Saudi Arabia forcing Wahhabi Faith on Hajis and exporting Fundamentalism
The Sunni Cleric is complaining about the Saudi Regime distributing hateful literature to radicalize people at Hajj. The so called religious gifts for Hajjis are books in Urdu, Bangla, Hindi, Malay, Indonesian and other languages, promote the intolerant and love less strict Wahhabism to Hajjis. It is presented as holy gift. Some are infected with the virus and bring it back to their home countries. Here the Saudi Wahhabi deep state springs into action and funds extremist organizations as well as the religious schools that provide the recruits for them.
“A Sunni Islamic Scholar says that the current hikes in murder rates are not specific acts of terrorism, but, is a particular sect preaching it’s ideas in the shadow of swords.
Saudi Arabia is spending billions of rupees to promote Wahabi ideas, where Wahabi lobby is consistently spreading fear amongst minority masses by indecent and brutal acts. The truth is out…..it is not a Sunni Shia war……it is a war between Wahhabis and Islam.”
This is not the purpose Hajj and the holy mosques of Mecca and Medina. The holy cities belong to all the Muslims in the entire world. When the Imam of the Grand Mosque of Mecca visited India to promote his Wahhabi Ideology In May of 2011. He was confronted and reminded of the written agreement made by Saudi kings with Indian Muslims.
“They even demanded the Mecca Imam for a clarification on the treaty made between Indian Muslim leaders and the Saudi Kingdon in 1925 in which king Abdul Azeez (Ibn Saud) had promised to hand over Mecca, Medina and other cities of Hijaj under the custodianship of a united body of world Muslim leaders after the establishment of peace in the region but the treaty has so far not been followed. They also asked the Imam to convey this message of Indian Muslims to Saudi king Abdullah.”
There is a written and signed agreement in place to return the Holy placed in custody of Muslims and take them out out the hands of one corrupt, evil, ruthless, barbaric and dictatorial family. They have no right to impose their intolerant version of Islam. Muslims world wide need to reclaim custody of their holy places, where Muslims are free to practice their faith. Where they are not afraid of being beaten and imprisoned by Saudi religious police if they are found praying in a non Wahhabi way.
Shia poet Yasir Ali aptly curses the Arab rulers who usurp the faith of Sunni and Shia Muslims in addition to stealing their wealth. The revenues from Hajj are for the welfare of Muslims not the Saudi family.
In the end I would like to reassure Salafis and Wahhabis, they too have an equal right to follow their faith in Mecca and Medina. Our quarrel is not with them. Our quarrel is with the Saudi State sponsored imposition and promotion of Wahhabism. The non Wahhabis that make up 95 percent or more of Islam have a right to pray, freely and without fear, the way they want to, in Mecca and Medina.
About alitaj
World Shia Forum 
I strongly support the idea of Mecca & Madina Sharif. Sauds family must show their respect to the promise made by the King Abdul Azeez in 1925. It is very true that Wahhabis are very love-less. I also support the war between Wahhabis and Muslims.
Inshaallah days are coming when the city of Masjidul Haram, the city of Masjidul Nabi and the city of Masjidul Aq-sa will be free.
Warlord Abdulaziz raided many places in Najd to feed his family. On the night of January 15, 1902, 26 years old warlord Abdulaziz led 40 men climbed over the walls of the city of Riyadh on tilted palm trees and took the city of Riyadh. The Rashidi governor of the city of Riyadh, Ajlan, was killed in front of his own fortress – Masmak fort. Beginning with the conquest city of Riyadh in 1902, Warlord Abdulaziz consolidated his control over the Najd in 1922, and then conquered the Hijaz in 1925. The Wahhabis and UK supported warlord Abdulaziz and legitimized warlord Abdulaziz and his fight against the Ottoman Empire. Having conquered almost all of central Arabia, UK supported warlord Abdulaziz united his dominions into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932 and changed his name as King Saud bin Abdulaziz. Since then the House of Saud always supports UK and its allies including USA. Warlord Abdulaziz married more than twenty women and fathered over sixty eight children including all of the subsequent kings of Saudi Arabia.Today more than 7,000 princes in the House of Saud, the result of multiple wives and lots of progeny.
In 1863 the Illuminati Ashkenazi Khazar Rothschilds used one of their agents in USA, John D. Rockefeller to form an oil business called Standard Oil which eventually took over all of its competition in USA. Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1938 by US geologists working for Standard Oil. Standard Oil obtained a 50 year concession granted by Abdulaziz for an immediate payment of 30,000 gold sovereigns, veritably one of the greatest bargains in history. When the extent of breathtakingly large oil reserves became evident in Saudi Arabia, Exxon, Texaco Mobil and others joined in to form the mighty Aramco consortium.
In exchange for security of the House of Saud dynasty by USA, the Saudi Arabia’s oil wealth and revenues have been handed over for exploitation and benefit of the Zionists and their Wall Street Corporations. The House of Saud regime controls “the largest family business” in the world without any popular mandate or accountability.
When Warlord Abdulaziz took control of the Holy Places in Arabia from the Ottoman Empire with British support, he destroyed 15 centuries of Islamic heritage, including the desecration of the tombs of the wives and companions of the Holy Prophet, in the iconoclastic imposition of Wahhabism. The iconoclastic Wahhabi House of Saud gradually destroyed several holy shrines, including historical places of Islam from the Prophet’s house in Mecca and companion Ayoob Ansari’s house in Medina and turned them into apartment buildings and hotels. They also turned the site of the Prophet’s wives’ houses into a parking lot. Art, Music, dancing, laughing and weeping (including at funerals) have been forbidden by the Wahhabis. For a Wahhabi listening to music or dancing is haram but detonating explosive and killing innocent human beings is permissible.
