Simla: Foreign Department Llbr~ry, 1904),

1

p.3. Margoliouth put the Shàykh's birth date correctly, i.e.,

1115/1703, but he put the date of his death ~t 1201/1787. See

D.S. Margôliouth, ''Wahhabiya, Il The Eneyclopaedia of Islam, 01d Ed.

(Leiden: E.J. Bri1l Ltd., 1913), vol. 1, p. 1086. El Batrik puts

his birth date as 1703 and his date of death as 1787. See El Batrik,

"Turkish and Egyptian Rule," p. 19. However, most authoritative

hlstorians on Wahhabism agree that the Shaykh was born in 1115/i703-4

and died in 1206/1792.

'.
"
. ~-_·~'---- ___
n~ ___
- ____- - -

'-
.W
..
, 2
63

Ibn Bishr and Philby did not mention ~8lIIIIlad and Badd,

two of the Shaykh' s great-great-grandfathers. See Ibn Bishr,

<=Unvan al-Majd, vol. l, p. 89, and R.J.B. Philb,Y, Sacudi Arabia

...... J
..."

(London: Ernest Benn Ltd., 1955), p. 33. C

Abd al-Rahman Al
. - -
'

a1-Shaykh a1so did not mention Barld, the eighth grandfather,

see C Abd al-~n b. ~Abd a1-Latif b. CAbd Allah Al a1-Shaykh,

Mashahir cUlama ' Najd wa Ghayruhum, 1st. ed. (a1-Riya~: Dar

al-YamSmah li-a1-B~th wa a1-Tarjamah wa a1-Nashr, 1392/1972),

ln
p. 16;- see 81so ed. by the same author, Lam C al-Shihab,
-
p. lQ,

no. 1, when he traced the Shaykh' s genea1ogy. However, the two

most reliabl~ sources for· the Shaykh's genealogy are Ibn Ghann~,
- '- c-
Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. 1, p. 25, and Ibn Bishr, Unwan al-Majd,
c
vol. l, p. 89. The genealogy given by Lam al-Shihab ia full of
c
mistakes, see Abu-Hakima ed., Lam al-Shihab, p. 24. Margo1iouth
\ c-
seems to have depended on Lam al-Shihab which mentions that the

Shaykh was "of Bani Sinan, a branch of Tamim," see ~. and

,
.
Margoliouth, "Wahhabiya," vol. l, p. 1086.
c -
He ca11ed the Shaykh

''Mu~ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab' ibn Dawood," se~ by the same author,

Geschichte der Arabischen Literatur, Supp1~ent Band II (Leiden:

----..
E.J. Brill, 1938), p. 530 Pa1grave was confused betwee~ the geneal-
- . - . c- -
ogy of Al-al-Shaykh and that of Al-Su ud, stating that, the Shaykh

.
was, "of Mesaleekh, the branch of cAnazah tribe," -see Pa1grave,

., A Year's Journey,' p. 363 •

3 c -
H. Laoust, "Ibn Abd al-Wahhab," Encyclopaedia of Islam,
(, New Ed., 4 vols. (Leiden: E.J Bri11, 1971), vol. 2, p. 667.
\'
\

-J
• J.-

'Iii It ?IR 1 « il'e'

 \
\

•
64

(
,,' -4 c - c -
Al- Uthaymin, Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab, p. 28.
5 Èl-Ba trile., "Turkish aIid Egyp tian Rule," pp. 19-20.
\
6 Ibn Ghannam, R.awdat al-Afkar, vol. 1, p. ~5 •
•
7 Ibn Bishr, ~nw8n al-MaN,. voL 1, p. 6. \

8 Ibn Ghannam, 'Rawat al-Afkar, vol. 1,. p. 25.

9 According to cAbd al-Rahman Al-al-Shaykh, the Shaykh's

t
marri age took place aftéT hi. first pilgrimage to Makkah, see

Al-al-Shaykh, MashahIr cUlama ' Najd, p. 17. Ibn' Bishr' did not

mentisn the Sh~Ykh:3 marriage at this a g:, nor hiS. piigrimage,

which was explicitly stated, by Ibn Ghannam. According to

Lorimer '~e is said to have bean married twenty times and to have

had eighteen children." See J.G. Lorimer,' Gazetteer, vol. 1,

part 1 B, p. 1052. .
However, ,according to Shaykh Hamad a1-Jasir, .
when the Shàykh began his da cwah at -
~uraymila, he was thirty~eight

years old, and none of his chroniclers (including tbn Ghannam)

c
mention that~e marr!ed unt!1 his arrivaI at al- Uyaynah, after

'the death of his father cAbd al-Wahhab in 1153/1740. He cited

c
-Ibn Bishr' 9 statement that the Shaykh went to al- Uyaynah where

he was warmly received and welcomed by its chief ~thmin b. Hamad

c
b. Mu ammar and where he married al-Jawharah, the daugHter of
c -
.
l
1·

Abd Allah b. Mu c ammar. -

That was, according to al-Jasir, the 1
1

1
Shaykh's firse marriage. Before his father's death he had continu-.
.1
ously tràvelled between al-Hijaz, Basrah and al-Hasa to seek
• • • #
1
1
kno~o7l~ge ~ Moreo';'er, al-J;sir writes that none of the Shaykh' 8

reliable chroniclers mention that the Shaykh, was married before

,
\

t l'
\ ~---------,,- ~ --. 1
\

• 10
 'fi .."

"
" ~ ,

65

'C: c -
his arrivaI at a1- Uyaynah •. Al-Jasir rejects the statement given
. c -
by Lam al-Shihab that the Shaykh, before his travels, had had
\
three wives, two sons, two daughters. This, according to al-Jasir,

was mere1y aCfalsehood (khurifah) 1ike many other fa1se stor!es:in

the book. Il See ~amad al-Jasir, "a1-Mar'ah fi ~ayat a1-Shaykh

r
C -"
Muhammad
, b. Abd al-Wahhab," Proceedings of the Conference on

Shaykh Muhammad cAbd al-Wahhab he1d at al-Riyad 8-15 March, 1980,

pp. 6-7.

10 Ibn Ghannam, Rawdft al-Afkar, col. l, p, ~6. 'See a1so

C - ~
G.S. Rentz, ''Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab ,,(1703/4-1792) and the

Beginnings 'of Unitarian Empire in Arabia,'·' Diss. University of 1

.,-t

California June 1948, p. 22,

11 c -
.
cAbd al-Wahhab,
-
Al- Uthaymin, Muhammad b. p. 30.
12 Ibid.
13, ~ Ibn Ghannam,
- -
Rawda t a1-Afkar., vol. 1, P • ~ i
, , 1
14 - c 1
Rentz, ''Muhannnad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Il p. 24. See a1so
• Î
Ibn Bishr,
c -
Unwan al-Majd, vol. l, p.'7. According, to Ibn Ghann~,
,/.
the Shaykh announced his da cwah public1y for the first time in
" 1

.
Basrah, see Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat a1-Afkar. vol. 1, p. 27--; ThiS
1
view differs from that of Ibn Bishr who stated that 'the S~ykh

started his da cwah open1y du ring- his stay at -;1... CUyaynah, see
..
~,

1
.Ibn Bishr, ~nwan al-Maj~, ;'01. 1, p. 7. Al- c Uthaymin
- agrees 1

with Ibn Ghannam's view, that the Shaykh's qpen dacwah star~ed at
c
Ba~rah and not at a1- Uyaynah as c1aimed by Ibn Bishr, see
c - f C "-
al- Uthaymin, Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahbab, p. 31.

-. '" 1
..... 1
,
.~

t " J
 \
\
\

66

t.
15 Ph i l'al Y, Sa c udi Arabia. p. 35.

16 cAbd al-RatunBn b. QaSl.m sd., al-91rar al-SanIyah fi

1 c
al-A;..wibah al-Najdiyah, 2nd. ed .• l~ vols. tBe~rut: MatBbi

a1-Miktab a1-Isl~i. 1385/1965), vol. 9. pp. 215-6.

, 17 Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat al-Afkar. vol. l, pp. 26-8. See also

c. -
thn Bj:shr, Unwan .a1-Maj.d. vol.

18 li'-:al-Shaykh, Mashâhir' Ct: lama , ~id, p. 17.

lS Ibn Qasim.'
- -
al-Durar al-Saniyah, '10,1. 9. p.' 16 . See also

.Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. l, p. 26.

, , 20 c -
Rentz, ''Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab," p. 25.

21 Ibid.
22
"Ijazah" literally means "a licence." It i5 a licence

from the teacher te his 5 tudent allowing him to teach.

23 c - c
Al- Uthaymin, Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhib, p • 34.•
•
24 c -
Ibn Bishr, Unwan al-Majd, vol. 1, p. 7.,
25
Ibn thannam, Rawdat al-Afkar. vol. 1, p. 2~ • \
26 c"- c. -
Al- Uthaymin, Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab, p. 35.
27
Ibn Bishr i5 probably mistaken when he states that this,

event occurred before the SQ.aykh' s departure to al-Hijaz, and

III
\
-
c -
not after h1.s return ta al...;. c.uyaynah. See Ibn Bish~; Unwan

al-Majd, vol. 1, p. 7.

28 Neither Ibn Gha~am nor l'fbn,,Bishr state the 1ength of ,

1
C 1 -
'\ the Shaykh 1 s stay in a1-, UYaynah. However, according to Al-al
\.
\ . c
.
,Shaykh, the Shaykh remained a t a1- ,Uyaynah for one year., See

( Al-al-Shaykh, Mashahir eUlama ' Najd, p. 17.

..,
\., . . \
,
.
\ - ~ "'"
 67

1 29
Ibn Bishr,
c -
Unwan al-Ma]d. vol. l, p. 7; see a1so

al-~aydar1, cUnwan al-Majd. p. 229. and A1-a1~Shaykh, Mashatir

c Ulama ' Najd, p. 18.

\ \
30
Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat al-Afkar. voL l, p. 27.
31 Rentz, ''Muhammad ~ ibn c Abd al-Wahnab,
- - " pp. 28-9.

32
According t? Ibn Ghann~ the Shaykh spread his doctrine

of the oneness of Cod amo~g certain people when he was l.n Basrah.

see Rawdat al-,Afk8r, vol. 1, pp. 27-8. However, according.... to

....
Ibn Bishr, the Shaykh made public his denunciation of innovations
c -
and polytheistic pract1ces. See Unwan a1-Majd, v~. 1, p. 8.

