CHAPTER II: Historical Account of the Najd Brother Opposition Movement

Introduction:

  Within the previous Chapter I, we have tackled the formation of the Wahabi Najd Brothers and their role played in the establishment of the Saudi state with its current borders. By the end of Chapter I, we have referred to the widened gap and the disputes between Abdul-Aziz and the Najd Brothers. Such disputes had their political impact on the relations of Abdul-Aziz with Iraq, Jordan, and GB. In this Chapter II, we tackle the opposition movement of the Najd Brothers against Abdul-Aziz, giving a historical account that will trace the beginnings of the religious dispute between the Najd Brothers and Abdul-Aziz that was turned into a political opposition movement and later on into a military opposition movement and military rebellion, resulting eventually in the Najd Brothers becoming history as they were annihilated entirely. Before we enter into the details of Chapter II, we feel bound to refer to the piece of advice of Ibn Jalawy, among others, addressed to warn Abdul-Aziz against the extremism and fanaticism of the Najd Brothers, but Abdul-Aziz at first used to condone and overlook their misconduct. On that subject, we quote here Hafiz Wahba, the consultant of Abdul-Aziz, from his book titled ''Arabia in the 20^th Century'': "…We have heard the emir Abdullah Ibn Jalawy and others among Al-Saud family members and other notables from Al-Sheikh family members advise Abdul-Aziz concerning reconsideration of the extremism of the Najd Brothers as they had transgressed all limits, but king Abdul-Aziz used to reply that they were just like his sons and his duty was to bear with them, to overlook their transgresses and mistakes, and to advise them by revealing certain facts to them, as he could not forget their aid to him for years, and he affirmed his belief in their good-natured characters…" (1). Yet, no facts were ever revealed to them and no pieces of advice either. Their political and religious opposition against him reached the level that they fought him after he bore with them a lot in many instances. We will trace below the historical stages of the disputes between the Najd Brothers and Abdul-Aziz.

The first stage of the opposition movement of the Najd Brothers against Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud:

Firstly: the dispute over the conquest of Hael (1915):

  The very first dispute ever to emerge between the Najd Brothers and Abdul-Aziz was over the conquest of Hael. The Najd Brothers saw that they must fight Al-Sharif Hussein who re-captured the city of Al-Kharama, and its Wahabi ruler Khaled Ibn Louaï sought the immediate help of Abdul-Aziz, but the latter saw that this was not a suitable time to engage into wars against Al-Sharif Hussein, as his priority was to conquer Hael, as his foes, the Shamar tribe and Al-Rasheed, resided there and defied him. Abdul-Aziz held a general meeting in the city of Shaqra to discuss the situation, giving the leader of the opposition, Feisal Al-Daweesh, the chance to deliver his speech first. Al-Daweesh demanded the immediate attack on the British and Al-Sharif Hussein, who was provided with arms and weapons by the British, thus threatening the Najd Wahabi Brothers, giving the chance to Al-Sharif Hussein to raid into the Wahabi lands under the protection of the British, looting spoils and returning unpunished, and this ''infidel'' was an enemy of faith that must be fought. Despite the strong argument, Abdul-Aziz managed to convince them to attack and invade Hael instead, as its dwellers posed a real threat; they could not conquer Hejaz in the south while leaving their backs unprotected as Hael in the north might send troops to fight them. Eventually, those who opposed conquering Hael first before Hejaz changed their stance into overwhelming support of the views held by Abdul-Aziz. Even if Abdul-Aziz bent before this storm and passed it with no damages at all, he realized that the Najd Brothers had become a powerful group whose strength and influence had to be put into consideration. In their turn, the Najd Brothers had realized that they are a winning card into the hands of Abdul-Aziz and they must make the best use of such a situation. Abdul-Aziz understood them well enough, and he had to be patient with their arrogance and haughtiness as they had accused him of being lenient with the infidels: the British (2).

Secondly: the dispute over employment and unemployment and the conference of religious scholars in 1919:

  Many question marks gathered in the horizon showing the widened gap between what the Najd Brothers learnt in the books of M. Ibn Abdul-Wahab, the founder of Wahabism, and real-world situations that rarely allowed the application of Wahabi teachings. Such contradiction was bound to cause several religious and political disputes later on, summarized in unemployment and the lack of desire to work on the one hand, and calling others as infidels as they refused to wear the turban used to be worn by M. Ibn Abdul-Wahab instead of the headband/headwear commonly used by most Arabian men on the other hand. As for unemployment, the Najd Brothers had their own dominant culture that despised working; Bedouins used to look down upon working with one's hands, especially in agriculture. They used to raising cattle, raiding, and looting instead. Even agriculture as an activity was merely a façade to cover up for their real motives in staying in the immigration colonies/camps to become Wahabi Brothers. Their real mission there was, of course, to learn Wahabism books and rituals of worship and to get military training to prepare for their Wahabi jihad. Within the Middle-Ages culture and mentality of the Najd Brothers, it was common that soldiers would carry weapons and never to engage into agricultural activities, whereas Sufis in such dominant culture of Sufism in the Middle Ages would devote their time to worship in certain houses specially built for that purpose and they would find others to spend money on their living. On the contrary, the Najd Brothers combine between long times for acts of worship and longer times for jihad. Thus, when the Wahabi fighters were not engaged into wars, they would spent times in acts of worship, leaving agriculture for women. Even some Wahabis embraced the notion that money-collecting contradicts their devoting their time to acts of worship. Some Wahabi clergymen convinced some of the Najd Brothers that working to earn money is never against religion, as per history of rich tradesmen among the so-called companions of Prophet Muhammad. Thus, the problem of unemployment seemed apparently solved. As for the issue of the Wahabi immigration, M. Ibn Abdul-Wahab considered it as an obligatory duty; thus, the Najd Brothers considered those who never immigrated to colonies like them as of little faith. The same attitude included those who did not wear the turbans of M. Ibn Abdul-Wahab and preferred the traditional headwear common in Arabia at the time. Hence, the Najd Brothers deemed other non-Wahabis as targets of raids and attacks as a duty as per their Wahabi teachings. In fact, the Najd Brothers looked down upon all non-Wahabis; as Wahabism consider Wahabis as the only true Muslims, while all non-Wahabis are infidels who deserve to be fought, killed, enslaved, and robbed. This was their attitude as well toward all those who refused to immigrate into the colonies/camps and never stick to the dress-code of the Wahabi Najd Brothers. This course of actions was a natural result of a theocracy which was based on excluding others who differ in religion, doctrine, and theological views as well inside that doctrine. Hence, Wahabism advocates the murdering and fighting of all non-Wahabis: non-Muslims first and then all Shiites and Sufis and generally all Sunnite non-Wahabis in general. Such extremism led to more fanatic attitudes; the Najd Brothers considered themselves as the only Muslims on earth (i.e., the only group who gained salvation in this world and in the Hereafter), and they wanted ardently to exclude even Wahabis who did not join their circle. Hence, Abdul-Aziz realized the imminent danger of such theological questionings and attitudes spread among the lines of the Najd Brothers, wearing the garb of politics. Abdul-Aziz ordered the gathering of many theologians and religious scholars, including Suleiman Ibn Samhan, within a conference in 1919 to allow the Najd Brothers the chance to pose their major five questions/problems that entailed religious edicts (i.e., fatwas). These questions were as follows: 1) can Muslim Bedouins (i.e., Wahabis who did not belong to the Najd Brothers) be called infidels even if they stick to Wahabism and divine commands? 2) Is there a difference between those Wahabis who wear traditional headwear and those wearing Najd Brothers' turban? 3) Is there a difference between ordinary Wahabis living in cities and the Najd Brothers living in immigration colonies? 4) Is there a difference between slaughtered cattle of ordinary Wahabis in cities and cattle slaughtered by the Najd Brothers in the colonies? And the last and most important question: 5) are the Najd Brothers in colonies permitted religiously to attack those ordinary Wahabis in cities to force them to live in the Najd Brothers' colonies?

  As for the turban, the religious scholar Suleiman Ibn Samhan refuted dress codes as part of Wahabism, as Prophet Muhammad never changed his attire or headwear after and before the Quranic revelation; and thus, wearing a turban or not is never part of religious duties or sins at all. As for those who refused to leave their cities to immigrate to the colonies, they were not infidels at all; as infidels were only those who refuse to embrace and apply Wahabi teachings, not those who live in villages or cities. As for slaughtered cattle, one can eat them legally even if they were slaughtered by anyone, anywhere in colonies, cities, and villages. By the end of this conference, a general fatwa was issued to prevent raising such queries on trivial matters in the future, deeming anyone who would raise similar arguments again as deserving severe rebuke and if he would not repent, he will be disciple and punished. The fatwa added that any type of enmity should be created only within endorsement of clergymen and rulers who understood religion best; otherwise, the sinner who would waste more time on such trivialities and unneeded enmities will be declared as an infidel or a non-Muslim (3). Hence, the religious scholars agreed with Abdul-Aziz that his supreme political authority as king and the religious authorities of scholars (under him alone) are the only authorities used as a yard stick to judge whether someone is a Muslim (i.e., a Wahabi) or an infidel (i.e., a non-Wahabi), and those who seek to declare others as apostates for no reason or based on trivial matters would be deemed as infidels who forsook Islam an Muslims.

Thirdly: Al-Artaweiyya conference 1924:

  After direct contacts between Feisal Al-Daweesh and Khaled Ibn Louaï, the Najd Brothers held a conference in Al-Artaweiyya colony in 1924 in order to discuss jihad against ''infidels'' in the cities of Turba and Al-Kharama to end the control of Al-Sharif Hussein and his family over Hejaz. Al-Daweesh delivered a speech during the conference, asserting that ''it is their duty to drive Al-Sharif Hussein from the Holy Land in Hejaz so that God's Word will be the highest; conditions of Mecca and Yathreb are despicable, and swords must be used and all sacrifices, money, and lives be spent to put an end to prevalent chaos and dilapidation'' (4). Of course, this conference was part of the episodes to pressurize Abdul-Aziz to order them to conquer Hejaz as soon as possible. This conference asserted their previous stance vis-à-vis conquering Hael first.

Fourthly: the dispute between Abdul-Aziz and the Najd Brothers during the conquest of Hejaz:

1- Abdul-Aziz knew very well the belligerent and bellicose nature of the Najd Brothers in their military Wahabi jihad; the Wahabi preachers under Abdul-Aziz taught the Najd Brothers for years that they have every right to kill all non-Wahabis, fighters or civil peaceful ones, even women and children. The massacres committed by the Najd Brothers inside Najd deserts were not known at the time all over the world; the exact opposite was true in the case of Hejaz, an area open to the outside world at large. That was why the international community knew very fast about the massacre of Ta'if, where the Najd Brothers typically and routinely murdered all civilians. When international newspapers made this massacre of Ta'if their headlines, Abdul-Aziz felt embarrassed and had to apologize for such heinous crime committed without him knowing, and he claimed that he went into a fit of fury once he heard of such savagery and delivered orders to the Najd Brothers to stop it at once. When newspapers all over Egypt, Syria, and Iran published news about how the Najd Brothers murdered all women and children in the city of Ta'if, Abdul-Aziz sent telegrams to these newspapers to condemn publishing such pieces of news, and such telegrams were signed in the name of his son, Feisal, and Abdul-Aziz sent a letter to his consultant, Hafiz Wahba, asserting that he guaranteed the safety of civilians and their possessions (5). But it was all too late and in vain: the massacre had been committed! Abdul-Aziz realized that Hejaz is a region open to the world, unlike Najd which is a closed area rarely visited by outsiders, and even newspapers never reached it. Abdul-Aziz had to make sure that such massacres would never occur ever again; he opted to siege Jeddah, Mecca and Yathreb to negotiate surrender instead of attacking both cities to conquer them militarily. A dispute between Abdul-Aziz and the Najd Brothers started because of this during the siege of Jeddah and Yathreb.

2- Jeddah:

  Abdul-Aziz headed a military council on 30^th Dec. 1924 (1343 A.H.) attended by the leaders of the Najd Brothers and other military leaders to discuss the best way to force Jeddah and its people to surrender. Ibn Bajad, the second leader of the Najd Brothers demanded to attack Jeddah immediately, promising Abdul-Aziz never to kill civilians. Khaled Ibn Louaï spoke in his turn, accusing Abdul-Aziz of being a coward, asserting that the Najd Brothers were more pious and courageous than he was. The Najd Brothers used a pretext that by wasting time and never attacking, the British forces might have the chance to control Jeddah and the Red Sea coast to negotiate with Abdul-Aziz later on by their terms. Of course, this happened when the British forced Abdul-Aziz to give up his claims to annex Al-Aqaba and Ma'an regions to his kingdom, as the two regions were to be annexed to Jordan later on. Abdul-Aziz reminded the Najd Brothers in the council that attacking Jeddah will result in a similar massacre as committed in Ta'if, and this would exacerbate matters, as Jeddah had foreign consulates that would stir the West and the Islamic world against him if the Najd Brothers attacked Jeddah. Finally, Abdul-Aziz insisted on going on with peaceful negotiation to annex Jeddah peacefully to his kingdom (6).

