Wahhabism Founded by the British?

[PatriotX]

I’ve found references to a book called “Confessions fo a British Spy” that supposedly shows that the British helped foster Wahhabism to destabilize the Ottoman Empire.
True story or urban legend?
:dubious: :eek:

[Fang]

Any references I found by Googling which supported this idea only cited this book as a reference. I haven’t read the book and so I don’t know whether it’s believable or not, but any idea that has only one source tends to have a credibility problem. That said, it’s possible. It wouldn’t be the first time a Western country supported an Islamic fundamentalist against its enemy (e.g. Israel helping foster HAMAS in the late 80’s against the PLO, American support of the Afghan mujaheddin against the Soviet Union).

[Satisfying_Andy_Licious]

I’d say there’s a large difference between founding a religion and fostering it.

[Ice_Wolf]

The first rise of the wahhabi in Arabia.

What is known about him [Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab] too, is that he invoked the ire of two of his prominent Shaikhs in Madina, Shaikh Muhammad ibn Sulaiman al-Kurdi and Shaikh Muhammad Hayat al-Sindi. Moreover, his father, Abdul Wahhab and his brother, Sulaiman ibn Abdul Wahhab vigorously expressed their opposition to his views. In fact his brother composed a work called “al-Sawaiq al-Ilahiyya fi al-Radd ‘ala al-Wahhabiyya” (Divine Flashes in the Refutation of the Wahhabis).

Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab might have remained an insignificant figure had it not been for an alliance forged between himself and a contemporary of his – the Najdi tribal chief of a small but growing urban clan in the market town of Diriyya, Muhammad ibn Saud.

The Saud family held sway until the Turks treated with the various tribes that had allied with them, ultimately recapturing Nejd.

Would Britain have wanted to destabilise the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century? Highly unlikely, as the ageing power was seen as a bulwark against the rise of Russia, a clear threat, in British eyes, to their trade routes to India.

So, I’d say “Confessions of a British Spy” is a complete UL, and utter hooey.

[Tamerlane]

SimonX: The link you derived this from ( posted in the other posting of this thread ) has a rather addled version of history. Briefly:

1. The British had little or nothing to do with the initial rise of Wahhabism, which as noted occurred in the late18th/early 19th century and was put down by the then Pasha of Egypt, Muhammed Ali.

2. The second rise of Wahhabism occurred in the early 20th century and here the British bear a little bit of blame. But not much. The Brits backed every anti-Turkish Arab agent the could find in WW I, from the Saudis of the Nejd, to the Idrisids of Asir, to the Hashemites of Mecca ( all three ferocious enemies of each other ). The British understanding of the dynamism of Wahhabism was vague. In 1915 Kitchener, asked in passing about the phenomena, referred to it ( I’m paraphrasing from memory here ) as “a dieing force” ( maybe it “declining” or “spent” - something like that ). He was wrong, of course - But the British backed the Saudis as tribal princes with armed followers, not as leaders of a disruptive ideology.

3.) Contrary to the claims of your source, the Brits did NOT back the Saudi capture of Mecca. To the contrary, they had “backed the wrong horse”, so to speak, in the Arabian struggle for dominance. They supported the Hashemites the Saudis overthrew and were more than a little disturbed by growing Saudi power and pressure on their other protectorates in the Gulf and surrounding areas. ( The Saudis themselves were clever enough to realize their underdog status and play Britain as much as possible ).

• Tamerlane

[PatriotX]

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Tamerlane *
:smack::o :smack::o :smack::o
I’ve just started to read the “Confession of a British Spy.”
If I’d read it first, I’d never of questioned its authenticity. I wouldn’t’ve had to.

It does seem to be a counterpart of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”

It does seem to be informative as to the author’s view of Muslims is in that he is trying to persuade them about the British Conspiracy.

Fun reading. Gives some fundamentals about Islam.
:smack: :o