33 Ibn Ghann&n.,. Rawda t al-AfkAr, val.\ i, p. 28.

34
According to Ibn Bishr' s description, the Shaykh was
\ -c- 'fa",
beaten by his enemies. Later, his teacher a1-Majmu i was

also beaten up by them. The Shaykh left Ba~rah in a hurry fa rI

al-Zubayr. Overcome by thirst, fatigue and burning sun he almost

collapsed. He was saved by a passer-by who canied him on a

, .donkey ta his destination. c -

See Unwan al-Majd, voL 1, p. 8.
c -
Al- Uthaymin believes that Ibn Bisnr was dramatizing the Shaykh' s

exp';11sion from Basrah, and therefore not aIl of his description

should be taken as fact; see a1- cUthaymin,

- " c Ala
- Hamish
- -
Usbu'

al-Shaykh Mu~ammad b. C Abd ~l-Wahhab.'~ Majal1at al-Darah (a:~-Riya~;,

June 1980), vol. 4, ,p. ')4.
, 35
According to Ibn B;lshr, al-~asa was the last place which

the Shaykh vis~ ted during his j ourney, while acc'ording ta Al-al-
1,
\ - t
Shaykh i t was Madinah; see Ibn Bishr, c Unwan
- al-Maj d, vo1. 1,
<. , 4,
1
'"

.._------
o
. .,1 .. .'. ."
'.
~._._,--~
 68

1
? 8, and lbn".~asut ed., al-Ourar al-Saniyah. vol. 9, p. 216.'

Ibn Bishr states t!lat ~he Shayk!'l intended to leave al-Zubayr fôr

~ama8cus. but he lacked the mean~ te make th~ trip; see ~0nwa~
~ -,
a~-Majd. vol.' l, p. 8. : However. according to Al-al-Shayk.h the

Shaykh lefc Makkah on his ~ay ta Drunascus, but some bedouins

~ 1
at.tacked the returnlng pilgrlIn ::aravan'l l.Jeat the Shao,'kh and stole

his mone)". 50 that he ....as unable ta continue his journey to

./
Damascus; see Ibn Qas1m ed .. al-DuraI' ai-SanÎyah. vol. 9. p. 216.

Thus. the Shaykh re.; tUntI!Id to Naj d, en ding his trave l in the pursui t
, ' c -' c -
of knowledge; see a1- l:thaymin, M.uhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab, p. 40 •
•
36 Shaykh c Abd Allah b. MuhaIllllad ,b. e Abd al-Ladf al-Ihsa'!
'J'

was a Muslim seholar, especially in hadIth and linguistics. He

exchanged views and letters wit.h the Sh~ykh, but opposed his(the

Shaykh"s) dacwah. He died in 1181/1768. See Ibn Ghannam,

Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. 1. p. 32. See also Muhammad b. cUmar

- - - - c-
al-Fakhiri, al-Akhbfr a~-1iajdiyah, ed. by Abd Allah Y. al-Shibl

. .
(al-Riyad: Lajnat al-Buhüth wa al-Ta'IIf wa a1-Tarjamah wa
l
al-Nashr, n.d.), p. 114.

37'Shaykh Mu~ammad b. c Abd ,al-Rahman

-
b. ~usayn b.
c- -
Afaliq
It 11. ' -
was born in al-!lasa in 1100/1689. He t.rave11ed ~o, Makkah, Madlnah,
, "
Syria and c 1raq to seek know1edge. He ob~ained several ijazahs

and mastered the fields~ of ,fiqh and Arabie linguistics. He

was .d\lso well-known for his know1edge of m;thematics and astronomy.

c
He dieâ in 1173/1759. He opposed th~ Shaykh' s da wah. See
\

a1-Shlb1 ~ "Ahamm al-Ma~ad1r 1 Il p. 118.

. .
,~

,1
,

.,
,1
J•
 69

1
38
G. !\1ebuhr, Tra'l.'els, ..-oi. 2, p. 131.
...-'

ed. , Lam c al-Shihab,

' -
pp. 15-23.

CUnwan al-Majd, vol. l, p. 75 (sabiqab).

42
D.S. Margol1outh. "\Jaq,hs.~iya," p. 1086.
43 E.S. Waring, A Tour to SheeraZ) (London: Bul.mer. ISO 7) •

il J
P.~

1 ~.,
\
p. 131. '.
1

45 . a...
D.B. H0"8arth, Arabia· (Oxford: The Clarendon Pres!', 1922),

p. 100.

46 1. al-IUlydart, C Unwan al-Majd. p. 236.

.! -
47 ~.

48 '-
Munir al-c Ajlani,
- - -
Ta'rikh le' -
al-\Bilad 81- Arabiyah, ,vol. l,

part l, p. 196.
49 Al- cUthaymin,
- Muhamnad b. cAbd
' al-Wahhab,
- p. 42.
50
..
H J ! '
Brydges An Account of His Majesty's Mission ta the

Court of Penis in the Year 1807-11, to Which is Appended a Brief

Histo~ of the Wahaybis 2 vols. (Lo~don: James Bohn, 1843), vol. 2, )

p. 7. Il
r //

51 Ibn Bi~hr, 'l1nwan a'=Maj~ vol. 1, p. 7.

52 c ' ~.... --
Abu-Hakima ed. ~ 'Lam a1-Shihab, p. 22.
53 - '. -
o I.Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. l, pp. 26-8. Ibn Bishr,
c - - c -
Unwan al-Majd, ~o1. 1, p. 8. See also Sulayman b. Abd Allah

Al~al-shaykh, al-Taw~rh 'an Tawhid al-Khalaq fi Jawab Ahl al-CIrag

j
( 1 .' wa Tàdkirat üli a1-Albab fI Tar1qat al-Shaykh Muhammad bin c Abd

: .

1 !
..
 ..

70

1
al-Wahbib (Cairo: al-MatbaCah al-Amiriyah al-Sharqlyah,,1319 A.H.),
~

p. 17. Accord1ng te Ibn Basaaœ the author of al-Tawdlh was not

Sulayman Al-al-Shaykh, but rather al-Shaykh Muhammad b. cAli b.

Gharlb. one of the q;dls and c u1ama ' of al-DirCiyah. a contemporary

c -
of the Shaykh. The book was fou~d in Iraq with a b~douin called

A1cmil; Da1im. As the name of the author was Dot mentioned in the
l, 1
book, when Shaykh Jar Al14h al-Dakht1 al-QusaymI, the rèpresenta-
- )~
\
- .
tive of Ibn ~lrate in Baghdad, publlshed lt he put Shaykh
Rashid
"
Sulayman b. c Abd Allih b. Shaykh Mu~ammad b. CAbd Allah as its

author; see cAbd Allib al-Bsss8m, c U1ama ' Najd Khilal Sittat Çurun
.,
c -
(Makkah: MaktaIJat wa Ma;ba st al-Nah~ah ,al-~adithah, 1338 A.H.)
Il , ",..- _ • .--..,

vol. l, pp. 296-7; se~ also Ibn Qasim ed., al-Duraé~l-Sanlyah,

:;::: ,
---\
vol. 9, pp. 215-6.
54'
Ibn Bishr stated that many died from this disease; see
C - ' '- \
Unwan al-Majd, vol. 1, p. 8 and p. 231 (sabiqah).
55
There i5 no indication in the sources as to how long the
/
Shaykh was away or the date of his retum. Ibn Bishr and Ibn

Ghannam WTote very littie of the period fetween 1139/1726-7 and

/ '
1153/1740-1, the year the Shaykh's father died.
56 c
Rentz, ''MnI;ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab," p. 34.

... 57 Ibn Bishr states simp1y that ''vords were ex~hanged

between him [the Shaykh] and his father," see ~nwan al-Majd,
, /
vol. 1, p. 52. Rentz, ''Mu~anunad ibn cAbd al-Wahhab," p. 34
58 c
Rentz, ''Mu~ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab," 1>,. 35.
)'
59 Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat'al-Afkar, vol. 1, p. 30. Accordin~ ta

/
 ,1

71

1 t

CAhd al-RahmBn b. Hasan Al-al-Shaykh. the Shaykh wrote ~is

.
Kitab al-TawhId while he was 1n Basrah; see Ibn Qas1m ed.,

al-Durar al-San1y.ah, vOl., 9, p. 215. Ibn al-BassSm confirmed

-
Al-al-Shaykh's view mentioned above; see c Ulama'
- Najd. p. 30.

60 For f\J:rther de tails on the Shaykh 1 s beh~ bef ore and

q.

aiter the death of his father. see c Unwan

-
al-Majd, vol. 1, p. 33.

Ibn GhannSm states that the Shaykh stayed in ~urayml1a with his /
father proclaiming tawh!d. But Ibn GhannSm did not write anything

about the relations between the Shaykh and his father, nor

did he ,mention the death of the Sha~kh's father. See Rawdat

al-Afltir, vol. 1, p. 33.

-/
61 c -
Ibn Bishr, Unwan al-Majd, vol. l, p. 9.
62
For further details on the Shaykh~ s circle, see Ibn

Ghannam, Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. 1, ~p. 29-30.

63
~., p. 30'.

64 Ibn Bishr, ~wan al-Maj~, vol. 1, p. 9.

65 c -
Rentz, ''Mu~ammad ibn AX al-Wahhab," p. 42.
J 66
Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. 1, p. 30.

,pp. 211 and 242. /

68 H. Laoust, "Ibn cAbd al-Wahhab," Encyclopaedia of Islam,

2nd. ed. (London: luzaq and Co., 1971), p.- 618.

69 c - ..JI C -
Al- Uthaymin, Muhaunilalf" b. Abd al-Wahhab, p. 47. /
70 Ibn Bishr, cUnwan al-Majd, vol. l, p. 9. i
, i'
71 Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. 1, p. 30. 1

' 1-
./
.(; -la
 ".
72
.'

72 ~., pp. 30-1.

73 Rentz described the event in reverse. While the actual

story was that the Shaykh hesitated to do the deed unless Ibn
/
1
c
\ Mu amœar accompanied him, Rentz' statement runs as follows:
, c
"Ibn Mu ammar hesitated to do the deed unless the Shaykh •

accompanied him," see Rentz, "Mu~ammad ibn c Abd al-Wahhab,"

-
/
p. 44. For the accurate details of the story see Ibn Bishr,

~nwan al-Majd, vol. l, p. 9. /

~

74 c -
Ibn Bishr, Unwan al-Majd, vol.l pp. 9-10. Ibn

Ghannam gives none of these details, simply stating

, that the
~ c "
S,haykh instïcted Ibn Mu ammar to destroy the so-called ','sacred"

trees, copulas of tombs (qubab) and p,laees of worshiJ (masajid)

fbuilt over the graves of the Prophet'e companions in al-Jubaylah;

1 see Ibn Gh~nnam, Rawdat al-Afkar, '01. l, p. 30.

7'5 :. \
, Philby:tlescribes the condition of Arabia at that time
P

as fO}lows :

"
.~
Arabia had fallen from grace, ana for aIl practical
.
,/ purposes it disappeared from the purview of history
until the midd~e of the eigh~eenth century, when the
'*
1 ---j. story of modern ~rabia begin~ as strangely as ~ny
~omance, W1th the stoning of a woman for adultery in
the streets of CAyaina, the capital of one of the many
! !
1

petty principalities then contending'for ~he hegemony

of the desert.
1
: 1.
1
See Philby, Arabia, p. xix.

