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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
taken to him for a final decision. This included, as ibn Ghannaam and
ibn Bishr noted, matters related to zakat, finances, concluding peace
treaties, sending of armies and so on. 1 Muhammad ibn Abdul-
Wahhaab would also send emissaries to other leaders as well as meet
and host other’s delegations. Hence, the whole intent and drive behind
this new state was under the leadership of this religious scholar and
was thus completely different from what Najd had previously
witnessed.
Ibn Ghannaam, the closest and earliest chronicler, states that
the first clash between the supporters and the opponents of
Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab came when Dahhaam ibn Dawwaas 2,
the religious leader of the state. He was the source for religious rulings and
guidance, he sent teachers to other lands and even appointed judges.
1 Ibn Ghannaam, vol. 1, pp. 83-84; Ibn Bishr, vol. 1, p. 39.
2 In the 1140’s or 1150’s, as Vassiliev (p. 62) noted, “Dahham ibn Dawwas seized
power in Riyadh—he was to be al-Diriya’s most stubborn and merciless enemy
for decades.” Indeed, the fighting between the followers of Muhammad ibn
Abdul-Wahhaab and Dahhaam would last for some twenty-eight years. (Faisal
and Saud, two sons of Muhammad ibn Saud, would lose their lives in one of the
earliest battles against Riyadh. See ibn Ghannaam, vol. 1, p. 92.) Dahhaam’s
father had been the ruler of Manfoohah. After his father’s death, Dahhaam and
his brothers were forced to leave Manfoohah as the people revolted against
them. They came to Riyadh, a city in flux with no strong ruler. After some time,
Dahhaam became its ruler. However, the people of Riyadh hated him and
wanted to kill him. He called upon Muhammad ibn Saud, the Ameer of al-
Diriyyah, to help him. Ibn Saud sent his brother Mishaari with some armed
men and fought off the insurgents. Mishaari stayed with Dahhaam for a few
months but could not put up with his cruelty. Dahhaam had a woman’s mouth
sewn up, he forced another man to cut off a piece of his thigh and eat it slowly
and so forth. Ibn Ghannaam stated, “Examples of such deeds are plentiful.” Cf.,
Vassiliev, pp. 62-63. The length of the battles between Dahhaam and ibn
Abdul-Wahhaab can be seen by the fact that Dahhaam is mentioned off and on
in ibn Ghannaam’s work from vol. 1, p. 89 until vol. 1, p. 136. It seems that
Dahhaam was a true hypocrite. Ibn Abdul-Wahhaab wrote to him advising him
to follow the Quran and Sunnah. Due to the help he had earlier received from
Muhammad ibn Saud, he first appeared very sincere and helpful. However, ibn
Abdul-Wahhaab’s teachings were spreading in Riyadh and this must have
made Dahhaam fearful. He started a massive and cruel campaign against
those followers. In fact, there were many times in which he broke his treaties
and promises to the government of al-Diriyyah, causing the followers of ibn
Abdul-Wahhaab a great deal of harm and suffering. He fought against them on
many occasions, making alliances with numerous opponents of ibn Abdul-
Wahhaab, and then he would return to pledge his allegiance to ibn Abdul-
Wahhaab and the rulers of al-Diriyyah. On one occasion, ibn Ghannaam (vol. 1,
p. 119) even wrote that his pledge was accepted though they knew that he
would violate it but they did not want to stop anyone from accepting the path of
truth. For incidents with Dahhaam, see, for example, ibn Ghannaam, vol. 1, p.