NOVANEWS
By: John Phoenix
The Birth of AI-Wahabi Movement and it’s Historic Roots
Preface
1. The purpose ofthis study is to learn about the history of AI-Wahabi Movement and the harmful elements it contains.
AI-Wahabi movement claims that; it strives to recant all kinds of polytheism, but such allegations at the time of practice have transformed into the killing of Muslims, destructing, demolishing, and promoting the turmoil. So we can say that such behaviour with its pure superficial and discriminating teachings is nothing but a deadly weapon in the hand of the occupation and the enemies of Islam who use AI-Wahabi Movement in the political arena to prevent the unity of Muslims.
We have to frankly say that; AI-Wahabi’s superficial and false teachings, and grasping on to the shell is the main obstacle standing in the way of Muslims’ goal to unit, and the biggest cause ofthe killing, dispersing, and breaking up of Muslims.
This kind of hostility towards Muslims, antagonising them, considering them disbelievers, hitting them, insulting them, and hurting them reveals an ugly and dangerous face of AI-Wahabi features which depicts it as a destructive and chaotic group raising the slogan of destruction, savageness and harshness. 1
The classification markings are original to the Iraqi documents and do not reflect current US classification.
2. AI-Wahabi today is subconsciously working in all its power on promoting occupation in all its power in order to achieve its despicable desires. The Wahabis have worn the Muslim robe inside out therefore; they couldn’t apprehend any of the Muslim goals, because how is it possible for someone who seeks the help of infidels to speak of unity? They sign treaties of peace and friendship with the criminals, surrender and bow in front of the masters of rotten politics.
3. Therefore; I wanted in my study to focus on the history of this movement from the stand point ofits relation with the British government and how Britain had employed all its spies in Muslim countries in order to establish and spread this movement to destroy Muslim religion and create heterodoxies in Islam.
I also wanted to touch on the creator of this movement; Muhammad Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab, his meetings with Muhammad Bin Su’ud and their agreement to support each other, and in conclusion show opinions of historians and writers who discussed this movement, and the history of the Su’ud Family which many have agreed that it is on of the destructive religious movements that is conceived, extreme and aiming to destroy Islam through Jews and British.
The Purpose:
4. To find the connection between this movement and the British government and how they found the so called; Muhammad Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab, and his meetings with the leaders of Sa’ud Family to facilitate their suspicious plans which aim at striking at Islam and create division among Muslim.
First Topic:
Britain and its animosity towards Islam
Britain and fabrication ofbeliefs to serve dispersion
Britain’s goals to weaken the Muslim religion
The British plans to dominate the Muslim countries
How Britain deployed its spies and created differences among Muslims.
Britain and making up of beliefs to serve dispersion:
5. Colonialism continues to look for ways to force its power, and still uses its old slogan (divide and rule), and one of the most important methods of achieve that is to create a decadent environment of disbelieving and immoral society therefore; colonialism tops the list ofimportant and major factors which create the environment of disbelieve and immorality in a Muslim society, and in creating a sense of distrust among Muslim groups and false accusations. We will not be exaggerating if we say that the most successful methods used by colonialism to weaken the strength of Muslims and demolish Islam; are the methods of dividing, discriminating and fabricating believes and creating profits.
In order to reveal the reasons which made the colonialism go this rout and the goals desired from it, and the methods used to achieve such goals; we have to mention few things before we go into our main topic.
Britain’s objectives from the weakening of the Muslim religion:
6. Colonialism countries face so many obstacles among each other when attempting to dominate powerless countries, for the purpose of plundering the material and immaterial wealth ofthese countries. It was never as simple as to occupy a country and have its people welcome them with open arms. At minimum, at the very beginning they are faced with many problems and obstacles. There were so many factors that made people oppose the colonialism such as; nationalism, language, culture, and religion. Some of these factors had temporary effects on the fight against colonialism, and lost their effectiveness gradually until they lost their impact eventually. The only factor remained as a well fortified barrier against the goals of colonialism is; the influence of religion on people, with Islam in the forefront. Since the day when the representative of colonialism stood in the British House of Commons holding the Koran in his hand saying: ( Europe has to know that; as long as this book is the guide to all Muslims, we will not be able to establish the foundations for our colonialism policy in these countries) and up to this day, Islam is considered the largest barrier facing colonialism, and the biggest threat to its interests because; Islam has distinguished characteristics each alone stands as a mountain in the way of achieving the goals colonialism the thing that all other religions lack.
The teachings of colonialism [I think that this is a misprint and the correct sentence should be the teachings ofIslam] and its political worship rituals, have always been a danger to colonialism and its objectives because; Islam refuses all forms of colonialism and exploitation in any shape or form 4 , condemn, motivate Muslims to fight injustice and tyrants, calls for struggle to bring social fairness in all areas on the face of earth, and to free the weak from slavery and occupation. And it goes without saying that this struggle is not only to free Muslims alone, but it is for saving all weak nations in the world and free them.
7. Therefore; Islam finds itself obligated to extend a helping hand to all liberation movements as much as possible “0 ye who believe! Take not my enemies and yours as friends (or protectors) – offering them your love”l, “These are the ones who wait and watch about you” 2, “Let not the Believers take for protectors Unbelievers, rather than Believers”3 then it puts forth the motto of adhering to God for he is the ultimate master “And hold fast all together, by the Rope which Allah stretched out for you, and be not divided among yourselves”4 “A Believer is a brother of another Believer, they are like one body if one part is in pain the rest of the body parts suffer the same way”. “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; and those who are with him are strong against unbelievers, but compassionate amongst each other.” 5. Muslims are responsible one to another and get angry at infidels and don’t get into compromises with them, “Truly Allah loves those who fight in his cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure”6. This meaning has always been the source of inspiration and strength for all Muslims in their struggle against tyrants and arrogant throughout history. Such content of Islam has created in the heart of Islam, all this movement, enthusiasm, creativity, change, and steadiness in fighting injustice. If we were to study all uprisings which took place in the recent century; we would have more dearly found the role of Islamic teaching in stirring those people against injustice, arrogance and oppression. Friend and enemy admit, for example, admit to the dynamics prompted by Islam in the liberation revolution of the Algerian people which threw the French occupation outside the 10 of 56 172 The classification markings are original to the Iraqi documents and do not reflect current US classification. -11- country. About this wrote two well known writers; (Collette) and (Francis Johnson)7 (No doubt that Islam had a great influence on the Algerians, demand for freedom, and the Algerians have become aware since day one of the French occupation’s objective to destroy Islam, and based on this they come to realise that Islam is their way to liberation, and they all have to hold on to Islam in order to be liberated). And when colonialism found it hard to penetrate Islam, it started to look for a successful way to fight it and started to use all its power and capabilities to remove this obstacle, and tried all kinds of methods to achieve its objective. Such methods are the following:
A. Direct confrontation First, by direct military confrontation such as the Crusaders war, and military occupation ofIslamic countries as in the case of Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Algeria and others. Second, by attacking Islamic teachings by means of; twisting and reversing their principles, accusing Islam, and slandering its sanctuaries.
B. Indirect confrontation First, promote immoralities and corruption among Muslims to weaken their adherence to religion. Second, promote feelings of nationalist and patriotism to divide individuals as well as groups into different parties in Islamic countries. Third, create division and dissimilarities by spreading accusations, mistrust, and suspension among Muslims.
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Foot Notes:
1 Al-Mumtahinah: 1 [CL: verse 1 from the Koran Chapter Al-Mumtahinah]
2 Al-Nisa’: 141 [CL: verse 141 from the Koran Chapter Al-Nisa’]
3 Al ‘Urnran: 28 [CL: verse 28 from Koran Chapter Al-‘Urnran]
4 Al ‘Urnran: 103 [CL: verse 103 from Koran Chapter Al-‘Urnran]
5 AI-Fath: 29 [CL: verse 29 from Koran Chapter Al-Fath]
6 Al-Saff: 4 [CL: verse 4 from Koran Chapter Al-Saff]
7 “2 schools” cited from Propagation and Colonialism in Arabic Countries by Dr. Mustafa Khalid; page 64. 5
The British Plans to Dominate Islamic Countries
8.In 1973, the autobiography of the British spy Humfer in regards to his work in Iraq and Istanbul was translated, and it included the British plans to dominate the Muslim countries. Great Britain has been, since long time ago, thinking about keeping its influence on its many colonies in India, China, the Middle East and others. It is true that it wasn’t actually controlling big parts of these countries because; it was in the hands of its own people, but its policy was a successful and effective policy, and it used to think twice. 1
a. Once to continue controlling what has been practically controlled.
b. And once to add to its properties what hasn’t been practically controlled. And based on this, the British government had allocated special committees in every part of these countries particularly to study the task:
First: India
Through the “Eastern Company of India”, whose apparent role was strictly commercial, yet deep inside was to strengthen the means to control India and the roads leading to these huge lands extending to the end of the continent. The British government was so sure ofIndia where the nationalities are different; religions are scattered, dissimilar languages, and conflicting interests. And this way the government was sure of China where; the Buddhism and the Confucianism, which is the most prominent in that country, both were not a threat for they are dead religions focusing on the spiritual side and have no connection with the living side therefore; it was far fetched to see a feeling of patriotism among people of these two areas. And that is why the British government had no concern when it came to these two countries, and it worked out long term plans to create division, ignorance, poverty, and sometimes keep these countries in sickness. They were applying an old Buddhist proverb (Let the patient crave his medicine even ifit tastes severely bitter).