./ 76
Ib.~ Ghanniin, Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. \"21 p. ~; Ibn Bishr,
,0" .;

c Unwan
- al-Majd, vol.
1, p. 10; ~y has a long and-illuminating

~ .... ~~"": _ _ _ , _.......,_ _",,,.J.-_ _ _"""".~~""I-1""--~_~1~I,......_-""'>"!",,,-

.....
 73

[ r
disC;!lssion on the significance of this incident and a translation

of t~e full ,account given by Ibn GhannBm; See Philby, Arabia,

pp. 9-11.

77 Ibn GhannBm, Ra~dat-al-Afkar,

a
vol. l~ p. 146.

78 ~., p. 156.

79 Lbid., vol. 2, p.3.

.. . ...
80
n:n -
Ghannam states that Sulayman pr~senred these two

alternatives, see Ibid. According ta Ibn Bishr, the arder was

('l
c -
,, simply théit J:he Shaykh should be killed; see Unwan al-Majd,

vol. 1, p. la.

81 Accor-ding to Ibn Bishr the kharaj (income) received by

c - _
Ibn Mu ammar from al-Hasa amounted to 1,200 gold pieces along
•
with quanbities o~ food a~d olothirlg; see c:Unwan
'- al-Majd,
1 vol. 1, p. 10.

82 Ibid.! pp. 10-11. Unlike Ibn Bishr, Ibn, Ghannam does

c
not go into detail, stating simply that Ibn Mu ammar ordered the

1
Shaykh t~
. ----
leave; see Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. 2, p,-3. -
r 83
Ibn B:1/shr, cUnwan ,iil-Majd, vol. 1, p .11.
1
84 c - - 1
Rentz, ''Mu~ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab," p. 72.

85 '!bn Ghannam, Rawdat al-Afk,ar, vol. 2, p. 3.

86 Ibn Bishr gives the nâme incorrectly as Muhammad b.

c - ,c.._ .
Suwaylim al- Urayni; see Unwan al-Majd, vol. 1-, p. 11.
(,
~orrect name, as mentioned above, i8 .found in ~Ibn Gh~Bm,

Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. 2, p. 3.

( .
te
i
1
-87 Ibn Ghan~
.
merË!ly says ''bis student." See Rawdat al-
'

1
1
t
" , .
_ ...... ...l."w.- .. ---.<....-I<---_. . 6 .......
t .......
' ...
,:..'....
: ...
' ____ u...._---_=~~~~~~
. _ , ·...
 11

, -Afkar, vol. 2, p. 3.
74

88 c.._ -
Ibn Bishr, unwan al-Maj d, vo1. l, pp. 11-2. Ibn
c-
Ghannam briefly says that Mu~ammad b. ,Su ud went immediatley

1
with his brothers Thunayyan and MisharI to see the Shaykh in

.
- '
.
".
Aitmad- b. Suwaylim' s house; see Rawdat a1-Afkar, vol. 2, p. 3.
~ 89 c -
Ibn Bishr, Unwan al-Majd, vo1. l, p. 12.
't
90 nte expression "our blood 15 your .blood, and our ruin

is your ruin" means that if blood i9 shed for you, it 1s also

shed for us, and if you suffer ruin, We suffer it too. This

Und of expression of oath was used among the Ara:be in pre-

Islamic Arabia, and was used by the Prophet when he made an

oath of a11egiance with the An~ar, his allies in Madinah.

See Mahm~d Sht).kr! al-Al~s i, Ta' rikh Naj d. ed. by 'Mul;ammad

.. Bahjat a1-Athad, together with Su1ayman b. Sa~~n, Tatimmat

Ta'rikh Najd, ~nd. ed. (Cairo: al-Matba cah a1-Sa1afIyah, 1347/

1928-9), p. 116.
91 ' c
Rentz, ''Muhammad ibn Abd a1":Wahhab, Il p. 5l.
l, •
92 According ta Ibn Ghannam
- the Shay~h spent near1y two
1.
years giving adv1ce to people and revealing the truth; see 1
j

Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. 2, p. '4. j

l

93 c -
') Rentz, ''Mul;ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, ". p. 52.
/ 94 Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat a1-Afkar, vol. 2" p.,4; lbn Bishr,
c - ______ 1-
Unwan al-Majd, vol. 1, p. ,13. ~r
95 c -
Ibn B1shr, Unwan al-Majd, vol. 1, p. 14. Th~ Urst

vplume of Ibn, Ghannam 1 s Rawdat al-Afkar con tains the texts of a !

1

t ~----,_ .. --;
" ~ ,- -

.....
 l 75

(~
number of such lett~rs, some of which might have been written

at this time, although Ibn Ghannam do es not give dates for them.

They consisted almost exclusively of discussions of theologic,al

matters.
96 c -
.
Rentz, ''Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab." p. 54 •

1.'

.
...

. .

,
1
1 1
1

L
f-
(, "lI
t
•
~('-

..,
0
, . \

."...
 l,
CHAPTER I V · /

HllIIAMMAD B. CABD AL-lIAHHAB'S INVOLVEMENT I~ ~E IpOUNDATION î

AND THE SUBSEQUENT EXPANSION OF THE WAHHABI MOVEMENT

IN NAJD AND EAS TERN ARAB

, lA

UNTIL HIS DEA11I IN 1792

'Ulis chap ter will address itself to: .... .~

"'i,
at al-Dir c-iyah and expansion into Najd.
<
A. ~reparations

"
B. Wahhab!-Khalid! struggle in al-Rasa.
'- - c--
C. Leadership--in the Wahhabi-Su udi State.

A. Pre:eara tians at al-Dir c-iIah and Expansion into Najd

•. 1

lt iB important at the beginning of this chapter ta note

briefly how the Shaykh preparecL the Wahhab! capi tal fot i ts

raIe i~ the s~sequent expeditions sent to the neighbouring

\
l' '
townships in NaJd. In the Urst place, he t;!stablished Islamic . !
t.
or sharicah law as the ooly arbiter among the community.

'traditional tribal law vas completely dismissed: Thus the ~ew

The
.l .
1

WahhabI State oecame the nucleus of an Islam~·state. This

reform vas followed 'by financial c~ange's which ai~ed at

stabilizing the state income through zakat, as was pract1sed

in the classical Islamic period. Justice was'entrusted to

( state-appointed qualified j~dges, who. administered Islamic

...
 77

c
(shari ah) law.
l
The Shaykh paid special attention to teaching and religious

educa t~on and he se t' the example himself. He made sure tha t
- c-
a1-Dir 1ya& wou1d become ttt€centre
,
of learning in Najd, to

which students wou1d travel to learn from the high1y qua1ified

c -
u1ama'. To make sure that the P?pulation of the ~apital was
J
practising pure Islam, he...lpointed a group nicknamed al-
/" v. i.'r.
A ,
1\." ,"'\.o.)
cil. (' t:I \"'1
Muttawa ah whose dutY was to ensure that prayers were held

regularly in the mosques. These mosques served as schools to

1
teaeh, explain and preach Islam. In order to prepare his
~ \ i.

followers to eonquer the neighbouring chieftainships in Najd,

Vthe Shaykh replaced their customary raids, whose objective was

,

plunder, by Jihad (Ho1y War). Indeed, it was the Shaykh himself,

as telated by contemporary Wahh;bI chronic1ers, who prepared the

- - .
Wahhabi armies at a1-Dir c-iyah and sent them to fight th,ose ëhief-
(

.' 2 ~ c
tainshipSi rd sh~t, al-Dir iyah bécame the centre of the

WahhabI Movement, from which propagators were dispatched and

1

messages inviting other chiefs to f~11ow ~e Wahhabi teachings 1

wer~ sent. ThJ. reBul t of this religious campaign bore frui t

when numerous missions arrived from the vari\us towns in Najd.

! .. - - \
They were persona11y receiveqfby the Shaykh. The Wahhabi ch~oni-
1

c1ers state quite exp1icitly that t~e Shaykh~ot only offered, them
'.
\
, 3
hospi ta1i ty, but a1so spent ~is own money for that purpose. In

..
,
l
,
'(
other words, the Shaykh was., not spending etate moneY. At a Iater

stage, according ~o Ibn Ghannam, cAbd al-cAzlz b. Suc~d handed over

\ ,
 ..
"

- 1
78

the boo ty W one of h1~ campaigns ta the Shaykh te be used fo:

that purpose.
4

c-
It was natural that al-Dir 1yah began to grow very fast

as a result of those successful campaigns f?ught against its

neighbou~s. New buildings bel>an te rise. The number of 1 ta

'il
popu1a t:!3n oeg~n to swell.· This reaul ted from the increase in .the
\
number of those who aeeep 'te~ the teaehings of the Shaykh and fled
l'

,? '. c- 4
their homes to settle in al-Dir iyah. ,One eould aafely say that 1

,J
c-
the small village of al-Dir iyah grew 8w:l.ftly into' a bi~ town.

lt 1s important, at this junction, for historieal reasoning

• ..l _ _

te trace the history of the Wahhabi ~, 'Where the role of the

. ~

Shaykh
\
was paramount from the start.

1. Wahhabl.Jihad

Aecording to the two WahhabI, ehronielers Ibn Ghannam and

.. Ibn Bishr, WahhabI Jiha'd started SOon after the Shaykh had settled· _.' i
. e-' • 1
in al-Dir iyah in the ear1y l740s. A party of' riders mo'unted on ,
,
seven cameis left al-DirCIyah ta raid the bedouins in their

neighbo';lrho9.d., They seemed to have been ill-traïned 'soldiers

, 5 " - 1
beeause their per~ormance was very poor. Yet,their raid is

important fn that i t marks the beginning of the numerous "U:-è.~ \j·e"'tv..reS t

of the Unitarians, which we:e tl(> become cho..~t\.'é:A-b' ,s\' c. oC . dl
î\A.evY\,
" •

Interesti lls1y enough, the WahhabI chronicler Ibn ~ishr states

emphatieal1y that orders for that expedition were 1ssued by the

c- ,. L

<. .
Shaykh and no t by Muhammad b. Su ud.
.'
"'-. '1
,
1 i'
.
, 1

/
l'
1 • ~-~J.-............;.~,~---- ___.......____......._'.J,...I
1 J.
....-
~.
 j-
1

! 79
. i

.;;:,- ,
\
However, the major expeditions, which were bound tç leave
c-
al-Dir iyah soon after, were directed against the"staunch enemy

of the Wahhabi Movement, namely l?ahham b. Dawwas, Chief" of

J ~ - c-
.
al-Riyad, which lies ten mil-es down the valley from al-Dir iyah.
w"\ __
-
These wars started in 1159/1746 and lasted for twenty-seven
c- -
years. In discussing the enmity between al-Dir iyah, al-Riya~
,
.,and other towns in Najd, and 'in order to understand the role of ,'iJ
c' ... l.

exam~ne th~state~ents
! .
the Shaykh in those wars, one must carefully ,
,
.J

of contemporary Arab writers. This ~s important because what

they sai~ in their worka has not been given due examination. Three

book~ should be singled out. These are: Kitab Rawdat al-A'ikar,

Kitab cUnwan al-Majd and Kitab Lam c al-Shihab, aIl of which have

beeri refen;ed to eariier in this 1;.hesis. lt 18 the intention of;

the Write~, therefore, te discuss relevant statements by the \

diffe're~t 4luthors of these wo~ks as the occasion arises, while

. Il . '
"
pr-esenting a brief survey of al-Dir iyah's
c- conqu~st of the various

towns in Naj d • .

