Wahhab–Saud Pact Founds the Wahhabi Movement and First Saudi State
- Date
- 1744
- Category
- Religion & ideology
- Region
- Najd, Arabian Peninsula (modern Saudi Arabia)
- Era
- Early Modern
- Significance
In 1744 the religious reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and Muhammad ibn Saud, the emir of the small Najdi oasis town of Diriyah, sealed a mutual-support pact that fused religious authority with political power on the Arabian Peninsula.
Ibn Abd al-Wahhab preached a puritanical return to strict monotheism (tawhid), denouncing what he regarded as idolatry, saint veneration, and innovation among Muslims, while Ibn Saud pledged military protection and political leadership for the cause in exchange for the reformer's religious endorsement. The agreement created the Salafi revivalist movement later known as Wahhabism and consolidated the First Saudi State, the Emirate of Diriyah, which lasted until its destruction by Ottoman-Egyptian forces in 1818. The alliance gave the House of Saud an ideological engine for territorial expansion, and by the early 1800s Saudi-Wahhabi armies had captured Mecca and Medina, directly challenging Ottoman authority. The partnership between the Al Saud and the descendants of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (the Al ash-Sheikh) endured for centuries and remains foundational to the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (Note: Saudi Founding Day, instituted in 2022, commemorates 1727 — the year Muhammad ibn Saud became emir of Diriyah — rather than the 1744 pact, a deliberate choice that downplays the Wahhabi religious dimension.)
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Empires active in 1744
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Qing Dynasty1636 CE – 1912 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Mughal Empire1526 CE – 1857 CE
- Russian Empire1721 CE – 1917 CE
Related religion & ideology events
- Revocation of the Edict of Nantes18 October 1685
- Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses and the start of the Reformation31 October 1517
- Galileo's Dialogue and his trial by the Inquisition1632–1633
- Compilation of the Adi Granth, Sikh Scripture1604 CE
- Edict of Nantes ends the French Wars of Religion13 April 1598
- St Bartholomew's Day Massacre24 August 1572
Further reading
The wider story
A Little History of Religion
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