On 9th September 2023, a groundbreaking agreement was unveiled during the G20 Summit in New Delhi with the announcement of a rail and shipping corridor from India to Europe via the Middle East. The project – ‘India-Middle East-Europe Shipping and Railway Connectivity Corridor’ (IMEE EC) is being hailed as the new spice route in the new world order.
As part of the IMEE EC project, ‘moderate’ Saudi Arabia and ‘Jewish-majority’ Israel have come closer than ever to normalise their diplomatic ties. Reportedly, Saudi Arabia is engaged in negotiations with the United States to sign a defense pact in exchange for establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, a nation that was considered a pariah in the Islamic world. However, reports suggest that Saudi Arabia will not obstruct a deal even if Israel does not grant significant concessions to the Palestinians in their quest for statehood. Apparently, these changing geopolitical happenings are being attributed as one of the motives behind the recent terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel.
Although the Hamas-initiated attacks could derail or delay the deal, back-channel diplomacy continues to bridge gaps and bring the Saudi-US deal closer to finalisation. Against this backdrop, the Middle Eastern region is potentially at the cusp of marking an end to the dominance of Wahhabi ideology which was deeply rooted in a puritanical interpretation of Islam, in the Middle East and its spheres of influence.
Remarkably, the Wahhabi ideology has exerted its dominance and molded the course of events across the Middle East for the better part of three centuries. It also played a pivotal role in the formation of the modern Middle East, notably Saudi Arabia as it stands today, and the consolidation of power by the Al Saud, the ruling monarchy of Saudi Arabia. The power dynamics in the region are an outcome of alliances both matrimonial (blood pact), religious pacts, and regional partnerships that were born out of inter-imperial battles between the Ottoman and British Empires.
Emergence of Wahhabism in the Middle East
In the 18th century, Muhammad ibn Saud from the Al Saud (Al being referred to as family) was a Chieftan of a small oasis town of Diriyah on the outskirts of modern-day Riyadh. During his reign, an Islamic fundamentalist theologian, Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab sought refuge in Diriyah as he was thrown out of Hejaz, the region that housed both the holy sites of Islam – Mecca and Medina. Wahhab’s extremist interpretation of Islam had irked the Hashmites who had been Sharifs of these holy sites for several centuries. These Sharifs who hailed from the Hashmites tribe of Hejaz owed allegiance to the Ottoman Empire.
The Islamic Empire had limited or nominal direct interest in the affairs of the Middle Eastern region primarily because of the lack of resources in the Middle East in general, the Najd region in particular, and its unfavorable desert climate. However, it maintained a significant interest in the religious pilgrimage routes and at the holy sites of Islam.
Meanwhile, Chieftan Mohd ibn Saud not only gave refuge to Wahhab but also signed a pact with him in 1744 marking the beginning of the First Saudi state. Under the pact which is often dubbed as “Wahhabi-Saudi Pact”, Mohd ibn Saud remained as the Emir while Wahhab assumed the title of ‘Imam’. To strengthen the pact, Ibn Saud’s eldest son married al-Wahhab’s daughter. Al Saud publicly embraced Wahhabism.
As a theologian, Wahhab also went on to lay the foundation of “Wahhabism” in the region. The aim of this pact was to bring purity to the faith and establish a puritanical form of Islam. Soon, Wahhabism became the official Saudi religious doctrine. Under this extreme form, religious innovation (bidaa) was vehemently rejected and it advocated for eliminating practices such as Sufi rites and veneration of saints. During their conquest outside Najd, they destroyed shrines of the Shia minority. The Wahabis used the slur ‘Rafida’ (rejecters) to refer to Shia, which still continues in the 21st century.
On the other hand, the Emir of Diryiah Mohd ibn Saud started expanding control over various tribal regions in Najd (the central part of current-day Saudi Arabia) and parts of the Arabian Peninsula. He had gained religious certification from Imam Abdul Wahhab. Subsequently, brainwashed ‘Wahhabist’ tribes like Ikhwan joined his religious conquest of the Arabian Peninsula, under the Al Saud banner.
The Emir also formed alliances with tribal leaders and groups in Najd, including the Ajman and Otaiba tribes. These alliances were mostly based on a mix of military cooperation and shared religious ideals, particularly Wahhabi Islam.
However, the battle of consolidation included fierce battles against the rival Al Rashid (Rashidi family) and the Hashemite Sharif of Mecca, who had support from Egypt, the vassalage of the Ottoman Empire. In 1765, the Emir of Diriyah, Muhammad bin Saud passed away but by then the Wahhabis had controlled Najd and expanded in all directions, including Mecca and Medina. He was succeeded by his son Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Saud Al Saud as the new Emir of Diriyah.
