Michael Crawford is an independent consultant and writer on the Middle East. He served the British government in London and overseas, including in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and Pakistan, from 1981 to 2009. He previously gained a First in Jurisprudence and an M.Phil in modern Middle Eastern studies from Oxford. He was called to the Bar in 1978.

• INTRODUCTION 1 THE WAHHABI PHENOMENONContested OriginsDivisive Sect or New Orthodoxy?Backward-Looking or Ahead of Its Time?Religious Universalism and Political ParticularismSources of a Controversial History 2 AGITATOR FOR GODScion of a Small Town CultureRegional Travel and Early InfluencesResponse to an Ecumenical Challenge?Narrow Window on the Wider Islamic WorldRelaunching the Campaign for GodlinessThe al-‘Uyayna Years 3 GUIDE OF THE COMMUNITYAlliance with the Al Sa‘ud of al-Dir‘iyyaOverturning the Status QuoThe Battle for NajdLater CareerPersonality 4 CHAMPION OF TRUE BELIEFIbn ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s WritingsAssertion of OrthodoxyOneness of GodTawhid in ActionFriends, Enemies, and the Fifth ColumnA Community Apart 5 IDEOLOGUE OF STRUGGLEExcommunication (Takfir)Secondary Takfir and Emigration (Hijra)Jihad 6 SCOURGE OF POLYTHEISTSSunni Clerical OpponentsThe BedouinCustomary LawTakfir of the BedouinTribalism and the BedouinHoly Men, Cults, and SufisThe Shi‘a 7 THE REGIME OF GODLINESS AND THE POLITICAL ORDERExplaining the Genesis of WahhabismSocial and Economic TrendsState Formation and the Regime of GodlinessCommanding Right and Forbidding WrongGovernment and the Political OrderObedience to the RulerPrinces and ClericsImamateAdministration of JusticeSocial JusticeConclusion 8 WAHHABISM, SAUDI STATES, AND FOREIGN POWERSSaudi Expansion and Conquest of the Holy CitiesSpreading the WordDestruction of al-Dir‘iyyaWahhabi View of the OttomansSaudis and Christian PowersThe Second Saudi State’s Uneven CareerCivil War and Collapse of the Second Saudi StateRestoration and RenewalThe Ikhwan and Internal DissidenceSenior Clerics Become OfficialsThe Nasserist Challenge and the Saudi Bid for Islamic Leadership 9 WAHHABISM AND RELIGIOUS RADICALISM IN SAUDI ARABIAThe Trauma of JuhaymanThe “Awakening”Jihadism 10 IBN ‘ABD AL-WAHHAB’S LEGACY BibliographyFurther ReadingIndex

‘Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab used to be one of the most misunderstood Muslim clerics, and it is thanks to Michael Crawford’s thorough and convincing arguments that we ought to see him in a different light… For a short book like this, it contains a surprising variety of historical and theological angles on the man, his time, influence and legacy reflecting on his core doctrines as well as his reception in present time.’

Michael Crawford is an independent consultant and writer on the Middle East. He served the British government in London and overseas, including in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and Pakistan, from 1981 to 2009. He previously gained a First in Jurisprudence and an M.Phil in modern Middle Eastern studies from Oxford. He was called to the Bar in 1978.

• INTRODUCTION 1 THE WAHHABI PHENOMENONContested OriginsDivisive Sect or New Orthodoxy?Backward-Looking or Ahead of Its Time?Religious Universalism and Political ParticularismSources of a Controversial History 2 AGITATOR FOR GODScion of a Small Town CultureRegional Travel and Early InfluencesResponse to an Ecumenical Challenge?Narrow Window on the Wider Islamic WorldRelaunching the Campaign for GodlinessThe al-‘Uyayna Years 3 GUIDE OF THE COMMUNITYAlliance with the Al Sa‘ud of al-Dir‘iyyaOverturning the Status QuoThe Battle for NajdLater CareerPersonality 4 CHAMPION OF TRUE BELIEFIbn ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s WritingsAssertion of OrthodoxyOneness of GodTawhid in ActionFriends, Enemies, and the Fifth ColumnA Community Apart 5 IDEOLOGUE OF STRUGGLEExcommunication (Takfir)Secondary Takfir and Emigration (Hijra)Jihad 6 SCOURGE OF POLYTHEISTSSunni Clerical OpponentsThe BedouinCustomary LawTakfir of the BedouinTribalism and the BedouinHoly Men, Cults, and SufisThe Shi‘a 7 THE REGIME OF GODLINESS AND THE POLITICAL ORDERExplaining the Genesis of WahhabismSocial and Economic TrendsState Formation and the Regime of GodlinessCommanding Right and Forbidding WrongGovernment and the Political OrderObedience to the RulerPrinces and ClericsImamateAdministration of JusticeSocial JusticeConclusion 8 WAHHABISM, SAUDI STATES, AND FOREIGN POWERSSaudi Expansion and Conquest of the Holy CitiesSpreading the WordDestruction of al-Dir‘iyyaWahhabi View of the OttomansSaudis and Christian PowersThe Second Saudi State’s Uneven CareerCivil War and Collapse of the Second Saudi StateRestoration and RenewalThe Ikhwan and Internal DissidenceSenior Clerics Become OfficialsThe Nasserist Challenge and the Saudi Bid for Islamic Leadership 9 WAHHABISM AND RELIGIOUS RADICALISM IN SAUDI ARABIAThe Trauma of JuhaymanThe “Awakening”Jihadism 10 IBN ‘ABD AL-WAHHAB’S LEGACY BibliographyFurther ReadingIndex