Second: The Muslim Caliphs State:
What concerned the British government was the Muslim countries and they used to call them; the Sick Man. Many treaties were signed and all were for the advantage of the British government, and the outlook ofthe British Colonies’ Ministry is that the Man will breathe his last in less than a century.
Third: The Governments in the Persian States:
The British government had secretly signed many treaties with the Persian government and they set out spies and agents in it and resulted in bribery and corrupted administration and the engagement ofits kings in corruption and clotted the body of this country
Reasons for Britain’s fear of the Islamic countries:
9. In spite of planting spies and agents in the Islamic countries, and despite the spreading ofbribery and corrupted administration the British government was un-confident of the results due to the following reasons:
a. The strength ofIslam in the souls ofits followers against all schemes the thing that make Muslim Men different than men of other religions.Due to the fact that the Islamic features and characteristics are planted in the Muslim Man and the make him stand steadfast
b. Islam as a religion Whereas Islam is a religion of life and control, it is hard to tell the masters that you are slaves. The arrogance of supremacy pushes the human being to superiority no matter how weak or low he is. Therefore, the British government was unable to forge the history of Islam.
c. The awakening ofthe Islamic awareness The British government feared that Muslims in their hearts will become aware; the thing that if happens; will result in the failure of all its plans aiming to control. It is true that the Islamic country had reached a great deal of weakness but the existence of a centralized government which the people support and its aspiration is supremacy, money and arms makes the people unsafe.
d. Apprehensiveness of Muslim scholars The government was extremely apprehensive ofMuslim scholars, because AI-Azhar scholars, Iraq scholars and Persia scholars were the toughest barrier in facing the ambitions of the British government; they were extremely ignorant about the modem life principles. They made heaven, which the Koran had promised them of their number one priority so they would not compromise their principles and the people followed them and the sultan feared them.
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Footnotes:
I Humfer’s Autobiography
How Britain deployed its spies and created its different parties among Muslims
10. The British government held many conferences to remove all reasons for fear and to establish sufficient solutions for all these uneasy problems, but they have not reached a good solution yet and all the reports that they received from their agents and spies were disappointing as well as the results of all these conferences were not good. One time they held a conference in the Ministry that was attended by representatives from each of Britain, France, and Russia. It was discussed at the highest level and the attendees were diplomats and religious men. In this conference they mentioned ways to rip Muslims apart and strip them of their belief, but the results were not at the required level and(it is hard to pull the roots of a tree that had grown to the east and to the west of the Land, but man has to overcome difficulties at any cost)!
In 1710 A.D. the British Colonies Ministry sent its spies to each of Egypt, Iraq, Tehran, AI-Hijaz, and Estonia to gather information that will help tear apart Muslims and dominate Muslim countries. The ministry had already provided them with sufficient money, sufficient information, possible maps, names of governors, scholars, tribes and family chiefs.
Footnotes
1Taken with liberty from the autobiography ofHumfer
These spies started to learn the Turkish language and the language ofthe Arabs (The language of Koran) and the Persian language. Some of them pretended to be Muslims and attended the Muslim mosques and met with men of religion to learn all the Islamic rules, and they learned the holy Koran, the practice of ablution and prayer; they were taught by Muslim scholars. After they stayed for a period oftwo years spying in the Islamic countries they received orders from the Ministry to go back to London. There were ten spies assigned with the espionage duty, but only six of them returned and as for the other four, one of them became a Muslim and stayed in Egypt, one went to Russia where he was originally from, the third died in the outskirts of the city of Balad near by Baghdad because of a disease spread all over the country, as for the fourth, his whereabouts are unknown. The ministry had followed him until he got to Sanaa in Yemen and his reports were sent regularly to the ministry for a period of a year but was interrupted after that and the ministry has no information about him. The ministry considered the loss off our out often a catastrophe because they precisely accounted for each one of them.
11. The ministry had met with the six spies and listened to their reports, evaluated them, and advised them. After six months, the British Colonies’ Ministry sent the trained spy Mr. Humfer to the city ofBaghdad in Iraq in order to creat~ disorder between the Sunni and Shiites and find the weak point ofMuslims so he can penetrate his body to defuse the unity ofIslam. Also, his mission in this trip was to identify the conflicts among Muslims and create an atmosphere ofdisagreement, expiation, and mistrust among them as well as make up different faiths and form fake colonial religions to enable the colonizer to reach its objectives in creating division and spread disperse among Muslims instead of eliminating Islam and Muslims religious beliefs. the orders given by the British colonizer to its spies in the Islamic countries were in the following fashion (spread fake and made up faiths and beliefs in Islamic regions within fully considered, matured and organized plans where they preach after they evaluate upon suitable, intellectual background among the different classes ofpeople. There should be no rush…and should spread these beliefs and preach them, they should not be limited to only popular areas, rather they should be spread among the four groups of Sunni in order to create extreme differences and disputes among these groups hence each group would claim that they represent the true Islam and the others are renegades and infidels and must be killed)].
and according to these orders, the spies started carefully to study and to get familiar with the social and political sites in the Islamic societies and their extreme trends; they also started to create the necessary groups to achieve the objectives of their colonial masters. It is obvious that the colonizers didn’t do this first hand; yet to achieve their goals, they were looking for individuals who do not relish strength in faith and fear of God and possess different trends. The colonizer used to excessively offer these individuals financial and moral aids and urge them to establish the various groups. As an example to these, here we point to two groups that fit the subject we are discussing….
a. AI-Shaykhiyyah Group:
An extremist Shiite group which is active in Iraq, and was later called by the name of(AI-Shaykhiyyah), founded by a person called Sheikh Ahmad AI-Ihsani and his student Mr. Kazim AI-Rashti. This group started to praise the virtuous 15 of 56 177 The classification markings are original to the Iraqi documents and do not reflect current US classification. -16- imams to the level of God and presented many overstated notions at this level, and to pave the way for the other extremist group (Al-Wahabi) so they can direct accusations and expiation at each other.
b. Al-Wahabi Group:
Next to Al- Shaykhiyyah, the colonizer created another extreme Sunni group called (Al-Wahabiyyah). The British found in Muhammad ‘Abd-al-Wahab many attributes such as the love of glory, immorality, and extreme views so; they came to realize that he is the right person to establish the group they wanted. Thus they started following him step by step until they found the right opportunity; hence they pointed out to him, the birth of the new faith. Afterwards, they ordered him to concur with another well known agent ofthe seasoned British colonizer that is; Su’ud Bin ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz, and they provided them with the required means to attract followers. Within a given period of fulfilling the duty assigned to them, they killed Al-Hajjaj and everyone who wouldn’t accept their new faith whether he is Shiite or Sunni, was destined to death and plundering, and everyone who thought ofvisiting the holy tomb of profit Muhammad (God’s blessing and peace be upon him) and the holy sites was treated as if he was (infidel) (polytheist).
12. Al-Wahabi principles are based on the expiation ofIslamic faiths and promoting division among Muslims and eliminating the traces ofthe spiritual Islamic message. Al-Hijaz is the homeland ofthis group, and recently the activities ofthis group have increased; everyday they issue a book or an article attacking the Islamic sanctuaries. The Su’ud family spends lots ofmoney in compliance with their masters’ orders to prevent the unity of Muslims, create division among them, expiate them, and to stray each other from the right path. Both groups; Al-Wahabi and Al-Shaykhiyyah are established on wrong views therefore they brought about disorder, blood shedding, and killing 10 of Muslims. Hence, Muhammad Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab established his mission based on visions of(Ibn Timiah)and his intentions. The later was a fan of(Ibn Tawmart) who claimed to be Al-Mihdi [CL: translates the Guide] in North Africa, and his ideas dominated parts of Spain, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco for two centuries; he was nicknamed Mihdi Al-Muwahadin [CL: The guide of those who are united] Then he worked together with Muhammad Su’ud and both their swords and the swords of their followers trickled with blood, and wherever they went, blood was flowing, and they called the Muslims infidels; they killed everyone who didn’t support them and obeyed them. The Wahabis ordeal was big and truly strange to the extent that the Muslim world up to date couldn’t cover up its damages.