Ottoman-Al Saudi War (1811-1818): The battle for real Islam
The period between 1811-1818 saw battles which are also known as the Egyptian-Wahhabi War as it was fought by the Egyptian representative of Ottoman and Wahhabists from Diriyah under the Al Saud banner. During the religiously zealous conquest, when the Egyptian subjects of Ottomans attempted to invade al-Hasa’ which lies in eastern Arabia, the Wahhabis seized the holy city of Karbala’ in Turkish Iraq (1801). It was followed by capturing Mecca itself in 1802.
By the year 1805, the Wahhabis controlled Mecca and Medina. They had also attacked Karbala and the Imam Husayn Shrine which directly challenged the Ottoman Empire and their vassalage, Egyptians and Hashmite Sharifs of Mecca.
Furthermore, under the leadership of Emir Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Saud, the Wahhabis targeted Ottoman trade routes, badly impacting the finances of the Ottoman Empire. The Emir of Diryiah also openly denounced and questioned the Ottoman Sultan Mustafa IV, challenging his legitimacy as the Caliph and protectorate of the faithful and holy sites in Hejaz.
Following that, in 1811, the Ottoman Sultan Mahmoud II ordered Muhammad Ali Pasha, who was considered the Wāli in Egypt, to check the expansionist spree of the Emir of Diryiah. Ali then assigned his son, Tusun Pasha, to lead a force of 10,000 soldiers. However, in 1812, the Emir of Diriyah, Abdullah defeated Tusun Pasha at Al-Safra. But with a reinforcement of 10,000 men, Pasha recaptured Mecca and Medina.
On account of poor health, Tusun tried to forge a treaty with the Emir in which Hejaz was to be surrendered & vassalage offered. However, neither Ali nor the Sultan ratified the treaty with the House of Saud. In 1816 Tusun Pasha died and with mutual distrust abound, the war resumed with Ali’s other son, Ibrahim Pasha assumed leadership and led an expedition, driving the Saudi Emir and his “Wahhabis” (more properly Salafis) into the desert of Najd.
Subsequently, in 1818 Ibrahim marched across the desert and brought his forces to the gates of Diriyah. They ruthlessly massacred the male population of the rebel force. Diriyah was razed to the ground and all Wahhabi theologians found were executed. The captured Emir of Diriyah Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Saud was brought to Istanbul where he was publicly beheaded and his head was thrown into the Bosphorus. Additionally, the Wahhabis were compelled to listen to music, an act strictly prohibited in Wahhabism.
This marked the ending of the first Saudi state (1744-1818) which had begun with the Saudi-Wahhabi pact.
Second Saudi State (1824-1891)
Two years after causing disruption in Najd, Ottoman forces withdrew from the region. Over the ensuing eighty years, the Al Saud made several attempts to regain control of the Arabian Peninsula, but their efforts failed courtesy of the Ottoman-Al Rashidi alliance.
Son of Former Emir of Diriyah, Turki bin Abdullah bin Muhammad Al Saud and a few others had managed to escape the Ottoman carnage and soon after the Ottoman’s withdrawal, they started to regain their lost territories.
By 1824, the Al-Saud family had regained political control of central Arabia. With Diryiah in ruins, the Saudi ruler Turki bin Abdullah Al-Saud transferred his capital to Riyadh which was some 20 miles south of Diriyah. With this, he established the Second Saudi State. In his 11 years of reign, Turki recaptured most of the lands lost to the Ottoman Empire.
The Second Saudi State, under the leadership of Turki and his son Faisal, came to an end when the Al-Rashid family of Hail, with the backing of the Ottomans, successfully overthrew the Saudi State. This occurred during the Ottoman Empire’s renewed campaign in 1865 to expand its influence in the Middle East. Ottoman armies had captured parts of the Saudi State, which was ruled at the time by Faisal’s son, Abdulrahman.
After repeated defeats by a much larger and better-equipped army, Abdulrahman bin Faisal Al-Saud abandoned the struggle in 1891 marking the end of the Second Saudi state.
During the exile, he sought refuge with the Bedouin tribes in the vast sand desert of eastern Arabia known as the Rub’ Al-Khali, or ‘Empty Quarter.’ From there, Abdulrahman and his family traveled to Kuwait, where they stayed until 1902. His young son Abdulaziz became the head of secular and military matters while he was in exile. Over the course of time, he launched raids and terrorised the tribes loyal to the Al Rashidis with an aim to regain Al Saud territories from Rashidis, the vassalage of Ottomans.
Modern Saudi state (1902-present day Saudi Arabia)
On 15th January 1902, Abdulaziz, a direct descendent of Muhammad ibn Saud, accompanied by only 40 followers – mostly his blood relatives, half-brothers, cousins, and Kingsmen launched a daring night mission. They scaled the walls of Riyadh’s citadel to capture the city garrison, known as the Masmak Fortress. The Rashidi governor and his loyal man were slaughtered in cold blood.
