Did Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Revolt Against the Ottomans?

Question:

The statement by some people that Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab rebelled against the Ottoman Empire—is this correct?

Answer:

The answer is that this is not correct. This is because Najd, since the year 256 AH, had already broken away from the rule of the Abbasid State. It came under the control of a state known as the Ukhaidhirite State, which may have been Shia or Zaydi. Thus, it broke away from the authority [of the caliphate], and the Abbasid State never had any designs on it to begin with, nor did it ever send anyone there due to the division, fragmentation, and weakness that befell them, as Najd held no covetable appeal at that time.

Following that, successive emirates and states did not demand that the people of Najd enter into their authority. They maintained independent emirates and states from the year 256 AH until the Ukhaidhirite State collapsed around the year 500 AH. After that, successive small states or petty principalities followed—these small emirates—wherever anyone established an orchard or a farm and gathered people around it, he became the emir of that town and its villages, and so on.

Thus, the Imam of the Call, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, came upon this reality: the emirates in Najd had no connection to the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire did not provide for them nor spend on them, nor did it demand tribute from their emirs, nor did it demand an oath of allegiance (bay’ah) from them, or anything of the sort. Rather, they were left alone because of a lack of desire for them, as there was no wealth there and no covetable appeal among their people; instead, they were small, fragmented towns.

So Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab came into this reality where al-Uyaynah had an emir, al-Hulaymilah had an emir, al-Jubaylah had an emir, al-Diriyah had an emir, Riyadh had an emir, al-Kharj had an emir, and so on. Every single one of them was an independent emirate with independent obedience, and he issued his call within this context.

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