~e~erence has aiready been made te the fir~t Wahhabf

experimental raid against tqe bedouins in the-nei~ourhood of

. \

. o
,
\
1
!
î
.i~
c- 8 1
al-Dir iyah. lt should be noted that this raid' was certainly

not in ~greement with the. defenslve p~licy W~ich the Shaykh

c- -
planned for al-Dir iyah and which he expressed in a letter to
f

1
CAbd al-Ra~an al-Suwaidl, where he stated that the Wahhabls must
;\ 9
l'
follow a defensive policy unIes8 they were attacked. This
,
policy\ was soon changed when Dahham b. Dawwas of al-Riya~ attacked~J

.. .,

1 _.
 / 80

(
c-·
al-Dir iyah in 1159/1746.

adopted offensive policies.

c-
1
From that date oIl,wards al-Dir iyah
o 1
"
'The best example of such poliey
1
waS the regu1ar attacks by the WahhabIs on al-Riyad, which lasted

froIIf that date until the reduction of al-Riya~ in 1187/1773.

Tai struggle for a1-Riya~. however. will be deaH with further on,

In his religious propagation of the Wahhabi creed the

c
Shay~ followed an o~fensive poliey by sending the Muttawa ah
,
(WanhabI religious teachers) ta the neighbouring towns and

villages of a1-
c-Ari~.
- These religious scho1ars managed to
"
- - c -
prevaii over the non-Wahhapi ulama' of those villages. Con-

sequentl!, many of those imporj:ant tOWIIS' accepted the Wahhabl

faith wi11ingly, and Çheir tel;ritories'were not subjected to ,

military conquest. Examples of some of thoBe towns and villages

are: a1- cUyaynah, -

Manfu~ah, ~urma,
- ~uraymila,
- a1- cAmmariyah
-- and '"

ethers :Uke a1-Ma~ma1, 'Thadiq aJ,ld al-Qal!ab, aIl jeined a1-Dir Iyah
C

e- -
between 1159/1746 and 1176/1762. The a1- Ari~, therefore, became

# f --
synonyme s wi th the Wahhabi land whenever referred ta by othe:ç

terri tories in the region.

10
One sheu1d remember, however, tha t

the" ready acceptance of some of those big towns of the WahhabI

creed did not Iast long. Here we reca11 the apostacy of

Huraymila in 1165/1751 after its conv'ersion to Wahhabism in 1158/

~ 745 , Siailarly. Manfü~ah 'exp.tled the Y_ObI- appoin ted !mBm

o c-
(leader of pr.ayer in the mosque) and reva1ted against al-Dir iyah

in l166/175,2. .
'Iwo yeats later in 1168/1754 Durma followed the h
1

( example of Manf~~ah. The Wahhabl chroniclers ref~s ta the rejecti~~,

... .
-:-
 ,

81

(" 1 of the WahhabI creed as apostacy.

Il
.,
!
1

c-
In each of those three cases, al-Dir 'iyah sent i ts annies \

to reduce the apostates. Instructions to the WahhabI armies

. 12
were given by the Shaykh himself. Interestingly enough, the
~ - -- - c
.
chief inst-igator at Huraymila was its qadi, SulayIflan b.
'
Abd

al-Wahhab. Although Su1aymân was the brother of ,the Shaykh, he

was an tagonis tic to the Shaykh 1 s ideas. lefore the ar;nies of

c c - c- 'l.. -
Abd al- Aziz b. Mu1:ammad b. Su ud captured the ~own: Sulayman
'C'
had Eled to al- CUyaynah. '
...
c-
2. Religious Conference at al-Dir iyah in 1167/1753

The examp1es of apostacy cited above were so serious that

in 1167/1753, the ~aykh summoned to al~DirCiyah representatives

L_
of his fo11owers from a11 the towns and vil1age~ of a1-
c- -
Ar1~.

In addressing the meeting, the Shaykh warned of the dangers of

apostacy, re-asserting to the cditferees the 1rnitarian doctrine,

.. p
and asking them to pu t their complete trust in God who rwould

eventua11y give them victory over their enemies.

14 However,
-'
a propaganda war was spreading. A c1ear examp1e of the

seriousness
c
of that war can be traced in the mission of

.
Sulayman b. Khuwayter, who carried a let ter frem HursYmila
"
-.
c
to a1- Uyaynah. The letter was wr1tten by the previousJ.,y
- cAbd al ...Wahhab,
-
mentioned Sulayman b., who instructed
. Ibn Khuwayter . 'u
\
'
to read it in homes and gatherings in the iatter city. The let ter

was mean t to cas t doub t in the minds of those who embraced

( Wahhabism.
";

On learning of wha,t SulaytOOn b. Khuway!er ha~ effected,

,...........-,------_........._----------
 82 "

{,
,
the Shaykh ordered him' to be killed. This was carried out.
/ ,
The murder did' not, however, stop other mess_""ers frai
CI
carrying more letters ta al- }Jyaynah.
'
To counteract the con- !
!
/ 1

tinued flow of those messages, the Shaykh ad~ressed a long

letter to th~ inhabi tanta of al- ~y~yn~h to dispel, the doubts

which had been created by his brother. The lètter, which was

a long sermon written in twenty-fiv~ pages

15 and which will

not be rendered here ia full, "refers 4irec tly in certain places

to the Shaykh' s brother. A brief quote from that letter reads

as follows:
r
,They believe tha t the Uni tarians a~in 'êrror and
thatte'idol-worshiPers possess the truth, as their
Imàm SulaymànJ declared in the le tter which you
received prior ta this one, written in his own hand.
He states that be'tween himself and you are the people
of these lands, who are the be.st nation created for
mankind, and 90 on. If, by describing thém"as the best
nati"on created by mankind, he wishes them to' be the
/ judges, why does he impute to them the- assdcia tion of
1 1 others with God?16

The people of Huraymila and those who are behind them

pro~lalm that ~ur religion is é'ursed and that the
truth, la what the majority of the people hold. They
use the argument of numbers to show that their_religion
fs good, ye t what they dp and say ia the waret of
apostacy. If they said that Unitariartism is truth and
association of others with God is fa1~ehood and if they
/
did not set up idols in their tdwns, the unbelievers r
would oppose them. 17

The Shaykh, in his refutation of his brother's accusation,

was drawing from the' early traditions which showed that those who

l-
oppose Islam would be Many while those who accepted it would be
i ( ..
1, ~,. few. He also quoted the "famous ~anbali scholar Ibn Taymlyah as

--- ----'_.-----------,-_..--
 83

{
saying that the judgement against the apostate 1s worse than

the judgement ag~inst the Jews and Christians. After saying that
.
the ~a ting
.
Ibn ,TaymIyah had denounced as unlawful
. '
of hashish, the

Shaykh closed ~th the quotatioIi: "'.I?hen.how is it with what we

, . 18
hàve to dea1 with, which is a thousand times worse than this?" ~

Earlier politico-religious decisions ï the Shaykh were

./ c
c
.
executed at a1- Uyaynah.
-
c
It may be recalle

Mu ammar, Chie! of al- Uy'aynah, had welcomed the

that

Shayk~
c -
Uthman b •

to stay

After
.
the expulsion of the Shaykh
C
from al- Uyaynah.- in ,1157/1744; :Uthman b.

to";'I-DirCIyah and proclainred himself a follower of the Wahhabi

Mucammir fpll.owed him
/
doctrine. Five years 'later the Shaykh, being convinced ,of Ibn
'c
Mu ammar's plots against the new creed, sanctianed his murder,
20
!whiCh waS ca'rried out in 1163/1750.
c
The choice of 'succeSBor to Uthman was made by the Shaykh
c
as we11, and although the Shaykh's fol1awers at al- Uyaynah
. - c
recommended a member from outside the Al-Mu ammar Hpuse, the
- - - -
Shaykh' s chai ce was Mishari b. Ibrahim Al-Mu ammar.
- c 21· ;-~However,

\.
ten years - - Al-Mu
la ter Mishari - c ammar was removed from office and

~ , - c
(J the Shaykh ordered the destruction ~f thj-AI-MU ~ar fort, a~~
i c 22
indication that their political raie in;al- Uyaynah had e~ded.

" 3. The Conquest of al-Riyad

. , c-
One of the major towns neighbouring a1-Dir iyah was al-Riya~. 1 :

Dur~ng this er~ al-:-Riya~ was one of the richest ,and most populous
.( towns of Najd. Indeed, i t was one of the towns that offered the

---~--..... -- . - - -----...-.._----""'_............
. .. ~......
 • ...

f".. · --9
strangest apposit~n to the rising WahhabI power. Al thougq the
Shaykh had tried to win ~ts, leader Dapham -
- b.~ Dawwas ta the Wahhabi- -
1 "

cause, and aithough at times it ~aoked possib~e" a11 efforts of

the Shaykh in that direction prav~d use1ess. Consequently, a

pro1anged war was inevitab~e.

During the first ten, years of the twenty~seven years of '

war
,/
- -- ,~
with Ibn Dawwas, the Wahhabis were busy, as previausly st,ated,
.

fighting against apostacy. The Wahhabls, therefo.re, tried their

best' ta gairi Ibn Dawwas te their cause by persuasion rather than

23
by arms. This do es not mean that on sorne occaSions--"1:bey did

not send a small- army against a1-Riya~ as a warning ta Ha chief.

Since the army of the 1159/1746 raid was' so smaH, the WahhabI
f
chroniclers did not consider that force an inv,ading army. On the
c
other hand, the author of Lam a1-Shihab recorded 1t as tne first

WahhabI attack that Mu~ammad b. S~cud canducted against the enemy

. 24
of the Wahhabis in a1-Riya~ on the instructions of the Shaykh.

Raids and caunter raids were recorded by the WahhabI chronic1ers

when discussing the events of the years 1160/1747,1162/1749,

1164/1750, 1167/1753, 1168/1754 and 1171/1758 • . TIiese were more.

, 25
akin to skirmishes than ta drawn-out batt1es. These raids

intensified between,1174/1760 and 1176/1762 when al-Riya~ was

, c-
subjected ta attacks on"ce or twice each year by al-Dir iyah.

By 1177/1763 Dahham seemed wi11ini to surrend:r to the

Wahhabis. He offered them not only his poUtical and reUgious

, 26
obedience, but a1so paid them twa thousand gold coins.
(

, .

