The Pragmatic Attitude of the Wahhabi ‘Ulama toward Their Saudi Rulers

The story of the establishment of Saudi Arabia goes back to the religiopolitical alliance between Muhammad Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab and Muhammad Ibn Sa‘ud, which started with an encounter between these two influential men in 1744. It is widely accepted that the religious zealotry of the Wahhabis was one of the major driving forces in the conquest of the Arabian Peninsula by providing the Āl Sa‘ud with political justification in the name of jihad . However, the more mainstream Wahhabi leaders accepted the decisions of the Saudi political leadership in the process of establishing the kingdom, and became further subordinate to the ruling family. The pragmatic attitude of the Wahhabi ‘ulama toward their political leadership has been strengthened during the 20th century. The pragmatic tendency of the Wahhabis toward their rulers goes back to the time of the collapse of the second Saudi state; a collapse caused by quarrels over the succession to the throne led in turn to civil war and conflict between rival claimants. All this led to the collapse of the state in 1891 and the conquest of Najd by the Rashid family of Ha’il. In addition oil wealth generated in the 20 th century has played an important role in making the Saudi ruler superior to the ‘ulama