531 
WAHABEES. 
from the large plunder they obtained in their military ex¬ 
peditions. Descending frequently from their desert recesses 
upon the coast of the Red sea, they arrested the caravans, 
and levied contributions upon the pilgrims journeying to 
Mecca and Medina. In the year 1807, when Ali Bey visited 
Mecca, the Wehhabis were in their greatest power. Their 
army, which he saw encamped in the vicinity of the sacred 
mount of Ararat, he estimates at 45,000 men, a large propor¬ 
tion of the number mounted on camels and dromedaries, 
and with a train of a thousand camels attached to the dif¬ 
ferent chiefs of the army. He describes with some spirit the 
appearance of another body of Wehhabis, whom he saw 
entering Mecca, to take possession of the city, and fulfil the du¬ 
ties of their own pilgrimage: a multitude of copper-coloured 
men, who rushed impetuously into the place, their only 
covering a narrow girdle round their waist, to which was 
hung a khanjedr, or large knife, each one carrying besides 
a firelock on his shoulder. Their devotions were of the 
most tumaltuous kind; the lamps surrounding the sacred 
kaaba were broken by their guns; and the ropes and buckets 
of the well of Zemzem destroyed in their eagerness to reach 
the holy water. All the other pilgrims quitted their more de¬ 
corous ceremonies, till the Wahhabees, having satisfied their 
zeal, and paid their alms to the well in gunpowder and 
coffee, betook themselves to the streets, where, in conformity 
with the law of Abd ul Wehhab, their heads were all closely 
shaved by the barbers of Mecca. The sultan Saaoud, whom 
Ali Bey saw at Arafat, was almost as naked as his subjects, 
distinguished chiefly by the green standard carried before 
him, with the characters, “ La illaha ilia Allah"—“ there 
is no other God but God,” embroidered upon it. 
With respect to their religious tenets, the Wehhabis may 
be described, generally, as Deists of the Mohammedan 
church. Abd ul Wehhab, while acknowledging fully the 
authority of the koran, professed obedience only to the 
literal text of this book; rejecting all the additions of the 
imams and doctors of law, and condemning various super¬ 
stitions which had sullied the purity of the faith. He for¬ 
bade all devotion to the person of the prophet, and pilgrim¬ 
age to his tomb at Medina ; regarding him simply as a man 
charged with a divine mission ; which being completed, he 
became again an ordinary mortal. The story of Mahomet’s 
ascent to Paradise on El Borak, and the horse of the angel 
Gabriel, he wholly denied; together with a host of other 
miraculous events, with which history has celebrated the life 
of the prophet. The Wahhabees simply say “ Mohammed,” 
instead of “ Our Lord Mohammed,” according to the usage 
of other Musselmen. They have equally rejected the in¬ 
direct worship of certain saints, who had been gradually 
insinuated into the Mussulman calendar, destroying the 
chapels and tombs which had been consecrated to them. 
The grand doctrine of the sect, and what they regard as the 
basis of true Islamism, is the unity of God. This forms their 
cry when they go to war, and justifies to themselves the 
violences they commit upon the corrupters of the faith. The 
Mussulmen who deviate from this simple principle of belief 
they call Mouschrikinns, or schismatics ; making a distinc¬ 
tion between this term and that of Cossar, or idolaters. 
As it was the general custom of Mussulmen to shave the 
head, with the exception of one tuft of hair, the law of the 
Wehhabis forbade the tuft, and enjoined the shaving of the 
whole head. Their founder also prohibited not only the use 
of tobacco, but that of silk and the precious metals. Their 
religious services are performed underneath the open sky, 
and not below the roofing of a mosque. Notwithstanding 
these changes, however, and the general spirit of their doc¬ 
trine, they still retain certain superstitions, common to other 
Mussulmen. While forbidden to make some pilgrimages, 
others are permitted to them. They kiss the stone of the 
Kaaba, drink of the water of Zemzem, and throw stones 
against the pillar said to have been built by the devil at 
Mina. 