To enforce Wahhabism morals enforcers known as mutawwiin have been integral to the Wahhabi movement since its inception. Mutawwiin serve as missionaries, as enforcers of public morals, and as “public ministers of the religion” who preach in the Friday mosque. In addition to enforcing male attendance at public prayer, the mutawwiin also have been responsible for supervising the closing of shops at prayer time, for looking out for infractions of public morality such as playing music, dancing, smoking, drinking alcohol, men having hair that is too long or women who are not fully covered and dressing immodestly.
The Wahhabi-backed warlord Abdulaziz took full control of the Hijaz, Mecca and Medina, in 1924 and established the modern state of Saudi Arabia, with Wahhabism as its official religion. Since then the House of Saud has promoted Wahhabism as normative Islam throughout the Islamic world. The House of Saud was consolidated on massive oil wealth and has spent huge sums of money building Wahhabi mosques, publishing Wahhabi literature and funding Wahhabi organizations world-wide. Today, with Wahhabi control of the Holy Places intact, virtually every aspect and corner of modern Islam has been penetrated by Wahhabi influence through the agency of the House of Saud.
Through the control of the Hajj – the beating heart of Islam – and through their vigorous publication and propaganda means, almost all the Muslims are infected with Wahhabism to some extent.
In Saudi Arabia there is no Church, Synagogue, Buddhist nor Hindu Temple is allowed. Wahhabism (pseudo Salafism) is NOT a religion of tolerance. Wahhabism provides the fundamental base for Jihadism which causes unending strife and misery. It is not Iran that should be bombed. In Iran there are still Jews living there and praying in their Synagogues. Muammar al-Gaddafi respected Christian and Jewish religions and their Churches, Synagogues in Libya but American, English, French, Saudi and Qatari financed terrorists destroyed Churches, Synagogues recently. Buddhist Temples including Bamiyan Buddha statues have survived in Islamic countries for centuries, but they could not survive under the Wahhabism.
Washington and London are protecting Wahhabi extremists. In Syria Christians and their Churches were safe before the Westerners began sending their Wahhabi fanatics to kill innocent Syrian civilians.
In Bosnia and Kosovo, under the guise of “reconstruction aid”, Saudi Arabia, Kuwaiti, and other Wahhabi organizations have demolished and removed major Islamic monuments (survived attacks by Serbian and Croatian militias) which were created by Muslims with an Islamic culture and tradition stretching back to 14th century long before Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab made his 1744 alliance with the warlord Muhammad Ibn Saud who founded the Saudi dynasty – House of Saud.
In post- Muammar al-Gaddafi Libya,Wahhabi Jihadists bulldozed several Libyan Sufi mosques (including the Tripoli’s Al-Shaab Al-Dahman mosque) and Sufi graves (including the tombs of Libyan Sufi scholars Abdullah al-Sha’ab, Abdel Salam al-Asmar and of soldiers who fought Spanish colonialists). Wahhabi Jihadists also burned down several historic Sufi libraries in Libya recently.
Since the start of the Arab Spring uprising by Wahhabi Jihadists, many Sufi sites have been attacked in Egypt, Mali and Libya by armed Wahhabi Jihadists.
Because control of the world’s oil reserves also meant control of the world economy, Middle East was a vital prize for any power interested in world influence or domination. Because of the stupendous source of strategic power of Middle East oil and the immense wealth from this unparalleled material prize UK and France reached a secret agreement in 1916 known as Asia Minor and divided the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East with UK cleverly keeping oil producing countries and even creating an artificial country like Kuwait. The 1945 signed memo between USA and UK says “US petroleum policy towards UK is predicated on a mutual recognition of a very extensive joint interest and upon control, at least for the moment, of the great bulk of the free petroleum resources of the world”. After the decline of UK and France, USA stepped in as the dominant neo-colonial power in the Middle East and elsewhere. Zionist policy is to keep the sources of oil in the Middle East under Zionist control. Zionist energy corporations have flourished with profits beyond the dreams of avarice with the Middle East their leading cash cow.
The Sunnis- Shiites divide is too deep rooted and plays out daily in most Islamic countries. Shiites form the underclass in most Sunni ruled countries, but after 1979 have felt inspired and aided by Iran, have become empowered in Lebanon and elsewhere. The Sunnis-Shiites conflict which can be seen in daily blood bath in Iraq and in the Muslim world throughout its history cannot be stopped by “Fatwas”.
Wahhabism is the only social structure in Saudi Arabia. There are no political parties, unions, or social organizations in Saudi Arabia. Wahhabi Saudi Arabia can not stay at peace with the Shia Islamic Republic of Iran.
Wahhabism is a desert cruelty used as a Muslim-Arab ideology to keep the House of Saud in power. The king of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Aziz bin Saud, is 88 years old and the throne passes not from father to son but from brother to brother. Next in line to the throne Crown Prince Salman is already 77. While Saudi Arabia crumbles, massive oil revenues, which have long been used to buy public support, are being squeezed by sharply increased domestic demand and the Wahhabi Islamic establishment that supported the House of Saud is increasingly fractious and is losing credibility. High unemployment, corrupt bureaucracy, crippled economy, weak education system, and millions of frustrated youth are now battering Wahhabi Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan President Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq was a pariah till 1979 for having ousted Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and hanged him. But suddenly Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq became the darling of the Western countries when he offered space, facilities and soul for the Jihad in Afghanistan. The great Jihad in Afghanistan was a big opportunity for Wahhabis. Taliban was created with help and open recognition by Saudi Arabia and encouraged by USA to pacify Afghanistan after the chaos in the wake of withdrawal of Soviet troops. USA was interested in Zionists owned Union Oil using Afghanistan for petroleum pipe lines to transport central Asian energy to the Arabian Sea coast and beyond and to energy hungry fast developing India .Across Pakistan, the religious tenor has been correspondingly radicalised, the tolerant, Sufi-minded Barelvi form of Islam is now overtaken by the rise of the more hardliner and politicized Wahhabism. Remember Sri Lankan cricketers were ambushed in Lahore by armed Wahhabi Jihadists.
