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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
permanent danger to the Indian empire. That factor may have
encouraged the negative attitude to the Saudi state among British
officials of the Indian Civil Service in the nineteenth century.” 1
Jameelah, discussing the crushing defeat of the “Wahhabis” at the
hands of the Albanian Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1814, wrote:
Naturally the British government, nervous about an Islamic revival,
was delighted to hear what Muhammad Ali and his son, Ibrahim,
had done and sent a special delegation from India led by Captain
George Forester Sadlier to congratulate them. In 1900 the
notorious Christian missionary, Samuel Zweimer wrote: “This
Wahhabi movement came to an ignominious end and in the field of
politics proved to be nothing but a stunt. The power of the Saudis
should now be considered a thing of the past in Arabia.”
However, these pessimistic predictions proved to be false as less
than a quarter of a century later… 2
It is strange how the various disbelievers—and particularly the
colonialists of the past—urged people on to the acts of shirk. It seems
as though they recognized that such deeds were really the “opium of
the people” and if they could be kept away from the truth, they could
be manipulated. The Tunisian al-Tuhaami Naqrah gives such
examples from the French in Tunisia and the British in Egypt. 3 Al-
Abood, drawing on the writings of a French historian of Egypt, notes
that from the beginning the English and the French both understood
the danger of a call that was calling people back to the way of the
Quran and Sunnah. Hence, they cooperated in trying to make the other
Arabs oppose the influence of these pure teachings. 4 Ateyya Salem
wrote,
Furthermore, there are some people who remember the stay of Dr.
Kamil Taweel in Europe in order to present his doctoral thesis. He
found some documents exchanged between Napoleon and the Pope
concerning the mission and personality of Sheikh Muhammad Bin
Abdul Wahhab. These documents demanded action against his
1 Vassiliev, p. 156.
2 Jameelah, pp. 121-2. Also see al-Shuwair, pp. 63-71.
3 Al-Tuhaami Naqrah, “Muhammad ibn Abdil-Wahhaab wa Dawatuhu ila al-
Tauheed,” in Buhooth Nadwah Dawah al-Shaikh Muhammad ibn Abdil-
Wahhaab, vol. 1, p. 63-64.
4 Al-Abood, vol. 2, p. 431.