3- Yathreb:

   During the siege of Yathreb, its dwellers opted for surrender, but its garrison, consisted of Hashemites loyal to Al-Sharif Hussein, insisted on resistance and pressed for supplies and reinforcement to be sent to them, but no supplies came at all. Ruler of Yathreb, Al-Sharif Shahat, proposed surrender under the condition of securing the lives and possessions of all dwellers and officials. Abdul-Aziz readily accepted the proposal, hastily sending his son, Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Aziz, to supervise negotiations and to end the siege gradually. Yet, the garrison vowed never to surrender, and M. Ibn Abdul-Aziz had to go on with the siege. When the garrison leader felt despair as no reinforcement and supplies reached him, he met with M. Ibn Abdul-Aziz who readily promised safety and general pardon to all soldiers, officers, and civilians upon surrender. Thus, after a 10-month siege, the garrison surrendered Yathreb on 5^th Dec. 1925, as well as all villages and ports between Yathreb and Jeddah. Feisal Al-Daweesh, leader No. 1 of the Najd Brothers who was sieging Yathreb before the coming of M. Ibn Abdul-Aziz, was furious: he ardently desired to massacre all dwellers of Yathreb as punishment for such a long siege, just as what he did to dwellers of Ta'if. Thus, Al-Daweesh did just that with the village of Al-Awaly, near Yathreb, massacring its entire population and looting the village. Al-Daweesh insisted on bombing Yathreb with the cannons without telling Abdul-Aziz, but the latter got wind of such decision and dismissed Al-Daweesh from his post as the leader of the Wahabi troops. Al-Daweesh left the immediately along with some of his followers to settle in Al-Artaweiyya, feeling furious with Abdul-Aziz (7). After annexing Hejaz to his kingdom, Abdul-Aziz made the Najd Brothers return to Najd, as he feared they might commit any more massacres or cause more trouble to embarrass him. Thus, conquering Hejaz marked a new phase of the relation between Abdul-Aziz and the Najd Brothers: they formed political opposition movement against him using conferences before resorting to military revolt later on.

Footnotes:

1- Wahba, ''Arabia in the 20^th Century", page 289.

2- Habeeb, ditto, pages 150:153.

3- Al-Mukhtar, ditto, pages 142, 144, and 145.

   Al-Rihany, ''History of Najd'', pages 265 and 266.

   Habeeb, ditto, pages 145:148.

4- Wahba, ''Arabian Days'', London, 1964, pages 132 and 133.

5- Wahba, "Fifty Years in Arabia", 1960 edition, pages 243:245.

6- Jalal Kishk, ''The Saudis and the Islamic Solution", pages 619:621.

7- Al-Mukhtar, ditto, pages 380:383.

    Al-Zarkeley, ''Arabia in the Reign of Abdul-Aziz'', page 471.

Historical conditions of the second stage of the Wahabi opposition movement against Abdul-Aziz (opposition movement conferences).

 We can briefly mention them within the following points.

Firstly: between Abdul-Aziz and the Qarmatians:

1- Within the Abbasid Era, we know the difference between Bedouin and desert-Arabs ''ordinary'' ''secular'' raids for loot and other raids by them that raised banners and mottoes of religion. Within Shiite banners and mottoes, the raids of the Zanj movement or the Qarmatians were never confined to looting, as they systematically committed massacres and enslaved women, conquering areas and regions from lands of other people. Such other people formally declared themselves as ''Muslims'' who were Shiite, Sunnite, or Sufis – it did not matter, as such criminals used to justify massacring them under banners and mottoes of creed. Ordinary Bedouin raids for looting used to be directed at caravans, especially those of pilgrims, and in many cases, such raiders used to accept tributes of large money sums, instead of killing caravan members (i.e., such raids were mostly ''peaceful'', if we may say so!), thus victims' lives were spared and they would enjoy some of their money.

2- Abdul-Aziz and the Najd Brothers revived such brutal massacres, conquests, and looting habits of the Qarmatians, but with the addition of a new dangerous element: raids were under the Sunnite banners and mottoes, not Shiite ones. The neighbors of Abdul-Aziz and the Najd Brothers were Sunnites as well, but Wahabism allowed room for the false notion that only Wahabis were deemed as ''Muslims'', while non-Wahabis were deemed as infidels and polytheists whose lives, possessions, money, women, houses, and homelands were allowed to be confiscated and taken by Wahabis. The Najd Brothers widened such terrorist notion to include killing and looting countries of Wahabis who were not among the Najd Brothers in the colonies, but Abdul-Aziz stood strongly against such new notion forged by the Najd Brothers to avoid civil strife inside his kingdom that might jeopardize his victories and make him lose his newly formed kingdom forever by annihilating its dwellers. Another new element introduced by Abdul-Aziz, and never by the Qarmatians, was extremism and fanaticism that led to bloodshed untypical of the 20^th century culture that differed a lot from the Middle-Ages culture of violence, fit for the Qarmatians and their contemporaries. 

Secondly: between Najd and Hejaz:

1- The Najd region, and its dwellers at the time, was living and reviving the Middle-Ages culture due to its isolation away from the outside world. That was why Abdul-Aziz easily could form the Najd Brothers and train them to commit massacres and looting to conquer other regions as per the Najd culture known to its dwellers for centuries, without the international community knowing anything at all at the time. Thus, concordance and agreement were prevalent at the time between Abdul-Aziz and his Najd Brothers. Disputes at that stage revolved around the best means to reach the goal, not around the goal of conquering and annexing areas to the kingdom. Yet, disputes and rifts widened during the conquest of Hejaz. Unlike the isolated Najd, region, the Hejaz region (that included Mecca, Yathreb, and Jeddah port on the Red Sea) was open to the outside world and was visited by thousands annually for the purposes of trade and performing pilgrimage. Let us remember that Jeddah housed many European consulates. The Hejaz area got an international interest as a location when its ruler, Al-Sharif Hussein, engaged in World War I against the Ottomans and Germany and siding with GB and France. Moreover, the Hejaz region has its own traditional and religious heritage and history, with connections to the outside world, making its conditions differing a vast deal in comparison to Najd. In sum, Hejaz could never have been conquered by military force. What could be easily done in Najd was impossible in Hejaz.

2- Abdul-Aziz never realized such facts until the Najd Brothers committed their routine massacres upon the conquest of Ta'if, murdering most of its dwellers. Of course, such massacres committed even before Ta'if, were within mutual agreement between Abdul-Aziz and the Najd Brothers; if he had realized earlier the difference between Hejaz and Najd, he would have sent other soldiers apart from the Najd Brothers, as he had other troops among non-Brothers, whom he used to fight the Najd Brothers later on when they revolted against him, and with the help of GB, he managed to kill off all the Najd Brothers soon enough. Hence, Abdul-Aziz was greatly surprised when the international community, including GB, condemned severely the massacres committed by the Najd Brothers. Soon enough, Abdul-Aziz realized the difference between Najd and Hejaz and the fact that the Najd Brothers threatened his kingdom by their brutal savage habits and bovine stupidity. Abdul-Aziz realized that he might risk losing his kingdom by engaging in conflicts against the international community because of the Najd Brothers, whom must be stopped at once by him. Thus, Abdul-Aziz had unwittingly turned the Najd Brothers into an opposition movement against him.

3- We are to remember that after annexing Hejaz to the burgeoning Saudi kingdom, Abdul-Aziz must be open to the world outside Arabia and had to hold good relations with international powers whose dominant culture differed a lot from the Middle-Ages culture of the Najd Brothers. Abdul-Aziz felt the urgent need to cope with the 20^th century culture; otherwise, he would lose his kingdom and maybe his life as well. That was why he stopped his conquests, and declared that he conquered enough lands and territories in Arabia. He felt no longer in need for the Najd Brothers, and he could not bear any more with their problems. Moreover, Abdul-Aziz wanted to introduce modern communications, wireless and otherwise, and means of transportations, like motorcycles for instance, to cope with the modern world around him, but the Najd Brothers saw that such items of modernity as diabolical and satanic and against Wahabism, as per their pre-modern culture of the Middle Ages. ''The protection of the vast regions of his kingdom entailed modernization in desert wars and in arms and weapons, and the Najd Brothers could never be compatible with all this.'' (8). Abdul-Aziz made the Najd Brothers return to Najd after having received large rewards, pensions, extensions of arable lands, and spoils. Yet, the Najd Brothers refused to retire: this was against the Wahabi teachings inculcated into their minds by Abdul-Aziz and his Wahabi clergymen and sheikhs. The Najd Brothers wanted ardently to go on with their Wahabi jihad using their primitive arms and weapons to invade other lands of the realm of the infidels, Home of Wars as per the Sunnite sharia of the Middle Ages, revived and resuscitated by Wahabism in the modern era. Of course, the Najd Brothers did not realize, as Abdul-Aziz did, the differences in situation, circumstances, and conditions and the fact that they had reached the furthest limits permitted by the international powers, especially GB.

4- The Najd Brothers were furious to see their leader Abdul-Aziz, after conquering Hejaz, treating the infidels (i.e., the British) kindly and holding talks with them. That was a grave sin as per the Wahabi teachings imbibed by them. The Najd Brothers asked themselves how come their leader Abdul-Aziz would hold negotiations with polytheists (i.e., Muslim non-Wahabis) who ruled Jordan, Iraq, Hejaz, and Egypt (9). They were pained to see their leader Abdul-Aziz rewarding them, after the victories they brought to him, by sending them away to retire forcibly when they were still in the zenith of their strength, power, and military ambition. They knew quite well that their expansionist dreams can never be realized after defining borders with Kuwait, Jordan, and Iraq, and thus, they thought to exercise their military power and energy against their leader Abdul-Aziz, who turned out to be their enemy. Such a target was very difficult at first; it entailed several conferences to express their political opposition and gather more momentum and more followers of course.

Thirdly: between Hejaz and Egypt:

1- Hejaz was in fact and indeed under Egyptian control, even during the period in which Egypt was an Ottoman province. This Egyptian control of and supervision over Hejaz began in the middle of the Abbasid Era and went on during the Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mameluke eras. When the Ottomans conquered Egypt, such control and supervision never abated; rather, Egypt had the right to interfere in and to settle the disputes among Al-Sharif family members concerning ruling Mecca and Yathreb, in order to decide who the winner among them was and to acknowledge him as ruler of Hejaz.  

2- The ''Kiswah'' (expensive, embroidered cloth covering) of the Kaaba in Mecca was brought by the Egyptian caravan annually, for centuries, along with money donations, as part of the signs of Egyptian control over Hejaz, and the Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowments used to spend money to care for Mecca and Yathreb and dwellers and pilgrims of both cities. When the very first Saudi kingdom was established and subsequently conquered Hejaz, Egypt had to face such burgeoning monarchy, resulting later on in the fall of this first Saudi state in 1818, as Muhammad Ali Pacha, the Egyptian ruler at the time, sent the Egyptian army led by his son to raze to the ground their capital, Al-Deireiya.

3- When Abdul-Aziz conquered Hejaz, it was inevitable that he must face Egypt. Such confrontation was hastened by the Najd Brothers, as they considered the Egyptians, as all non-Wahabis, as infidels and polytheists. Moreover, the Najd Brothers considered the festive procession of the annual Kiswah caravan as it entered Mecca as a sinful action that must be stopped by force. That was why a group of the Najd Brothers attacked the Egyptian Kiswah caravan in 1926, and Egyptian soldiers of the caravan had to defend themselves by firing at their attackers, killing all of them. Prince Feisal had to interfere to stop any further escalations (10). This incident made Abdul-Aziz order the Najd Brothers to return to Najd immediately, as he did not want to collide with the Egyptians whose grandfathers destroyed the very first Saudi state. Abdul-Aziz felt the urge to make preaching Wahabism in Egypt his priority. A Wahabi Egypt would be a strategic depth to support his monarchy, instead of leaving Egypt to pose as a deadly danger against his burgeoning monarchy. Abdul-Aziz readily and speedily contained the crisis of the caravan with Egyptian authorities, and never cared about the death of the attackers of the caravan among the Najd Brothers. His revenge waited enough time to be wreaked in the best manner: he exercised all power and might possible for him to spread and propagate Wahabism in Egypt via his agents sent there for that purpose: sheikhs Al-Sobky, Rasheed Reda, Hamid Al-Fiqi, and Moheb-Eddine Al-Khateeb. These agents managed to convert the Egyptian ''Sharia Society'' into Wahabism. This religious body in Egypt used to be the biggest intellectual fortress of Sunnite Sufism, which used to oppose Wahabism. These agents helped to establish a Wahabi body inside Egypt, with the main headquarters in its capital Cairo and branches in the governorates, called "Supporters of Al-Sunna Society", aiming at spreading and propagating Wahabism all over Egypt, as well as ''The Muslim Youth Society'', which aimed at spreading Wahabism among Egyptian youths and to train its members in military actions. Among the youths of this society was Hassan Al-Banna, who was chosen to form the MB terrorist organization in Egypt in 1928 to be an alternative to the terrorists of the Najd Brothers. The Najd Brothers developed their opposition movement against Abdul-Aziz as their call to revolt against him gained more support and momentum. Before his imminent military combat with them, Abdul-Aziz readily and hastily established the terrorist MB organization in Egypt to replace the Najd Brothers, aiming to spread branches of the MB all over the Islamic world later on. Yet, Abdul-Aziz forbade the MB members from ever working inside his kingdom, so as not to have the troubles caused by the Najd Brothers repeated. It is noteworthy that what Abdul-Aziz feared occurred actually after his death; when the terrorist MB members collided with the Egyptian president Gamal Abdel-Nasser in the 1960s, most of them fled to the KSA, where they had established the very last opposition movement against the KSA in the 20^th century, the movement that produced Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda recently. This was the main reason for the animosity and hatred of Saudis to the terrorist MB organization now. Eventually, Abdul-Aziz saw that the Najd Brothers had caused him enough troubles already in Hejaz; the region included a mix of cultures and races, with deep-seated centuries-old enmity toward Najd and its people. Even the dealings of the Najd Brothers with dwellers of Hejaz were a manifestation of such enmity that dated back to the Middle Ages. Thus, it was inevitable that Abdul-Aziz would order the Najd Brothers to return to Najd, their natural habitat, to enjoy the pensions, possession, lands, money, and rest. Yet, what they had learnt from Abdul-Aziz and his Wahabi sheikhs drove them to make use of their retirement in order to form the very first opposition movement against the KSA and its king, their previous leader Abdul-Aziz, using conferences at first, as we will discuss this next stage of the Najd Brothers' opposition against Abdul-Aziz in the next lines.