Wahhabi cadres trained in Pakistan and Afghanistan on return to their countries in Middle East spread that culture, which now threatens most of them and has seeped even into Europe , which hosts tens of millions of Muslims .
Present Zionist and Wahhabi doctrines foresee the fall of Iran, Belarus, and, ultimately Russia and China, after the fall of Damascus, to the combined forces of NATO and the Saudi- and Qatari-backed Wahhabis, who make up a large portion of the anti Syrian movement. Like Saudi Arabia, Qatar is also funds Wahhabi Jihadist movements world-wide. Saudi Arabia directly supported terrorist activities in several countries including Syria, Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Chechnya and Bosnia
Sufism which is vigorously present throughout South Asia including Sri Lanka for several centuries, ia an entirely indigenous Islamic resistance movement to fundamentalism. Oil rich Saudi Arabia greatly began to penetrate Sri Lanka’s adherents to Islam in 70′s. With the increased funding by the Saudi Arabia with their petro dollars, Wahhabi followers have increased and are now responsible for the sectarian clashes that are slowly increasing among peace loving Sri Lankan Muslims especially in the Eastern Province. It is sadly true but there is a rising trend of Wahhabi Jihadism in Sri Lanka. Wahhabis are trying to take the peaceful Islamic community in Sri Lanka down the path of extremism and violence.Wahhabi fundamentalism has advanced so quickly in Sri Lanka partly because the House of Saud has financed the building of so many madrasas. The Wahhabis have already created deep divisions in among Sri Lankan Muslims and have formed gangs that intimidate moderate Muslims who speak out against Wahhabi fanatics. Like the Christian fundamentalist groups using NGOs to convert innocent poor families to Christianity, Wahhabis help poor Muslim families by providing cash and other material benefits to convert the innocent poor Muslim families into their cult. By building churches and madrasas all over the world to harvest the poor souls is truely very clever idea. Wahhabis even use Sri Lankan Government Cultural and Religious Affairs Departments to continue their nefarious activities.
Wahhabis claim that moderate Sri Lankan Muslims do not know anything of Islam and only themselves are the real scholars of Islam. But Wahhabis preach only “dawah” of hatred, terror and murder. To understand the deranged mentality of Wahhabis look at the “fitna” the Wahhabis have caused in Pakistan. The Government authorities must investigate every Wahhabi school and propagandist in the Eastern Province to make sure they are not preaching things that are inimical to Sri Lanka. Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Wahhabi terrorist groups. Saudi Arabia spends 87 billion US dollar per year to spread Wahhabism world-wide. Scholarships are offered to our Muslims youths to go to Wahhabi institutions in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. But those who completed their Wahhabi studies returned to Sri Lanka and propagate Wahhabism.
Wahhabis have infiltrated Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC). Almost all the participants and staffers in the Muslim section of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation are Wahabis and use the State radio to propagate Wahhabism. Not only Wahhabis run private unlicensed radio stations in the Eastern Province, also armed Wahhabis often attack mosques and leaders of the Sufi sect.
Wahhabism in Srilanka is headquartered in Kattankudi is a new politico-religious movement that is sweeping the Eastern province of Sri Lanka with more than sixty Muslim Wahhabi organizations helping in propagating the movement throughout Sri Lanka and has raced ahead and taken control of the Jihadist and Al Fatah groups in Sri Lanka under their wings. Wahhabism is imported and planted in the midst of peace-loving Muslims in Sri Lanka, mostly through the lavish inflow of Saudi money pumped into Sri Lanka has overtaken other Islamic organizations by threats, intimidation and coercion.
Remember Colonel Lateef was gun down by the prominent Wahhabi militant `Police` Faiz in Oddamavadi. CIA introduced Wahhabism in Sri Lanka through Saudi Arabia as a means of countering the growing support for Iran and Sufism among the Sri Lankan Muslims since CIA had calculated that Wahhabism would be an effective rival theology to prevent the spread of Iranian influence in Sri Lanka.
Clashes between Sufis and Wahhabi Muslims in Kattankudi and Oddamavadi are regular occurrence . More than 200 homes of Sufi followers were burnt down by Wahhabi Jihadists in Kattankudi during similar clashes occurred in October 2004.
One of the Sufi leaders Abdul Payilvan died in Colombo was buried at in Kattankudi the next day. Wahhabi Muslims observed a hartal and demanded the removal of the body from the burial grounds. Wahhabi Muslims claim Kattankudy soil is sacred and bodies belonging to those who preach views contradictory to Wahhabism should not be buried there. Wahhabis demanded that the body of Abdul Payilvan, who is from Maruthamunai in the Ampara district, should be exhumed and buried elsewhere.
Wahhabis had dug up the buried body of another Sufi Muslim from Mosque burial grounds and dumped the body on a local road as an act of protest. Kattankudi Police recovered the body, re-buried it in the original burial ground and guarded burial ground for few days.
