Wahhabism

Wahhabism The doctrine of an Islamic reform movement. Founded by Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab (1703–92) in Nejd, Saudi Arabia, it is based on the SUNNI teachings of Ibn Hanbal (780–855), involving puritanism, monotheism and rejection of popular cults, such as the Sufi veneration of saints and tombs, on the grounds that these constitute idolatry. Under the SAUD family, the Wahhabis raided into the Hejaz, Iraq, and Syria, capturing Mecca in 1806. They were crushed by Ottoman forces in a series of campaigns (1812–18), but the Saud family gradually consolidated its power within the peninsula. The cult was revived by Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud in his bid for power after World War I, but later crushed, as too fanatical, with British help in 1929 at the Battle of Sibilla. Sunni Wahhabism revived after World War II, with the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, and Wahhabi Mujahidin were fierce participants in the Afghan civil war of 1979–89.