The pacha of Egypt, with a view of employing his troops, 
amounting, at this time, to 15,000 men, and in order to gain 
favour with the Porte, and reputation among true Mussul¬ 
men, determined to liberate the holy city and shrine from 
the power of these heretics, and declared war against them. 
In the vigorous prosecution of it, his army was transported 
to the Arabian coasts; and the men and horses composing 
it, were supplied with provisions, carried up the Nile as far 
as Kenneah, thence transported across the desert on camels 
to Cosseir, and shipped for Jambo, or some other port on 
the eastern coast of the Red sea. Several armed vessels also 
were built at Alexandria, taken to pieces, and conveyed on 
the backs of camels to Suez, where they found a small fleet, 
which greatly aided his military operations on the Arabian 
coast. The pacha, it is said, received some arms from the 
English ; but permission was refused, as we are told by Mr. 
Legh, to his request that his vessels might go round the Cape 
of Good Hope, to enter into the Red sea. The Wahhabees, 
on the other hand, are reported to have received assistance 
from the French government, conveyed through the Isle of 
France, and with the policy of creating a French interest in 
Arabia, which might be subservient to their pretensions in 
the East. 
The campaign of the pacha of Egypt against the Weh¬ 
habis, in 1812, had been unsuccessful; and his army suf¬ 
fered very greatly in an engagement at Jedda, the port of 
Mecca on the adjoining coast. He redoubled, however, his 
exertions; organized new troops; and, early in the spring 
of 1813, brought the war to a triumphant termination. The 
Wehhabis were driven with loss from the coast; Mecca, Me¬ 
dina, and Jedda, were all retaken, and restored again to the 
authority of the Porte, and to the worship of the true be¬ 
lievers. Mohammed Ali sent his youngest son, Ismael- 
Pacha, to Constantinople, to lay the keys of Mecca at the 
feet of the grand signior. 
WAHAL, or Waal, a great river of the Netherlands, or 
rather branch of the Rhine, which leaves that river at Schen- 
kenschans, and joins the Maese at the small island of Voorn. 
Separating afterwards from the Maese, the AVahal washes the 
north side of the island of Bommelwaert, and joins the 
Maese again at Worcum, after which they form one great 
river, or rather arm of the sea, called the Merwe or Maese. 
WAHLAPGIS-SQUEGAMOOK, a lake of the United 
States, in Maine, between Appahmoojeene-Gamook and 
Bungah-Quohem lakes. 
WAHI, a town of Hindostan, province of Bejapoor, long 
the residence of an illustrious Mahratta family named Rastia, 
notwithstanding which the Mahometan inhabitants had the 
extraordinary privilege in a Hindoo country, of killing kine, 
and exposing the beef for sale in the market. It is situated 
about 50 miles south of Poonah. 
WAHLSTADT, a large village of Prussian Silesia; 5 
miles east-south-east of Liegnitz. 
WAHNAACHA, a river of North America, which runs 
south-east into Columbia, below Clark’s river. 
WAHOWPUNS, Indians of North America, on the west 
side of the Columbia 
WAHREN, a small inland town of the north of Germany, 
in the duchy of Mecklenburg Schwerin; 20 miles west-nortia- 
west of Strelilz. 
WAHRING, or Waering, a town of Lower Austria, 
near Closter Neuburg. Population, including the parish, 
2500. 
WAIBLINGEN, a town in the west of Germany, in Wir- 
temburg, on the Rems; 17 miles east-north-east of Stutgard. 
Population 2300. 
WAIBSTADT, a small town of Germany, in Baden; 23 
miles east of Spire, with 1500 inhabitants. 
WAID, [etymology unknown.'] Crushed.—His horse 
waul in the back, and shoulder shotten. Shakspeare. 
WA1DERSFELDEN, a small town of Germany, in 
Upper Austria ; 12 miles east of Freystadt. 
WAIDHOFEN, a small town of Germany, in Lower 
Austria, on the river Ips; 72 miles west-by-south of Vienna, 
with 3400 inhabitants. 
WAIDHOFEN, a town of Lower Austria, on the river 
Theya; 
