Oceanic Wahhabism

Abstract

At some point around 1810, a leading Wahhabi theologian in the capital of the First Saudi State fielded an intriguing question: Although Wahhabi leaders preached the ideals of enmity and violence toward non-Wahhabi peoples, could Wahhabi merchants travel to non-Wahhabi lands, do business with non-Wahhabi persons, and reside among them while pursuing commercial agend as? The theologian answered yes. I argue that this question and its answer reveal a lived reality in Najd that historians have yet to fully uncover. The theologian’s answer reveals how Arabia’s interior where Wah habismemerged was enmeshed alongside Arabia’s coasts within the broader Afro-Asian Indian Ocean world. Oceanic Wah habism thus situates Najd, the emergence of Wahhabism and the First Saudi State as parts of an interregional world in which Najdi peoples helped forge, consolidate, and sustain political, social, and commercial connections before and after Wahhabism’s emergence. An oceanic, world historical framework highlights individuals, agendas, and events that add new dynamics to the standard tribes-religion-oilframe work for studying Arabia and its history, and helps to continue uncovering a portrait of Arabia—interior and all—as integral to modern world history