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Footnotes: ] Humfer’s autobiography.
Second Topic:
AI-Wahabi Movement’s Missionary
Najd in History
AI-Wahabi movement and it’s founder Muhammad’Abd-al-Wahab
Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab’s trips before the missionary
His encounter with Muhammad Bin Su’ud in AI-Dar’iyyah
Najd in History
13. Najd means the elevated land; it is the name designated for the middle part ofthe Arabic Peninsula which is the largest part of the middle of the island. When the Ottoman State emerged on the political scene in the Arabic Peninsula in 1517, it became satisfied with the nominal authority of this area, and the tribalism was in full swing in Najd; every tribe had its own state, and every group had its own sheikhdom which; takes pride in its authority and praises its name.
Every governor had his own possessions and had no ties to his neighbour, and the Ottoman policy has been mobilised for that purpose. In the twelfth century of Hegira, disorder had dominated Najd, division prevailed, the gap had widened, and emirates had multiplied; the family of Mu’ammar in Al-‘Ayniyyah, the family ofSu’ud in Al-Dar’iyyah, and the Family of Dawwas in Riyadh; Al-Ahsa’ was the emirate of Bani Khalid, Najdan the family of Hazal, Ha’il the family of ‘Ali, Al-Qasyim and the Northern borders of Najd the family ofHajaylan, and in Southern Iraq the emirate was for the family of Shabib.
All ofthe families and the sheikhdoms were in a state ofinstability and confusion with disturbance spread throughout. These groups had no identified political order or a civilization that is worth mentioning, plus the ruling system was in a tribal form l .
Furthermore; there were very little documentation for the history ofthe area by its own people; ‘Uthman Bin Bishir Al-Najdi stated that: (The origin ofNajd and its ancient and modem scholars was not to the extent where they paid attention to the history oftheir land, who built it, what happened in it, who came to it, and who left it; except for very little that was written by few of their scholars) in addition he said: (Then I wanted to gather a collection offacts about the family of Su’ud, their news and their stories, but was unable to find someone who would tell me true information)2
As for the religious situation of Najd; during the era of Tasam and Jiryis, they use to worship AlTiyl which are houses shaped like cubes looking like cells made of clay rise from 200 to 300 yards in height. Paganism was founded afterwards; the tribes ofTaghlib and Bakr Bin wa’il had an idol called ( Dha Al-Ka’bayin) and Magianism grew out ofit and was joined by Bani Tamim in the sixth century A.D. Then Christianity got about and became widespread among the tribes ofTaghlib and Bakr bin Wa’il; also the religion ofAl-Sabi’ah which worships the stars and was adopted by the tribes of Dayran of Bani Tamim, while the people of Najd took up Islam, but after the death of profit Muhammad (God’s blessing and peace be upon him) some tribes have recanted and were engaged in a war that ended with the victory of Muslims. After Islam entered its dark ages; Najd became the breeding ground for myths and heresies and its scholars became divided between introverted and men who carried Islam only by name 13
After the Ottoman nation engaged in wars in Eastern Europe and the defeat that followed; the Arabic nation became under clear confusion and a state offorfeiture; consequently the control over Najd and Hijaz which is owned by the Hashemite became nominal.
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Footnotes:
1 Husayn Khalaf Al-Shaykh Khaz’al, The biography of Sheikh Muhammad Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab, Dar Al-Kitab Press, Beirut 1968 A.D.
2 The Scholar ‘Uthman Bin Bishr Al-Najdi, The Glory in the History ofNajd; part one, Al-Riyad Library, Riyadh, page 4.
Al-Wahabi Movement and its Founder Muhammad ‘Abd-al-Wahab
14. The Wahabi Movement is ascribed to Muhammad Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab Bin Sulayman who traces back to Wahib Al-Tamimi. Sheikh Khaz’al traces back the ancestry of Muhammad Bin’Abd-al-Wahab Bin Sulayman Bin’Ali Bin Ahmad Bin Rashid Bin Yazid Bin Muhammad Bin Yazid to the family of Musharraf who belongs to Bani Tamim tribe which goes back in its descent to ‘Adnan1.Whereas Mustafa Tawran states that; Muhammad Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab is a descent of a family from the Jews ofAI-Dunamah in Turkey. Al-Dunmah refers to the Jews who declared their embracement of Islam in an effort to insult Islam and to escape the pursuit by the Ottoman sultans. Subsequently; Tawran confinns that Sulayman; the grandfather ofthe sheikh, is (Shulman); he is Jew from the merchants ofthe city ofBurstah in Turkey, he had left it and settled in Damascus, grew his beard, and wore the Muslim turban, but was thrown out for being voodoo. Then he fled to Egypt and he faced by strong objection so; he left to Hijaz and settled in Al-‘Ayniyyah where he got married and had child whom he called ‘Abd-al-Wahab and claimed to be from the descent of Rabi’iyyah, and that he was born in Morocco. This has also been supported by sheikh Rifat Salim Kabar in his book, the Jews ofAl-Dunmah and the Origin of the Saudi Wahabis 3
Muhammad Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab was born in Al-‘Ayniyyah in Najd in 1703 from a father who wiped out the faith ofImam Hanbal; he taught jurisprudence and Hadith at Al-‘Ayniyyah mosque. Muhammad was taught in Al-Madinah by sheikh’Abdallah Bin Ibrahim Bin Sina’, and became a student at sixteen years old under Sheikh Hassan Al-Tamimi in Al-Mu’tasim. He was a fan ofIbn Timyah and received his education at the hand ofSheikh Hasan AI-Islambuli; Judge of AI-Basra, and Sheikh Zayn-al-Din Al-Mughrabi and Sulayman Al-Kurdi, ‘Abd-al-Karim AlKurdi, and Sheikh ‘Ali Al-Daghistani. ‘Abd-al-Wahab got married about twenty times, the first time
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Footnotes:
1Sheikh Khaz’aI, Biography ofSheikh Muhammad, Previous reference – page 42 2 Sheikh Khaz’al, previous reference – page 49, also scholar Al-Najdi, the Histori ofNajd, previous reference – page 89
3 Turan, Dr. Mustafa, the Jews ofAl-Dunamah, Translation ofKamal Al-Khawjah, Cairo 1989 – page 14.
in AI-‘Ayniyyah and also in Baghdad, she died immediately and he took a spouse the daughter of prince ‘Abdallah Bin Mu’ammar and she gave birth to six boys and six girls. He died after he suffered from a disease that took his life shortly afterwards on June 2, 1792 and was buried in AI-Dar’iyyah graveyard that was designated to Su’ud family and his grave is known there till this day!.
At the very beginning, Muhammad Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab learned from many ofthe scholars of Mecca and AI-Madinah; his father ‘Abda-al-Wahab was a good scholar and used to insult him and warn people about him. His brother Sulayman bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab wrote a book to answer him; in his early days, he was fond ofreading about those who claim prophecy like; Musaylamah, Sajah, AI-Aswad AI-‘Ansi, and Talihat AI-Asadi and such. He has four children; ‘Abdallah, Hasan, Husayn, and ‘Ali.
The supporter of Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab and the one who spread his faith was Muhammad bin Su’ud, after that his sons; ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz and Su’ud and then Su’ud bin ‘Abd-al- ,Aziz who humiliated Iraq and prevented Muslims from going to Hajj; thus Hajj was interrupted in his time for years.
15. The origin ofthe Wahabi movement is that the Arabs, especially those masters ofthe demons said that; a poor herdsman by the name of Sulayman had a dream that a flame emerged from him, spread throughout the land, and started to bum everyone that had an encounter with it. He told of his dream to someone who interpreted it as; a son of his will establish a strong land. So his dream came true in the ideology of Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab. Thus when Muhammad grew up, he became respected [CL: The study has a typo that reads Muhtarifan instead of Muhtaraman] by the people of his town because of that dream which he didn’t know of. In the beginning, he secretly revealed his faith and a group ofpeople followed him; then he traveled to Great Syria, but no one there followed him so; he returned to the Land of the Arabs after he left it for three years, he came to Najd and revealed this faith or (the Movement). Su’ud followed him and they both had strength in each other; Su’ud strengthened his emirate through religion by following Muhammad bin ‘Abdai-Wahab in his faith, yet bin’Abd-al-Wahab promoted his missionary by means ofsword. With Su’ud following him and becoming victorious through him, Su’ud became the ruling prince and bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab the religious leader and their children thereafter took over the rank oftheir predecessors.
