Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Dale F. Eickelman, “From Theocracy to 

Monarchy: Authority and Legitimacy in Inner Oman.” 

International Journal of Middle East Studies 17 (1985): 

3–24; ———, “Ibadism and the Sectarian Perspective.” 

In Oman: Economic, Social, and Strategic Developments,

edited by Briam R. Pridham, 31–50 (London: Croom 

Helm, 1987); Valerie J. Hoffman, “The Articulation of 

Ibadi Identity in Modern Oman and Zanzibar.” Muslim 

World 94 (2004): 201–216.

Iblis

  See s

atan

.

Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Muhammad

 

(1703–

1791)  conservative religious reformer who launched 

the Wahhabi movement and helped found the first 

Saudi state

Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was born in Uyayna, an oasis 

town located in the Najd, the central region of 

what is now s

aUdi

 a

rabia

. He was raised in a fam-

ily of Hanbali jurists and religious scholars and 

demonstrated an early interest in studying the 

q

Uran

 and other areas of Islamic learning, espe-

cially 

hadith

 studies. His father, a Hanbali judge 

and teacher of hadith and 

fiqh

, provided him 

with his early education in the religious sciences. 

Further details about Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s early 

career are anecdotal, but it appears that he began 

to advocate a strict Islamic reformism while in his 

early 20s. He gained a following in his hometown, 

but political opposition forced him to go to m

ecca

and m

edina

, where he met and studied with other 

reform-minded 

Ulama

. He became familiar with 

the writings of the medieval Hanbali reformer Ibn 

Taymiyya and excelled in his knowledge of Han-

bali law. Later he traveled to Basra, a port town 

in i

raq

, where he encountered Shii doctrines and 

practices that met with his disapproval because 

they departed from the Islam of the Quran and 

the 

sUnna

.

After Basra, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab moved to 

Huraymila, the Najdi town where his father 

lived. This was where he wrote The Book of 

Unity (Kitab al-tawhid), which expressed many 

of his key teachings. Copies of it were circu-

lated throughout the Najd. After his father died 

in 1740, his mission became more public. He 

promoted the doctrine of 

tawhid

, belief in God’s 

absolute uniqueness and rejection of polythe-

ism (

shirk

), 

idolatry

, and unbelief. His belief 

that tawhid included following God’s command-

ments and prohibitions meant that he also 

sought to address moral issues in his society 

and culture. He favored strict enforcement of 

the 

sharia

, including performing 

prayer

, giving 

zakat (

almsgiving

), and enforcing punishments 

for 

adUltery

. Those who failed to heed his 

K  324  

Iblis

---

teachings were seen as unbelievers (

kafirs

) and 

could be subdued through 

Jihad

. Tribal leaders 

and ulama in Huraymila decided that they did 

not want Ibn Abd al-Wahhab to undermine their 

aUthority

, so they conspired against his life, 

forcing him to return to Uyayna, his hometown. 

Uthman ibn Hamid ibn Muammar (d. 1749), the 

ruler of Uyayna, at first welcomed the reformer, 

even arranging for him to marry his aunt. The 

situation changed, however, when he cut down 

one of the town’s sacred trees, demolished a 

shrine belonging to Zayd ibn al-Khattab (one 

of the c

ompanions

 

oF

 

the

 p

rophet

), and, above 

all, condemned a woman to death by stoning 

after she confessed to adultery. The outcry these 

actions stirred caused Uthman to withdraw sup-

port from Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who had to flee 

Uyayna in 1744.

He settled in Diriya, about 40 miles from 

Uyayna, near Riyadh. The small town was ruled 

by the clan of the Saud, led by Muhammad ibn 

Saud. That same year, “the two Muhammads” 

reached a mutual agreement: Ibn Saud would 

protect Ibn Abd al-Wahhab from his enemies and 

make him the 

imam

 of Diriya, while Ibn Abd al-

Wahhab would collect zakat for the Saudi ruler 

and help him extend his control over the Najd 

region through his preaching and declaring jihad 

against Saudi enemies. These included “infidels” 

who did not heed Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s call 

(

daawa

) to accept his version of Islam, as well as 

tribes who would not submit to Saudi rule. The 

agreement turned out to be more fruitful than the 

two might have imagined. From it they were able 

to create a confederation of tribal groups, both 

settled and nomadic, that provided the basis for a 

new state in central Arabia.

When Muhammad ibn Saud died in 1765, Ibn 

Abd al-Wahhab continued the alliance with his 

son Abd al-Aziz ibn Muhammad (d. 1803). He 

maintained his base in Diriya, where he taught 

and wrote, seeking to win others to his cause. His 

strategy included assigning Wahhabi judges to 

the towns and oases that had submitted to Saudi 

rule. By the time of his death, Saudi-Wahhabi 

rule reached Riyadh (the future Saudi capital) 

and the shores of the Persian Gulf. A few years 

later, it encompassed most of the Arabian Pen-

insula, including the holy cities of Mecca and 

Medina.

Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s legacy was carried on by 

his descendants and disciples. His son Abd Allah 

wrote works against Shiism and endorsed the Wah-

habi forays into southern i

raq

 in early 1801. His 

grandson Sulayman (d. 1818) served as judge in 

Diriya until executed by Ottoman-Egyptian forces 

sent from e

gypt

 into Arabia to destroy the early 

Saudi state. Today, his teachings form part of the 

official ideology of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 

which arose from the ashes of the first Saudi state 

under the leadership of King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud 

(d. 1953) in the early 20th century. Ibn Abd al-

Wahhab’s heirs, known as the Al al-Shaykh (the 

family of Shaykh Ibn Abd al-Wahhab), now hold 

powerful positions in the Saudi government and 

intermarry with members of the Saudi royal family. 

His works are widely available in printed form, and 

his ideas hold sway among conservative religious 

reformers and radicals in many Sunni countries. 

Among those influenced by Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s 

teachings is U

sama

 

bin

  l

adin

, leader of the 

al

-

q

aida

 organization responsible for the attacks 

on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 

2001. Many Muslims, Sunnis, and Shiis alike reject 

Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s puritanical understanding of 

Islam, nevertheless.

See also 

bidaa

; 

reneWal

 

and

 

reForm

 

move

-

ments

; W

ahhabism

.