Footnotes:

8- Hopwood (Dereck), ''The Arabian Peninsula Society and Politics'', London, 1972, paged 64.

9- Habeeb, ditto, pages 196, 197, 198, and 202.

10- Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, Number 78, 2^nd year, 29-6-1926.

The first conference of the Wahabi opposition movement against Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud: Al-Artaweiyya conference Dec. 1926:

Firstly: shortly before Al-Artaweiyya conference

1- Hafiz Wahba was among the disciples of (the reformist head of Al-Azhar) Muhammad Abdou, who died in 1905, but Wahba deserted his route to work as a consultant to Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud. He became his nearest consultant, and Abdul-Aziz sent him specially to Egypt to form with Rasheed Reda the two main pillars of spreading and propagating Wahabism in Egypt in the name of ''Sunna'' (traditions ascribed to Prophet Muhammad centuries after his death) and ''Salaf'' (i.e., ancestral traditions of ancient theological scholars), and both men avoided the name of Wahabism as it was most hated in Egypt at the time, where Sunnite Sufism was the prevalent religion. Wahba wrote two books of history about the third KSA and about Abdul-Aziz, based on his participation, as a consultant to Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud, in decision-making processes and on his being a contemporary witness to major events of that era.

2- Because of the closeness of Wahba to Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud, Feisal Al-Daweesh (leader of the Najd Brothers and their opposition movement against Abdul-Aziz) seized the chance of the presence of Wahba inside the house of Khaled Ibn Louaï and delivered a speech against Abdul-Aziz, threatening him, assured that Wahba will convey it to him at once. Wahba mentions in his book that during the feast after Ramadan in Mecca in 1343 A.H. (25-4-1925 A.D.), he visited Khaled Ibn Louaï, to find at his house Al-Daweesh and some of the Najd Brothers. Al-Daweesh delivered a speech, saying: "We praise God, O Khaled and our Brothers, for His bounty, as we conquered Mecca and drove out Al-Sharif from it; we are soldiers of God and servants of His religion, and we want nothing but to make God's Word the supreme one and His religion the dominant one. We want nothing but to remove injustices, sinful acts, and falsehoods; this is the mission of our swords, brandished against all people like All-Sharif who follow his footsteps" (he meant, of course, Abdul-Aziz), and Wahba mentions that the Najd Brothers agreed to his speech, and Wahba affirms in his book that he told his king that this was their first ultimatum to him (11).

3- Al-Daweesh apparently planned and connived earlier his plot; he held in Al-Artaweiyya colony the very first conference joined by the opposition movement members against Abdul-Aziz without telling him beforehand and without desiring his presence, to allow the chance of verbal attacks against the king.

Secondly: Al-Artaweiyya conference: Dec. 1926:

  This conference was attended by sheikhs of the tribes of Mateer, Otaybah, and Ajman, and all of the attendees criticized Abdul-Aziz within the following points that need to be answered:

1-    Abdul-Aziz sent his son, Saud, to Egypt and his son, Feisal, to London to study, and both GB and Egypt are countries of the infidels and polytheists

2-    The Egyptian Kiswah caravan entered Mecca with armed men

3-    Using phones, cars, and telegraph cables was akin to witchcraft

4-    Asking for explanation for stopping trade with Kuwait; if its dwellers were Muslims, trade can be practiced with them, if not, they were infidels that ought to be fought

5-    Tributes and taxes in Najd and man-made laws

6-    The reason behind leaving the Shiites of Al-Ahsa and Al-Qatif regions to keep their faiths without forcing them to convert to Wahabism

7-    The reason behind allowing the Iraqi and Jordanian Bedouins to use freely the grazing areas of Wahabis for their cattle.

8-    Finally, the reason why Abdul-Aziz did not go on demolishing tombs and mausoleums (12).

Thirdly: analysis of the above Wahabi criticisms mentioned by the Najd Brothers:

1- The theological tone of these criticisms and demands of the Najd Brothers shows clearly that those forming them were Wahabi sheikhs who were bearing grudges against Abdul-Aziz and supporting the opposition movement of the Najd Brothers. Hence, Al-Daweesh and heads of tribes in this conference were representatives of the military force, whereas theological phrasing was not their forte of course, and this shows that attendees included Wahabi clergymen living in the colonies and inciting opposition movement members.

2- The Wahabi creed notion of exclusion of all non-Wahabis (murdering them and waging wars against them until they convert) was the main factor behind such criticisms: there was no room here for tolerance, grey areas, or compromises here, as politics would entail idealistically speaking. The reason: Wahabis at the time thought of nothing but creed notions and issues that imposed themselves over politics. This is a main feature of any theocracy with its extremist fanatical stances that assume that the State owns the absolute truth about religion and about everything else and holds the right to impose its ideology on its dealings in internal and external affairs, especially with others who do not share its ideology. Any theocratic rule deems itself as absolutely right in all actions, as if the theocracy were the center of earthly existence. This is the policy of the zero equation: the inevitability of the choice between two items: either…or…. This is the essence of Wahabism adhered to until now by staunch, steadfast Wahabis: they deem themselves as the only true ''Muslims'' on earth and think of others as polytheistic infidels. This was shown clearly in the grudges and bitterness the Najd Brothers bore toward Abdul-Aziz regarding the points of criticism. In all Wahabi discourses, the word ''Muslims'' is synonymous with the word ''Wahabis'', with the exclusion of all others: secular persons, laymen and ordinary people of all denominations, believers in the Quran with no doctrines at all, as well as Shiites, Sufis, and even non-Wahabi Sunnites. In their creed notions, all non-Wahabis must be fought if they refuse to convert to Wahabism. The Najd Brothers forgot that it was ordinary that all pilgrims' caravans were usually accompanied with armed fighters to defend pilgrims against the Bedouins' raids, and the Kiswah caravan was no exception to this rule, as in many instances, dwellers of Mecca and its ruler among the Al-Sharif family would lead such raids! This is a historical facts chronicled in several accounts. Caravans of Kiswah and of pilgrims were filled with alms-money and other valuables coveted by all as spoils for Wahabis, and armed fighters had to accompany them to prevent looting and murder of pilgrims. Yet, Wahabis think that all non-Wahabis should be fought and killed because they were deemed as ''infidels'' and ''non-Muslims'' even if they came to perform pilgrimage! Thus, the Najd Brothers denounced that the caravans were accompanied with armed fighters; they wanted an easy task of raiding caravans and looting of spoils! Hence, Wahabis until now confiscate Islam, wrongly assuming that Wahabism is the only true representation of it. This is the reason why Abdul-Aziz chose the name of the terrorist MB in Egypt in 1928: to assert that Wahabis confiscate the name of Islam to themselves and deny it to others: they are alone the ''Muslim brethren'' or Brothers, and all people outside such circle deserve to be fought and killed in accordance with Wahabi jihad and sharia laws.

3- This notion of exclusion extends to denying and negating all man-made laws and constitutions even if they apply justice; justice is the supreme value and the basis of Islamic sharia in the Quran as we know. Wahabi sharia means all views of ancient imams, especially Ibn Taymiyya and his school of thought in the Mameluke era in Egypt. Let us remember that M. Ibn Abdul-Wahab copies his doctrines, Wahabism, from the letters and epistles of Ibn Taymiyya, and he groups all his writings under the title ''Epistles'', to imitate his favorite theological scholar Ibn Taymiyya. Ibn Taymiyya wrote countless theological epistles or letters, and so did another imam important to Wahabis: Ibn Al-Qayyim. Moreover, Ibn Abdul-Wahab confined his copying from them both to matters of faith theological tenets. He refused to copy their ideas of innovation and thinking for oneself as per human conditions. Thus, Wahabi theology and jurisprudence have no room for innovations in ideas to cope with changing conditions; rather, they consist of imitation of views of imams in the Mameluke era and if a topic was not tackled by them, Wahabi sheikhs would refuse to discuss it as it is deemed heretic and forbidden! Thus, all new modern items were forbidden by them as such items never existed in the Mameluke era of ''Salaf'' (i.e., holy ancestors or forefathers). This including taxes and tributes and all man-made laws in Najd; forbidding and prohibiting were easier routes adopted by the Salafist, Wahabi scholars and sheikhs of theology and jurisprudence. This was why they invented a jurisdiction rule concerning to nib chances of committing sins in the bud by never allowing certain courses of actions and using certain items.

4- This exclusion by Wahabis extended to forbid and prohibit the usage of new inventions and modern items of technology (e.g., cars, telephones, the wireless, etc.); that was why Abdul-Aziz was blamed for using them. According to the Wahabi mindset or mentality, there were two reasons to blame the king: 1) such items were the products of the infidels in the West, and 2) such items were never known to the ''Salaf'' in the Middle Ages, and thus deemed as products of witchcraft! Until now, the KSA condemns witches, sorceresses, and sorcerers to death, and its authorities deem anything or any unacceptable acts as witchcraft. This has been the mentality of all Wahabis until now.

5- Wahabi extremism extended to the ardent desire to destroy all tombs, made holy or not, ordinary ones in cemeteries and the ones attributed to the so-called Sufi saints. This is wrong as per the Quranic teachings; God in the Quran commands us to avoid idols and tombs made holy. This avoidance means to keep away from them, and NOT to destroy them. Such tombs are merely harmless building materials. The only wrong here is to worship, idolize, sanctify, and deify such materials and stones. The remedy is not to destroy them, but to destroy the belief in their being divine or holy within hearts and minds of believers. The thing needed is raising the awareness that enable the ignorant ones to see them as mere stone never to be worshipped and sanctified, as worshipping them as holy relics is against Islam (the Quran alone) and the reasonable mind. Even in the past, so many statues and idols were being worshipped centuries ago, and they are now relics and ancient items for tourists and archeologists to admire in museums and monuments. Thus, the problem does not lie in the existence of tombs and mausoleums, but in the wrong mentality that needs more religious awareness that appeals to the mind, found only in the Quran. Let us remember that the Quranic message alone convinced 7^th century Arab's of the foolishness of worshipping stones and idols. Thus, Wahabis in their extremist, foolish calls to destroy all tombs surpassed Ibn Taymiyya who never called for such destruction.     

Lastly:

  The inevitable outcome of such Wahabi faith is embodied in the following historical fact: the vast majority of victims of Wahabism are non-Wahabi civilian Muslims, who are being indiscriminately killed, murdered, butchered, raped, robbed, invaded, and conquered; and such victims include the elderly males and females as well as women and children in general. As long as Wahabism exists, its widespread propagation using oil revenues of the KSA leads to more victims among Muslims all over the planet. The one to blame for such massacres and other heinous crimes is the very first Saudi king of the third current KSA: Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud. In the next section, after the following annex, we will tackle what Abdul-Aziz had done in response to Al-Artaweiyya conference.

Footnotes:

11- Wahba, ditto, pages 290:291.

12- Wahba, ditto, page 291.

Nasser Al-Saeed, ''History of Al-Saud Family'', pages 306:307, editions of Shaab Al-Jazeera.

Armstrong, op. cit., page 205.

ANNEX: A Contemporary Commentary on the Above-Mentioned Issues under the Topic of ''Wahabi Opposition Movement"

INTRODCUTION:

 Within the previous lines, of this book, we have analyzed the points of criticism addressed by the Wahabi opposition movement to Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud in the conference of Al-Artaweiyya, 1926, and we have mentioned that Wahabism and Abdul-Aziz are to blame for the present heinous crimes committed against Muslims all over the planet. This book that you are reading was first written in June, 2000 A.D., i.e., before 9/11 attacks of 2001, and before the American invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, a horribly wrong decision to be regretted, and before the so-called Arab Spring revolts in the Arab world, turned by Wahabis into massacres and civil wars all over many of the Arab countries, with the exception of our beloved Egypt. Thus, what we have written here in 2000 A.D. materializes and continues to exist! We feel pained that during publishing this book in serialized articles, before grouping its articles into a book form, we have read the following newsletter sent to our email address, on Iraq and Gaza Strip. We have decided to add such newsletter here along our commentary on it, in this part of the book, to assert the last paragraph above titled ''Lastly'', written in 2000 to prove that the vast majority of the victims of Wahabi terrorism are among the non-Wahabi Muslims all over the globe. 