In Kattankudi, the hatred between Wahhabis and Sufis has widened in the last few years and has grown in intensity, left many injured, and caused damage to several houses and vehicles.
Though residing in Sri Lanka illegally, P Jainul Abedin – a powerful Wahhabi preacher from Tamil Nadu – is now leading the Wahhabi Jihadism in Kattankudi.
A more recent 2009 clash in the south-western Muslim coastal town of Beruwala reflects similar religious tensions between a popular Sufi sheikh and a nearby Wahhabi congregation.
Saudi agents have successfully penetrated Sri Lankan Muslims social fabric and have managed to defeat the Sufism in their game. Due to the training afforded by the House of Saud now the Wahhabis have prevailed over the Sufis. The Muslims in Sri Lanka have been subdued due to the Wahhabi influence while Buddhists have been agitating for the release of Rizana Naffek – teenage housemaid from Muthur who was sentenced to death by a Wahhabi Sharia Court in Saudi Arabia.
The House of Saud pretending to be the leaders of the Islam promote their Wahhabi ideology world-wide. The result has been the birth of al-Qaida, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Wahhabi terrorist groups which are killing Sunni and Shia Muslims alike in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Wahhabism has been taking roots in Maldives from the days of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Abandoning its tolerant, syncretic brand of Islam, Maldives now moves towards an intolerant Wahhabi society. Recently two Maldives MPs – Dr Afrasheem Ali & Aishath Velezinee – were killed by Wahhabi Jihadists.
Al-Qaida, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba are overseen by the CIA and Mossad who want to destabilise countries that are not friendly to them. Because the House of Saud depends on the Americans for its security it always obeys American orders. The constant demonization of Iran and now the war against Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad confirms a perception that Western Countries have joined with the Wahhabis in the Wahhabis’ war on the Shiites. Wahhabi Jihadism remains a long-term security risk to the civilized world. In particular, through the spread of Wahhabi education in tens of thousands of religious schools world-wide, the practitioners of Wahhabism are breeding tens of millions of youth who are certain to remain outside the productive economy, and as a consequence, seethe with resentment and anger against the rest of society.
Even the forced exodus of the Hindu Pandit community from the Kashmir Valley in India during the early 1990s, and the destruction of several Hindu and Sikh temples by the Wahhabi Jihadists in Kashmir, failed to slow down the volume of laudatory coverage of what were portrayed Wahhabi Jihadists as freedom fighters battling cruel Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir State by the Western media. The “Kashmir Model” of using the language of democracy and human rights to win Western support, even while adhering to a contrary policy in practice was widely used to topple Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi. Wahhabis hated Muammar al-Gaddafi for the fact that he ruled Libya, with no quarter given to Wahhabi demands as the imposition of Sharia law or the banning of women’s dress other than the abaya. After Muammar al-Gaddafi was defeated and killed, Wahhabi Jihadists who took over Libya as a result of huge help from Nicholas Sarkozy and David Cameron have lost no time in imposing a Wahhabi version of Sharia law in Libya and in killing and jailing those who disagree with their extremist world-view. Fortunately for them, Western media channels that were once filled with news about Libya under Muammar al-Gaddafi are now silent about the immense human rights violations taking place in Libya after its “liberation” in 2011.
Western governments and their media commentators now claim that the Wahhabi Jihadist “Muslim Brotherhood” is “moderate” and that the so-called “Wahhabi Salafis” in Egypt are merely “conservative.” Peace loving Muslims from the Balkans to Bengal have expressed their disagreement with this benign view.
Seeing the success of such a pitch in Libya, Wahhabi Jihadists against the Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad, have begun cultivating the Western media and public opinion, the way the Wahhabi Jihadists in Kashmir used to do in the 1990s.
So extreme has the identification with such elements become, that even the largest Western media outlets accept without question such “facts” as that Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad bombed his own troops and facilities in order “to blame it on the insurgents.” Since the armed uprising by Wahhabi Jihadists began in Syria several thousand members of the Syrian security forces and their family members have been killed by the Wahhabi insurgents, who themselves have lost thousands of their own.
However, those relying on Western media are told that every such death has been caused by the Syrian security forces, ignoring the deadly violence that is being unleashed in Syria by groups of armed Wahhabi mobs.
Today in Syria, women can dress as they please. Were the Wahhabi Jihadists to take control, this freedom might soon be replaced with the obligation to wear the full veil. Already in Egypt and in Tunisia, the secular ethos of the country is rapidly giving way to Wahhabism.
While Western countries are opposed to Wahhabi Jihadism and Sharia law in their own countries, in the Arab countries they favor Wahhabi Jihadism over those who are secular. The result is a galloping Wahhabism and its Sharia law across the Arab countries.
Since the Western countries subterfuge to destabilise Sri Lanka, by surreptitiously supporting the LTTE failed, now the Western countries will promote Wahhabi Jihadism to cause strife and trouble to destabilize Sri Lanka. Wahhabi followers – al-Qaida, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Wahhabi terrorist groups – have caused untold misery in several countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Sri Lanka appears to be their next target. The Sri Lankan government must take immediate strict measures to control Wahhabi organizations and ban them. Wahhabis have already built several illegal Mosques in Sri lanka using Saudi Arabia’s petro dollar. The overwhelming peace loving, tolerant and intensely patriotic Muslims of Sri Lanka will extend their support to the government in this matter. As the Wahhabis are even capable of starting ethnic riots between the peaceful Sinhalese and the Muslims, the Sri Lankan government must not be lethargic on this matter.
