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| Arabia |
| The Wahhabis -a short history. |
| 2004-07-06 |
The Saud family and the rise of the Wahhabis - The Saud family was established in Ad Diriyah, in the center of Najd, near the modern capital of Riyadh, where they had settled around 1500. The tribes of the Najd, relatively isolated from Islamic life, had resumed various pagan practices. Some of the Arabian tribes attributed to trees and rocks the same sort of power that the Shia venerate in the tombs of Imams. Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab (died 1792), initiated a comprehensive reform. He grew up in Uyaynah, an oasis in southern Najd, where he studied Hanbali Islamic law. He continued his studies in Medina and then went to Iraq and to Iran. In the late 1730s he returned to the Najd and began to write and preach against both Shia and local paganism. He focused on Muslim monotheism, and preached that there is only one God, who does not share power with anyone. His students called themselves muwahhidun (unitarians). Their detractors referred to them as "Wahhabis"--or "followers of Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab." Wahhab attached a militant political dimension to his preaching, attacking the Shia and attracting local sheikhs to his cause. He won over some local leaders in Uyaynah and destroying some shrines there with the assistance of the Saud family, but was obliged to leave that town because of Shi’a pressure, and headed for Ad Diriyah, where he was welcomed by the Saud family. In 1744 Muhammad ibn Saud, head of the family, and Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab, swore a traditional Muslim oath promising to work together to establish a state based on Islamic principles. By 1765, when he died, Muhammad ibn Saud’s forces had established Wahhabism and the authority of the Saud family, over most of Najd. His son, Abd al Aziz, continued the Wahhabi advance. In 1801 the Al Saud-Wahhabi armies attacked and sacked the shrine of Husayn in Karbala, Iraq. In 1802 or 1803 they advanced on the Hijaz. In Mecca and Medina they destroyed monuments and grave markers used for prayer to Muslim saints and for votive rituals, which they consider acts of polytheism, just as Muhamed had supposedly destroyed pagan idols in Mecca. (note all the repeated Wahhabi linked destruction) The Wahhabi advance to the Hijaz alarmed the ruler of Egypt, Muhamad Ali. In 1812 (some say 1816) he sent his son Tursun to the Hijaz, and later joined him. On the Saudi side, Abd Allah ibn Saud ibn Abd al Aziz who faced the invading Egyptian army, but was rapidly defeated, and then pursued to Al Diriyah and evicted from there in 1818. The Wahhabis and the Saud family retreated to Riyadh, which became their capital in 1824. Subsequently the Sauds ruled Riyadh and a variable territory around it. However, interfamily rivalry and frequent civil wars weakened them. In 1890 Muhammad ibn Rashid, put effective control of Riyadh, into the hands of his own garrison commander, Salim ibn Subhan ruling through a Saud family puppet. When the puppet ruler, Abd ar Rahman attempted to exert his authority, he was driven out of Riyadh. The Saud family fled to Kuwait. Creation of Modern Saudi Arabia - In 1902, Abdul Aziz ibn Saud began battling his way back to power in the Najd and Riyadh, and by 1905 or 1906, the Ottomans had recognized him as their client in the Najd, and he was recognized as the Wahhabi imam. He continued his advances, aided by the Ikhwan brotherhood. The Ikhwan were Wahhabi Bedouin who had gathered into Hujjar - agricultural settlements geared for war. By 1913 Abd al Aziz’s had thrown the Ottomans out of Al Hufuf in eastern Arabia. Abdul Aziz’s advance was during WW I. He sat by while the Hashemite family, aided and encouraged by the British, revolted against the Turks. After the war, ibn Saud resumed his advance, capturing the Jebel Shammar in 1921, Mecca in 1924 and Medina in 1925. In 1932 he renamed renamed his Kingdom Saudi Arabia. Suppresion of the Ikhwan - Ibn Saud had trouble controlling the Ikhwan, who were too eager to attack the Hashemites, clients of the British and enemies of the Wahhabi, and who had no tolerance for necessary twentieth century innovations, including all machines and telegraph as well as the presence of non-Muslims in Saudi Arabia, forbidden by tradition. The Ikhwan remained eager to force reform on others, which led them to attack non-Wahhabi Muslims, and even Wahhabis, both in Saudi and in Iraq. When the Wahhabi forces continued to ignore his authority, Ibn Saud defeated them in battle in 1929. However, the conflict between the most extreme forces in Wahhabism and the more pragmatic strain was never completely resolved. (and continues into 2004...) Saudi ulema remained suspicious of foreign inventions. For example, they first opposed radio as a suspect modern innovation for which there was no basis in the Qur’an and the Hadiths, but were reconciled when Abd al Aziz demonstrated that the radio could be used to broadcast the Qur’an. Wahhabi rule remains strict in Saudi Arabia. No foreigners can become citizens. Women cannot get drivers licenses and cannot perform legal and financial procedures on their own. Alcohol is forbidden in the kingdom. Much more info in the link: |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #8 Lol! Great stuff! Their short history is a little too long, from my POV. Time to truncate. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-07-06 10:58:37 PM |
| #7 The Unitarians lolol Dread, I know what you mean :) |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-07-06 6:33:54 PM |
| #6 Where's the RantBurg BandMeister? I feel a Musical! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-06 6:02:40 PM |
| #5 tu3031: LOL! "What do you make of this?" "Well, I can make a paper hat, or a brooch, or a pterodactyl." |
| Posted by: BH 2004-07-06 3:44:56 PM |
| #4 Well, first the earth cooled. Then the dinosaurs came. But they got big and fat.... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-07-06 3:32:43 PM |
| #3 hmmm....when did they invent oil? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-07-06 2:29:55 PM |
| #2 Mark, Are you sure this article is authentic? I see no mention of Zionists or the Bush Family. /sarcasm |
| Posted by: dreadnought 2004-07-06 2:06:16 PM |
| #1 His students called themselves muwahhidun (unitarians). I'll be damned... 9/11 was the fault of the Unitarians! |
| Posted by: BH 2004-07-06 9:42:04 AM |