After Su’ud became the ruler ofhis tribe, he conquered two tribes from Yemen and a large number ofArab tribes became subjected to this faith and so did all the Arabs of Najd; they picked the city of AI-Dar’iyyah to be the capital oftheir country which is situated in the south east of AI-Basra. Fifteen years later, the Su’ud emirate expanded; he had aspiration to grow, and used to take one ten ofthe livestock, money, honor, even souls. He takes one ten from people by lottery so; he collected enormous amounts ofmoney and his army exceeded hundred.
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Footnotes:
! Sheikh Khaz’al, previous reference – page 333, The History ofNajd, previous reference – page 88
and twenty thousand fighters. Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab started to emerge in the year of 1143 of Hegira and became famous after he turned fifty where he revealed the false faith in Najd and its dependant territories; starting off with the support ofMuhammad bin Su’ud, prince of Al-Dar’iyyah he prompted its people to follow him so they did. Many Arabs obeyed him, until he became strong and the desert feared him. He used to tell them: I am calling upon you to unite and leave polytheism.
Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab, according to the “History ofNajd” book by Mahmud Shukri AI-Alusi; grew up in the town ofAl-‘Ayniyyah, the land ofNajd, he read religion to his father in accordance with the school of Ahmad bin Hanbal, and ever since he was a little child; he spoke words which Muslims didn’t know and furthermore he was denying them what they have agreed to do. Yet no one helped him in that respect so; he traveled from AI-‘Ayniyyah to Mecca, then to AI-Medina where he learned from sheikh ‘Abdallah bin Ibrahim bin Sayf, and he emphasized AI-Tankir [CL: That is to deny something be it the profit or practices in Islam etc…] over appealing to the profit Muhammad (God’s blessing and peace be upon him) by his tomb. Later on he moved to Najd then to Basra; when he arrived in Basra, he stayed there for a period oftime where he learned from Sheikh Muhammad AI-Majmu’i, and lied to its people about many things so they threw him out. He fled there, and after many moves he arrived in a town called Huraymulah in Najd, the town where his father came from; he stayed with him and read to him and showed disapproval of Muslim beliefs in Najd; his father reprimanded him but Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab wouldn’t stop until they got into a big dispute. Furthermore, he engaged into many arguments with the Muslims of Huraymulah that lasted for two years until his father passed away in 1153 of Hegira and he became bold enough to bring out his beliefs and disapprove of what Muslim have concurred. The scum of people have joined him until the people of the town became fed up with his articles and were determined to kill him so; he moved from Huraymulah to Al-‘Ayniyyah which was governed by ‘Uthman bin Ahmad bin Mu’ammar. Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab allured him ofbecoming the king of Najd so; ‘Uthman helped him and he told the people ofhis disapproval ofMuslims and was followed by few ofthe people of Al-‘Ayniyyah. He demolished the dome of Zayd bin AI-Khattab by AI-Jubaylah which made him important and his news reached Sulayman bin Muhammad bin ‘Aziz AI-Hamidi owner of AI-Ihsa’, as well as Alqatif and its dependant territories so; Sulayman sent a letter to ‘Uthman ordering him to kill bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab and warning him of violating his order. ‘Uthman didn’t care and violated the order so, Sulayman ordered him to leave his kingdom, bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab told him then: ifyou support me you will rule Najd, but Sulayman didn’t listen to him therefore; he left to AI-Dar’iyyah in 1160 ofHegira (which is the land of Musaylimah the Liar) and its ruler at the time was; Muhammad bin Su’ud, from the tribe of’ Anayzah. He begged him and allured him of ruling the land of Najd so he followed him and supported him in killing Muslims. Thus he wrote to the people of Najd, their Rulers, and their judges requesting their allegiance. Few ofthem submitted to him and few didn’t pay him attention so; he ordered the people of AI-Dar’iyyah to fight, so they complied and fought with him the people of Najd and AIhsa’ many times, until some ofthem submitted to him willingly or unwillingly, and the emirate ofNajd became the property of the family ofSu’ud helplessly and by force.
Sheikh Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab was known among his relatives by his shrewdness and brightness and portrayed as active, polite and extremely hard working. He used to give his followers everything he had; he was taught 22 of 56 184 The classification markings are original to the Iraqi documents and do not reflect current US classification. – 23- 16 by great teachers, wise men, and scholars and he became the herald ofthis nation. He conformed to A1- Hanafiyyah method, mimicking Imam Aba Hanifah in the fundamentals, but following his personal views when it comes to ramifications. Afterwards he went on giving legal opinions independently based on his own discretion, and he called people upon this. Such these discretions are considered all Muslim denominations, Jews, Christians, and all types ofpeople are infidels, polytheists, and same as idol worshipers; his proof ofthat is that the glorification and reverence ofMuslims for profit Muhammad’s tomb (God’s blessing and peace be upon him), his holy garden, and the tombs ofthe virtuous, is nothing but worshipping idols. That is the same for the case of Christians and Jews who set up statues of Musa and Christ (Peace and prayer be upon him) in their churches and temples. However; devotion to God is to kneel to the very incumbent of existence and worship him, might and majesty belongs to him, and have no partners with him.
A crowd of his own tribe and the public followed him in that, and he become to have circles that have voice and can come to results. Yet he is still threatening to demolish the dome of God’s messenger Muhammad (God’s blessing and peace be upon him) and all holy tombs. He is putting before his eyes that once he takes over the power, he will make them even with ground and abolish any trace to them. Although this movement or faith emerged and spread during the era of Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab in the eighteenth century; yet the very first seed was since the days ofAhmad bin Tamimah in the seventeenth century and his student, bin Maytham AI-Jawziyyah.
Muhammad Bin ‘Abd-AI-Wahab’s Trips Before The Missionary
16. Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab’s trip to Mecca was for acquiring education and Hajj, then he went to AI-Medina AI-Munawwarah where he learned religion from narrator; AI-Sayyd Hayat AI Sundi and the scholar AI-Majdi ‘Abdallah bin Ibrahim Al Sayifin 1723 A.D. Then he returned to his home town afterwards and started to deny openly the acts of obsession with the profit, the guardians, and the holy men, and considered that polytheism. He was opposed with sarcasm for saying that which made him leave AI-‘Ayniyyah in 1724 A.D. passing thru AI-Ihsa and stayed with sheikh ‘Abdallah bin Muhammad AI-Shafi’i AI-Ihsa’i, then he entered Iraq and went to Basra and stayed at the school of sheikh Muhammad bin AI-Majmu’i located in the famous district ofAI-Mujamma’a in Basra. Because of his missionary, the people ofAI-Basra started to harass him so he left it walking on foot, and almost died ofheat and tiresome. He arrived at AI-Zubayr and returned to his family in Huraymulah after his family moved to it as a result oftheir dispute with its prince. Then Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab left to Baghdad and stayed in AI-Wazir mosque (AI-Malik bin Husayn). He worked in teaching theology to Sheikh ‘Abd-al-Karim AI-Kurdi AI-Shafi’i and Sheikh Sabghatallah AI-Haydari. He was elected Imam to one ofthe mosques in Baghdad, and there he met sheikh ‘Abd-al-Rahman AI-Suwaydi; one of Baghdad’s senior scholars. He married a rich woman there, after she died, he inherited lots money from her and stayed in Baghdad three years. After his wife’s death, Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab left to Kurdistan and stayed for one year there; he moved from there to Iran and lived in Al-‘Abbasi School in Asfahan and was educated by Mirza Khan AI-Asfahani. He stayed for a year then moved to Tehran accompanied by his student from Baghdad; ‘Ali AI-Ghazar.
Afterwards he moved to Turkey teaching people the faith of Hanbal although their faith was Hanafi. He left there and returned to Syria where he stayed six months in Aleppo studying Arabic language; then he moved to Damascus where the school ofHanbali teachings is and the home of Timiyyah and AI-Jawziyyah. There he condemned acts of Sufis, Darawish, and Naqshbandies, and their glorifying to the tomb oftheir sheikh; Muhi-al-Din bin’Arabi.
Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab left Damascus heading to Jerusalem which he then left to Cairo and lived in AI-Azhar and was the student of Sheikh Muhammad Zain-al-Din, he stayed there for two years, and returned to his family in 1738 A.D. This trip enabled him to learn about the common people, and what they do; it also gave him abundant knowledge of the Muslim schools offaith until he announced his calling and was opposed by his father. He remained isolated for two years until the death ofhis father late 1739 A.D. He was appointed a judge after his father, but because of his calling, the people of the town attempted to assassin him so; he escaped to Al-‘Ayniyyah and was received by its prince; he married AI-Jawharh bint ‘Abdallah bin AI-Mu’ammar from the prince and started his calling from there. He worked in teaching the tribes and together with the prince, they demolished the dome of the tomb of Zain bin AI-Kattab, removed the embellishments, and threw stones at a prostitute. In addition to that, he wrote the book (Al-Tawhid) which made the prince of AI-Hisa order the prince ofAl-‘Ayniyyah to throw him out so; he left to AI-Dar’iyyah in the year 1745 A.D.l
His Encounter with Muhammad Bin Su’ud in AI-Dar’iyyah
17. After leaving Al-‘Ayniyyah, Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab headed to AI-Dar’iyyah. He arrived there in the year 1745 A.D. There he met Muhammad bin Su’ud who was nicknamed AlSheikh, but he was given the title Prince and the name sheikh was restricted to men of religion. The first meeting between the prince and the sheikh was in the home of Sheikh Ahmad bin Suwaylim Al- ‘Arrifi, they both agreed to support each other and to give the religious power to Muhammad bin ‘AbdaI-Wahab while the family of Su’ud will be in charge ofthe secular power (government). They agreed and shook hands saying (Blood for blood and destruction for destruction)2
For the close relation between the Family of Su’ud and AI-Wahabi Movement, we will have a brief introduction to Muhammad bin Su’ud.
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Footnotes:
I Cited with liberty from the book ofSheikh Khaz’al and Sheikh Al-Najdi, reference previously mentioned. 2 Sheikh Khaz’al, reference previously mentioned, page 159 -160, also Al-‘Allamah Al-Najdi is a previous reference, page 49.
Muhammad bin Su’ud was born in Al-Dar’iyyah in 1687 AD. He is Muhammad bin Su’ud bin Miqrin bin Markhan bin Ibrahim bin Musa bin Rabi’ah bin Mani’. His ancestors trace back to the tribe of ‘Anzah, one ofthe Arabic tribes. Books which support the family ofSu’ud, agree thatl ; he took the sheikdom of Al-Dar’iyyah for forty years, he spent half of them, before the arrival of the Sheik, and married one ofthe sheikh’s daughters and had four boys; Su’ud and Faysal were killed in his life time, whereas ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz and ‘Abdallah ere left. He died while he was in AI-Dar’iyyah and was buried there in the year 1765 AD.
As for the books that do not support his calling; they mention something different. Yusif Hatatah states that (Bin Su’ud is not related to one of the famous Arabic homes, neither pre Islamic times, nor during Islamic times Y. Yet ‘Abd-al-Wahab Al-Shammari says (Muhammad Bin Su’ud is ofa Jewish descent also, and traces back to the Jewish Mardakhai bin Ibrahim bin Mushi; who was a merchant in AlBasra, he was approached by a group from the tribe of’Anza, and Al-Masalikh subdivision to buy from him; he claimed to be one of them and was extremely generous with them and traveled with them to Najd and his name became Markhan bin Ibrahim bin Musa, men gathered around him because of his money and wealth?
Yet Nasir Al-Su’ud; he says in his book (The History ofthe Su’ud Family) that the Saudi ambassador in Cairo, ‘Abdallah bin Ibrahim Al-Mufaddal, had paid Muhammad Al-Tamimi thirty five thousand Jinee in the year 1943 AD. to place a fake tree for the family of Su’ud and the family of ‘Abd-al Wahab and merge them together in one tree claiming that they are from the origin of profit Muhammad (God’s blessing and peace be upon him). The Saudis have rewarded him by appointing him a manager for all Saudi libraries 4. Then Al-Shammari goes back to mention that the ancestors of the family of Su’ud is Jewish because; the name Muhammad bin Su’ud bin Muqrin bin Makun bin Mardakhai bin Ibrahim bin Mushi, is not Arabic and Arabs do not use names such as (Mardakhai), (Mushi or Makwan) which were changed later to (Markhan, Musa, and Muqrin).
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Footnotes:
I Same previous reference, page 50.
2 YusifKamil Hatatah, a book by the name; Al-Mas’alah Al-Hijaziyyah [CL: translates; Al-Hijaz Affair]
3 Al-Shammari, Al-Wahabi Movement, preiously mentioned reference, page 21.
4 Al-Sa’id Nasir, The History ofthe Su’ud Family, Part 1, page 17.
Third Topic:
Invasions and the Wahabi connections; and the views ofwriters and historians
.:. The Wahabi invasions in Najd
. •:. The Wahabis and AI-Hijaz.
•:. AI-Wahabi movement and Iraq.
•:. The Wahabi – British relations.
•:. Different views ofthe Wahabi Movement
.:. Conclusion
The Wahabi Invasions in Najd
18. Sheikh Khaz’al states in his book (Bin Su’ud and Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab were in full agreement in all oftheir behaviors as ifthey were one personality with two functions in life. Thus the prince never took an important decision or started a project without the approval of the Sheikh)l. After two years of his stay in Al-Dar’iyyah, Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab ordered its people to fight other tribes and call upon them to his ideology. His first invasion was on Al-‘Arab [CL: The Bedouins]; they killed them and took their money. In 1746 and 1755 the people ofHuraymulah lead by their judge Sheikh Sulayman, brother of Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab, threw out the prince of the Su’ud family, consequently; ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz bin Su’ud along with 800 fighters marched towards Huraymulah, killed its people and took possession ofit. In 1757 A.D. ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz prepared an army in which he seized (Manfluhah) and wrecked its dam (Al-Rasha) and the fighting went on between them until’Abd-al- ‘Aziz killed its chiefs, conquered it in 1761, and demolished its homes and domes. In 1747 the emirate of the Su’ud family directed an army which conquered Shadiq, seized its livestock, and killed many of its people. In 1756 Ashiqar was seized and conquered after few invasions. In 1761, they invaded AlSadir in Northern Najd. The Su’ud Family forces killed people, burnt houses, seized livestock and money during their invasions.
In Muhammad bin Su’ud’s era, his army engaged in wars and invaded the areas of Riyadh, Najdan, and Ihsa’ in which; Su’ud and Faysal the sons ofthe Prince were killed upon the attack by Daham bin Daras, owner of Riyadh in 1747 and Riyadh was subjugated to the rule ofthe Su’ud family following many battles in 1764. In 1765 Prince Muhammad bin Su’ud died leaving ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz behind; who seized AI-Zulfa in 1780 A.D. and Al-Mujamma’a, that was famous for its hostility towards the Wahabi Movement, in 1779 A.D. And with that, the whole region was conquered; with the leadership of Su’ud bin Muhammad. In the year 1774 A.D. Al-Dulm was seized and its owner Zayd bin Zamil and its people were killed. In 1782 A.D. Al-‘Aqim was seized, and 1785 A.D. ‘Antarah was seized, and over there Prince Su’ud bin’Abd-al-‘Aziz was acknowledged as crown prince, and Muhammad bin’AbdaI-Wahab secluded himselffrom politics, stayed put at home, and referred matters to Prince ‘Abd-al- ‘Aziz bin Su’ud.
In 1790 A.D., AI-Ihsa’ was completely conquered and the Su’ud family reigned over Najd; and stirred its direction to Hijaz where Mecca, Medina, Jedda, Al-Ta’if, and Yanbu’ are; and the reign there was for the Nobles of Mecca, The Hashemite who had absolute power under nominal rule of the Ottoman State!.
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Sheikh Khaz’al, previously mentioned reference, page 265.
The Wahabis and AI-Hijaz
19. AI-Hijaz is the dividing mountains between the high Najd and the low coast line ofthe Red Sea; its most popular cities are Mecca, Medina, Al-Ta’if, and Yanbu’. It was successively ruled by the Nobles ofMecca, but when Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab declared his missionary in Najd; the people ofAI-Hijaz started to follow the course of that missionary. After the Sheikh [CL: That is Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab] stopped in AI-Dar’iyyah and began to fight his opponents and destroy domes, and the practices that are related to this missionary; the nobles ofMecca joined his opposition and declared their war against the missionary, and decided to do away with it. The first one to confront the Wahabi Movement was the Noble Mas’ud bin Sa’id who submitted reports to the Sublime Port [CL: Ottoman authority] explaining the threat of the missionary to the Islamic Caliphate in Turkey; he gained the blessing from the Sublime Port in which the people ofNajd were prohibited from making the pilgrimage and entering Mecca. After his death, his brother (Musa’id) took over the matters of Mecca and kept his brother’s position until he died leaving behind, ‘Abdallah bin Sa’id; who ruled for few days, and his brother (Ahmad) took over. His nephews; the family ofMusa’id, arouse against him and forced him out. The emirate was turned over to Surur bin Musa’id who permitted the Wahabis to fulfill the religious obligation of pilgrimage after they pay levy just like foreigners. When the power was turned over to Noble Ghalib; he deployed ten thousand fighters from Arabs, Turks, Egyptians, and Moroccans; with the leadership of his brother ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz and the nobles ofMecca he attacked Najd however; they were faced with strong resistance and noble Ghalib was forced to enter into peace agreement.