\ .
'"--
- --'- ...~ '-- -_ ---_.------------_. _ ------------.....
... .,...--. .......
<J'

85
• 0

However j' a simi1ar promise of obedience was offered and accepted

earlier in 1167/1753 which Dàhham abrogated 1ater in the sarne

, . 27
year. It did not . take Dahham long to once agai-U break his

promise. The ftreader may wonder whY:. Dahham was always s~ecessful
. , c-
in breaking his promises. In our view the Chief of a1-Dir iyah
~ 1
and the Shaykh, unti1 t~is latter date of 1177"11763, were not

powerful enough to eonquer a, large and strong1y ifortified town t ,

.
such as al-Riyad, especia11y because Dahham had been il=s
- chief
e~
long before the Shaykh' s arrivaI at a1-Dir iyah. In an earlier
. ./

description of the si tuation in Naj d in the ei,ghteenth century,

1

- - - 28
1 reference has been made to the Bani Khalid rulers of al-~asa,

o
whq had
1
had political and economic interests in Najd.

The balance of power in the wh?le region of Eas tern Arabia was
. 0
• .'
an important Jactor in the policy of Bani Khalid towards Nafèl.

Thollgh the BanI Kha1id and their s trU€;gle with the Wahhabis will

be Mscussed later in this chapter, the latter took the BanI

,.
Khalid into consi~e~ation in their dea1i'ngs with Dahha~~ Indeed',

there was another factor which delayed the conqu'est of a1-Riyacf.

! ., '"which will a1so be discussed beIow, namely the da"nger of Hasan

/ a1-Mak~ami, Chief of Najran in the Ya.man. /

Despite "the delay, in the conque~t ,of al-Riya~ unti1 1187/

_ _ J

1773, the Wahhabis persisted in their plans for the occup~tion of

~
1 _

Dahham' s s trongho1d. The decisive battles

, for al-Riyad' were . . • J

fought between 1185/1771 and 1187 1~773. lt was in the year 1185/
" ,
- and Sa c,dun
- Cn the
( 1771;. that Dahham lost his two sons Dawwas

_ _ _.# ~ • ____ w __ .-..~_ _ _ ~--- --- --.- "'-:-""":--.-"1-------------.. .

 " .

",
....
86
1
l c- -
battlefie1d, ~hen the forces of al-Dir iyah under the leadership
~ .Ir-
~I.r~

c -.c ~ c-· -
of
~
Abd a1- Aziz b. Muhannnad
• ,b. Su ud defeated the.. aruly of al-Riyad
J;.
and chased its retreating forces. o ,
Apparently, Dahham., at this

junction, 10st: aIl tlope ct defeating· his antagônists. It 1s related

that 1n the year 1187/1773 Dahham ned his ,town after he had
c'
éMdrrssed lts residents as fol10ws: ,
1
l ' q

o people of Riyad! Rere l have been aIl these years

fighting ibn Suciid; 'and now l am weary' of fighting,
an.d abandon' 1t to h{m. Whoso woù19 follow me, ~et
him do sa; otheNise let him remait in his place. 30
, , .
,Y
,
At long last and after tweoty-seyen years o~ raids and

U' o e~peditions t.he W~hhabIs conquered one of the largest an~ the
(
rïchést towns ,in Najd. The booty taken was without doubt the

. richest acquired in'aoy Wahhab! campaign up to this point •. It

,,
was said that the sum of fort y thousand 'MuhaInIqadiyahs (coins then
c
current in ,Arabia) 'was carried off to ~1l-D1r iyah and placed 1n

the charge of th~ Shaykh, who did not take a" single dirham for
31
himself. Since' there had been 00 opportuni ty for the mounted
t
::- 'men in the Un1tarian forces to perform s\>ecial services ~n the

winning of the town, aIl the boat y was turned over to the public
32
treasury. At a later date,. al-R1yac;l was destioed to become

the Wahhabi capital. 33 The fall o'f a1-Riya~ was of such importance

that Ibn Ghannam, the WahhabI chronicler, commemorated it in a

, long poem in which he expressed the relief of the rulers and people
c- 34 - - ,
of al-Dir iyah. Saon after, the Wahhabi forces marched ta the
(

,
i
<-J
1

1
.'
II,, . 87
/
. south and eonquered tQ.e to~s and villages of al-Kharj dis triet.

This was f011ow~hd by ~le conquest of the rich district of

ai'-:Qaslm to the northw~st of al-DirCIyah, thereby completing

the conquest of the whole region of Najd.

,
Il
'1

4. Najran

Before discussing the Wahh;bl expansion in al-Hasa and .the

l' . wa~habr-Kh;lidI· struggle in Eastern Arabia, mention should be

made of Najr;n-and its chief, al-Hasan b. Hibat Allah al-Makraml. ""'

Al-Makramf became involved in war against the Wahhabfs when a

1
e -
party of the Ajman Arab tribe was subjected to a Wahhabi raid
.
in 1177/.1763 in which fifty men died and Wo hundred prisoners

were taken. The survivors hurried to Najran and sought the help

of al ...Mak~amL ;IÎi"'"the following year al-Makramf advanced on Najd

,
c -
seeking revenge for bis countrymen of -flle Ajman tribe. What

interests us in the struggle that ensued betwe.en' the NajranIs

and the WahhabIs 1$ the attitude of the Shaykh towards that struggle.
- - c c - ,
"The leader of the Wahhabi forces who was then Abd al- Aziz b.

M~ammad b. Suc~d decided to meet the NajranIs in a fixed battle

35
against the. advice of the Shaykh. . As a result of that battle

the Wahhabis were routed and lost fi~ hundred men slain in the
36 c
ba ttlefield, and two hundred prisoners. the author of Lam
- c c - .,
al-Shihab states~ that the Shaykh instructed Abd al- Aziz ta march'

against the invading Najranfs" but not to involve his army in a

direct clash with them. -37 When cAbd al cAzIz re<turned from the
( c-
battlefield to al-Dir iyah, the Shaykh consoled him, by citing a

1
1

. - ---- ..... -..-- ----.....,..----I:~_. _-- .-'' ---.---..,.::.--------...-..~

 ~ 88

1 .
verse from the Qur 'an: ''Rejoiee :not nor mourn, fOf ye shall over-

come if ye be f ai thf~1. ,,3

8

We record therefore, that in Wahh:;'bI-NajranI relations it

happened that soonafter the eonquest. of' al-Riyad, the Wahhabts

..
1 "
rought a decisive battle in 1189/1775 against al-Mak'ramL They

defeated him a~d he died before reaching Najran while his forces
'39
were retreating from the battlefie1d.
/

Perhaps the conquest of al~~asa was one of the hardest ta~s

which the Wahhabi rising power faced during the last yeard of

th~ lite' of )he - Shaykh; y~t it proved ta be the most rewarding

in poli tical and economic _terms. " ,

We may recall that the Shaykh was expellea from al- CUyaynah
\
in 1157/1744. _ The man chiefly responsible for his expulsion was
_ 11 __

Sulayman b. Muhammad AI-Hamid, Chief of the Bani Khilid. This

was not the fi~st instan~e of a KhâlidI interventi~ in Najd

affairs. The Chief of BanI ~id had long been recognized

by the inhabitants of Najd as their most powerful n~ighbouring

40
" chief, 'a man they must appease with gifts and homage. Yet

the· authori ty of B'anI0 Khâud in Najd was challenged before the

V'

rise of the Wahhab1. In 1142/1729, the KhalidI-protected

- q
pilgrimage caravan of al-Rasa was attacked by the Mutair tribe
• ~ , Q" •

(- of Najd, which robbed the pilgrims of large surns of mpney and

, J

1
7
1

~J
/
1

/ 1
 89

1· "~)'" ,

41
...
_ killed many n'fables. Therefore,
., it was natural that enmity

between I~he 1 - -
Bani Khalid and'Wahhabis would escalate with the
/
c-
growth of the influence of al-Dir iyah. In or der for the reader

to undersl::and the cireumstanèes which led the WahhabIs to defeat

,\;f/ 1

the Bani Khalid towards the"end of the eighteenth century, a

brief presentation of the wars between the,two parties is

necessary.
C
We state at.the outset that the WahhabIs of a1-Dir Iyah

had an advantage in the dissension existing among the Bani Khalid

chiefs.1& This internaI strife was at its peak in the l150s/1740s

despite the consolidatioi by Su1ayman b. Muhammad of the KhalidI

rule over al-Rasa betwe/n 1726 and 1752. Unlike the Shayl,th' s
':Y c
expulsion:6from al- Uyaynah, religion was not the only reason for

war between the WahhabIs and BanI Khalid. Since th~ BanI Khalid

rule covered the territory from Kuwait in the north to Qatar i1)1
1

the south in Eastern Ar1ia, the s t~"uggle that ensued between the
/ Wahhabls ~nd the Bani Khilid acquired the nature of wars between two

centralized ,powérs with long str~tches of undefined boundaries.

The na ture of tha t s truggle was no t only religious or poli tical ,

but also economic. To the Banf.Khalid, the WaahabIs represented

a political danger which had to be controlled before it extended

beyond al-1>irCiy~h. To the WahhabIs', on the other hand, the 10ng-

, -
estab1ished rule of the BanI Khalid in the rich oases in al-Hasa

offered a prize which they worked ta win. The stage was therefore

( set for a long confrontation between ,the

, two jowers for supremacy
/
/
/

- "'~._"-"~_"Ir;'I"",_-~~- ~ -
 1
!

90

1
~ over Najd and al-Hasa.
, c-
We have already seen how the rulers of al-Dir iyah were
*e.Çô\
trying to consolida te their power over Najd during A twd de cades
c-
of the .second half of the eighteenth century. Thus, al-Dir iyah
- ~-
was in no position to march ~gainst the Bani Khalid in al-~asa

before it had'cqn8olidated its po~er in Najd.

42
However, after

the death of Sulayman b. Mu~ammad in 1752, opportunities for 'the

Wahhabis to penetrate deep into, ~nd east of, al-Rasa became

numer6~s. This i8 because the struggle among the BanI<Khalid

chiefs grew,tiercer, making it possible for the Wahhabis ta

play the chiefs of BanI Khalid against one another. Campaigns

by the Ban! Khalid chiefs into the Wahhabi land in Naj d continued

during the ru le of the successors of Sulayman .

• Until the end of the third de cade in the second haH of the

eighteenth century, the BanI Khalid chiefs succeeded in foiling

WahhabI plans to penetrate into al-~asa. This situation began to 0

change when sorne of the rival chiefs of- Ban! Khalid started ta seek

refuge at al-DirCiyah, inviting the intervention of the WahhabIs

in their family disputes.

", , Il; was pr.obably at the encouragement of the Wahhabis that

cAbd' al-Muhsin b. c Abd Allah,

- of the - -
Al-Hamid, led the revoIt
c - 43 c -
agains t Sa dun in 1200/1785. . The deposed Sa dun fled ta
t
c- c
al-Dir iyah to seek the protection of his bitter enemy, Abd

al-CAzIz b. Muhammad Al-Suc~d. The Wahhabis expected' this end

( to their intrigues. Ibn Ghannam, when recording the arrivaI of

r \
) '91

1 c - c-
Sa dun at al-Dir iyah and the rJse power of his brother j
Duwaihes, rightly anticipated the imminent faU of the KhalidI'
"-
44
ru1e in Eastern Arabia.
1
! From 1200/1786 ta 1208/1794, the Wahhabf raids in Eastern

Arabia were characterized by their ferocity and terrorism. It

was as if the Wahh~bis wanted the inhabitants of the towns to

revoIt against their rulers.

