File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎269v] (547/834)

NOTES.
The Ikhwan and the Wahhabis.
The following information, which rests ultimately on the
authority of Dakhil Allah el-Kadi, a sheikh of the Juheina, was
furnished by Miralai Abdul Mejid Bey :—
The Ikhwan are a powerful and influential body who have
gained control of the Wahhabi movement. They are an ecclesiola
in ecclesia. Their meetings and deliberations are held in secret,
and any one who discloses what transpires is instantly punished
with death. To mark outwardly their separation from other
men, they have adopted a distinctive mode of dress, shave
their moustaches, allow their beards to grow and wear a white
turban.
The name Mutawa, which has come into use recently, is
given to those who accept the tenets of Wahhabism. The word
is said to denote one who is utterly submissive to the teaching.
It may be, therefore, that they wish to cast off the name Muslim
and yet retain its doctrinal significance, or the word may merely
signify a convert.
The Wahhabis have introduced innovations into the marriage
laws, all tending to greater laxity in sexual matters. They do
not go on pilgrimage, and even the holy place, built by Ibrahim
and Ismail, is unclean to them because the Sherif has set foot
in it. Mohammed himself, though admittedly a prophet, is to
them a mere mortal whose authority is no greater than his
fellows, since all are equal in the sight of God.
Ibn Saud is openly referred to in Beduin circles as the head
of the movement, and his connivance at the open immorality of
his followers has given it great impetus. He has strengthened
his position by prohibiting the ghazzu within the fold of
Wahhabism, and it is said that he does not take zakat from his
dependents. Furthermore, he is famous for his sagacity in
deciding law-suits, and the arrangements he makes for their
speedy disposal.
Politically, the whole movement constitutes a growing
menace to the orthodox of Mecca. Direct intercourse between the
Sherifians and the Wahhabis must now be most difficult. The
latter do not hesitate to preach that the Sherif is a Kafir. Any
man who has served with the Sherif may be divorced by his wife,
and if, on his return, he finds her married to another man, he
has no redress. All his clothes and belongings are laid out in
the sun for four days ; his family, relatives and friends refuse
him the salaam, and he is boycotted until he has cleansed
himself of his defilement. Ibn Saud has made capital out of the
unsatisfactory position of King Husein in the Hejaz, and many
of the Ateiba, Ageil and Harb have seceded from the King.
Abdul Mejid estimates that the members of the society number
about three hundred thousand.
King Husein’s view of the importance of the Ikhwan, may
be deduced from the following excerpt from his letter dated