Firstly: this is the newsletter:

(Newsletter No. 193 summarizing events and incidents of the Iraqi popular revolt, Thursday, 22-5-2014, events of that day:

Baghdad: militia groups and members roam streets of Baghdad around the court area in 4X4 cars to receive the files of the city. Other opposition militia bombarded the previous one with mortar shells in northern Baghdad. Al-Maliki armies caused the death of one civilian and kidnap three others at night, leading them to an unknown location. An armored vehicle is destroyed along with three cars in severe battles in southern Baghdad. Members of Battalion No. 55, Group 17, fled an area that they were supposed to guard in southern Baghdad. Al-Maliki armies decided never to allow entrance to university students unless with ID cards and no one was allowed to enter into a district if they could not prove they are residents in it; please watch this link:youtube.com/watch?v=3W3EdzOCkZE. Government-sponsored militias distribute threats to certain families in a certain district in Baghdad to order them to leave their homes and get out of the city. A canister blew up killing a director of a police station and injuring some other policemen in northern Baghdad. 15 persons were killed in Al-Maliki militia, and others injured, following a bombardment of 14 mortar shells. Al-Maliki government raised salaries of newly appointed police officers in Baghdad, because most of the older ones resigned from their posts. Revolutionaries threw 4 mortar shells at the house of a high official in Iraqi police, in northern Baghdad.

Al-Anbar: revolutionaries used RPJs to shoot at helicopters of Al-Maliki armies. Explosion of a pedestrian bridge by militia: please watch this link: youtube.com/watch?v=QIHmEKYNFV8. A leaked video showing Al-Maliki army soldiers dancing over three corpses of dead men, presumed to be ISIS members: please watch this link:youtube.com/watch?v=M2JZnWxHF2o. Random bombardment by Al-Maliki armies caused the destruction of civilians' houses in Al-Fallujah, and 400 families are rendered homeless. A water station was destroyed by bombardment by Al-Maliki armies, causing water curs in two villages.

Nineveh: tribal militias kill off Al-Maliki army soldiers and set fire to their armored vehicle. A police officer is killed by a sniper shot. A tank is set on fire and five Al-Maliki army soldiers killed among patrol roaming the street of the city. Severe battles between tribal militias and Al-Maliki army troops. Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device was exploded in a street where the police station is located, killing some civilians. 15 mortar shells are bombarded at a location linked with the Maliki armies. A canister exploded killing one man and injuring another. The Maliki soldiers arrest some citizens in a nearby village. Some of the Maliki soldiers were ambushed and fired at by unknown armed men, and some of them were seriously injured.              

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Secondly: our commentary on this newsletter:

1- This is a newsletter of a full-fledged civil war; massacres committed frequently have become ordinary daily news, to which the world is accustomed. The international community no longer cares for the disfigured and dismembered bodies of civilians, women, and children in Iraq.  The query posed here is this: who is to blame and to bear responsibility for such atrocities? The answer is simple in our view: Wahabis and their Wahabism. Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud and his Wahabi preachers had spread and propagated Wahabism in Iraq, and the Najd Brothers used to engage into individual and military raids to attack Iraqi people. After killing off all the Najd Brothers, as we will tackle in the next segment of this book, Wahabi preachers multiplied in number in Iraq, and many Iraqis converted to Wahabism and imitated the savagery and brutality of the Najd Brothers in killing and butchering non-Wahabi Iraqis. After toppling the Saddam Hussein regime, the Americans disbanded the Iraqi army, thus preparing the scene for civil strife. Arms and weapons of the disbanded Iraqi army appeared in the hands of Wahabi terrorists in Iraq to kill non-Wahabis, such as Shiite Iraqis, as part of holy Wahabi jihad that goes on until now. Shiites of course defend themselves, resulting in civil wars all over Iraq. Even the Syrian revolution began as a peaceful one for human rights but turned into a civil war that will destroy Syria and the Syrians. Wahabism and the KSA are the factors behind that deterioration. Sadly, Wahabi jihad threatens to engulf Lebanon very soon. In Egypt, however, if it had not been for the Egyptian national armed forces of the Egyptian Military under the Egyptian Ministry of Defense, Egypt would have been turned into a hot spot of civil strife just like Syria. Libya is sinking into the quagmire of civil strife, despite efforts of Libyans to save their country. We hope Tunisia would never face such horrors of civil war. All such calamities in the Arab world have one cause and one root: Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud who wanted to restore and conquer what he deemed as property of his ancestors and their kingdom. His ambition led him to train savage Bedouins to be the Najd Brothers who mercilessly murder and massacre in the name of Islam, and when they revolted against him, he added more momentum to accelerate turning Egypt into a Wahabi country by spreading more and more Wahabi preachers and sheikhs all over Egypt, as well as the Levant, Iraq, and North Africa. He intentionally threw the seeds of corruption, massacres, and strife that have impeded the progress of Muslims in the name of religion. Shame on him!                 

2- Do the transient-world possessions, riches, and wealth deserve such grave sins leading to Hell in the Hereafter? We pose this question not in terms of politics and its language, rather, in terms of the Islamic faith in the Quran and the moralistic, ethical point of view. 

Thirdly: the following newsletter deserves one of two reactions: either to laugh loudly until we weep and cry, or to cry and weep until we burst out laughing:

  (…Hizbo Attahrir party organizes human chains, marches, and sit-ins within the activities of the 93th memorial day of the collapse of the Ottoman caliphate. These activities were done by the party members in Palestine, Gaza, and they included paying a number of visits, distributing copies of the book titled "The Steps of the Muslim Nation toward the Caliphate", forming human chains, and preaching some sermons. The last activity was announcing a conference to be held in May, 2014. The marches and sit-ins were organized in the camp of Jabalya in northern Gaza Strip, Deir Al-Balah, in the middle of Gaza strip, among other two locations, besides the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Strip. Dwellers of the Strip paid attention to the marches and sit-ins that passed by them and expressed their interest in them and in the remembered caliphate. Demonstrators in marches and sit-ins chanted slogans and raised banners such as the following: "No legitimacy to those ruling without Islamic sharia", "Our battle with the Jews is about existence, not borders and security", ''Secular despotism is withering away, caliphate will be restored'', ''Palestine is Islamic, not national'', "Palestine is liberated by armed military forces, not weak negotiators", "Revolts are not full without applying Islamic sharia laws", and ''Negotiations lead to nothing and will not liberate Palestine'', and a member of the media office of the party briefed that the youth of the party paid visits to most dwellers of the Gaza Strip to explain to them the concept of caliphate, in relation to Palestine and the Night-Journey of Prophet Muhammad, and Al-Aqsa Mosque being attacked by some Jews, and how Jerusalem asks to be liberated by the armies of a strong caliphate, asserting that the party is vociferous in conveying this message from Palestine to the Islamic nation at large to establish hastily the caliphate that will save Al-Aqsa Mosque and liberate Palestine…)

Our commentary:

1- Wahabis of the Gaza Strip never achieved any victory except in tearing Gaza city away from the Palestinian unity of the Strip and the West Bank. It is funny to see photos of them demonstrating to revive the caliphate to unify all Muslims all over the globe: from china to Indonesia, from Morocco to Spain! The Wahabis of Gaza tend to forget that they managed to destroy and smash any peaceful solution, confining their vociferous endeavor to impossible, false mottoes. Their shame and failure lie in the fact that they throw weak rockets into Israel, and then take up weak people of Gaza as human shields against Israeli bombardments! After the Israelis taught them a hard lesson, they chant false slogans in marches about reviving caliphate, and soon afterwards kill some Egyptians, Syrians, and Lebanese! That is because they are like all Wahabis on earth: they know nothing but to kill, slaughter, and murder and to wage wars relentlessly against ''the infidels'': all non-Wahabi Arabs and Muslims!    

2- We have omitted photos of the march and the demonstrators in it; it is laughter-inducing to see such people who are ''respectable only in terms of appearance'', but brainless and thoughtless: how come they call for the revival of the Ottoman caliphate rule?! These ignoramuses knew nothing about the Ottomans and their crimes, injustices, and regressive stances. They do not ask themselves how such Wahabi caliphate could be realized to combine all Arabs and non-Arab Muslims within all nationalities in the modern world now! They know nothing about the Wahabis and their history of rifts and disputes turned into armed rebellions and civil wars. They know nothing of different types of Wahabi armed fighters in Palestine and elsewhere, nor about the internecine fighting among Iraqis and Syrians, after the emergence of ISIS to exacerbate and aggravate the situation, within other terrorist organizations, like Hamas. Why do not they unify themselves in Gaza Strip first before their voicing their demands about unification of all Muslims from China to Argentina?!       

3- The certain thing is the fact that the worst and most dangerous type of mental, addictive opium is notions covered using one of the earthly, man-made, fabricated religions. This is what we have said to ourselves as we were watching those people who are ''respectable only in terms of appearance'' participating in this march: good shapes and bodies with fresh faces yet without any brain or mind.

Lastly:

  God says the following in the Quran: "We have destined for Hell multitudes of jinn and humans. They have hearts with which they do not understand. They have eyes with which they do not see. They have ears with which they do not hear. These are like cattle. In fact, they are further astray. These are the heedless." (7:179), "Or do you assume that most of them hear or understand? They are just like cattle, but even more errant in their way." (25:44), and "When you see them, their bodies and appearance impresses you. And when they speak, you listen to what they say. They are like propped-up timber. They think every shout is aimed at them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. God condemns them; how deluded they are!" (63:4). God says nothing but the Truth.

The remaining segment of Chapter II:

How Abdul-Aziz responded to the Al-Artaweiyya conference and the beginning of the rift:

Firstly: response in the Riyadh conference held in Jan. 1927:

1- Abdul-Aziz moved fast from Hejaz to Najd to respond to Al-Artaweiyya conference; he held a conference with leaders of tribes and leaders of the Najd Brothers, attended by about 3000 persons. The sessions of this conference went on from 25^th of Rajab to 8^th of Shabaan 1345 A.H. Abdul-Aziz asserted in this conference his loyalty to the Wahabi sharia and that he never changed. The conferenced ended with fatwas issued by Wahabi scholars who attended the sessions to refute and respond to criticisms of the Najd Brothers directed at Abdul-Aziz, and these fatwas were signed by 15 Wahabi clergymen in one statement.  

2- The statement of the fatwas contained phrases like the following: (…As for the wireless, it is a recent modern invention that we do not know about and we cannot prohibit things that God and His Messenger did not tell us anything about. As for the two mosques mentioned, the imam Abdul-Aziz – may God preserve him – ordered us to demolish them. As for laws applied before in Hejaz, they are to be abrogated and abolished, to be replaced with Wahabi sharia laws. As for the Egyptian Kiswah caravan coming to Mecca, it is not to enter ever again with armed men and with force, while our mission is to prevent anyone kissing or touching the Kiswah cloth and to stop any dancing and music around the caravan, but we cannot stop the Kiswah caravan from coming annually as it is needed for the Kaaba. As for the Shiites, our imam Abdul-Aziz told us to make them swear fealty and to convert to Islam and never to practice their Shiite rites in public and the governor of Al-Ahsa should bring them to swear loyalty and allegiance to out imam Abdul-Aziz, while ordering them to stop their rituals and worship of tombs, while praying in Wahabi mosques of the Sunnites, and any tombs worshipped by them will be destroyed. Those who object to this will be banished from the lands. As for the Shiites within the dwellers of Al-Qatif, our imam Abdul-Aziz – may God protect him – will send to them sheikh Ibn Bishr to order them to follow what we have just mentioned here. As for villages and Bedouin areas annexed to the Wahabi lands of Muslims, our imam Abdul-Aziz – may God protect him – will send Wahabi preachers to them to help governors and princes to apply Islamic sharia laws and prevent them from committing prohibitions. As for Shiites of Iraq who roam Bedouin areas inside the kingdom, they are to be prevented from entering these areas again. As for tributes and taxes, they might be removed by our imam Abdul-Aziz – may God protect him – but if not, no one is to rebel against our imam because of that, as jihad is to be ordered by him alone as he sees fit for the sake of Islam and Muslims as per sharia laws…).

3- Based on such fatwas, Abdul-Aziz had to refuse accepting the Kiswah caravan and to prevent its ever coming again to Mecca from Egypt, and he demolished mosques that contain tombs made as holy shrines to the Shiites, and stopped the project of the wireless in the kingdom for a while, in order to prevent rebellion or to postpone it, as per writings of Wahba. The kingdom issued a law asserting that taxes were the only source of revenues to the Treasury. As for the Shiites, the Wahabi ruler Ibn Jalawy used his troops to protect the Shiites of Al-Ahsa by preventing the Wahabi Brothers from practicing any activities there, and he forced any Wahabi entering Al-Ahsa to remove his turban first, as it is a Wahabi symbol (13). 