45
In l204/17?9 Suc~d b. cAbd
c -
a1- Aziz fe1t,strong enough ta invade. Accompanied by a dissident

KhalidI chief and his followers, he made for al-Hasa oasis, the
.
tribal centre of Bani Khalid. The WahhabI victory was not

decisive. Not long after, in 1206/1792, cAbd al-Muhsin, Chief of

BanI Khalid, was assassinated by Zaid b. CurayCir, very likely

l-
on Wahhabi instigation. Bath Ibn Ghannam and 'Ibn Bishr date the

faU of the Bani Kha1id ru1e over <:rI-Rasa from the collapse of
Cu ray c.J..r c
Zaid b. and the rise of Barrak b. .
Abd al-Muhsin, who
47
av/nged the death- of his father in 1793. The end of Bani

Khalid power was not accomplished un til 1795. The Wahhabis were

unable ta send a large expedi tian ta a1-~asa tefore that date

1

because they were exposed ta attacks from the west in 1790, 1791

and 1794 by the Sharffs of Makkah. They also feared an expedÙion

sent from the north by the pasha of Baghdad, who could direct the

tribal forces of al-ZafIr, cAnazah and the Muntafiq. The BanI

Khalid were now completely overpowered by the Wahhabfs. In 1795,

c Abd a1- c Aziz
- Al-Su
- c- -

(
/ ud appointed Najim, a man of undistinguished
- - - 48
fami1y, as the first non-Khalidi ruler of al-Rasa.

__ . ___,' .. ________ -__ ~ __;.. --.._L /

 /
The last Kh:ilidi chief ta resist the Wahhabi 'attacks was )

cAbd Allah b. Sulayman of t.he Mahashir section of the Bani Khalid.

He resisted from the last Khalidf stronghold at al-Qa~If" Sihat and

1
aIse on -the~.s1.anè.of Tarut. The only source of deta±:led information
c
on the capture of al-Qatif, Lam al-Shihab, states:

c c -
When Abd al- Azif..:;: conquered the whole tertitory
of BanI Khalid,lthe set tIers and the nomads, he sent
an army against al-Qat1f, one of the strongest
positions of the Bani Khalid. 49
-
"

With the conquest of the Bani Khalid, the Wahhabfs won

more than a military victory. The gains of the fiB!tt were

political, religious and economic. Politically, Wahhab! influence

was established in Eastern Arabia in such a way as ta make other

forces who had interest in the area feel their impact. The

latter resorted ei ther ta appeasement or elimination. To the

firs t group belonged the Englis h Eas t India. Company, who had

commercial interests. Other Arab forces faced either succumbing

on Eastern Arabia. According ta their policy of eradicating what

they considered shirk (idolatry or Plura~~) they devastated

monuments in the tewns of' al-Hasa and installed their exponents

( 50
in the mosques. 1t would have been easier for the WahhabIs to

- •• _ _ _ _•• _~_. _____ 0 . . ~ _ _ _ • _ _, _ _ _ _ _ _ • _ _ _ ~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ . . . . . . . . . _

 93

promo,e their teaehings but for the fact that

l t
ce~ain towns in

a1":'Hasa,
•
especially ~l-Qadf, wer~ Shi Cite.
• • f
This was a weak point

in the Wahhab! domination ,of the area. As has been noted, it

gave them eonsideràble trouble soon after their occupation of parts

of that country in 1792 and later on.

Economiea11y, the WahhabIs gained much from conquering

terrritory richer than their OWll. Musil may be right to assume

that the Wahhabls in their rush to the East aimed at acqu1ring

, 51
an outlet to the sea; but this was not the main economic out-

come of the ~cquisition of al,-~asa. , They acquired fabulous

, .wea1th by, adding much of the Khalldi territory to their OWll.

The farms of al-Ba~a were known for their rich'produce, and its
, Q

'parbours had long supplied Najd and inner Araqia with Indian and

European goods.

This brief narrative of the struggle between the Bani Khalid

and the Wahhabis has covered a few years of the history of the

Wahhabi-suci:id! State after the death of the Shaykh in 1792.

During the whole period of struggle between the two antagonists,

the Shaykh's wisdom remained behind the political decisions in

the ~ahhab! State. A clear example can be found in the incident,

mentioned above, where Sacd~n, the ousted Chief of Ban! Kha1id,

c- c c _ 0

sought refuge at al-Dir iyah. Abd a1- .Aziz hesitated to offer

him asylum. However, he' "took counse1 lJwi th the Shaykh who despi te
v
his years (the Shaykh was in his early eighties) still had the
52
last words in aIl matteFs of vi.tal importance affecting the state. 'f

..
 94

1
e e-
To the perp1exed Abd a1~ Aziz, the Shaykh, aeeording to Ibn

Ghannam, cited the words of God in the Qur'an:

"It May be that God will create love between you and
thase of them who have been nimiea1 towards you, for
Gad is powerful and God i8 forgiving and merciful. ,,53

These words and others spaken in a simi1ar vein by the Shaykh made
,
c c - c -
the decision easy for Abd a1- Aziz; he granted Sa dun the refuge

he sought.

It should be noted that in his last days the Shayk& had

left ~dè~ions concerning mi11tary campa1gns ta cAbd al-cAzIz

',,>
c-
b. Mu~ammad\~. Su ud. In our view, this can be attributed to

the fact that cAbd al_cAzIz was not on1y the san-in-1aw of the

Shaykh, but aIs a one of his most attentive disciples.

This chapter wou1d be incomplete without an eva1uatian

'\
c- c <
of the raIes of the Shaykh, Mu~ammad b. Su ud and,his son Abd
'c - , . - - c--
a1- Aziz in running the affairs of the Wahhabi-Su udi State.

c
c. Leadership in the Wahhabi-Su üdl State

J
On reading what different scholars wrate .on the rise of "the

Wahhabi ~vement an~ the foundatian of the'Wahh~bI-suc~dI,State,

• late
the ln"iter !eels that it is best to divide the wor,ks into

and early writ1ngs. For the sake o~ brevity a selection of the

Most representative writers will be discussed.

, c --
( Among the first group fall the following: Al- Ajlani. '

1
1
.
~ ~._- ,"f"-u-<r'"'lJ/'~''''''''''' ~ . •• .......
~~ ""'"'---~. _____"""".r_ ...........____ . . ·- .. ~- ~
~l
•
c 'Il' ~
J P , .. . . : . . - . . . - _... _ _ 4
....
__ _ _ _ _ _..;.._ _. . ._. .._
. ___._.~.-
 9S

1 c -
al- Uthaymin and Philby. The Most representative authors in the

second group are the two WahhabI chroniclers Ibn Ghannam and
, c
Ibn Bishr and.the unknown author of Lam al-Shihab. Fu'ad ~amzah,
d'
al-Rfh;nI and Philby were WT'iting during the first half of the
. c c - - c-
twentieth century when the late King Abd al- Aziz Al-Su ud

re-estab1ished the Third WahhabI-Suc~dI State. When Fu'ad Hamzah

wrote Qalb JazIrat al-cArab (The Beart of Araoia), he was in the

service of King c,Abd a1- c Aziz

- -
Al-Su c-ud. - - -
Al-Ri~ani was an Ameri~an

traveller of Lebanese Arab descent who returned ta Arabia and

. c C-o
was fascinated by the heroia deeds of A~d al- Aziz. His

fascination was reflected in his Ta'rlkh Najd al-HadIth wa

Mulhaqatuh. Philby,o who wrote severa1 books on Su c-udi

-
Arabia,

evaluates the role of the Shaykh and compares it clearly witq

that of Muhammad b. S~cüd in SacüdI Arabia.

. Both al-- c Ajlani
--

and a1- c Uthaymin

- are late contributors to Wahhabi
- - history.

Al- c Aj1ani
- - is a Syrian who is a 1awyer by training, whi1e a1-

c -
Uthaymin is a young Su c-udi
-
historien.

The above brief description ,of each of those writers serves

as a background for the reader of this thesis ~ The choice 0:-

the three early warka i \ bas,ed on the fact that their writers

were contemporary ta the ~enta they described. An analysis of

,- "
these three works has already been done in the beginning of this

thesis. In order for the reader to pass judgement on the raIe of

the' Shaykh in running the affair~ of-the WahhabI Sta~e, certain

..
: ,
excerpts from the abo~e writers will be analyzed.
(

_____ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.... ...,..._---.M.___....-._______..

l:·--"!'.. _ _ ~"' ..
 96
/
1
The three writers among the modern group of scholars who

express clearly their point of view in the matter under consideration,

are al-CAjlanI, al-CUthaymfn and Phi1b1. It 1s interesting that

those writers cite quotations from Ibn Ghannam and Ibn Bishr

explicitly or implicit1y. Al- cAjlani

- -
and a1- c Uthaymin
-
quote from

the WahhabI chroniclers ,direC~lY while;Philb Y, whose book is

modeled on those of Ibn Gh~nnam and Ibn Bishr, does nO,t. Thus,
c - -~ -
a1- Ajlani states that he who reads Ibn Ghannarn or Ibn Bishr
c
will fall under the impression that al-Dir iyah was ruled by the

Shaykh alone. 54 According ta ' al- cAjlani,

- - \ - -
bothoWahhabi chroniclers
c- , ' c- '
left Muhammad b. Su ud aside because~his rul~ in al-Dir iyah was

eclipsed by the name of the Shaykh, a1though they were partners

, 55
ia running the affairs of the State.

Al- CUthaymin,
-
when commenting on the Ibn Ghannam,

Ibn Bishr and Lamc al-Shihab,

- was very critical' of the contemporary
1
writers because they p1aced the Shaykh on a higher 1evel than the
-
Al-Su c-ud leaders. He be1ieves that what was written in thpse shou1d
..
not be accepted literal1y; sa when they write thàt deputations
c-
which came to a1-çir iyah went direct1y to the Shaykh, this does
c- -
not necessarily mean that they did not go to the Su udi Chief
c ' -
at the sarne time. Yet a1- Uthaymin admits that in "rare circum- "
~
s tanc,es" the Shaykh had app01nted chiefs of towns on his own and
c
that he had gane himself fram al-Dir iyah to solve certain
c-
problems. He also adds that deputations carne to al-Dir iyao twice,

( in 1167/1753 and 1202/1787, 1n the firet instance because of

-------- -- - --
..... -------...--~ .. _----"----_.------, ----
 .'<

97

1 c- c
apostacy, and in the ,second ta swear a11egiance ta Su ud b. Abd

al~cAziz after his election ta the,chieftainship ~f al-DirCIyah.

