UNDERSTANDING THE MIDDLE EAST:
History, Religion, and the Clash of Cultures
400 pages
Copyright © 2007 by Beechmont Crest Publishing
First edition, 2007
0-9748330-6-1
C H A P T E R 8:
The Story of Saudi Arabia
The sheik from Uyayna
The earliest roots of modern Islamic fundamentalism can be traced to the Arabia of the 1700s. In the town of Uyayna, a sheik (or teacher) named Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was inveighing against what he perceived as the decadence of the society around him. The people had turned away from the fundamental purity of Islam---by partaking in holiday celebrations, music, and the arts. Worst of all, Islam had become idolatrous. Muslims now venerated not only the tomb of the prophet, but also the tombs of Muslim holy men and teachers. In the Arabian town of Jeddah, the supposed tomb of Eve---the biblical mother of the human race----had become a site for pilgrimages.
Wahhab denounced this immorality in public sermons to anyone who would listen. Most of Uyayna’s residents ignored him; but the sheik did acquire a small and dedicated band of followers. Wahhab was not afraid to take to the law into his own hands. He gave his followers permission to use terrorist tactics against his opponents, including murder, rape, and arson.
Finally, Wahhab and his followers went too far, when they stoned to death a woman who been accused of adultery. Uyayna’s town fathers had had enough of the radical preacher. They drove him from the town, and ordered him to stay away, on pain of death.
Wahhab fled to Dariya, a town near Riyadh. The local emir was Mohammed ibn Saud. Saud found Wahhab’s austere, uncompromising vision of Islam to be very appealing. Saud not only offered Wahhab refuge, he also made him an Islamic judge, or qadi, in Dariya.
Wahhab now had a powerful sponsor; but the residents of Dariya were no more enthusiastic about Wahhab’s teachings than the residents of Uyayna had been. Wahhab’s ideas found more fertile ground among the Bedouins of the open desert. This served the purposes of both Wahhab and Saud. Saud united the Bedouins under the banner of Wahhabism, and harnessed their faith to gain more territory. The Saud-Wahhab partnership was an effective mix of political ambition and religious zealotry. Saud continued to expand his territory (along with Wahhabism) until his death in 1765.
The House of Wahhab and the House of Saud
The symbiosis between Wahhab and Saud was further strengthened in 1744, when Mohammed ibn Saud married Wahhab’s eldest daughter.
Wahhab eventually became known as al-Sheik (the teacher), and his ancestral line was called “The House of the Sheik, or Al al-Sheik. The House of the Sheik and the House of Saud (Al- Saud) are the most influential families in Saudi Arabia today. There is still a tradition of intermarriage between the two dynasties.
The lands conquered by Saud eventually included the town from which Wahhab had been exiled years ago. When the Sheik was established as the religious authority in Uyayna, he was not in a forgiving mood. Wahhab personally witnessed the beheading of the officials who had previously exiled him.
"Don’t Call Us Wahhabis!"
The term Wahhabi is actually offensive to Wahhabis themselves, as it suggests that they venerate Wahhab, the cleric, rather than God. Wahhabis refer to their own religious affiliation as Muwahiddin (“Unitarianism”).
Copyright 2005 Beechmont Crest Publishing