Reviving the emirate of Najd, with Abdulaziz as Emir and Abdul Rahman as Imam, this raid marked the beginning of the establishment of the third Saudi estate which continues to this present day and is known as the modern Saudi state.
Meanwhile, during World War 1 (1914-1919), the Al Saud aligned with the British Empire against their common foe, the Ottoman Turks, and their Arabian allies. He signed the Treaty of Darin with the British in 1915 which recognised his authority over much of Najd and established a formal alliance.
Around the same time, Britishers lured Hejaz into its own orbit and pulled it away from the Ottomans which later proved to be a great betrayal for the Hashimites.
Evidently, during the ‘Arab Revolt’ (1916-1918), the Hejaz area (Mecca and Medina) broke free from the Ottomans. This was led by Shareef Hussein, the founder of the Hashemite dynasty and he declared himself king of the Arab countries as well as later, the new Caliph. However, in reality, he was only the king of Hejaz. Hussein was originally the Sharif of Mecca. In the present-day context, the descendants of Hashemite dynasties are now the monarchs of Jordan.
Notably, the British and French had an agreement called the Sykes-Picot Agreement to divide some territories of the Middle East. Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq were actually controlled by the British. At the same time, Syria was controlled by the French.
After capturing Riyadh, Al Saud wanted to expand further and consolidate the tribal areas once and for all. Apart from allying with Britishers, Abdulaziz also allied with the fierce nomadic warrior tribe of Bedouins, Ikhwan, or Muslim brothers. The Ikhwan had been brainwashed in Wahhabi ideology during the reign of Abdulaziz’s forefathers.
Together they crushed all rebels including Ottoman’s effort to intervene. They captured Mecca in 1924 and Medina in 1925 which were ruled by Hashimites who had been pulled away from Ottomans by the British, yet British ally Al Saud ended 700 years of rule of Hashmities as Sharif of the Holy cities of Islam (barring a few years in between).
Consequently, Abdulaziz became the ruler of the Two Holy Cities of Islam. However, afterward, Al Saud crushed Ikhwan in 1929, their Muslim warriors as they had an uncontrollable urge to spread Wahhabism beyond Arabia despite Abd al-Aziz imposing restrictions on them. The Ikhwan had started considering them corrupt due to their enormous wealth and Western allies.
After conquering Hejaz in 1925, Al Saud officially incorporated the title ‘King of Najd and Hejaz’. In 1932, the two merged together to give birth to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – named after Abdulaziz’s family (Al Saud).
Matrimonial alliances and pact with the US
In order to forge unity in his newly established kingdom, Abd al-Aziz entered into marital alliances by marrying daughters from every powerful tribe in the region and influential clerical families, he had around twenty wives, however, not more than four wives at a time, in accordance with Quranic principles.
With these unions, he had 45 legitimate sons and an undisclosed number of daughters (with daughters typically not being counted). His half-brothers and cousins assisted him in conquering the peninsula. However, he started consolidating power in favor of his own sons. Since then, every Saudi king has been a son of Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman aka MBS is his only grandson who has risen to power.
Despite having an alliance with the British, Saudi Arabia was wary of its imperial ambitions, and moving forward it found an ally in the United States. Consequently, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. established diplomatic relations.
Subsequently, in 1933, the initial foreign oil explorers made their way to the kingdom. The Americans, in a significant transaction, paid $170,000 in gold for land concessions that, as it turned out, held the world’s largest oil reserves. Despite facing criticism that the invitation of foreigners into the kingdom contradicted Islamic principles and citing precedent from the Quran, King Abd al-Aziz extended an invitation to U.S. oil companies to help develop Saudi Arabia’s oil resources.
Collaboratively, the oil companies and the Saudi government established a joint venture, which later evolved into the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco), with shareholders that included America’s four largest oil corporations.
While the kingdom maintained a stance of neutrality during World War II, it leaned towards the Allies. Towards the war’s conclusion, King Abd al-Aziz held meetings with both UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). In 1945, despite health concerns for both leaders, King Abd al-Aziz and FDR met for three days aboard the U.S.S. Quincy, which was docked in the Suez Canal.
The Quincy Agreement laid the groundwork for Saudi-American cooperation in matters related to oil and defense. Additionally, the two leaders solidified a confidential pact: King Abd al-Aziz pledged to grant the US secure access to Saudi oil, while in return, the US committed to providing military assistance, training, and the construction of the Dhahran military base in Saudi Arabia.
Since then, barring a few instances of power struggles within the Royal family, the House of Saud has been a stable power in the Middle East and the country leading the oil powers in the region.
