WAHABI, or WAHABEE, in the plural in Mohammedanism, a sect found ed by Abdul Wahhab, born toward the end of the 17th century, near Der'aiyeh, the capital of Nejd, in Arabia. During the Saracen period the Mohammedan sacred places were in Arab custody. When the Saracen was succeeded by the Turkish power they passed over into Turkish keeping. It is obligatory on every Mussulman who can afford the expense, to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his life. The Arabs were greatly scandalized by the moral laxity of some of the pilgrims, and it became painfully apparent that even the best of them had largely departed from the purity of the faith, according divine honors to Mohammed, elevating tradition to the same level as revealed scripture, and quietly ignoring any precept of the Koran which required self-denial for its performance. Abdul Wahhab felt it a duty to make a determined effort to re store Mohammedanism to its pristine purity, and the most earnest Moslems gradually became his followers. Con verting to his views Mohammed Ibu Saud, the powerful Sheikh of Der'aiyeh, whose daughter he married, he induced his father-in-law to draw his sword for the establishment of a pure Moham medan theocracy.
The Bedouins flocked to his standard; the towns of Arabia, less inclined to adopt the new faith, had to be con quered. The Pasha of Bagdad, A. D. 1748 and 1749, somewhat retarded, but did not permanently arrest their prog ress. In A. D. 1765 (1172 of the Hegira)
the father-in-law died, and on June 14, 1787 (A. H. 1206), the revivalist or re former. The former was succeeded by his son, Abdul-Aziz. In 1797 the Waha bees pillaged the town and tomb of Husein; in 1803 they captured Mecca, and in 1804 Medina, where they plun dered the tomb of Mohammed himself. By this time Abdul-Aziz had been suc ceeded by his son Saud, by whose orders the Khootba (public prayer) was no longer allowed to be offered in the name of the Sultan. With the exception of the territory subject to the Imam of Muscat, all Arabia now submitted to the Waha bees. They also captured some Arabic towns on the coast of Persia, and Waha bee pirates infested the Persian Gulf. In 1809 these pirates were severely pun ished by the British, in conjunction with the Imam of Muscat. The same year Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt, prepared to attack them. In 1812 he took Medina, and in 1813 Mecca. In 1816 Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Mehemet Ali, assumed the command of the Egyptian troops and entering Arabia, took Der'aiyeh in 1818, and capturing Abdullah, son and suc cessor of Saud, sent him to Constanti nople, where he was beheaded. In 1827, 1834, 1838, and 1839 the Wahabees at tempted to excite insurrections, and re quired continual vigilance from Egypt. In 1862 and 1863 Palgrave found them numerous in Arabia.