Page 34 - Protestant Missionary Activity in the Arabian Gulf

"In Central Arabia we are not only men of one
religion, we are all members of the same sect of that
religion. I know perfectly well that if you missionaries
come into my territory and settle there you will come
with your special message and your books. Men’s minds
will become unsettled and I shall have trouble. No.
Not even a fly will I offer to any other religion.
When I need you I will send for you, but I cannot in­
vite jrou to live permanently in my country." 49

Nevertheless, Ibn Sa’ud was not afraid to ask for as­

sistance when he needed it. Pour years later, in 1918, when

the court in Riyadh was hit by influenza and the king’s mother

and eldest son became ill, he sent immediately for Dr. Har-
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rison from Bahrain to help stop the epidemic. Increasingly

often the various Gulf rulers would ask mission doctors to t

travel through their kingdoms and help treat unusual cases

or large-scale medical problems. Thus the missionaries were

asked to construct a hospital in Doha or to travel into the

interior of Oman, and with each new trip Arab acceptance of

their teachings grew as did the missionaries own sense of

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confidence and accomplishment.

The fortunes of war had not only helped the mission

gain access to Sa’udi Arabia, but also to strengthen its

position in Kuwait. After the Battle of Jahra, on 10 October

1920, when the badly cut-up forces of Shaikh Salim of Kuwait

returned to their capital from the fierce encounter with the

Wahhabi forces under Paisal Daweesh, the mission staff had

tended to the Kuwaiti wounded and saved many of the soldiers

from otherwise certain death. Each side had gone into the

battle with about 3,500 men. The Wahhabis, who had been

recklessly throwing themselves against a strongly-fortified

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