In bath cases the Shaykh initfated the instructions'. 56, Philby,
c- -
whose book Sa udi A~êbia is based on Wahhabi chroniclers, is not

decisiye in his discussion on the driving force behind Wahhabisme "

. c-
af Muhammad b. Su ud he writes:

lt was indeed ta him that that cause owed its being;

and it was ta it that he and his successors owed the~r
title of fame. It may be said with complete truth
that but for him Wahh~bism would never have had its
day. lt was he who provided the stage for a renascence
of Islam. 57

a
The above quotation leaves no doubt in the mind of his ,reader a?out

(/
who the leader was. Earlier in his cook, however, Philby wrote

the following concerning the leadership of the Shaykb and Mu~ammad'

c-
b. Su ud:

They seem indeed, during the lifetime of th~ Shalkh to

have acted in complete harmony as a single entity
with dual functions; and -it ls said that Muhammad ibn
Sacüd and his son and successor, cAbdul-cAzlz, never
undertook any enterprise or made any. major 'decision'
without the Shaykh's 'approval and blessing. Half a
century of such harmonious co-,operation can surely have
but few, if any, parallels; yet such,- within a year or
two, was the measure of the Shaikh's dominance in the"
affairs of a realm, of which he must at least be
regarded as a co-founder. And when the growth of the
State began to 1ay ever heavier burdens on his ageing
shoulders, it was he who transferred the executive
responsibility for the poiiticai and financiai
administration ta cAbdul-cAzlz, while th latter
cont::i:nued ta. consul~ him in aIl matters. 8 s
If anything these words of Philby reflect" the super~or role

•?

----_.--_._-,
_ ... _._--" _...
---~._- ....
....-.~
 98

1
of the~Shaykh in running the affairs of the expanding Wahh~bI­

Suc~dI State. Despite the dua1ity' that he' refers to, it was

not possible for him to place the role of the Shaykh in a ,

secondary posit~9n.

Further on in his book, Phi1b~ tries very hard to equate

c C -r_ - C"
the ro1es or the Shaykh and Abd a1- Aziz b. 1:fu~ammad Al-Su ud

in runn~ng the State,but ehe Shaykh's FoIe still ~emains

sl~er~or., He writes:

The outstanding event of this year [L79Z] Qccurred -,

during the sommer, when on or about Ju'ly·oZOth the
great Mul;tammad .1bn cAbdul-)Jahhab passed away, f~lll"of
years and honour, after near1y hall a century of
fàithfu11 service to the movement which he had initiated .
and to the princes who had co-operat~d '~ith him in
making it live and prosper to a degr,e which must
have given him much satisfaction in ~is old age, though
he was not destined to the prçmised'land of its final'
flowering and extension to -t;he farthermost Hmi t;; of
the Arabian 'island',' :Cbn Bishr, in noting his,'death '
'tells 'us that he waS "about 'ninety-two years of age. ,,~9
Ibn Ghannam speèifical1y gives us the year 1115/1703-1704
as the year of bis birth 60 in which case he would seem ",

to have been eighty~nine'?t the time of his death ••

Ibn Bishr quo tes an e1egy composed in his bonour by
the ~amous historian, Sbaykh Rusain ibn Ghannam,61 ,
but th~ best monument to his ~emory is the State,
which he created.out of the Arabian chaos of his time "

to endure to this day in spite of aIl the vicissitudeS

of fortune which'it has experienced during an existence
of more than two.centuries. And it i9 amp1y attested'
, that he not o~ly presided with distinction over the '
ecclesiastical administration of the realm, but a1so took
an active and vigor9us part in"the direction of its
l
military and political activities in the cause of God. 11
The perfect harmony which prevailed during nearly fifty
years of constant struggle b~tween him and the fir~t two t
temporal heads of the WahhabI State is perhaps the best i
measure of his outstanding genius and of tbe genuine l'
devotion to a co~on cause, transcending the human frail-
ttes and ambitions of 'the feudsl wor1d in which they
lived and worked together. 62

. , \

} !
l
{
j
1
, 1
-"-~~<"""~---,,,,,,"""-~"'.'~ - .~-<--.---- ~ _. -_"_,~..,..-I
#_~ _~ __ ~ _ _ _ _~_. .".,. . . . . . . _ _ _ ~ _ _ _ _ _ ------''''''-_--'"'",,:w....
 ·'

99

, , 1
The three Arabie works whtch are contemporary ,to the events

are quite 'clear about both the religious and political supremacy

of the Sh~kh. AlI their works abound'with evidence to this facto 63 r

1
..
\
__ ':' ___ ~_. __ .......
~ ~~ ... ~~~_ ... ____
"",:,_'_~ ' __- ____ ~0_- _ _:_:"_..,.!Io.-·'"
 • i

1
1

1 /
l"
f
NOTES
1

D f
1; .
1 C - n
Ibn Bishr, Unwan al-Majd, vol. l"p. 90.
2
~., p. 9l.
3
" Ibid. , p. 15.

4 Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. 2, p. 48.

Lfr
, 1
Soc - "
Ibn Bishr.. Unwan al-Majd, vol. 1, pp.' 14-5. Ibn Ghannam

. ' does not refer to this ' expedi tion, while Burckhar4t ~n his Notes,
. \'
1
vol. 2, p. 98, seems to agree wi th" Ibn Bi~hr. "- ,
6 ' tJ1 C
Rentz, '~u~.ad ibn Abd al-Wahhab," p. ,,54.
7 Cl -' '
Ibn Bishr, ,tJnwan al-Majà, vol. l, p. ,14.
8
See above. p.r 78. ~

9 Ibn Ghannâm., . Rawdat c

al-Afkar'" vol. l, p.~ 154. Abd a1-
Q

- - c _.- c-
Rahman al-Suwaidi vJ(tS an Iraqi religious scholar 0 ( alim).
10 c -.. - - c' ' -
. Al- Ajlani, Ta'rikh al-Bi1ad a1- Arabiyah, vol. l, part 1,

pp. 137-8. ~ .i' ,

1 •
Il' '
.' , The,term apostacy (Riddah) refers to those Mus1ims who

apo~tati"'fJ from Islam

, immeéliately after the death of' the Prophet
J
v
Muhammad in 632 A.D. TRese were later reduced by Muslim armies

which wer~ sent against them in the same year by Abu Bakr. after

his nomination as the firsjKh lif.

12 Ibn Ghannam,
- Rawd -
al-Afkar, vol. 2, pp. 45-6.

13 lb i'd. ,.p.'45 .
...---....

( 14 Ibid., p.,19.

,
<)

~ ......, .--.......,...... .................... -......

!
~~ . ~
.. -----"-" ~ ...-.. ".,~-........... -
v
................~--_ .-
(j

,~ . . __ "-----~~·--~t~-· --,.....-----..,....-------..---.-.. .
 101

l '
1 ..
15 for the full text of the 1etter, see Ibn Ghannam,

. . .
Rawdat al-Afkar,' vol.' 2, pp. 20-40 .

16 ~., p. 29. '

17 Ibid., Pop. 30-1.

o
18
Ibid., p. 44.

19 See a b ove, pp. S4-S.

20 Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. 2, p. 20.

"
2i
/ Ibid., p. 14.
22 .." c -
Ibn Bishr, Unwan a1-Majd, vol. 1, p. 43.

23 Ibn Gh,annam, Rawdat al-Afkar; vo,l. 2, p. 4.

24 c-
Abu-Hakima ed., Lam al-Shihab, p. 36.'
25 For t4ese skirmishes see Ibn Ghannam,
- Rawdat-
al-Afkar,

,vol. 2, and Ibn Bishr, cUnwan

- al-Majd, vol. 1, for the events

chronic1ed by bath histor1ans between 1159/1746 and 1171/1757-8.

26 c -
Ibn Bishr, ,Unwan a1-Majd, vol. l, p. 47.
,
'" 27
Ibid. , p. 28.
)
28
See abave, pp. 24 and 57.
29 Ibn Bi s h r, c Unwan
- a1-Majd, vol. l, p. 58.

30
Ibid., pp. 60-1.
:31
Ibid. , ,p. 15.

32 Rentz,~ ''Muhammad ibn cAbd al-Wahhab, '1 p. 169.

33' , c-
" .
Al-Dir iyah, the WahhabI capital, was destroyed in 1818

by IbrahIm Pasha, the leader of the Egyptian army which invadeq

the Wahhabl land in 1811. .

/! 1
11
34 .
(. Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. 2, pp. 86-8. ,i

1 1

".,-J1
 102

1· 35
~.~ p. 66.,
"0

36 Ibid.
c C
37 Abu-Hakima ed., Lam al-Shihab, pp. 40-1. Làm estimates

that the number ofoWahhabIs kil1ed in the battle wss more th an

four hundred and the prisoners more than six hundred.

38
Ibn Bishr, c Unwan"al-Majd,
-
vol. 1, p. 48.
39
Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat a1-Afkar, vol. 2, p. 93.
• f
40
Ibn Bishr supplies us with information regsrdin8 raids

int6 Najd by the Bani Kha1id chiefs whenever such gifts or homage
1

In 1126/1714 Sa c dun
- b. 1raided
were not granted.
. c
Mu~ammad

- c
.
al-Yamamah. He wSs accompanied b~ Abd Allah b.,Mu ammar of
c c -
a1- Uyaynah; see Unwan a1-Majd, vol. l, p. 185. In 1132/1719
C
accompanied by his arti11ery he attacked a1-Dir iyah; see Ibid.,

pp. 213-4.
41 Ibn Bi sr,
h Cunwan
- a 1 - Majd , va 1o' 2 , F • 173
" i n t h e MS copy.
42 C c
On1y once during the reign of Uray ir, in l176/17~, did

the Wahhabis manage ta raid al-Hasa. See Ibn Bishr,

c Unwan
-

a1-Majd, vol. l, p. 46.

.
c
43 Lam al-Shihab states that" t~o sons of CUrayCir were the

first ta revoIt and that they asked the help of their maternaI
c c -
unc1e Abd al-Muhsin after their failure to"overthrow Sa dun.
• C -
See Abu-Hakima ed., Lam al-Shihab, p. 161.
il
4~"Ibn Ghann~, Rawdat a1-Afkar, vol. 2, p. 124. • j

45 •
Thua in the case of a1-Fudu1 vi11ag 7 , the inhab~tants

were slaughtared like sheep. See Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat a1-Afkar,

vol. 2, p. 142:

... ,-...-t.~___ • 1 !~~~ftI' : ........ ""'.... ~_~..._ _ _ ~- -

, "k . . . .
•
 103

46 Ibn'Bishr states that Zaid invited .cAbd al-MUhsin

, to

ret~rn fro:(.he north to a~-~asa oasis after granting him,safe

C -
conduct. ee Ibn Bishr, Unwan al-Majd, vol. 1, p. 88.

47 Barrak is referred ta by Ibn Bishr as a governor, (wall)

of al-~asa, put iri office by cAbd ~l-cAziz Al Suc~d. See

Ibid., p. 100,

48 Ibn Bishr describes him as "one of the populace of

1al-~asa. " See Ibid., p. 106.

