The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ... - IslamHouse.com

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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
started his practice of sending teachers to different locales to teach
them the basic message of Islam.)
Migration to al-Diriyyah
After being expelled from al-Uyaynah, a logical place for
Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab to move to was al-Diriyyah.
Although it was a fairly small town, having only a thousand residents
and some seventy houses1, al-Diriyyah was a stable state under the
leadership of Muhammad ibn Saud, who had held the position of
Ameer for some twenty years by the time Muhammad ibn Abdul-
Wahhaab came and whose reputation was quite good. Furthermore, it
was not under the sphere of influence of the Tribe of Khaalid; in fact,
relations between the two were not good, the two of them having
fought as recently as 1133 A.H. Hence, its inhabitants would be a
people who would be willing to defend someone from the threats and
attack of the Tribe of Khaalid. 2
Perhaps, though, the most important reason for moving to al-
Diriyyah is that Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s call had already
been accepted by a number of prestigious people in al-Diriyyah, such
as the Family of Suwailim. In fact, some of the members of the Saud
family were also drawn to ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s message, such as the
Ameer’s two brothers Thunayaan and Mashaari, as well as the
Ameer’s son Abdul-Azeez. 3
Ibn Bishr and ibn Ghannaam give slightly different stories as
to what occurred shortly after ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s arrival in al-
Diriyyah. Ibn Bishr relates that Abdullah ibn Suwailam hosted
Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab and he feared what would be the
result of having someone of ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s notoriety in his
house. A number of the leading people of the city were coming to the
house to meet with Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab. They finally
approached the Ameer’s wife, Moodhi, who was impressed with ibn
Abdul-Wahhaab’s teachings, to have her convince the Ameer to greet
1 Cf., Ahmad al-Qataan and Muhammad al-Zain, Imaam al-Tauheed al-Shaikh
Muhammad ibn Abdil-Wahhaab al-Dawah wa al-Daulah (Kuwait: Maktabah
al-Sundus, 1988), p. 57.
2 Cf., al-Uthaimeen, Al-Shaikh Muhammad, p. 53.
3 Al-Uthaimeen, Al-Shaikh Muhammad, p. 53.