After long battles, the Su’ud family with the leadership of ‘Uthman AI-Mudaiqi were able to conquer Al-Ta’if, and Prince Ghalib was forced to leave it in 1803 A.D., two hundred men of its people were killed, its wealth and weapons were seized, and ‘Uthman was appointed its prince2 • The Su’ud family then was able to rein Mecca after it was turned over by noble’Abd-al-Mu’in in exchange for him continuing to be its prince. In the year 1804 A.D., Medina surrendered after the forces of the Su’ud family have laid a strong and strict siege, imposed tax upon its people, seized the treasures located in the grave of profit Muhammad (God’s blessing and peace be upon him), and tried to wreck the dome of the profit’s grave but they were faced with strong resistance so they left it
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Footnotes:
1 Cited and summarised with liberty from the book of The Biography of Sheikh Muhammad bin ‘Abd al-Wahab, and the books of The History ofNajd and The History of the Su’ud Family.
2 Sheikh Khaz’al, previously mentioned reference, page 375.
3 Al-Sammari, The Wahabi Movement, previously mentioned reference, page 75.
Thus were the Wahabis able to control Al-Hijaz and make its people believe in the missionary Furthermore; they were able to impose the ambitious-al-‘Aziz bin ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz so he became wealthy and began to communicate with the kings and princes of the Arabic and Islamic countries, explain the objectives ofthe missionary and its substance and call upon them to accept it. The Ottoman State was skeptical about the movement and saw a dangerous threat to setting forth its power on the Arabic countries and the establishing of the emirates which will succeed it. Therefore; it authorized Muhammad’Ali, the governor ofEgypt, to stifle it, and appointed him governor ofAlHijaz in addition to Egypt. Muhammad’Ali sent a military expedition yet it came to nothing so; he sent another expedition lead by his son; Ibrahim Pasha who gained victory over the Su’ud family and inflicted enormous losses upon them, seized Al-Hijaz, destroyed Al-Dar’iyyah which is the centre of the Wahabi leadership, and arrested ‘Abdallah bin Su’ud and sent him to Astana where he was executed.
After that; Turki bin ‘Abdallah bin Muhammad bin Su’ud came into sight in the year 1888. He was able to bring back the authority over Najd. He started actively uniting his state and spreading his missionary; he was able to stretch out his rule to reach Al-Ihsa’, assumed AI-Riyadh his capital, and began communicating with countries in the East and the West to call upon them to accept his missionary. He described himself as guardian of all Muslims and was called Imam. His son Faysal succeeded him, he was more eager which scared the Ottomans. Thus; they sent an expedition during Muhammad ‘Ali’s time and was destined to make triumph over Faysal who managed to escape and recaptured his power over Najd, and edges of Al-Hijaz and ‘Asir in 1260 of Hegira; He forced the princes ofMasqat, Bahrain, and the coasts of the Arab Gulfto pay annual levy . After his death, his son ‘Abd-al-Rahman succeeded him in 1288 of Hegira, where the fighting among the Su’ud family over the reign had started which helped the coming out ofthe prince of Shamar; Muhammad bin ‘AbdaI-Rashid. He came to be of widespread authority covered Najd, Al-Ihsa’ up to the Arab Gulf east, and the mountains of Hawran, Wadi Al-Dawasir, and Wadi Al-Rumman West. He made Ha’il the center of his state; and was caught in many big conflicts with the Su’ud family, conquered AI-Riyadh, defeated the Wahabis, and forced ‘Abd-al-Rahman to escape and go to the Kuwaiti sheikhs.
In the year 1900 A.D. ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz bin ‘Abd-al-Rahman, managed to attack AI-Rashid family and reclaimed AI-Riyadh, the conflict between them lasted for twenty years, where the Ottoman government supported the Rashid family which made the Su’ud family get in touch with the British and sign a treaty with them in 1914 A.D. thus England acknowledged the emirate ofthe Su’ud family over Najd, Al-Ihsa’, Al-Qatif, and AI-Jabal; and promised to help them against any attacks provided that, they do not deal with anyone else but them also; they shall not interfere in the affairs of Kuwait and the Gulf States which; were under the protection of Britain. Also Britain dedicated a financial aid that amounts to forty thousand golden sterling pounds
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Footnotes:
1 Darwazah, Muhammad ‘Izzah, The Birth ofthe Modem Arabic Movement. The Modem Library Beirut 1949 A.D., page 70.
and through this alliance; the Sa’ud family was able to remove the emirate ofAI-Rashid family and subjugate them to the authority of the family of Sa’ud Al-Wahab
After that, a conflict erupted between the Nobles of Mecca and the Su’ud family and the reason was that SharifHusayn bin ‘Ali; noble of Mecca, had signed with Britain his famous agreement in which he teamed up with the British and declared a revolution against the Ottoman State and became king in the year 1916 and considered Najd included in his area of reign. ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz refused that, and the conflict between them began with’Abdul-‘Aziz coming out victorious when he attached Al-Ta’if and seized it in 1924 A.D. then he proceeded to Mecca then Rabi’ and Medina and seized them. Thereupon; SharifHusayn pulled back to Jeddah where he transferred the monarchy to his son ‘Ali who receded for his inability so; it was ascended by ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz and Al-‘Asir in 1930 where he negotiated with the British and signed an agreement with them in which they acknowledged his reign over Najd and Hijaz. In the year 1932 A.D. and his kingdom was called; (The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).
The Wahabi Movement and Iraq
20. The power in Southern Iraq was in the hand ofthe Shabib family and the princes ofAlMuttafaq at that time and Thawini bin ‘Abdalah Al-Mutawlli was ruling Al-Muttafaq, and carried out many expeditions over Al-Qasim gaining many victories. He also launched an attack on AI-Dar’iyyah, but before he got to it, the prince of Su’ud took them by surprise and marched an army to meet Thawini and his tribes, a fight erupted among them ended with the defeat of Thawini’s army and his forces, leaving plunder and money and heading towards Safwan where he was chased by the army of Su’ud whom he had defeated and returned victorious to Al-Dar’iyyah. In 1789 A.D. Thawini returned with another expedition on Al-Qasim, and with the direction and the support of the Ottoman State in 179 A.D. Similar to that, the Su’ud family prepared three armies; entrusted the first one to Muhammad bin Mu’ayqil which camped in the village ofAl-Ma’ Al-Ma’rufin Al-Ta’iff, the other one was under the command of Imishari bin Su’ud which camped in AI-Ihsa’, and the third one lead by prince Su’ud, planned to be a cover for the other two armies. Met after the arrival of Thawini in AI-Ihsa’, and Hasan bin Imsahri assumed the general command, and was able to intercept Thawini’s forces who was killed in his tent, in the hands of a slave who was authorized by prince Su’ud in the year 1797; the thing which prompted the army’s anger, destroyed it, and helped the Su’ud family to defeat them, kill them, and chase them until they arrived at The Kuwaiti Sheikhdom.
In retaliation for the attack of AI-Muttafaq tribes; the Su’ud family, the Wababis, set out an expedition on Iraq led by Su’ud. He penetrated the Iraqi border until he went deeply into Suq AI-Shuyukh, killed its people, and violated its sanctuaries which made its escape
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I Darwazah, previously mentioned reference, page 71 24
and they died drowning in the Euphrates river in the year 1798 A.D. He left it afterwards to go to Samawah, attacked the tribes of Shammar, tribes ofAI-Zafir, the family of Ba’iyj and Zaqarit, killed the chiefof Shammar (Matlaq), and seized the money and the prizes I. In the year 18 01 A.D. Prince Su’ud attacked Iraq’s Southern border and proceeded into the Middle Euphrates, (Shattatah Tribes) in ‘Ayn AI-Tamr in Karbala’ and camped out there; he entered the city climbing up its walls in March 23, 1802. There was no army in it so; its people rushed to resist them, but they were not able to face such barbaric attacks, many ofthem were killed and the Su’ud forces took hold oftheir money goods, and looted everything inside the dome of Imam AI-Husayn’s (peace be upon him) tomb from valuable statues and precious gems. Furthermore; they took the monument located on the bed ofthe Imam, sabotaged the bed and ruined it2 • The forces of the Wahabi family of Su’ud carried out killing, looting, and destroying all Shiite sights in Karbala’3.
