After some time it dawned upon him that mere persuasion...

After some time it dawned upon him that mere persuasion unaided by political power might prove effective in the case of an individual, but it was difficult to bring about any radical change in a people's outlook without the backing of a political force. He, therefore, decided to rally under one banner, the different tribes of Arabia. For the achievement of this objective he ap­proached, through Uthman bin Hamad bin Mamar, the Amir of Uvainah.

The Amir at the very outset responded enthusiastically to the call of the Shaikh, but did not keep his word.[^1] The Shaikh left Uvainah and proceeded to Dariyyah where he continued his preaching despite opposition from the ignorant ' ulama '. In the long run, he not only succeeded in converting the people to his point of view, but also won the heart of Muhammad, the head of the great clan of Saud and the most powerful chieftain in the whole of the Najd.

Thus, the moral prestige and material strength of the Shaikh were considerably enhanced. “Gradually the desert Arabs were wedded into politico-religious unity like that effected by the Prophet of Islam. Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahhab was, in truth, a faithful counterpart of the first two Caliphs, abu Bakr and Umar. When he died in 1201/1787, his disciple Saud proved a worthy successor.

The new Wahhabi State was a close counterpart of the Meccan Caliphate.”[^2] A great change was brought about in the political and administrative set-up of the country. “Though possessing great military power, Saud always con­sidered himself responsible to public opinion and never encroached upon the legitimate freedom of his subjects. His government, though stern, was able and just. The Wahhabi judges were competent and honest.

Robbery became almost unknown, so well was the public peace maintained.” ^3 Having consolidated the Najd politically, Saud was ready to undertake the greater task of purifying Islam from all those un-Islamic influences that had been slowly creeping into it for the last few centuries. A campaign was thus set on foot to eradicate from the society all those superstitious practices that had been eating into the vitals of the faith. An honest attempt was made to return to pure Islam.

All later accretions-monstrous, many-sided edifices of scholastic interpretations of the medieval theologians, and ceremonial or mystical innovations like saint-worship-in short, all those practices which have no sanction from Islam were condemned and the masses were exhorted to abandon them.