‘Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab used to be one of the most misunderstood Muslim clerics, and it is thanks to Michael Crawford’s thorough and convincing arguments that we ought to see him in a different light… For a short book like this, it contains a surprising variety of historical and theological angles on the man, his time, influence and legacy reflecting on his core doctrines as well as his reception in present time.’

Michael Crawford is an independent consultant and writer on the Middle East. He served the British government in London and overseas, including in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and Pakistan, from 1981 to 2009. He previously gained a First in Jurisprudence and an M.Phil in modern Middle Eastern studies from Oxford. He was called to the Bar in 1978.

• INTRODUCTION 1 THE WAHHABI PHENOMENONContested OriginsDivisive Sect or New Orthodoxy?Backward-Looking or Ahead of Its Time?Religious Universalism and Political ParticularismSources of a Controversial History 2 AGITATOR FOR GODScion of a Small Town CultureRegional Travel and Early InfluencesResponse to an Ecumenical Challenge?Narrow Window on the Wider Islamic WorldRelaunching the Campaign for GodlinessThe al-‘Uyayna Years 3 GUIDE OF THE COMMUNITYAlliance with the Al Sa‘ud of al-Dir‘iyyaOverturning the Status QuoThe Battle for NajdLater CareerPersonality 4 CHAMPION OF TRUE BELIEFIbn ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s WritingsAssertion of OrthodoxyOneness of GodTawhid in ActionFriends, Enemies, and the Fifth ColumnA Community Apart 5 IDEOLOGUE OF STRUGGLEExcommunication (Takfir)Secondary Takfir and Emigration (Hijra)Jihad 6 SCOURGE OF POLYTHEISTSSunni Clerical OpponentsThe BedouinCustomary LawTakfir of the BedouinTribalism and the BedouinHoly Men, Cults, and SufisThe Shi‘a 7 THE REGIME OF GODLINESS AND THE POLITICAL ORDERExplaining the Genesis of WahhabismSocial and Economic TrendsState Formation and the Regime of GodlinessCommanding Right and Forbidding WrongGovernment and the Political OrderObedience to the RulerPrinces and ClericsImamateAdministration of JusticeSocial JusticeConclusion 8 WAHHABISM, SAUDI STATES, AND FOREIGN POWERSSaudi Expansion and Conquest of the Holy CitiesSpreading the WordDestruction of al-Dir‘iyyaWahhabi View of the OttomansSaudis and Christian PowersThe Second Saudi State’s Uneven CareerCivil War and Collapse of the Second Saudi StateRestoration and RenewalThe Ikhwan and Internal DissidenceSenior Clerics Become OfficialsThe Nasserist Challenge and the Saudi Bid for Islamic Leadership 9 WAHHABISM AND RELIGIOUS RADICALISM IN SAUDI ARABIAThe Trauma of JuhaymanThe “Awakening”Jihadism 10 IBN ‘ABD AL-WAHHAB’S LEGACY BibliographyFurther ReadingIndex

‘Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab used to be one of the most misunderstood Muslim clerics, and it is thanks to Michael Crawford’s thorough and convincing arguments that we ought to see him in a different light… For a short book like this, it contains a surprising variety of historical and theological angles on the man, his time, influence and legacy reflecting on his core doctrines as well as his reception in present time.’