49 Abu-Rakima ed., L aal-Shihab,
mc- p. 72.
1
50 c "_ 1
Ibn Bishr, °Un'Qan al-Majd, vol/l, pp. 98 and 106.
51 Alais Musil, Northern Najd: A Topographical Itinerary

(New York: American Geographical Society, 1928), p. 260.

52' c -
Rentz, ''Mu~ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab," pp. 252-3.

53 Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat

, .
al-Afkar, vol. "2, pp. 124-5.

54 Al- éAjlanI, Ta' rikh al-Bilad al-CArablyah, vol. 1" part 1,

p. 130.
55
Ibid., p. 48.

56 Al-CUthaymIn, Muhammad ibn cAbd al-Wahhab, p. 79.

57 Philby, Sac-udi- Arabia, p. 59 •

.qp 58 ~., p. 41.

59 Ibn Bisr,
h Cunwan
- a 1- Ma'd 1 1 ,p. . 95 •
J , vo.
t
60 Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat al-Afkar, vol. 1, p. 25.

61 Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat al-lfkar, vol. . 2, p. 155.

6ï Phi1by, Sac~dl Arabia, pp. 80-1.

63 Ibn Bishr, c Unwan

- al-Majd, vol. 1, pp. 15, 91 and 95;

l'

t "1( t

? - ~ ~ ~""""-~~~-.---:--~......:r..-.-:--~.~-----''''.!_'_-_._.'';'--'--------_.':~.
 /
1

104

1
Ibn Ghannam, Rawdat a1-Afkar, vol. 2, pp. 154-5; Abu-Hakima ed. ,
'1
c
Lam 'al-Shihafl, pp. 35-6, and see also Nasir al-Din al-Asid ed.,~
- ,
i~'rikh Najd (Cairo: MatbaCat al-Madant, 1961), pp. 83-4. '

. .
J.

"""'.
"
I~

; 1
i
/

!
..
(
, 0
' ':1
i; 1
!.
1
\
"
'1

•...,'"4.... !' •• _ _-._ ~J1

1.' •
- - _.....
ti1_"",~~ .... 1
...
-~ 1i...
Vf_ _ _• ...."9'_.~""' ~ _ "

. :" ---- _....._--"-._--,-....- - . -~~ ...

/ 1 /

CONCLUSION, / .

In this thes~: the major factors '~hiCh contributed to the

propagation of W~hhabism and helped Sh~ykh Muhammad ibn cAbd

al-Wahhab to implement his teachings, have been discussed.

The first important factor was the geographical isolation

of Najd itself from other parts of Arabia. Najd was surr~unded

by deserts. Secondly, the various rich oases which formed its

- .
" . territory were not unifiea under one strong chief. Although

there were a few rich and strong chiefs in sorne towns such as
- 1 ~ ~
al-Riyad, the other chiefs, including the Chief of al-Dir iyah,

itself, were petty.

Oe~pite the la~ity in the Islamlc tradition in moet parts

\ ~/ • .r"
, of tnè Arabian peninsula, Najd managed to keep some religious
\
ervor in most of its towns. The local 'tradition as recorded

by the Wahhabi chroniclers Ibn Ghannam and Ibn Bishr abounds with
,
c -
n~me of ulama" (religious scholars). The Shaykh was himself
\
des~en ed from à le~rned family. His grandfather is said to have
\ c- ,2 , '
been the most prominent alim (religious scholar) in Najd.
•
,------ - ~j

His f~~r cAbd al-Wahh~b was the qa?I (j~dge) of al-CUyaynah, a

maj'or NajdI town.

Thus the geographical isolation, poli tics of the region ancf

a people receptive ta religious teachings in Najd, worked in

( favour of the Shaykh's Movement. The WahhabI Mov~~ent was, therefore~

--~, - -- -_.-..---..' .__ ._--.----------------:...----~---

 /
10&

1
barn in a regian which was .naturally protected from its neighbours

and was so iso1ated in a1~DirCdyah from the BanI K5a1id in the east

and the SharIf,s of Makkah in the west that it remained untouched

by either power in the ~irst ,quarter of a century of its rise, \ '

1
between 1744 and 1769. The Shaykh and his ally Mu~ammad ibn Suc~d

'had almost a free hand in exp~riding their territory, adding

l "t'-
villages and towns to their domains'.

The raIe of the Shaykh it;t the establishment of the .

\
expJnding Wahhabf-SucudI State was paramount from the yery beginning.

He was the best propagator ~nd exponent of WahhabI doctrines.

These teachings of the Shaykh were organized directly by him.

e c-
The Muttawa ah (religious instructors) were trained at al-Dir iyah
\
and. despatehed to the neighbouring villages and towns, whose
, 1 1

inhabitants were unaware of Wahhabi dogma. These teachings were

apparently quite readily accepted by the inhabitants, sinee they

consisted of puritanical or 'simple Islam'ic tradition as spread

~

.
by the Prophet Muhammad in the early days of Islam .

Resistance ta the WahhabI religio-po~itical expansion came

\
,fro~ the strong traditional chiefs. For example, Dahham ibn
, -
~awwas, Chief of al-Riya~,. one of the major towns in Najd, was

~gainst the Movement. 3 Aceording ta Wahhabi ehroniclers and

.! other contemporary wri~ers, the Shaykh, while running the affairs

of b, the rising power in al-DirCIyah, at times had ta resort to

Jihad (Holy War) in order to subjugate the fces of the Movement.

In his work, the Shaykh not only had the support of Muhammad
 107

1
ibn SU.c~d (1745-1765) and his son c Abd a1- cAzIz ibn Muhammad

ibn Sucüd (1765-1803), the first two rulers of the dynasty,

but as has been illustrated in Chapter IV of this work, apparently

had control in running the day to day affairs of the State.

This cou1d be ,attributed in par-t to the fai th and confidence

those two ru'lers had in him. The Wahhabi chronic1ers and .ether

contemporary writers of his time lay much emphàsis on the deep

c- - c- 4
religious piety' of the Chief of a1-Dir iyah, l1u~ammad ibn Su ud.

It is t1;'aditiona1 in Muslim society that a prolific religious

c-
scholar ( alim) such as the Shaykh be placed in the highes t posi tion

in that society. That &eeIDS ta have been the case while Muhammad
c-
ibn Su ud was the ruler.
c c - ~
Abd,.AJ,-~ziz ibn Muhammad ibn Su ud not only received most
"
of his re1igious education from the Shaykh, but he was also the
c c -
Shaykh ',s son-in-law. These strong links which made Abd al- Aziz

the spiritual sail of the Shaykh ~e implied strongly in the writings

5
of the WahhabI chroniclers.

According to the WahhabI chronic1ers no subject; or ,case

relating to Islamic
-c
- (shari ah) was decided upon

\ / \ without the Shaykh' s judg""ment.

.., Po li t1ca
. I i
quest onsi
ar s i ng f rom

the towns or chieftainships were a1so referred' to the Shaykh by

cc'-
Abd a1- Aziz. It was the Shaykh himself who asked the inhabitants

of the villages and towns in Najd,' at the death of Muhammad ibn

Su c-
ud, to assemble at al-Dir c-
iyah l
and swear '
a leg1ance to c Abd

lf1i!-c Aziz ibn Muhammad ibn Sucüd •. It should also be ,noted that

~-
1

1
~-­
(
'.J
 108

1
although western and Arab scholars of the twentieth century

J have pointed o~t the political role of ",the Shaykh, for various
6
reasons they do not stress it. It is apparent, from the

analyses presented in this thesis, that the poli tical role of

the Shaykh in founding the ViahhabI-Su,ç:~dI State cannot be

overemphasized.

- "
, ,!

••

1--;'1..-
-~
 NOTES

1 -
,Al-Riya~ was the 1argest and most influential city

in Najd. In a long P?em,

, -
Ipn Ghannam expressed great pleasure

on its conquest.
c
Bi~hr,
~ Q

2 Ibn Unwal]. al-Majd, vol. 1, p. 62.

3 For de tails on Dahham' s resia tance ta the rising WahhabI

power, see Ibn _Ghannam, Rawdat a1-Afkar" vol. 2, pp. 4 and on.
" i

4 IbI,l ,Ghannam,
- Raw~at
-
a1-Afkar, vol. 2, p. 3. See a1s,p

Ibn bishr, c Unwan

- a1-Majd,' vol. 1. pp.• 3 and 49.

5 c -
Ibn }ishr, Unwan a1-Maj d, vol. 1, pp. 15 and 91-

6 See above, pp. 79 and 95:

1
"

-----_._.-------._-
.. -.. -----~----~--_. __._-------------
 110
"

APPENDIX 1

Taken from Roy Lebkicher et al.,

The Ara1;:lia of Ibn Sac~d (New. York:

Russell P. Moore, 1952), p. 74.

, ~'

- ~

'::i ANGLO-
"

~~GYPTIA.N
'. ,~
StrDAN

j"
,
',!
'. '"
'l,

•
•

:.:
_...' ; l, j

,~-'f ,<Ii
fI ~

"

" ~ ,t _, '
 " r , 'i q' Tl: 7;; nt 7
III

APPENDIX 2

(
Taken from Roy Lebkicher et aL"

The Arabia of Ibn Sacüd (New York:

SAUDI ARABIA
Russell P. Moore, 1952), p. 53.

------------------ Location ofPrincipal Tribes

'. (Shown in Red)
COLOURED PICTURES
Images en couleur 1
,"f
"•-P ' Sakaka
..., 'AI Jauf ~ •..-/ R fh
;A a a.
p..'

VA M

Se"

~--~r-----~r--t
 '.

112

t APPENDIX 3

GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF TH2

AL-SU'OD RULERS OF
SU'ODI ARABIA
1

1-
..""j.......
Su'Qd

. . . .c-r)
(FfOID wtioœ the fiuDiIy take tbcir

M"bammad

(."..0{ Soutbc:nl N~ t,mtil bia

....... ',0,),.
'Abd aI-'.-\ab
,
(176~·lao,. ...·aaced at aI-
,Dir'iyya; awried • daUlheer of
Sbaikb M .. ~.mmad b. 'Abd al.WahhIb) 1

., Su'üd
I,
J'
1 1

t
1

(Born in 1746; lDOtbc:r a daUSbccr .,

1
oof M,,~.mm.d b. 'Abd al·Wabhib. Cam
lD&Dded the WahbAbil ia the 6eId
~ biI father's liCe tÎmej died
181">
?,

Taken from A.M. Abu-Hakima, History of Eastern Arabia 1750-1800

1
(Beirut: Khayats, 1965), p. 198.
1

1 r

,______ __.'__.It------------------
~ .
 113

1
APPENDIX 4

\.

GENEOLOGY OF THE BA..1'iI KHALID SHAIKHS

IN THE 17th AND l8th CENTURIES

'Abd aI·Mulpin
Duwaybit Duja)'ll (1786-1791

Uray'iI'
(17sa'ln4>

1.

Taken from A.M: Abu-Hakima, History of Eastern Arabia 1750-1800

(Beirut: Khayats, 19~5). p. 199.

~)
,
___ .1
 1 /
1
()

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___ ~L<_ ~_ ......
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