Darwazah stated that the forces of the Su’ud family attacked all shrines glorified by the Shiite in Iraq; such as the toms of ‘Ali and Husayn (peace be upon them) and others. They destroyed them, and looted their relics, alleging that these shrines; are violations with all their embellishments, the celebrations that take place on their ground 6554 s, sacrifices that are offered to them and the prayers and appeals which are cited for them. Furthermore; these forces have murdered all Shiite who opposed them 4.
In the beginning ofthe seventeenth century, the Wahabis attacked convoys ofpilgrims from the tribes of(AI-Khaza’il) ofthe people of Iraq near Najd. The threat ofthe Wahabis increased and they raided the town of(‘Annah) in the year 1800 A.D., they killed its people, and looted their wealth. Also; they raided the village of(Kabisah) but its people resisted them with all their power 5.
In the year 1810 A.D. a Gang of Wahabis led by ‘Abdallah bin Mas’ud reached a place near by Baghdad and proceeded robbing people and killing them. As a result of all these atrocities and others, a man from Northern Iraq by the name of’Uthman AI-Kurdi, travelled to AI-Dar’iyyah and stayed there claiming that he is seeking education and religion killed prince’ Abd-al-Amir bin Su’ud in AI-Ta’ifmosque, which is known in AI-Dar’iyyah; in October 3,1803 A.D. As a revenge for his family, Su’ud was inaugurated their prince!. Himli comments by saying:”The new ideology found very little popularity in Iraq; the alleged Wahabi armies were received just like deserters and thieves because; the tribes of Iraq, Sunni and Shiite, were not able to change their faith with one paved by fire and invasion of livestock)2. He adds about the invasion of Karbala’ (The rough Wahabis have worked up their way to the holy shrines and started to destroy them…. and on top ofthese acts, they killed about fifty people near the shrine and 500 others outside the shrine in AI-Sahn… They mercilessly killed everyone they encountered and robbed every house) 3.
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1 Sheikh Khaz’al, previously mentioned reference, page 386
2 AI-Wa’ili, ‘Uthman bin Sanad AI-Wa’ili AI-Basari, Study of the Su’ud family, Dar AI-Hikmah press/ Baghdad, 1991 A.D.
3 AI-Khafni ‘Abd-al-Mun’im, Encyclopedia of Difference, Groups, schools, and Islamic Movements, second edition, Madbuli N. book store, Egypt 1999 A.D., page 681
4 Darwazah, The Birth of The Modem Arabic Movement, previously mentioned reference, page 71.
5 AI-Shammari, The Wahabi Movement, previously mentioned reference, page 70.
The British-Wahabi Relation
21. Humfer mentioned in his biography his relation with Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab when he met him in AI-Basra, and how he befriended him and their relationship became very strong to the extent that Humfer was able to stir ‘Abd-al-Wahab in the way that serves the British intelligence without him knowing. In Isfahan, ‘Abd-al-Wahab was approached to fulfil a British plan provided that Britain will protect him, provide him with money and arms, and to give him a small emirate in the outskirts ofNajd under the following conditions:
a. Expiation of Muslims and justify killing them and robbing their money.
b. Demolish the Kaaba and the tombs of the pioneer Muslims, consider them idols, and disrespect the Profit and the Caliphates.
Humfer listed the complete details which led him to this result since its beginning in 1710 A.D. when Britain delegated him to collect information for bracing the ways to break Muslims and control their land in Turkey, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, and AI-Hijaz. He called himself Muhammad and learned Persian, Turkish, and Arabic languages in London; until he reached Turkey and stayed in a mosque for the purpose of learning. He mastered the Turkish and Arabic languages and learned Islamic science for two years; then he moved to Basra and worked as a carpenter claiming to be from Azerbaijan. People believed him because of his looks and his Turkish language. He met Bin Abd-al-Wahab there, the ambitious young man irritable and resentful of the Turkish rule. Humfer says that: (The ambitious young man Muhammad, used to think of himself as wise as the Koran and Sunna, and stipulated the views of the scholars, not just the scholars ofhis own time and the four Islamic schools of thought yet; the views ofAbi Bakr and ‘Vmar [CL: Muslim Caliphates] too, as he understood the Koran in a way different from them, and he used to say: “I am leaving you with the Koran and the Sunna and didn’t say, I am leaving you with Koran, Sunna, AI-Sahaba [CL: the companions ofthe profit] and the schools ofthought” Humfer found his long sought goal in Muhammad who used to look down upon the Caliphates and Imams such as Abi Hanifah, and said: (I am more discerning than Abi Hanifah). This Spy mentions that ‘Abd-al-Wahab started to explain Koran in light of the views they present to him, not according to the understanding ofthe profit’s companions and the sheikhdoms, and this is where he became under control, poison his thoughts, cause him to fall into mistakes, and commit sins. He started permitting himself what God had prohibited him from doing. Afterwards; ‘Abd-al-Wahab was approached to work for the interest ofBritain, and he agreed; and they gave him their big plan to destroy Islam. Following that; ‘Abd-al-Wahab went to see his family along with Humfer whom he claimed to be a slave that he bought from the market; he stayed with him for two years during which the plan to emerge the missionary was concluded. Humfer had gathered the men around him, gave them arms and money, and years after according to Humfer, the British ministry was able to bring Muhammad bin Su’ud to ‘Abd-al-Wahab’s side and together they assumed Al-Dar’iyyah, the capital of the new religion!.
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I Same previous reference, page 72
2 Loncaric, Mr Steven Homily, Four Centuries ofIraq’s Modern History, Translated by Ja’far Al-Khayyat, third edition, Baghdad 1963 A.D., page 211
3 Same previous reference, page 265.
22. The relationship between the Wahabis and Britain didn’t end after Humfer (or Muhammad), as he called himself, completed his mission. Thus Britain worked on emerging the so called Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab, and arranged for his meeting with Muhammad bin Su’ud to destroy the Arabic Islamic State, and for the sake of the British interests; the British! Wahabi relations lasted from the eighteenth century till this date. In the early twentieth century, the British began developing these relationships in a form of treaties, and to fulfill their plans; the Indian government appointed a Jewish British officer by the name (David Shakespeare) and sent him to Riyadh, upon the breakout of the First World War, to represent the British interests. This British officer led one ofthe Wahabi invasions in 1915 A.D. with ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz bin Su’ud to seize Ha’il along with five thousand individuals who started out from Kuwait to kill the family ofRashid who was against Britain; the family of Shammar was able to defeat them and kill (Shakespeare)2. Thus the leadership was tended to (Johan Philippi) to coordinate between the Wahabis and Britain, and due to the fact, he changed his name to (Muhammad Philippi) and changed later to Hajj (‘Abdallah Philippi), he grew his beard, gave a monthly salary equal to 500 sterling pounds to ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz and to his father ‘Abd-al-Rahman and 25 sterling pounds to each of his brothers. Also; he brought 30,000 rifles with their ammunition and formed a religious army that abide by the image of the sheikhs completely, and was called (the Brotherhood Army) their distinctive mark is a (turban) over the head and their motto is (The smell of Paradise is approaching, who wants to be first?) 1 .
Philippi led the first meeting between Bracey Cocas, the British envoy to the Arab Gulf, and’Abd-al- ‘Aziz bin Su’ud in Al-Qasir Camp in 1915; by virtue ofwhich he granted ‘Abd-a1-‘Aziz the medal of the British Sultanate for his service to Britain, Bracey Cocas, in that meeting, called on the problem of the Palestinians and the Jews and asked for ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz’s help by giving the Palestinian land to the Jews as a collateral for the endurance of his power, hence he said: (I think this is a guarantee for your endurance as it is in the interest of Britain that the Jews have a homeland and existence, and Britain’s interests are, by all means, in your interest) ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz replied: (Yes; if my acknowledgement means so much to you, I acknowledge thousand times granting a homeland to the Jews in Palestine or other than Palestine) 2
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Footnotes:
1 Summarized with liberty from Humfer’s autobiography, page 31-49.
2 J.D. Discove, Kuwait and its Neighbors, translated by Jasim Al-Mubarak, first edition, part one, Kuwait, 1964 A.D., page 146.
