THEIR ORIGIN, HISTORY, TENETS, AND INFLUENCE. 313 
whirlwind of Puritanism against the prevailing apostacy of 
the Moslem world. The sect which he founded and which 
took its popular name from him was a protest against 
Moslem idolatry and superstition. It stood for no new 
doctrine, but called back to the original Islam. Wahabiism 
was an attempt at an Arabian reformation. “Yet so far 
from giving any progressive impulse to the Mohammedan 
cult, it has proved the most reactionary element in the 
history of Islam.”* This purely Semitic and unique move- 
ment, with all its energy, bas produced nothing new; it has 
been directed exclusively toward the repristination of pure 
monotheism. Our purpose is to sketch (a) the origin and 
history of the Wahabis; (b) give an account of the Wahabi 
doctrine; and (c) of their present condition and influence. The 
sequel will show that a reformation of the Moslem world by 
a return to primitive Islam (in theory and practice) is an 
impossibility, even when aided by the sword. Back to 
Christ, not back to Mohammed—that is the only hope for 
the Moslem world. 
I. OrtciIn aNpD History or THE WAHABIS.—Mohammed 
bin Abd ul Wahab was instructed from his youth by his 
father in the religion of Islam according to the straitest sect 
of the orthodox Sunnis, namely, that of the Imam Abu 
Abdullah Ahmed bin Hanbal. Arrived at manhood, the 
serious student of Islam determined to visit other schools 
than those of Nejd. He went to Mecca, and afterward also 
to Busrah and Bagdad. He made the pilgrimage to Mecca 
and visited El Medina, but in neither place did he find the 
ideal Islam for which his heart was longing. He felt that 
there was a distinction between the essential elements of 
Islam and the recent admixtures of dogma and _ practice. 
At Ayinah he first posed as a teacher of the truth. He 
affirmed the right of private judgment in interpreting the 
Koran and the traditions by boldly rejecting the old-time 
leading-strings of the four orthodox commentators. His 
teaching met with opposition from the outset, but there were 
also those who accepted his bold position. He fled from his 
native town and sought refuge at Deraiah under the pro- 
tection of Mohammed bin Saood, a chief of considerable 
influence and great ambition. The reformer and the chief 
found that they could be mutually helpful in furthering each 
* Rev. F. F. Ellinwood, D.D., in his article, “Has Islam been a Religion 
of Progress?” (Missionary Review of the World, Oct., 1897). 