Significant obstruction to Wahhabi aggression now appears in the peripheral Muslim communities, including the Balkans no less than Sri Lanka and India. Calling itself “the world’s largest democracy” and possessing the third largest Muslim population in the world, India has produced a stiffer resistance to Wahhabism than any of the lands of the “Arab Spring.” If Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar are bulwarks of extremism and tyranny, peace loving, tolerant and intensely patriotic Indian Muslims may provide a barrier to Wahhabi Jihadist ambitions. With their widely-respected intellectual heritage, their close link with spiritual Sufism, and their demonstrated loyalty to their mother land, the Indian Muslims have shown the world that Western governments are wrong to accommodate fanatic Wahhabism. A struggle against Wahhabism that may have been lost in Egypt, Libya, Mali, Iraq, Bahrain, Afghanistan and Pakistan may be won in India and Sri Lanka.
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“Christians and Jews are the sorcerers who believe in devil worship. The only way to deal with sorcerers is to put them to the sword”.
– Book of Tawhid” written in the 18th century by Founder of Wahhabism – Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab
Founder of Wahhabism – Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab – was born in 1703 in the village of Uyaynah, in the central Arabian region of Najd. As a young man Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab studied with his father who was a religious judge. Even at a young age MuhammadIibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab showed extremist religious tendencies.
In Mecca, the Hanbali mufti, Ibn Humaydi, perceived Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab to be a poor student, and arrogant and defiant with his teachers, which upset his father. Consequently, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab was expelled
In Medina, he studied under Muhammad Hayyat Al-Sindhi, who taught Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab to reject the popular veneration of saints and their tombs. He believed that the period during Prophet Mohammed’s time spent in Medina was an ideal Arabic society. He declared war on Shiism, Sufism and Greek philosophy. He even spoke out against visiting the grave of the prophet and celebration of his birthday, declaring that it was imitation of Christmas. He believed that the quality and morality of the Arabs was in decline, so he advocated jihad against Arabic unbelievers as the means for protecting the purity of faith. These ideas had a dramatic influence on Abdul Wahhab, who upon the completion of his studies in Medina traveled to Basra in southern Iraq. His reformist ideas were formulated while living in Basra. He then went to Baghdad, where he married a wealthy bride and settled down for 5 years. He came to the conclusion that Islam practiced throughout the Ottoman Empire and Persia was corrupted by outside influences. For Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab who grew up in the desert of Najd, seeing the extravagance and riches of Ottoman and Persian elite was shocking.
This was a period of great changes in the Islamic world. The Ottoman Empire has ruled Arabs for centuries. They also expanded their influence deep into the Europe. But that expansion came to an end at the Battle of Vienna in September of 1683 where the combined armies of Germany, Austria, Poland and their allies drove back the besieging Ottoman Army. It marked the turning point in a 250-year struggle between the forces of Christian Europe and the Muslim Ottoman Empire.
Over the 16 years following the battle, the Ottoman Army would be permanently driven south of the Danube River never to threaten central Europe again. British and Dutch armadas regularly sailed unimpeded into the Persian Gulf. The Islamic world that was led by the Ottoman Empire was in retreat losing ground to Europe.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab attributed the rising power of Europe to the moral degradation of the Ottoman Empire. He felt the main reason for that was the way Islam was practiced and the insufficient devotion to its main tenets. He believed that even though during their earlier conquests the Islamic world has defeated many civilizations, in the process they absorbed many religious practices of the conquered cultures. His main message was oneness of God that was opposite to polytheism, defined as an act of associating any person or any object with powers that should be attributed only to God. He sought to restore the puritanical version of Islam of the Prophet Mohammed and early caliphs. In addition Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab and his followers, who were Arabs, resented the domination of the Ottomans who were Turks.
After his return Uyayna in 1740, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab launched a campaign of purification and renewal. His goal was to bring back the purity that Islam enjoyed during the time of the Prophet. One of the main tenets of his doctrine has become an idea of Takfir. Under the Takfir, fellow Arabs could be deemed infidels, if they engaged in religious activities that were different from those propagated by Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab and his followers.
The following practices were forbidden:
• Prayers to God by honors to any individual other then God, despite their acceptance by all the previous generations of Arabs, including the Prophet himself
• Pilgrimage and prayers at burial sites of the Saints Tradition of visiting the tomb of Mohammed in Medina, while making pilgrimage to Mecca
• Inscription of the Prophet Mohammed’s name on any building or a mosque
• Building shrines
Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab denounced all Muslims who would not share his views as polytheists who should be killed, their wives and daughters violated and their possessions confiscated. That list included Shiias, Sufis and other Muslim denominations whom he did not even consider to be Muslims.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab began to attract followers, including the ruler of ‘Uyayna – Ibn Mu’ammar. With Ibn Mu’ammar’s support, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab began to implement some of his ideas for reform. First, citing Islamic teachings forbidding grave worship, he persuaded Ibn Mu’ammar to level the grave of Zayd ibn al-Khattab, a companion of Muhammad, whose grave was revered by locals. Secondly, he ordered that all adulterors be stoned to death, a practice that had become uncommon in the area. Indeed, he personally organised the stoning of a woman who confessed that she had committed adultery.