Various views in the Wahabi Movement
23. Historians and writers who have discussed the Wahabi movement and the History of the Su’ud family have differed in their views, some of them consider it a corrective movement, some have ranked it among the destructive religious movements that are he research extreme, some considered it a foreign movement that has slipped in to destroy Islam by means of the Jews, Britain, the western, and America, others considered it a religious movement at the beginning, but has been made for the purpose of the Su’ud family that is eager to control the Arabic Peninsula in Najd and AL-Hijaz. I deemed it appropriate to list most of the views I have read:
In that respect, Darwazah stated that: (This movement ia ascribed to a scholar from Najd bt the name of Sheikh Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab, originally from a town by the name of’Ayniyyah in Najd. He was educated by AI-Hanbali school of Islamic thought. He was in Iraq and other Arabic countries and witnessed what the Arab Muslims were up to from heresies, religiously and morally forbidden acts, and bad habits which contradict Islam. He began to disapprove that and condemn that, and to call upon them to return to Islam and its attributes in the book of God and his Profit)3.
Another view states that (During the days of Sultan Salim, injustice grew on the hands of every wicked giant, and so did the mighty power of’Abd-al-‘Aziz bin Sa’ud; he made roads scary, by filling them with bombs, and soldiers calling for the heresy of Muhammad Bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab flaring up fires every where there is population and structure and calling everyone who believed in one God and spent his day and night praying; infidel. He permitted shedding blood of Muslims and called them by the names which are attributed to infidels)! As for Father Karmaly he says ofthe Wahabi calling that (they are Sunnis from Ahmad bin Hanbal’s school ofthought, or AI- Wahabi because the Wahabis are Hanbalis[ CL: ascribed Ahmad bin Hanbal]. Yet the reformists who are enemies from Najd called them that because they want to ascribe to a new faith and accuse them of being infidels, yet that is not the case, the Hanbalis are Wahabis and the Wahabis are Hanbalis in their faith although the name is new but the religion of the people of AI-Khumaysiyyah (a City in Najd) is the religion of the forefathers CL: That is the religion of Profit Muhammad and his Companions] and the religion of the Islamic Sheikh Bin Taymiya the religion of its student sheikh Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab)2.
Whereas ‘Abd- aI-Wahab AI-Shammari mentions in his introducing ofAI-Wahabi Movement (The Wahabi is the movement ofAI-Tunisi in Tunis and a friend of Hasan Khan in Mubal and Amir’Ali in Kalkalta) 3
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! Nasar AI-Sah’id, the history Sa’ud, previously mentioned reference, part 1 page 58-59
2 Same previous reference, page 156-159
3Darwazah, the Birth ofthe Modem Religious Movement, previous reference page 70
Al-Shammari goes back to say: (The Jewish origins had reflected on the attitude of the Wahabies and the Su’ud family who have used Terrorism, Killing, Slaughtering, and destruction against the Arab Muslims. Through their alliance with the British, the foreigners, and some of Jewish Masonic leaders)4 And Khahni justifies this as follow (when the followers of; Abd al-Wahab set out destroying domes and removing what was on the grave ofthe profit( God’s blessing and peace be upon him) from ornaments and Jewels; He and his friends were accused of infidelity and atheism. As a matter offact; There was no need for this annoyance because the base of the Wahabi actions is connected to Sunnaitself because it was the recommendations of the profit (God-, blessing and peace be upon him)s And so does Darwazah to drop charges of the Wahabis when he says (The Ottoman state & Muhammad ‘Ali, have collaborated on spreading a propaganda against the Wahabi missionary and depict it as a distorted faith, or movement, from the book ofGod and the Sunna of his profit, So in order to make their Muslim soldiers fight them because of their faith and prompt all the skins to approve that just like what Al- Zaydiyyah did with their war on the Zaydi Imams. Although there is no deviation from the book of God and the Sunna of his profit especially in The Wahabi movement there is a calling to return to the book of God and the Sunna of his profit) 6
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Footnotes: lAl- Wa’ili, Study ofthe Su’ud family, previously mentioned reference, page 177.
2 Father Karmily (AI- Khamisiyyah), Lughat Al Arab magazine [CL: The language ofthe Arabs] 1911 A.D. Page 18
3 AI- Khafni, The Encyclopedia AI- Farq, previous mentioned reform page 68.
4 AI- Shammari, Roots on the Wahabi movement & previousely mentioned reference, page 30
5 AI- Khafui, the encyclopedia AI-Farq previous mentioned reforms
6 Darwazah, The Birth ofthe Arabic Movement previously reference page 72-73
However; the professor attorney Mr. Faryid mentions in his book (The Wahabis are people who followed the method of Muhammad bin ‘Abd- al- Wahab; a man who was born in AI- Dar’iyyah, Arab land form of Najd and AI-Hijaz Ever since he was little he displayed signs of noble descent and, determination, he was also known for his noble deeds among all who resort to him. After he studied AI- Hanfi school ofthought in his home land, he traveled to Isfahan, Seeking its scholars and learned from them until his religious information became vast especially in the area or interpreting the Koran. He Returned to his homeland in 1171 Hegira and adopted the faith of Aba Hanifah and used religion as means to achieve the intentions ofhis prejudice faith or political goals, and used the method of force, adventure and war as means of expanding and attacking. Thus, the Wahabis considered all Muslims infedals and their land is the land of atheism, and should be conquered as long as they don’t believe in the Wahabi missionary that denied all Islamic schools of thought).1
Yet Muhammad Jawad Maghniyyah describes the Wahabi movement saying; (Since the Wahabi movement had emerged in the Arabic Peninsula during the eighteenth century hostility, killing women, children, and elderly of Arab Muslims in the Arabic Peninsula and what surrounded him from the land ofIraq and of Great Syria. It is not strange that the final goal of Wahabis is to destroy Islam, and create division between Sunnis and Shiite)2 Darwazah then returns to remind that (No matter how the Wahabi movement originally possessed corrective religious feature, yet the inclusion of Su’ud family in it, the mixing with politics, and the end conclusion which was led by this Great Kingdom; all of that can be considered from the features of the Arabic Renaissance and the modem Arabic movement)3
Dr. Al- Khafni describes them in his encyclopedia by saying (Al- Wahabi movement is an elapsed movement driven by Muhammad bin ‘Abd-al-Wahab 1115-1206 ofHegira spread out by many. It was said that is a corrective religious notion which transformed the theroical thoughts of Bin Timiyyah into application. It was also said of Muhammad bin Abd-al-wahab that, he is the chiefofthe modem corrective religious movement in the Arab Peninsula and he followed the righteous method ofthe ancestors calling for pure unity and condemning heresies and destroying what had gotten stuck to Islam from delusions. His missionary which he declared in 1143 of Hegira was the first flare for the Arabic renaissance in the whole world and the reform in India, Egypt, Iraq, Great Syria and Morocco and others. Who were affected so; AI-Alusi emerged in Iraq, Al- Afghani in Afghanistan, Muhammad’Abbduh in Egypt, Jamal-ai-Din Al-Tunisi in Tunisia Sadiq Hasan Khan in Mubal, and Amir Ali in Kalkata then his company made him become diligent and independent, thus he established an independent faith which was acknowledged by his followers who attended to him, and many people accepted the faith)!. But Dr. Maymunah Khalifah stated that (Its is imperative that we judge the Wahabi movement by the standards ofits era in order to admit that; it brought on good deed to the region ofNajd and rescued it from the state of ciaos and division that prevailed)2
Then she goes back to say (The Wahabi movement is distinguished by a violent and strong feature; at the time in which it maintained its religious appearance, it became an extreme national political movement in essence aiming for unity and the establishment of an Arabic empire and threw out the Persian and Turkish foreign influence from the region. For that reason, the Wahabis got in conflict with most oftheir neighbors; everyone who was not a Wahabi was accused of atheism and deviation from what is right)3.
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1 AI-Shammari, the Wahabi Movement, previously reference, page 7
2 Maghliyyah, Muhammad Jawad, This is the Wahabi, AI-Jabal press, Beirut 1964 A.D., page 6-7
3 Darwazah, The History of the Arabic Movement, previously reference, page 75
Lonkirk describes the Wahabi movement by saying: (Since then, the Najdi Empire ofBin Su’ud was known by the Wahabi faith. Thus the believers of this narrow minded, anti-existence, and deserters faith have expanded their tiny state by fighting Muslims whose faith became spoiled in their dealing with their neighbors; each invasion had its religious Fatwah. Their hatred to prosperous deserters surrounding Najd from every direction made them, not just, use extreme violence yet; they committed acts that made many people believe that their intention is to attack Islam itself. As a matter offact; their toughest citizens or their most savage tribes and fighters knew very little ofthe Koran and Suuna)4.
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