Secondly: analysis of the Riyadh conference held in Jan. 1927:

  Such fatwas were issued by Wahabi clergymen loyal to Abdul-Aziz and they offered their services eagerly to please him and to aid him against the discontent of both the Najd Brothers and their leader Feisal Al-Daweesh who presided over Al-Artaweiyya conference. We analyze the mentality of the Wahabi scholars who issued such fatwas, tracing the features of their mindset in the following lines:

Their ignorance of the Sunnite sharia laws:

1- Their ignorance was exemplified in their lack of innovative thinking and their admitting to being ignorant as far as the topic of the wireless is concerned; they knew nothing of the primary rules of the Sunnite theology and jurisprudence: among them the chief rule that things are allowed and not prohibited unless by virtue of a Quranic verse or the so-called hadith of their so-called Sunna. They did not know that Sunnite sharia rules include serving the interests of the general public, thus asserting that new inventions are allowed as per Sunnite sharia laws. For instance, a knife is a mere tool, not prevented or prohibited just because it might be used in killing: it is the killing that is prohibited, whereas using it inside the kitchen is OK. Thus, no one would dare to say knives are prohibited by sharia laws.  

2- Another indication of their ignorance is to refer to Abdul-Aziz in issuing fatwas (religious views or edicts), as he sought and enlisted their aid; how come they would refer to him to endorse anything. What was their role then? What was their use in the first place? This was shown as well by their views about the Egyptian Kiswah caravan and the taxes; it was Abdul-Aziz who decided everything, not the scholars. Abdul-Aziz was the one to decide what was best for the Wahabi sharia! The scholars were to apply his orders as they were a group of ignoramuses who never understood fully Sunnite Wahabism. They just adhered to the meaningless, empty motto of applying sharia to abrogate modern laws applied in Hejaz, which was a more modern, civilized area than Najd.

Compulsion in religion as per the Wahabi creed:

  About this notion, their loquaciousness appeared in empty pompous words about sticking to Wahabi sharia laws in urging Abdul-Aziz to demolish all mosques that contained tombs or mausoleums. As per the motto of Ibn Abdul-Wahab to change what is wrong by sheer force, they issued the fatwa of prevention of the Egyptian Kiswah caravan, and it was funny to mention the Shiites of southern Iraq and to prevent them from using their own lands; thus, the Saudis claim that this part of Iraq was theirs, while declaring the original native people of it as infidels. They wanted to prevent them from entering lands of Muslims; i.e.; the Wahabis. Of course, GB never liked such decision; it established the fortress of Boseih to defend Iraqi soil against the raids and attacks of the Najd Brothers, and the latter protested against building such a fortress as it was an obstacle against their Wahabi jihad. Fatwas of the sheikhs regarding Iraq supported claims of Feisal Al-Daweesh and embarrassed Abdul-Aziz, as we will explain later in this chapter. Thus, the Wahabi sheikhs, despite their loyalty to Abdul-Aziz, were biased toward the Najd Brothers in their ''right'' to raid Iraq and kill its dwellers for loot, while regarding them as infidels whose lands should be confiscated by Wahabis. It is funny and laughter-inducing till one is on the verge of weeping that the Wahabi sheikhs considered Shiites of regions conquered by Wahabi swords as possessions of Abdul-Aziz like the lands; as if he owned the people themselves and can prevent them from performing Shiite rituals by force. The Quran says that there is no compulsion in religion, while Wahabism says that converting of Shiites to Wahabism by force is a religious duty! Sadly, this state of affairs is still applied now (this has been written by us in 2000 A.D.) as far as we know.  

Thirdly: between two Riyadh conferences 1927-1928: Al-Daweesh defied Abdul-Aziz and makes GB interfere in the dispute to embarrass Abdul-Aziz:

1- Because of the ongoing Wahabi massacres and raids on Iraq, GB had to build the fortress of Boseih to lawfully defend Iraqi lands and people as they had the right to be defended against invaders. Yet, such defense was protested against by sheikhs of Abdul-Aziz, as they urged him to prevent Iraqis from entering the Bedouin areas in Iraqi deserts on the borders. That was how they embarrassed Abdul-Aziz: Feisal Al-Daweesh attacked the fortress of Boseih in Oct. 1927/1346 A.H., and milled off all people inside it to embarrass Abdul-Aziz before the British, accusing Abdul-Aziz of being an infidel/apostate because he had relations with the infidel British people.      

2- Al-Daweesh succeeded in his plan; the British forces had to send its warplanes and warned tribes on the borders to move away, thus driving delegations of such tribes to resort to Abdul-Aziz to urge him to attack Iraq to respond to such affront by the British infidels. Abdul-Aziz adamantly refused to be manipulated by Al-Daweesh and his followers and flatly refused to send a military campaign to Iraq. Abdul-Aziz sent orders to the governor of Hael to watch over borders, and he temporarily stopped sending wages to the Najd Brothers to punish them for insubordination. Abdul-Aziz ordered Al-Daweesh to remain inside the colony of Al-Artaweiyya until a decision could be made concerning him. The Iraqi government was formally notified of all this, especially that Al-Daweesh will be severely punished and agreements and treaties will be respected by all parties.     

3- Yet, GB had to interfere, telling Abdul-Aziz that it will punish people of the tribe of Al-Daweesh as they massacred people inside the fortress of Boseih to force the British to obey them. As a result, Abdul-Aziz protested, in writing, and urged the British not to take measures that will cause violent reactions on the part of the Najd Brothers. The British ignored the protest of Abdul-Aziz, and after three months, British warplanes attacked and shelled the location of the tribe of Shamar, and the fortress of Boseih was speedily rebuilt.    

4- Negotiations began between Abdul-Aziz, or rather his consultants, especially Hafiz Wahba, and the British officials such as Clayton and Globe on the 7^th of May, 1928. Negotiations failed as the Saudis insisted on demolishing the fortress of Boseih and on handing over any Saudi seeking political asylum in GB, for Abdul-Aziz feared that Al-Daweesh might seek asylum when the military confrontation between him and Abdul-Aziz would occur.     

Fourthly: the beginning of the revolt and disobedience of the Najd Brothers against Abdul-Aziz:

1- Al-Daweesh invested the success of his devilish plan; he created a huge propaganda against Abdul-Aziz, accusing him of selling his soul to the British by making pacts and agreements with the infidels while compromising or neglecting his religious duties. Abdul-Aziz had to send for Al-Daweesh immediately to come to him in Riyadh, but Al-Daweesh flatly refused to come to him there.

2- Abdul-Aziz tried to urge the Najd Brothers to convene within a conference in the city of Brida in April, 1928, to appease them and allay their fears, but they refused to attend, fearing that Abdul-Aziz might kill them off once and for all. Both parties began to cast doubts on each other's intentions. It was seen clearly that the conference must be postponed until after negotiations between Abdul-Aziz and GB in Jeddah concerning the Najd Brothers. When negotiations failed, the Najd Brothers began to vociferously threaten Abdul-Aziz and to call everyone everywhere to revolt against him, and it became clear that the main motive of the leaders of the Najd Brothers (i.e., Al-Daweesh, Ibn Bajad, and others) was to remove him from power to take his place.      

3- The Najd Brothers began their massacres and raids of looting whimsically as they see fit on their own terms, without reference to Abdul-Aziz and in order to embarrass him more. Abdul-Aziz could not admit to their rebelling against him, and the international powers held him in account for such crimes. Abdul-Aziz realized how the leaders of the Najd Brothers managed to mobilize people against him and to stir animosity toward him, and he had to call for a general conference in Riyadh, in May, 1928 (14).     

Footnotes:

13- Wahba, ditto, pages 292:293.

Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, issue No. 126, 10-5-1927.

Al-Saeed, ditto, pages 308 and 311.

14- Wahba, ditto, page 293.

Al-Assad, ditto, page 261.

Habeeb, ditto, pages 205:213.

Riyadh general conference shortly before the military confrontation between Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud and the Wahabi Najd Brothers:

Firstly: Riyadh general conference in May, 1928:

1- Of course, the real threat posed by the Najd Brothers against Abdul-Aziz was the real motive and topic of such conference, and doubts were thickened during its sessions, and it failed and ended up in a solid estrangement and enmity between both parties.

2- About 16 thousand men, including villagers, dwellers of cities, religious scholars, sheikhs, leaders of tribes, Bedouins, and members of the Najd Brothers, reached Riyadh to attend the conference, and Abdul-Aziz put a system to house them in Riyadh. Bedouins chose to dwell in tents outside Riyadh, and dwellers of other cities resided in houses inside Riyadh. All attendees were given arms to protect walls of the city, whose gates closed by dusk daily, and armed men guarded the walls until dawn. Abdul-Aziz had to urge major leaders and sheikhs of the Najd Brothers in Riyadh for a little more time to wait for the results of correspondences between him and representatives of Al-Daweesh and Ibn Bajad, who refused to attend the conference.  

3- It was clear that Abdul-Aziz doubted the loyalty of the Bedouins in light of the animosity propagated by the Najd Brothers against him, and based on previous knowledge of Bedouins who change loyalties at a glance without prior notice. That was why he had to convince Bedouins to reside in tents outside the city, while keeping his supporters, dwellers of cities, inside Riyadh. This allowed no room for frictions and needless quarrels. Dwellers of cities lost a great deal because of the rebellion of the Najd Brothers; they hated the savagery of Bedouins and rashness of the Najd Brothers that troubled their peaceful life and trade routes. Yet, Abdul-Aziz shrewdly kept some leaders of the Najd Brothers inside the city as captives under the pretext of rules of hospitality that urged him to make them reside inside his palace, heavily guarded. Thus, Abdul-Aziz separated the Najd Brothers and their rebellious leaders. 

4- The situation resembled the time before establishing the movement of the Najd Brothers itself; disputes, competitiveness, and shifting tribal loyalties. Dwellers of cities wanted a strong ruler to control the Bedouins, and some of the Najd Brothers showed loyalty to Abdul-Aziz while others vowed to keep fighting against him under the leadership of the rebellious leaders. Yet, most of the Najd Brothers felt that their loyalty should remain to Abdul-Aziz, but they wavered in their declaration of such loyalty, waiting cautiously to see which side would win and emerge stronger than ever. Of course, Abdul-Aziz was the stronger side as they would see soon enough.

5- Of course, not every attendee could have time to deliver a speech; representatives had to be chosen by organizers of the conference, who chose about 800 representatives in a list submitted to Abdul-Aziz to endorse it. A grand veranda of the royal palace was chosen to hold the sessions, beginning on 5^th of Nov. 1928, at 2:00AM. There were waiting lounges specified for each group: one for dwellers of cities, one for religious scholars and sheikhs, and one for the Najd Brothers, as representatives of each group would be allowed to meet with Abdul-Aziz individually. 

6- A half hour before the beginning of the sessions of the conference, Abdul-Aziz sat on the place specified for him, surrounded by his family members, and he called for representatives to sit before him as per their ranks and stature: sheikhs in the front row, left and right, and then dwellers of cities and villagers in the next rows, and finally the Najd Brothers and tribal leaders in order of who immigrated in colonies first. This process took about 15 minutes.  

7- Abdul-Aziz delivered his speech first, beginning with talking about how God helped him to conquer Riyadh, with just 40 soldiers, and how he gathered and formed the Najd Brothers and glory was achieved to them by him. Abdul-Aziz declared to them that he would resign as long as they did not want him to be their king, and that he would dedicate his life to acts of worship. He asserted to them that he would not like to be arrogant; he would let the attendees choose a ruler instead of him from among the Al-Saud family members, promising to agree on their choice. Of course, he knew quite well that his sudden decision would not be agreeable to them, as they did not trust one another, and old disputes would be revived. They categorically refused to let go of Abdul-Aziz as their king, and shouted slogans of support to him, asserting that he should not cede his throne. Abdul-Aziz asked the attendees to deliver their speeches in turn, with complete freedom and frankness, promising never to punish anyone for any offensive talks (15).

8- Jalal Kishk analyzes in his book titled ''the Saudis and the Islamic Solution'' the political shrewdness of Abdul-Aziz, saying that his proposal to resign made the attendees forgot the requests of the Najd Brothers and to declare loyalty to the king. If he would have allowed any sort of discussion to the requests and criticisms, his awe would have been lost as an accused king that might be guilty or innocent, and such a situation might give a chance to opportunists to threaten him and to declare him an apostate. That was why the ploy here was to urge the attendees to declare their unanimous loyalty to him vociferously. This was a test of trust: was he trusted as their king or not? Once they agree to let him be king, he would discuss and listen to the opposition movement figures, but would never allow any sort of accusations. By this ploy, Abdul-Aziz asserted that monarchy will remain within the house of Al-Saud family exclusively, as an inevitable fact that will be stressed for good. Thus, they felt that a king might err, but monarchy should remain within the present royal family (16). Thus, with fealty reasserted to Abdul-Aziz, he ordered them to deliver their speeches and talk about their requests. 

9- At first, representatives of scholars and sheikhs talked first, swearing by God that Abdul-Aziz never relented in his zeal for religion, and even if he erred, this was natural as no one is immune to committing errors and mistakes, and such mistakes would not justify a rift between a king and his subjects, and finally, they asserted that their speech was for the sake of guidance and advice, based on their role and duty as scholars.

10- Representatives of tribes and the Najd Brothers asserted the merit and respect of Abdul-Aziz and the fact that their jihad, swords, and blood brought victory to him, and thus, they feel bound to pose questions to understand certain matters and to make them follow him unconditionally. They asserted that they fear the wrath of God more than the wrath of Abdul-Aziz, and his previous answers to their queries were unsatisfactory and unconvincing, and such queries must be posed again before Al-Saud family members and the Wahabi sheikhs and scholars. They swore by God that they will follow the fatwas of the sheikhs present. These queries were as follows:

A- The wireless and telegrams were witchcraft or not? Would their usage be harmful to religion?