These actions gained the attention of Sulaiman ibn Muhammad ibn Ghurayr of the tribe of Bani Khalid, the chief of Al-Hasa and Qatif, who held substantial influence in Najd. Ibn Ghurayr threatened Ibn Mu’ammar that he would not allow him to collect a land tax for some properties that he owned in Al-Hasa if he did not kill Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab. Although Ibn Mu’ammar declined to do so, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab was still forced to leave. He was expelled from his own town and in 1741 after some wandering around he found a refuge in the village of Dariyah, not too far from present day Riyadh. There the local tribal chief ruler Ibn Saud welcomed him and offered him a refuge.
When they first met, Ibn Saud declared:
“This oasis is yours, do not fear your enemies. By the name of God, if all Nejd was summoned to throw you out, we will never agree to expel you.”
Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab replied, “You are the settlement’s chief and wise man. I want you to grant me an oath that you will perform jihad (holy war) against the unbelievers. In return you will be imam, leader of the Muslim community and I will be leader in religious matters”.
Ibn Saud and Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab concluded an agreement that, together, they would bring the Arabs of the peninsula back to the “true” principles of Islam as they saw it. The agreement was confirmed with an oath in 1744. This agreement became a “mutual support pact” and power-sharing arrangement between the Al Saud and the Al ash-Sheikh, which has remained in place for nearly 300 years, providing the ideological impetus to Saudi expansion.
Two of them made a power sharing deal: Ibn Saud would protect Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab and help him spread his ideology while Wahhab would legitimize Saud’s ambition to rule over neighboring Bedouin tribes, by force if necessary.
The two sides legitimized their pact by Ibn Saud marrying the daughter of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab. The agreement also stipulated that power would be shared exclusively by their descendants, thus establishing a dynasty. Interestingly enough Prophet Mohammed never forced his descendants to be the successors of his power.
Ibn Saud’s clan now could do what they always did, which was raiding the neighboring villages and robbing them of their possessions, but now they were doing it under the pretext of Jihad. Ibn Saud and Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab also reintroduced the idea of martyrdom in the name of Jihad, as it granted the immediate entry into paradise, which is described in the Quran as gardens with rivers of water, milk and honey and filled with dark eyed virgins. That idea won them a great number of followers amongst the local populations.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab imagined himself as a new Prophet who would replace the Ottoman Caliph as the sole theological authority within Islamic ummah, while Ibn Saud imagined himself as a ruler of the entire Arab tribes and beyond. (That fusion of the religious and political power rules in Saudi Arabia to this day). The idea of condemning the enemies as non-believers who had no right to live and need to be conquered set the stage for successful campaign of Wahhabization on the Arabian Peninsula.
In the beginning they conquered a few local settlements and imposed their rule over them. The unfortunate polytheists had a very limited choice, conversion or death. In 1765 Ibn Saud died and his son Abdul Aziz took over the leadership retaining the association with Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab. By 1790 they reached as far as the coast of the Persian Gulf. By that time the alliance controlled most of the Arabian Peninsula and repeatedly raided Medina, Syria and Iraq.
Their strategy was to bring the peoples they conquered into the submission. In 1801 Wahhabies attacked the Shiite Holy City of Karbala in Iraq. They massacred thousands of Shiites, including women and children who did not meet the Wahhabi standard of the true Muslim. Many shrines were destroyed including the Tomb of Hussein, the murdered grandson of Prophet Mohammed. Another practice enjoyed by Wahhabies was the burning of books often followed by execution of the people who wrote them.
After conquering Karbala, the Wahhabies next stop was Mecca. But on the way they had to take the fortress of Taif where the Ottoman governor of Mecca tried to make a last stand. When the residents of Taif realized that they would not be able to hold off a 10,000 strong Wahhabi army they raised a flag of truce. But when Wahhabies entered a city they wiped out practically the entire population. In 1803 Abdul Aziz entered the Holy City of Mecca. He ordered all the mosques and other constructions built to commemorate the prophet and his family to be razed to the ground. He even destroyed the chapel, where according to the legend, Angel Gabriel had brought the first chapter of the Quran to Prophet Mohammed. A year later he took the city of Medina.
All the historical works of art, including priceless books that survived over millennia were destroyed or stolen. But in November of 1803 a Shiite assassin killed Abdul Aziz taking revenge for the massacre of Karbala. His son Saud bin Abd al Aziz succeeded him and continued the successful conquest of Arabia. Ottoman rulers could no longer sit back and watch as their Empire was losing territories and holy places while the Ottoman subjects were forced into following the Wahhabi ideology. Ottoman Sultan was also serving as caliph.
This title is used to designate the successor to Prophet Mohammed as the religious and political leader of Sunni Islam. Obviously the Wahhabies did not recognize him as such. In 1811 the Ottomans appointed the Albanian born Governor of Egypt named Mohammed Ali as the person who would lead a campaign against the Wahhabies and take back the holy places. Mohammed Ali did not disappoint the Ottoman Sultan. In 1812 Mohammed Ali’s army was able to liberate Medina. Jeddah and Mecca. .
In 1814 Saud bin Abd Al Aziz died of fever. His son Abdullah Ibn Saud was taken to Istanbul where he was executed. In 1818 the Ottomans captured and destroyed the Wahhabi capital of Dariyah. The first Saudi state was no more.
The Ottoman victory and the death of the Abdullah did not mean the end of the Wahhabism. Many pilgrims who visited Mecca and Median during the hajj took the ideas of the Wahhabism back to their homelands. Over the next few years several attempts were made by descendants of Mohammed Ibn Saud to re-establish the control over the Arabia without much success.
One of those descendants, Faisal bin Turki was captured in 1838 by the Ottomans and send to Egypt where he spent a few years in jail. But when Egypt declared their independence from the Ottoman Empire, they had to withdraw their army from the Arabian Peninsula in order to support their own positions on Egypt.
