ARABIAN PENINSULA IN PRE-WAHHABI PERIOD
Aleksandar Grizhev, PhD
Ministry of Defence, Republic of Macedonia, [email protected]
Vladimir Onchevski
Ministry of Defence, Republic of Macedonia, [email protected]
Abstract: One of the three main monotheistic (Abrahamic) religions, Islam, appeared in the Arabian Peninsula,
more specifically at the territory of what is nowadays Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Prophet Muhammad was
born, lived, and preached Islam at the Arabian Peninsula. After 14 centuries, and undergoing difficulties, as well
as many fractions and divisions within, the religion of Islam has changed in great amount from the authentic
way of practicing. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam, among being the holiest Muslim land, is
the place where the two most important mosques are located (Mecca and Medina). The Kingdom is also
important because it is the birthplace of the Wahhabi movement. Before the 18th century, the Arabian Peninsula
was almost forgotten. The Islam was vanishing from the people’s life and the Muslims had deviated from the
‘straight path’. People living at the Peninsula were mostly Bedouins and they lived in tribes; disunited,
practicing Islam that was much different from what is written in the Quran and the Sunnah. Seeing such a
picture on the holiest Muslim land, with Islam almost lost from the Arabs life, al-Wahhab tried to unite the
tribes living in the Arabian Peninsula. Among other important figures in the Muslim history, he is responsible
for the awakening of the religion of Islam in the lives of the Arabs. However, he became father of a
controversial and one of the most fundamental Islamic movements, Wahhabism, influencing many other groups
and movements within the Islam.
Key words: Saudi Arabia, wahhabi, al-Wahhab, Islam
1. INTRODUCTION
Arabian Peninsula is the part of the world, where in the 7th century AD Islam appeared. It happened
on the territory of nowadays Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which covers the biggest part of the peninsula. That is
the place where the Prophet Muhammad was born and lived. Nowadays Saudi Arabia is the cradle of Islam. On
the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the location of the holiest mosques, the place where Muslims
from around the world come every year on pilgrimage.
Specific geographic conditions in Saudi Arabia did not allow easy penetration and conquest of the
territory where mainly nomadic Arab population was living, being somewhat isolated. None of the great ancient
conquerors succeeded to win Arabia. On the other hand, the various Arab tribes were not united, i.e. had not
created their own state. Resources were limited, and the tribal life was competitive.
The absolute centre of existence for all individuals had been the clan, and the survival of all
individuals depended on it. The economic power of clans or tribes was the result of successful conquest.
According Rosentfeld, division of these (tribal) societies is the result of the fact that each of these family groups
did not accept the exclusive control of resources, fundamentally considering themselves equal to others, in terms
of prestige, honour, status and rights. The main mechanism for maintaining equality is 'preservation' of their
right to act militarily. Those were military family groups, which do not recognize the monopoly in the use of
force by any group1.
The political situation that characterized the Arabian Peninsula before the rise of the Wahhabi
movement can be described as a conglomerate of small unions or tribes, where authority was inherited. In "The
brilliance of the meteorite", a work whose author is unknown (but it is known that he was a contemporary of alWahhab), is stated that at the time, the Najd (the birthplace of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahab), there was not a
strong leader who could resist the invaders and help the oppressed 2. However, every emir was an independent
ruler in his village..."Bedouin tribes were scattered then. Each tribe was headed by sheikh...There were small
sheiks in some tribes, who could resist major sheiks. The population of the cities around Najd was constantly at
war with each other"3.
1
Rosentfeld, 1965, p. 174
Zarabozo, 2010, p. 25
3
Vassiliev, 2000, p. 61
2
1