B- It is known that the Quran commands everyone to preach for goodness and against evil deeds; did Abdul-Aziz send preachers to the Shiites who claim to be Muslims or was he lenient toward them?

C- About the fortresses built by the British on the borders between Najd an Iraq, to the consternation of the Najd Brothers, does Islam gives Abdul-Aziz the right to define borders within lands owned previously by Najd tribes in former years? Was it against Islam to make treaties with the British infidels, especially concerning building fortresses within areas of water wells? The Najd Brothers decided to accept the existence of fortresses if the scholars would allow them to disown the notion before Almighty God if such fortresses would harm Muslims and Islam, and if Abdul-Aziz would guarantee that no harm would happen to them because of such fortresses. If nothing was done, they vowed never to allow the existence of such fortresses, as they are an affront to them.  

D- The last query posed was as follows: why did Abdul-Aziz stop people from going on with their jihad to spread the Word of God?

11- As each attendee delivered his speech, Abdul-Aziz asked many times if anyone wanted to add something, and they answered him that they poured their hearts to him entirely. Abdul-Aziz asked the views of the sheikhs about the queries raised, and they told him and the attendees that as long as modern inventions were not mentioned in Sunna, in traditions of ancient imams, and in Quran, one can use them as long as nothing is mentioned to affirm their being prohibited, thus clearing themselves and easing their conscience before Almighty God. Thus, there is not sufficient evidence to suggest their being impermissible in Islam. As for deviant Shiites, Abdul-Aziz asserted that he sent preachers everywhere in all cities and villages, and recently to the tribe of Bani Malik, and if preachers did not perform their duties, he should be notified in person to try and solve the problem. As for fortresses, Abdul-Aziz asserted that the British built them because of the Najd Brothers raids on Iraq, as they accused Al-Daweesh of killing police forces, and were afraid of more massacres to come. The attendees among the Najd Brothers asserted they were innocent of acts done by Al-Daweesh, and they were ready to fight against him with two conditions: Abdul-Aziz must himself   demolish the fortresses built recently by the British, as this was an unbearable effrontery to the Najd Brothers: a matter of life and death. The infidel British should not interfere in the desire of the Najd Brothers who wanted to punish the Iraqi leader Youssef Al-Saadoun, and such fortresses endanger the Muslims and Islam, as the evil British began to interfere in their affairs. The sheikhs supported the view of the Najd Brothers concerning these fortresses because of the danger and threat they posed, asserting that demolishing them was an act of jihad to defend 'Islam' (i.e., Wahabism, in their view). The Najd Brothers were glad to hear such support from the scholars, and asked Abdul-Aziz to utter his opinion on the subject. He said that he agreed to their view, but as for jihad, he wanted them to choose 50 men among them to discuss the question of jihad with him in a later session to reach some decisions. By the end of the conference, Abdul-Aziz delivered his speech to the attendees, asserting that life would never be complete to Saudi citizens without peace that guarantees full rights in self-defense and in defending the rights of all Saudis, so that they would be winners or be martyred in defense of their holy creed, sacrificing all for God's sake. Saud, the eldest son and heir to Abdul-Aziz, introduced everyone by their names to his father, making them swear fealty and loyalty to him once more as their king, and the dinner was consumed by all attendees together. Abdul-Aziz met with the 50 representatives chosen to discuss jihad concept, for four hours, and this private meeting had no recorded minutes to be shown, but they reached final decisions about the concept of jihad.

12- Eventually, Abdul-Aziz gained the support of both the sheikhs and the Najd Brothers facing Al-Daweesh and Ibn Bajad, releasing them from obligatory residence in a certain location within conditions accepted by him personally: to demolish fortresses either by successful negotiations with the British or by military force within jihad of the Najd Brothers (17).

Secondly: analysis:

1- Wahabi sheikhs understood sharia as a military jihad by killing non-Wahabis or coercing them to convert to Wahabism and to apply punishments ordained by the Sunnite sharia laws especially cutting off hands of thieves, stoning to death of adulterer and adulteresses, and killing apostates. Another Wahabi rule is to shun and reject all man-made laws of trade and modern laws of all sorts; the sheikhs were the sole representatives of sharia and did not need any man-made laws. 

2- Imams, clergymen, and scholars of Sunna, jurisprudence, and hadiths in the Abbasid Era created the notion of innovation and measuring cases to issue religious edicts about new unprecedented issues, and they never dared to re-christen their views as ''holy sharia laws'' that indicated the views of God. On the contrary, the Wahabi sheikhs committed the sin of ascribing their views to God as His views and as ''holy sharia laws'', and this was the reason they rejected man-made laws about anything in modern life, especially about trade, as applied in Hejaz that received pilgrims and traders from all over the world. 

3- What concern us here in the topic of the Wahabi opposition to Abdul-Aziz are the closed minds and mentalities of the Najd Brothers and the Wahabi sheikhs in local colonies, villages, cities, whether of those supporting Abdul-Aziz and those supporting the side of the Najd Brothers. We write this point and stress it to understand the events resulting from the conference failure, as the last chance to establish peace between the Najd Brothers and Abdul-Aziz was lost.

4- All conferences of that type were inevitably doomed to fail despite what had occurred and what had been said, and the reason for that was the failure of Wahabi sheikhs to deal with modern innovations in terms of technology and in terms of politics.

5- We write the following to understand the dimensions of the problem. Muslims were divided essentially into three groups: Sufis, Shiites, and Sunnites. The Sunnites remain to be the more extremist and fanatical, whereas the Sufis remain to be the most tolerant, but the three groups share the belief in falsehoods called hadiths and some other types of myths. Within the fanatical, extremist Sunnite creed, there are four main doctrines, Hanafi, Maliki, Shafei, and Hanbali, with the latter of Ibn Hanbal as the most extremist and bigoted doctrine, expanded, revived, propagated, and stressed in a later era by Ibn Taymiyya and his school of theological thought within the Mameluke era in Egypt, and then by the Wahabis within the modern age of democracy, openness, and human rights. Wahabism is more extremist, fanatical, and bigoted creed in comparison to Ibn Taymiyya and his school of theological thought in the Middle Ages. The extremist fanatical scholar Ibn Taymiyya at the time was persecuted, tried, incarcerated, and declared as an apostate and an infidel, despite his high stature and rank. Let us be reminded that views of Ibn Taymiyya remained ink in paper in lines of his writings, never applied at the time. The very first application of them was made by M. Ibn Abdul-Wahab and the Saudis, with iron and fire in the very first Saudi state destroyed in 1818. Conditions and circumstances of the third, current KSA established by Abdul-Aziz and swords of the Wahabi Brothers differed a lot in comparison to the first and second KSA states. The third KSA ha to cope with and adopt the modern international culture and its innovations to go on, but the Najd Brothers were raised in colonies of Abdul-Aziz as savage animals imbibed with Wahabi blood-thirsty, belligerent notions that urged them to commit massacres to enter Paradise. Abdul-Aziz realized that after the massacre of Ta'if committed by them, they must return to Najd to retire; he could not possibly face the international forces by such crimes that would endanger the existence of his newly formed kingdom. But he could not realize that the Najd Brothers would never accept retirement as they were addicted to committing massacres and looting. Abdul-Aziz did not see that if they stopped their jihad, they would have to attack him personally, as per Wahabi teachings imbued in their brains and inculcated by Wahabi preachers brought by Abdul-Aziz. The Wahabi sharia laws supported their view to revolt against Abdul-Aziz who stopped jihad and made peace with infidels. Even sheikhs of Wahabism could not forsake their creed for the sake of Abdul-Aziz. Maybe Abdul-Aziz later on regretted not being able to modernize Wahabism to make it partially cope with the modern age of new politics and technology.               

6- Such crisis went on to be inherited by heirs and sons of Abdul-Aziz; they made peace with modern technology and declared it permissible within Islam (that included motorcycles, wireless, cars, and planes), and today's Wahabis use state-of-the-art hi-tech means to propagate and spread Wahabism all over the globe. Successors of Abdul-Aziz allowed ample room for man-made laws to deal peacefully and easily with the rest of the world to market oil and cope with modern items entering with the age of oil-rich Saudis. Yet, the essence of Wahabi jihad and sharia was deep-rooted even when the Najd Brothers were killed off. That is why the Wahabi opposition movements against the KSA and the royal family go on until now; chief among them was the MB terrorist organization now, established earlier in 1928 in Egypt by Abdul-Aziz. As long as Wahabism is not modernized to cope with modern-age culture, it will remain a thorn on the side of any political system or regime based on Wahabism and on the side of any secular system of regime in any Islamic country. The reason: because Wahabism allows for armed opposition movements that kill, murder, and destroy relentlessly the non-Wahabis and confine to such movements the talking in the name of Islam by hijacking it to serve their purposes and to claim falsely that they represent Islam.     

7- Abdul-Aziz paid a heavy price when he forged the mindset of the Najd Brothers based on such savage, murderous mentality without any sort of restraint and logical reasoning to make them know their limits; the Najd Brothers rebelled against him soon enough. The son and heir of Abdul-Aziz, Feisal, paid a heavy price for spreading and propagating Wahabism all over the world especially in the West, using oil revenues. Feisal should have modernized and sifted Wahabism to reform it before exporting it. Feisal later on was killed by his nephew the fanatical Wahabi bigot. Wahabi terrorism reached all over the world, and sadly, no one is ascribing such terror to Wahabism and Sunna as it should be, but to Islam per se. Islam is now accused of terrorism because of Wahabis, and everyone forgot that God has sent Muhammad, the seal of prophets, as a mercy to the humankind, not as a tool to terrorize and murder the humankind. It is laughter-inducing that the Najd Brothers in their speeches with Abdul-Aziz made themselves responsible before the eyes of God if they forsake jihad; their Wahabi jihad was to massacre the innocent and peaceful people, especially non-Wahabi Muslims. They feared that God will ask them in the Hereafter why they stopped massacring people?! Their religion was definitely NOT Islam (literally, Islam means peace and submission to God) which is a mercy to the humankind; rather, their religion was Wahabism that urges massacring people everywhere: this is the root of evil and ordeal going on until now all over the world.    

Footnotes:

15- Wahba, ditto, page 294.

Al-Mukhtar, ditto, page 2/439.

Al-Assad, ditto, page 263.

Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, issue No. 198, 4^th year, 10-10-1928.

Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, issue No. 224, 5^th year, 12-4-1929.

Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, issue No. 208, 5^th year, 18-12-1928.

Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, issue No. 212, 5^th year, 18-10-1929.

Al-Zarkeley, ditto, page 485.

16- Kishk, ditto, page 649.

17- Wahba, ditto, page 294.

Al-Mukhtar, ditto, page 2/440:242.

Al-Assad, ditto, page 263.

Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, issue No. 208, 5^th year, 18-12-1928.

Kishk, ditto, page 650.

Habeeb, ditto, pages 213:222.

The first military confrontation between Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud and the Wahabi Najd Brothers:

Before the battle of Sabilla:

1- Most of the Najd Brothers and Wahabi scholars kept calm, akin to the calm before the coming storm; everyone felt a conflict was brewing that will lead to armed revolt. Despite their being convinced and content with gains they got via Abdul-Aziz, they never bought his religious point of view. Numerous Najd Brothers accused Abdul-Aziz of befriending the infidels, as he sought to keep the throne, not to serve the "true" religious as they did.  Their ''true'' religion meant to them Wahabi jihad and massacres from which they were prevented by Abdul-Aziz after defining borders with Iraq and when the British built fortresses there. Al-Daweesh continued and expanded his anti-Abdul-Aziz propaganda by holding meetings in mosques off colonies. Ibn Bajad joined him in Al-Artaweiyya colony, as he left Al-Ghatghat colony, which was located near Riyadh. Al-Artaweiyya became the center of the Najd Brothers opposition and a haven to house tribes of Mateer and Otaybah. Messenger of this colony rode fast camels to join gatherings of Najd Brothers in mosques, near water wells, and in tents, as such messengers carried the anti-Abdul-Aziz propaganda.

2- Al-Daweesh sent a message to Abdul-Aziz, and here is a quote from it: "…you have prevented us from raiding on other Bedouins, thus rendering us no longer Muslims fighting infidels and no longer Bedouins raiding one another for to live on spoils. Thus, you have separated us from both worldly and religious interests; it is true you made a lot for me and my tribe, but what about the rest of my tribe now and in the future? They will surely die of hunger, and how could I bear it? You used to forgive us our mistakes and faults; and now, you threaten to use your sword against us, and yet, you befriend the British infidels who will destroy your kingdom with their fortresses…" We can see clearly from this quotation that Bedouins stuck to the notion of raiding for loot that turned via Wahabis into religious jihad: all it would take to raid, kill, rob, murder, massacre, destroy, and enslave the others was to declare them as infidels or apostates. When Abdul-Aziz wanted to regulate this jihad as per political rules, the Najd Brothers called him an apostate who rejected Wahabi jihad and denied the true religion, and he must be fought as per Wahabi teachings.