Faisal bin Turki escaped from Cairo prison and returned home to Arabia. He was able to reestablish the second Saudi State in 1865. But after his death his sons fought over his succession. Besides the control of Arabian Peninsula, one of the major sticking point in their disagreement was the application of the Wahhabi doctrine. Those disagreements greatly weakened the Saudi State. In 1871 the rival tribal leader Mohammed bin Rashid made a pact with the Ottomans and started a campaign of taking back the territories from the Saud family. In 1891, with the fall of Riyadh, the takeover of the Saudi land was complete.
The Saud family was forced into exile and eventually settled in Kuwait. But even the Rashides showed some interest in Wahhabi ideas as they allowed several Wahhabi scholars to continue their teachings in schools and in mosques. .
As the role of the Ottoman Empire was diminishing, the British were gaining a lot of influence in the region. In the years to come they would carve up the entire region according to their view of the world. In many ways those views were narrow-sighted and did not take into consideration the religious and ethnic difference of the local populations.
Warlord Abdulaziz raided many places in Najd to feed his family. On the night of January 15, 1902, 26 years old warlord Abdulaziz led 40 men climbed over the walls of the city of Riyadh on tilted palm trees and took the city of Riyadh. The Rashidi governor of the city of Riyadh, Ajlan, was killed in front of his own fortress – Masmak fort.
The Wahhabis did not welcome the presence of Christian forces in the Arabian Peninsula, as they would hardly tolerate the presence of other Muslims. Warlord Abdulaziz had to walk a political tightrope between the British, the Ottomans and the Wahhabis. But he proved to be a very able politician, as he understood that in order to get to his goal of reestablishing the Saudi State he may need the collaboration of all the above parties.
While Warlord Abdulaziz was regaining the influence the Saud family lost during the previous decades, the Ottoman Empire was weakened to the point that they had to ask for Warlord Abdulaziz’s help in putting down the revolt in northern Yemen that was still under the Ottoman rule. Warlord Abdulaziz was also recapturing a lot of territories lost by his predecessors in the previous conflicts.The British did not interfere with Warlord Abdulaziz’s military advances as long as he stayed away from British controlled areas.
The successes of Warlord Abdulaziz’s military campaigns also coincided with the revival of the religious zealotry in province of Najd. This time it was the descendant of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab named Abdullah bin Abdul Latif, the religious judge, who promoted a new movement called Inkwan (the brotherhood).
He demanded from his followers the strict adherence to the tenets of the Wahhabi ideology and one of the requirements was to avoid any contact with outsiders. He also encouraged creation of agricultural settlements and by the year 1920 dozens of those settlements were spread out around Najd.
In the tradition of his 18th century relative, Latif and his Inkwan followers would raid the neighboring provinces instilling the Wahhabi system and killing anyone considered unbeliever or polytheist. They terrorized the Arab communities from Iraq to Transjordan, sometimes wiping out entire villages. Just within a few years the Inkwan gained enough power to have even Warlord Abdulaziz seek a partnership with them.
This symbiotic relationship, between the most radical element of Saudi society and the ruling elite, continues to this day. Over the years that relationship would have ups and downs. Every time there was a move to modernize the Saudi society, the radicals would make sure that the princes would not stray too far off.
Warlord Abdulaziz not only forged the partnership with the Inkwan but also provided them with financial help. In addition he appointed Inkwan members as religious judges even though most of them came from the primitive desert dwelling Bedouin societies and were not great Islamic scholars by any means. Those societies that live in the very harsh environments, like deserts or mountains, usually develop a very strict code of conduct that develops over hundreds of years. Inkwan have incorporated those tribal traditions into their view of Islam.
The Arabian Peninsula at that time was not a place where people lived in peace and tranquility. It was a highly tribal society where disputes over land and infighting were common place. Warlord Abdulaziz needed to bring those feuding tribes under his control in order to rule the Arabian Peninsula. His partnership with the Inkwan allowed him to accomplish that. Just like a century before, the power of the sword backed by Wahhabi ideology has proven to be a winning formula.
One after another the rebellious tribes accepted Ibn Wahhab as their imam (an Islamic religious leader), agreed to pay the customary taxes and live by the Wahhabi rules. But Warlord Abdulaziz had a problem. While he was trying the build a modern Arab state with railroads and telegraph and other technological innovations of that period, the Inkwan considered those to be the instruments of Satan. They were categorically against the presence of foreigners, even if it benefited them. Any form of expression including music or poetry was not allowed.
The only intellectual activity tolerated was the study of the Quran. While Warlord Abdulaziz did not have a problem with forbidding music or poetry, he had a problem with Inkwan’s other goals namely kicking the British out and exterminating the neighboring populations. His dream was to establish a legitimate state and he could not do accomplish it with such excesses. He knew that eventually he would have to deal with Inkwan and that time came soon.
In March of 1924, the Ottoman Empire caliphate was dissolved and Kamal Attaturk established the Turkish Republic. He specifically established the system where there was a clear separation of religion and the state, that is the cornerstone of the Turkish Republic to this day.
During the Ottoman Caliphate the members of the Hashemite dynasty were the appointed rulers of Mecca and Medina. Hashemites were believed to be the direct descendants of the prophet Mohammed and the caretakers of the Holy places. With the history and tradition behind him, the latest representative of the dynasty,
Sharif Hussein pronounced himself a caliph. He was a protégé of the British Government who vigorously promoted him. His goal was to become the ruler of all the Arabia. Obviously Warlord Abdulaziz had different ideas on who would rule Arabia. He declared the war on Sharif Hussein and in December of 1924 with the help of Inkwan captured the biggest prize – Mecca.