3- Meanwhile, Al-Daweesh was gathering more supporters to prepare for a military confrontation soon enough. Abdul-Aziz proposed to Al-Daweesh to plead their case before a special court, asking for arbitration and judgment, but Al-Daweesh refused of course. This indicated the very first sign of military rebellion on the part of the Najd Brothers.

4- Al-Daweesh managed to gather 5000 fighters from the Najd Brothers to attack and raid the Wahabi Najd villages to force its dwellers to pay tributes to him. Wahba writes that they engaged into limitless Wahabi jihad without the usual restrictions imposed by Abdul-Aziz: "…they attacked Sabilla and indiscriminately killed everyone, Wahabis and non-Wahabis, by their swords, declaring everyone as infidel or apostate…" Al-Daweesh attacked all trade caravans in Najd, killing all Wahabis in these caravans, and at one point, he and his fighters attacked camel traders in Najd in the village of Al-Jeimeima in Dec. 1928, and slaughtered all of them in one day.

5- Having committed such atrocities, the Najd Brothers could no longer claim that they were attacking infidels among non-Wahabis. Abdul-Aziz could no longer remain silent before such defiance for his leadership and aggression against his subjects. What exacerbated matters was the fact that other tribes ardently wished to release themselves from the authority of Abdul-Aziz to join the Najd Brothers. Ibn Jalawy, the Wahabi ruler of Al-Ahsa region, tried as much as he could to prevent tribes raiding and attacking caravans to join the Najd Brothers. Everyone felt that if such armed rebellion was not faced soon by Abdul-Aziz, rebels would escalate and grew more stubborn and aggressive.

6- Sultan Ibn Bajad, companion and friend of Al-Daweesh, declared holy war against Iraq. By Jan. 1929, Ibn Bajad led his troops toward Iraq with fighters from the Najd Brothers of Al-Daweesh, coming from the tribes of Mateer and Al-Ajman. They attacked some Iraqi tribes within the defined borders in order to defy Abdul-Aziz and his Riyadh conference supporters. Of course, Abdul-Aziz had to respond fast to save his kingdom. 

Shortly before the military confrontation in the battle of Sabilla:

1- Abdul-Aziz requested from the British side not to protect and shelter the Najd Brothers when they flee after their defeat to Iraq and Jordan.

2- Abdul-Aziz moved to the region of Qassim to prepare huge armies that consisted of dwellers of cities and oases who hate the Najd Brothers because they suffered a lot from their aggression and to ensure their future safety. Such forces formed later on the regular armies of Abdul-Aziz, with elements of the men from the tribes of Mateer, Haytham, Shamar, Al-Zhafir, and Onayza joining late on this burgeoning army. Such tribes kept their allegiance to Abdul-Aziz, and the tribe of Otaybah finally supported him, and this ensured a landslide victory in the battle of Sabilla. The armies of Abdul-Aziz comprised 12000 soldiers, moved in March 1929 eastward, to face the armies of Ibn Bajad and Al-Daweesh, near Al-Artaweiyya. Didaan Ibn Heithlein (the third important leader of the Najd Brothers after Al-Daweesh and Ibn Bajad) remained with tribesmen of Al-Ajman tribe in Al-Ahsa region, declaring their rebellion and revolt against Abdul-Aziz without actually participating in battle to fight him.

3- Both adversaries met in Sabilla in a vast plain area with no mountains, located between Al-Artaweiyya and Al-Zalfa colonies. One of the rebels, named Al-Jiaan, suggested to Al-Daweesh and Ibn Bajad moving at night fast to undertake armies of Abdul-Aziz in an ambush on the route between Qassim and Riyadh, but his suggestion was rejected.

4- Shortly before engaging into battle, both Abdul-Aziz and the rebels desired to avoid military action. Rebels saw that the army of Abdul-Aziz was huge and might defeat them, and it was better to defer fighting until they grew stronger and gain more supporters, and Abdul-Aziz felt as well that fighting should be avoided at any cost, and he sent a sheikh, Abdullah Al-Ankary, to try to convince the rebels to submit to arbitration based on sharia laws. Of course, this attempt failed. Ibn Bajad sent his trusted man, Majid Ibn Kheitheila, as a messenger to Abdul-Aziz with a letter from Ibn Bajad. As this envoy considered Abdul-Aziz an infidel, he followed the Wahabi sharia and never responded to his greetings of peace. Abdul-Aziz was furious at such an attitude, and he sent this envoy back to Ibn Bajad and Al-Daweesh with one message: the rebels must unconditionally surrender and submit to sharia laws as per Abdul-Aziz or they will be fought to their death. Majid as a consultant to Ibn Bajad advised him to surrender before it was too late as armies of Abdul-Aziz were huge and strong enough to achieve victory for him. Yet, Al-Daweesh rejected such piece of advice and asked them to allow him to see for himself what the situation was. He told them that if he did not return that evening, they should know that Abdul-Aziz took him as captive and thus they should begin fighting at once. Al-Daweesh reached the tent of Abdul-Aziz and flattered him with exaggerated praise, trying to convince him that rebels might consider surrender and that he did not like the view of Ibn Bajad to fight at once, and he asked Abdul-Aziz for a permission to sleep over at their camp. Yet, Abdul-Aziz found out his scheme and ordered him to go away to his camp and negotiations of surrender would begin at dawn. Abdul-Aziz told him that if he was truthful, he should leave the rebels, and if he was untruthful, he will be severely punished.      

5- Al-Daweesh returned to his camp, bringing glad tidings to his fellow rebels that they will victory over the weak Abdul-Aziz, telling them that he became soft like dwellers of rich cities, surrounded by riches, dainty food, cooks, and servants. He told them that rich spoils were waiting for them after they defeat this unjust infidel of a king. Of course, we notice here the core creed of the Wahabi Brothers: to allow themselves to loot, massacre, and enslave the others as infidels. Once they considered Abdul-Aziz as an infidel, they were looking forward to confiscate his possessions as their spoils. Thus, the Najd Brothers, and all Wahabis in general, can declare anyone else as apostate or an infidel to commit massacres and scramble for loot. Of course, Al-Daweesh was trying to incite the rebels to fight Abdul-Aziz as a cowardly, soft, rich man who did not deserve to be a king. This is the creed of Wahabi jihad inculcated into the Najd Brothers in the colonies, under orders of Abdul-Aziz and his Wahabi clergymen, and such creed was threatening his life and monarchy. 

The military confrontation during the battle of Sabilla:

  Next day, on 30^th of March, 1929, the army of Abdul-Aziz attacked the rebels, and within a half hour of severe fighting, some of the rebels surrendered and some others fled the battlefield. Ibn Bajad fled and so did Al-Daweesh who was seriously injured. Next morning, Al-Daweesh sent a delegation of women to ask pardon and forgiveness from Abdul-Aziz while they were crying and weeping. Abdul-Aziz wept along with is retinue, and he promised the delegation of women to spare the lives of Ibn Bajad and Al-Daweesh if they surrender and accept sharia laws as applied by Abdul-Aziz their lawful king. The injured Al-Daweesh was carried on a litter to the king, and he pledged and swore allegiance to Abdul-Aziz, and the latter forgave him. Three days later, Ibn Bajad surrendered himself in the village of Al-Shaqra, and Abdul-Aziz imprisoned him temporarily until danger was over. Abdul-Aziz later on ordered that rebels held in captivity after their surrender would be disciple as per their ranks, and ordered the Shiite leader Ibn Jalawy to discipline rebels within the tribe of Al-Ajman.

After the battle of Sabilla:

After the battle, Abdul-Aziz decided not to chase the fleeing rebels, and he held a meeting with some Wahabi sheikhs who supported him along with leaders of tribes, about 2000 men, to deliver his speech to them. He put to them certain well-defined principles as follows:

A- Quran and Sunna are the two bases for religious edicts and fatwas related to religious issues, and one was not to resort to personal interpretation.

B- Kings must be always obeyed as per Wahabi sharia laws.

C- No meetings or councils would be held to discuss worldly or religious matters without the consent of the king.

D- All Muslims must be respected and protected by their fellow Muslims.

 Abdul-Aziz went on to explain firmly to them that the Najd Brothers violated such principles and deserve to be duly punished, and anyone following their footsteps in violating such principles will be severely punished (18). With such ultimatum for Wahabi sheikhs, a new era began: all Wahabi clergymen must submit to the Saudi authorities to support it against any Wahabi opposition movement or foe that would defy Al-Saud royal family by declaring its kings not fir for rule as infidels.

Footnotes:

18- Wahba, ditto, pages 294:296.

Al-Zarkeley, "Arabia in the Reign of King Abdul-Aziz", Beirut, pages 486:488.

Al-Zarkeley, "A Short History of King Abdul-Aziz", Beirut, pages 107:109 and 117:118.

Habeeb, ditto, pages 225:227.

Al-Ahram Newspaper, issue No. 16216, 26-2-1930.

Al-Mukhtar, ditto, pages 442:445.

Al-Assad, ditto, pages 264:265.

Al-Saeed, ditto, page 312.

Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, issue No. 224, 12-4-1929.

Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, issue No. 239, 31-7-1929.

Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, issue No. 302, 19-9-1930.

Al-Attar, ditto, page 421.

Al-Khamees, ditto, pages 170:174 and 180:183.

Arslan, ditto, page 141.

Philby, ditto, page 362.

Wahba, ''Arabian Days'', page 141.

The last military confrontation and the end of the Wahabi Najd Brothers during the reign of Abdul-Aziz:

Renewing revolt against Abdul-Aziz:

  Unexpectedly, Al-Daweesh got healthy again, and fearing that Abdul-Aziz might imprison him like Ibn Bajad, Al-Daweesh left Al-Artaweiyya and moved to the area between Al-Ahsa and Kuwait. Al-Daweesh got a chance to begin rebellion again after he was joined by the tribe of Al-Ajman because of an unexpected incident related to the family of Ibn Heithlein. Let us remember that Ibn Heithlein was in a state of negative rebellion, as he never participated in fighting in the battle of Sabilla. Abdul-Aziz managed to divine the tribe of Al-Ajman as done with Otaybah tribe. As sheikh Al-Rubayaan, leader of Otaybah made most of its men subservient to Abdul-Aziz in his army, Nayef Ibn Heithlein did the same with part of men of Al-Ajman tribe. This weakened the position of Didaan Ibn Heithlein, and when the Najd Brothers were defeated in the battle of Sabilla, he fled to Kuwait, where he was warmly welcomed. Soon enough, he returned to Al-Ahsa, whose governor Abdullah Ibn Jalawy was ordered by Abdul-Aziz to discipline all fleeing rebels. Ibn Jalawy sent his son, Fahd, to capture Ibn Heithlein, with troops from Ajman led by Nayef Ibn Heithlein and troops from dwellers of near cities. Fahd sent a message to Didaan Ibn Heithlein to propose a meeting on the subject of keeping off rebels from Al-Ahsa, and Didaan called him to become a Najd Brother, but Fahd refused and asked again for a meeting at his camp. Consultants of Didaan Ibn Heithlein, who were rebellious Al-Ajman tribesmen, advised him to refuse to attend such a meeting, but he rejected their advice. Accordingly, Fahd captured him and tied him with iron chains. When Didaan Ibn Heithlein never returned, Al-Ajman tribesmen attacked troops of Fahd and Nayef. Fahd promptly ordered the killing of Didaan. When Nayef saw the corpse of his paternal uncle's son, he joined the rebellious Al-Ajman tribesmen and attacked Fahd and his troops with them, seeking revenge. Fahd was killed and most of his men were slaughtered, with their victuals and possessions becoming spoils. Thus, Al-Ajman troops were unified and marched northward to join the followers of Feisal Al-Daweesh. Later on, troops from tribes of Otaybah and Mateer as well as fighters from Al-Ghatghat and Al-Artaweiyya colonies joined the rebels. They were joined by Farhan Ibn Mashhoor, a well-known cavalier that served the British and the French before. Knowing about his son's death, Ibn Jalawy went ill and people felt he would not recover. Abdul-Aziz promptly dismissed him from his post as governor of Al-Ahsa, appointing his son Saud instead. Rebels wreaked havoc in the north and south, not only looting, but also massacring women, children, and old men indiscriminately. Their revolt caused a separation between Najd and Hejaz as routes were cut. Routes were cut between Mecca and Riyadh and the Gulf region in general. Only dwellers of cities in Najd remained loyal to Abdul-Aziz, as they hated the violence of the Wahabi Brothers and felt that Abdul-Aziz was too lenient with them and could not get rid of them once and for all. The king was sure that Al-Daweesh shall not live long enough as his injuries were serious, as he was told by doctor who saved the life of Al-Daweesh. Abdul-Aziz was surprised to know that Al-Daweesh was alive and that he fled from Al-Artaweiyya. Abdul-Aziz got news of the death of Didaan and Fahd, and how Al-Ajman tribe gave momentum to the rebels with their pact with Al-Daweesh. Abdul-Aziz decided that it was high time to get rid of the Najd Brothers forever, using all his military power and diplomatic ties. Abdul-Aziz negotiated with the British in Jeddah and made them promise him never to let Kuwait, Jordan, and Iraq help the Najd Brothers or to give them political asylum. On their part, the British urged Abdul-Aziz never to kill any of the Najd Brothers if handed over to him by the British, and Abdul-Aziz had to agree reluctantly on such a condition, but he told him that in that case, they will be tried based on Wahabi sharia, with their lives spared. Abdul-Aziz reserved the right to chase the rest of the Najd Brothers if they took to flight. Let us remember that the Hashemites ruling in Iraq and Jordan as well as rulers of Kuwait ardently wished to weaken and topple Abdul-Aziz to make Al-Daweesh ruler of a neutral buffer zone on the borders. Kuwaiti king gave Al-Daweesh large sums of money. Abdul-Aziz sent his friend, the Austrian journalist converted to Islam Muhammad Al-Assad, into a secret journey to gather information about rumors of Al-Daweesh receiving large sums of money. Al-Assad verified the fact, as we read in his book titled ''The Way to Mecca". Abdul-Aziz disbanded his troops after the battle of Sabilla, keeping only some battalions here and there, as he never imagined that a second revolt would occur. He had to form his army again from scratch, gathering all needed money and arms, especially as loans from GB, and the British aided him. Abdul-Aziz sent for leaders of tribes to meet with them in the city of Al-Dawdamy (19).

After the crushing defeat of the Wahabi Najd Brothers:

Conference of Al-Dawdamy on 9^th of July, 1929:

   In this conference, about 2000 men from the tribe of Otaybah, Al-Rawdan, and Al-Asmah gathered, led by their leaders like Ibn Rubayaan sultan Abou-Al-Ela. The king discussed with them his plans to attack Al-Ajman tribe, asking for their help or at least their remaining neutral, as Otaybah tribe starched over strategic points in the kingdom from the east of Hejaz to the west of Najd,, and if they to revolt against him during his attack on Al-Ajman tribe in Al-Ahsa, they would pose a grave threat to his controlling Hejaz. He delivered a speech to them that they comprise three groups: one of devoted people to religion and to their king, one of opportunists, and one of rebels. He talked to them about his critical situation after disbanding is troops after the battle of Sabilla: he cannot fight the Najd Brothers and not attend the pilgrimage season as the imam of all Muslims, and he could not open the pilgrimage season while leaving rebellion to spread all over the kingdom. He decided to open the pilgrimage season first and then to attack Al-Ajman tribe on the 7^th of Aug. 1929, in the Hijri month of Rabei Awwal.  He swore never to pardon those rebels who were pardoned after the battle of Sabilla and threatened to kill those who would not join his troops without a proper acceptable excuse as per Wahabi sharia laws, and to take arms and horses of those giving him excuse for not fighting with him. Within this conference, he pardoned former rebels from Otaybah tribe among attendees and those absent provided that they repent and never to rebel again, and if the pardoned ones refused to swear fealty to the king, they would be tried in court as per Wahabi sharia laws. Abdul-Aziz vowed to kill all those who raid and attack caravans on trade routes and those reluctant to fight with him without proper excuse permissible per Wahabi sharia laws, asserting that punishments would be exacted before getting ready to face his enemies (20). Conference of Al-Dawdamy failed to end the rebellion of the Otaybah tribe, and Abdul-Aziz had to organize another conference in Al-Shuaraa, a city between Mecca and Riyadh.

Conference of Al-Shuaraa on 6^th of September 1929:

   This conference was attended by leaders of all tribes loyal to Abdul-Aziz in addition to his supporters and allies from the Otaybah tribe, and the king told them that he pardoned rebels of Otaybah  several times, yet, they insisted on rebelling against him after swearing allegiance and fealty to him. After long negotiations all day long, the following decisions were taken next morning:

A- Rebels of Otaybah and Mateer tribes must be defeated once and for all.

B- All arms, camels, and horses of supporters of rebels must be confiscated.

C- All arms and possessions of rebels must be confiscated and they must be tried in court as per sharia laws.

D- Fighters with Abdul-Aziz will keep all spoils to themselves.

E- Troops must be sent to Al-Shaqra – the hub of all rebels – to remedy all effects of corruption as per the general good and sharia laws.

F- All Wahabi colonies of rebels must be destroyed and its dwellers must be distributed among other tribes and cities so as not to allow them to gather in one place ever again.

G- The above-mentioned decisions are missions that must be executed by force using the king's troops during his stay in Al-Shuaraa within 10 days.

H- Having executed all the missions, the king's forces and troops must gather within borders to face rebels of Al-Daweesh and AL-Ajman tribe (21).

  On 25^th of Nov., 1929, a caravan of thirty cars carried Abdul-Aziz and his family members and leading allies and supporters, heading to Al-Khafs, a city located 115 kilometers from Riyadh, to meet the king's eldest son, Muhammad, and having spent a night there, the caravan left for Al-Shawky, a city located 30 kilometers away from Al-Khafs (22). Hafiz Wahba writes that Abdul-Aziz crushed rebels of Otaybah tribe in a decisive battle that was a victory, confiscating their camels and arms, and most of their possessions, leaving to them only things necessary for their survival. The governor/emir of Hael killed the son of Feisal Al-Daweesh during the battle of Ibn Al-Radma, and most of the crushed troops were killed, who were the best fighters of the tribe of Mateer. Hearing of all this, Al-Daweesh despaired of winning. The tents of Al-Daweesh were attacked on 30^th of Dec. 1929 suddenly by Iraqi Bedouins who joined forces with former Najd Brothers who left their group to join Abdul-Aziz, and the tents were burned to the ground after looting all things inside them. The attackers never knew that Abdul-Aziz resided near them. Wahba writes that he himself was in Kuwait, as representative of the king, when he knew that Abdul-Aziz was in another city and not in Riyadh. Wahba spread the news of the attack and how Abdul-Aziz was the winner. Al-Daweesh spread news of how Abdul-Aziz lied and that Al-Daweesh was the winner, so that his supporters would not leave him and attack his tents. Yet, his supporters knew that Abdul-Aziz was saying the truth and Al-Daweesh lied to them to hide his shame and defeat, and thus, they deserted Al-Daweesh and some of them sought refuge near Iraqi borders. Al-Daweesh sent a message to the king asking for pardon and safety, and Abdul-Aziz insisted on his unconditional surrender and on his submission to sharia laws and to his king, promising to spare his life (23). Messages went back and forth between Abdul-Aziz and Al-Daweesh. The king once wrote to him the following: (… your motives was either one or all of the coming points: 1- you ask our pardon after you despaired and lost everything, and we understand your weaknesses and feel sorry for your sake, as you cannot rebel against us anymore, 2- you might be using a ploy to deceive us, by asserting to people that you can defy us and then join our allies to ask for whatever you wish for, 3- you might want to appeal to your supporters to win their favor and to convince those who did not help you that you will make amends and reconcile with us, 4- you want us to spare your life to convince those who fought for you and lost their family members to forgive you, or 5- you might wish that your messages would never reach us, but since your envoys came to us, we guarantee our royal pardon and protection to the and to you; we will spare your life…). When Al-Daweesh read this, he wrote the following reply (…I feel thankful to your majesty, but I never despair; several governments offered me asylum to become citizen in their countries, but I refused such offers because my religion forbids me from seeking asylum in countries ruled by infidels, for I prefer to live in my country ruled by your majesty, the imam of all Muslims…) (24). When rebels in Al-Ahsa heard of such correspondences, they scattered and fled to protect themselves and their families. GB urged Kuwait not to offer help to rebels, and that was why the Najd Brothers could not flee to Kuwait along with their families. Al-Daweesh could not meet the king of Kuwait despite several attempts to arrange such meetings. At one point, British warplanes chased the Wahabi Brothers, killing them if they tried to cross Kuwaiti borders to seek political asylum. They had to gather in a neutral zone, and Al-Daweesh gave them the permission to return to Abdul-Aziz and ask his pardon, if they liked. Most of them did just that. Al-Daweesh had no choices left but to flee as he could not fight with the remaining men. In Jan. 1930, Nayef Ibn Heithlein, Feisal Al-Daweesh, among others, surrendered themselves to the British forces, which had to keep their promise and hand them over to Abdul-Aziz, by conveying them first by airplanes into Basra, Iraq, then to Shatt Al-Arab port on the Persian Gulf to convey them with a British battleship. The rest of the rebels were collected by the British forces about 15 kilometers near the borders of Kuwait, guarded by armored vehicles until they were handed over to Abdul-Aziz. (25)

GB handed over Al-Daweesh to Abdul-Aziz:

  On the 17^th of Jan. 1930, the British Foreign Office sent three high officials, including Dickson, to discuss with Abdul-Aziz the fate of rebels' leaders captured by the British forces, based on the following conditions: 1) Abdul-Aziz must spare their lives and the lives of their families, 2) punishments should not be severe, and 3) putting an end to the suffering of Iraqis and Kuwaitis who feared more attacks by the Najd Brothers. Dickson met with Abdul-Aziz and reminded him of the role of GB in helping him against the rebels. Abdul-Aziz had to guarantee that he would spare their lives, and the leaders of rebels captured by the British were allowed to meet Abdul-Aziz in his tent, and they wept and felt grateful, and Abdul-Aziz wept in sympathy and allowed them to kiss his nose, as per Bedouin traditions (26). This situation was recorded by Wahba in his book as he compared between the stature, rank, and riches of Al-Daweesh when he was an ally of Abdul-Aziz and his feeling humbled and reduced to poverty waiting to be pardoned and feeling grateful for sparing his life, humiliated before the king's retinue who were lower in rank in comparison to him in former days. Wahba writes these words of Abdul-Aziz addressed to Al-Daweesh: "…You know quite well what we have done to you in previous days, and how we have been generous to you, fighting Najd people for your sake. We do not deserve to be betrayed by you. Did you want to be the king instead of us? You have been truly a king in your stature and rank in Najd under us and because of us. All our possessions, after all, are God's bounty, and we have used swords to spread the rule of our religion. We have been busy all the time granting you and your people every wish, to keep you happy, satisfied, and content and you have spared no enemies' blood for the cause of our religion, and yet, you did not fear God when you defied your king. Did you think that if you have immigrated to any other country, you would have been in a higher rank than you reached here in our kingdom? This is strange indeed..." Al-Daweesh replied: "…I bear witness to God that your majesty never let us down, and I responded to your goodness with evil and insult on my part, and we were duly punished by seeking help of the infidels who brought me to you in their planes, and I feel humiliated before my fellow Brothers, after losing my stature and rank. May God fight Satan that guided us in his evil ways to defy our king and do evil deeds…" The king ordered that Al-Daweesh and the rest of the leaders of the rebels would be heavily guarded in a nearby tent, to be imprisoned three days later in Riyadh (27). The British feared that Abdul-Aziz might renege on his promise and kill them, but in fact, they were never tortured in their prison cells. When Al-Daweesh fell terminally ill, and was dying, Abdul-Aziz released him and sent him to Al-Artaweiyya to die amidst his family and tribe (28). The British allies helped Abdul-Aziz to chase and capture the rest of the fleeing rebels who were wanted to get punished by imprisonment and by confiscating their possessions and money. All horses and camels of Al-Daweesh were confiscated, and nearly half of horses and camels of the tribes of Mateer, Al-Doshaan, and Al-Ajman, and the rebels of Al-Ajman were severely punished. After getting rid of the Najd Wahabi Brothers forever, Abdul-Aziz uttered his famous words: ''We will live from now on a new life''. By putting an end to the era of the Wahabi Najd Brothers, the KSA began its strides into the modern age. The remnants of the Brothers became like the rest of the Saudi subjects and were pardoned by the king who appointed them in many posts later on. One of them, from Mater tribe, became so trust-worthy that Abdul-Aziz let him be responsible for all camels of the royal family. Many former Brothers were gathered to form a new organization loyal to the king, named ''National Guards''. Until now, family members and descendants of Al-Daweesh rule Al-Artaweiyya city, and so do some family members and descendants of some other rebels in other areas like Al-Jouf and other Saudi governorates. Abdul-Aziz gained their support by his wise policies and by his general pardon and generous nature that led him not to seek revenge and this made his former old enemies lick their wounds and become his staunch supporters (29). Thus ended the opposition movement of the Wahabi Najd Brothers.

Footnotes:

19- Al-Mukhtar, ditto, pages 2/446, 449, and 50.

 Muhammad Al-Assad, ''The Path to Mecca", pages 265, 266, and 289.

 Abou Aliyya (Abdel-Fattah Hassan), "Development of the Saudi Society", an unpublished Ph.D. thesis, pages 136 and 137, Faculty of Arts, Cairo University, 1972, Cairo.

Dickson, op. cit., page 305.

20- Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, issue No. 239, 31-7-1929.

Habeeb, ditto, pages 234, 235, and 236.

21- Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, issue No. 252, 18-10-1929.

22- Umm Al-Qura Newspaper, issue No. 293, 18-7-1930.

23- Wahba, ''Arabia in the 29^th Century'', pages 297 and 298.

24- Al-Khateeb, ''Abdul-Aziz the Just Imam'', Cairo, 1951, pages 180 and 181.

25- Dickson, ''Kuwait and her Neighbors'', London, 1956, page 320.

26- Habeeb, ditto, pages 240:243.

27: Wahba, ditto, pages 298:300.

28: Al-Assad, ditto, page 292.

29: Wahba, ditto, page 301.

Habeeb, ditto, pages 244:249.

Dickson, op. cit., pages 325:329.