There was nothing that the British could do but accept the shifting balance of power. They later promoted Sharif Hussein’s son Abdullah to become the King of Transjordan. But the Holiest places in Islam were no longer under the control of the Hashemite dynasty. Warlord Abdulaziz has reclaimed what was lost by his ancestors a century earlier. He immediately imposed the Wahhabi control over the religious and social matters. A year later he was in control of Medina and Jeddah.
The consequences were far reaching. The one who was in charge of holy places had the eyes and ears of the entire Muslim world focused on them. Under Warlord Abdulaziz’s leadership Inkwan began the campaign of destruction of the priceless historical monuments. Any mosque or Kaba, Mecca graveyard that had a mention of the prophet on its walls was taken down, including the grave of Mohammed’s wife Kadijah.
The Muslim world was outraged and demanded answers. Warlord Abdulaziz’s response was that his control over Mecca and Medina was temporary but in 1926 he hosted a global Islamic conference where he was able to convince the delegates from all over the Islamic world to ratify his control over the holy places.
The time also came to deal with the Inkwan who wanted the British Army out. Warlord Abdulaziz knew that his rule over Arabian Peninsula could not survive without it. In fact it was the British who helped Warlord Abdulaziz to finally defeat the Inkwan in ensuing civil war.
Having conquered almost all of central Arabia, UK supported warlord Abdulaziz united his dominions into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932 with Riyadh as it’s capital and changed his name as King Saud bin Abdulaziz. Since then the House of Saud always supports UK and its allies including USA. Warlord Abdulaziz married more than twenty women and fathered over sixty eight children including all of the subsequent kings of Saudi Arabia.Today more than 7,000 princes in the House of Saud, the result of multiple wives and lots of progeny.
With advances in technology that were based on oil, the western countries were getting more involved in the politics of the Middle East. Britain had a long-standing relationship with Warlord Abdulaziz, but it was with Standard Oil of California that he made a deal. Before signing the deal Warlord Abdulaziz consulted the ulama. His argument in favor of the Americans was that they, unlike the British, were not interested in territorial control of the Arab lands but only in oil.
In addition the Americans were willing to pay more money and did not ask for the political concessions that British were demanding. The ulama has issued a fatwa allowing such deal. But it did not come without the price. The wahhabi religious establishment got complete control over the educational system and wahhabi religious policies of the kingdom.
Within the decade, huge oil fields were discovered all over the Arabian Peninsula and in the Persian Gulf. The desert kingdom that only few years before survived on the revenues derived from the hajj and handouts from the British government became one of the most influential countries in the world. Saudi Arabia was already in control of Mecca and Medina, the holiest places in Islam.
That alone gave them tremendous stature within the Muslim world. Now the great wealth derived from the oil revenues, and growing dependency of the Western economies on that oil, made the Saudis a major player in the world politics. In 1953 warlord Abdulaziz died. During his lifetime warlord Abdulaziz was able to take a land of feuding nomadic Bedouin tribes and in the span of few decades give them the country that became a wahhabi superpower.
Upon the accession of eldest son of warlord Abdulaziz also named Saud to the throne in 1953, Prince Faisal was appointed as Crown Prince. The king Saud’s tenure was marred in controversy. He started spending lavishly on himself and his close circle while neglecting the basic needs of the country. His lifestyle did not always live up to his stature of the guardian of the holy places. Saud was also appointing his own sons to the most senior government positions surpassing the other more experienced members of the family. He would take long tours of Europe with a huge entourage that cost enormous amounts of money. When Saud’s brother Faisal, who acted as the deputy Prime Minister, proposed an increased budget for the modernization of the Saudi army, the Saud family and ulama approved it. The new reform cut down substantially on Saud’s personal budget, infuriating him. But his problems were far from over. The members of the Saud family and the ulama demanded King Saud to step down. In 1964 his brother Faisal Abdulaziz became the third king of Saudi Arabia and he went into exile in Greece and. Faisal was the son of warlord Abdulaziz and the direct descendant of the founder of Wahhabism, from his mother’ side. The Wahhabi creed was in his blood. He showed great interest in religious studies since he was a little boy and was able to forge strong relationships within the religious establishment.
That served him well in his quest for the throne, as it was the ulama that played a major role in backing him against his deposed brother. During the Ibn Saud’s rule the religious establishment was playing a major role in internal politics of Saudi Arabia. Faisal decided to lean much more heavily on the ulama by giving them the unprecedented powers including the complete control of the educational system. He also created additional ministries that ended up under the control of the Wahhabis. His desire to strengthen Islam within the Saudi society prompted him to reform the Committee for Encouragement of Virtue and Discouragement of Vice (also known as the Committee for Public Morality). He expanded the powers of mutaween, the religious police, who could now stop and arrest anyone who did not dress or act according to the religious rules put into the law.
The mutaween has maintained these powers to this day. A very tragic example of their power was exhibited in 2002, when a girls’ school in Mecca caught on fire. First on the scene were mutaween who actually sent the girls back into the burning building to put on head scarves to preserve their modesty before they could be rescued. Fifteen girls were killed many more injured.
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in
it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a little bit, but instead
of that, this is fantastic blog. A great read.
I’ll certainly be back.
it is too risky to allow zionist saudi family to continue holding holy land. while some are exporting advance technology to muslim nations zionist saudi family are busy exporting evils in the form of alqaeda and boko haram to muslims mercilessly killing them