Page 49 - PERSIAN 2 1879_1883

RESIDENCY AND 11U8KAT POLITICAL AGENCY FOR 1878-80. 87
(five times daily); the fast and the pilgrimage; abstinence from spirita-
ous liquor and tobacco; refraining from games of chance and the practice
of magic; condign punishment of prostitution and other social offences,
as well as of bearing false witness; prohibition of usury and of the
wearing by men of silk or ornaments; forbiddanco of the erection of
[M-angin.] monumental structures, and demolition
of all such as existed as tending to
idolatry. The last-mentioned precept led to the destruction by the
Wababees of many monuments and tombs at the various holy places,
notably the tombs of Mohammed, Hossein, &c., at Medina and Kerbela.
On occasion of performing these congenial religious duties, the Wah&bee
armies, at the same time, acquired immense booty. The injunctions of
the Koran regarding intolerance of unbelievers, and the duty of making
war on them were also invested with renewed importance.
Exemplifying the proverb, the inhabitants of his native village failed
to honor the teaching of Mohammed-bin-'Abdul Wahdb. Some instance
of his severity was resented, and he was dismissed from 'Eiyeynah, and
obliged to remove to the neighbouring town of El-Der'eyyah whero he
was well received by the Chief Mohammed-bin-Su'ood* who adopted the
tenets of the reformer. The remainder of Moharamed-bin-'Abdul Wa-
hab's life was spent in Der'eyyah where, after marrying twenty wives,
rump-in T by whom he had eighteen children, he
died on the 14th of June 1787 A.D.
at the age of ninety-five.
Mobammed-bin-Su'ood,t the first "Wababee Amir, belonged to the
'Anazah tribe which derives from 'Adnfui through Rabee'ul-Earis and El-
Asad. The branch of which Mohamrac<l-bia-Su'ood was Chief was the
Mesalikh, an offshoot of the Wcled 'AIL Many of the inhabitants of
El-Der'cyyah, following the lead of the Chief, speedily joined the sect
of Mohamined-bin-'Abdul Wahdb, and others flocking from the neigh­
bouring districts swelled the number now at the disposal of Moham-
med-bin-Su'ood who became the temporal head of the reformed religion,
and according to the sectarians themselves, the head of all Isl£m.
Guided by the counsels of Mohammed-bin-'Abdul Wahib, and
assisted by bis son 'Abdul 'Azeez, Mohammed-bin-Sn'ood gradually
established his authority over most of the districts of Nejd, but El-Hasa
under the Benu-KhAlid Shaikhs held
[Mengin.3
out successfully against him till bis
death in 1765.
The Benu-KMlid had about the year 1669 A.D. established
themselves in the province of El-Ahs£ or El-Hasd, under the Shaikhs

• Note.—According to *0100 accounts, Mohtmmed-bin-Su’ood curried 00# «f Ms
daughter*, or gave him a daughter in marriage. Neither is correct, but later, ’Abdol-’Asees,
second Amir, married s daughter of the reformer.
f Al-Su’ood family.
Note.—Therefore of the Ma’adite or Iihmaelite stock of Arabs called ties by Arabia*
writer* El-Mosta’Itifcab, naturelirod or inatitioua Aral*.
The form - bin” for « ibn” is funnily written. Tbs UUertcm is sometime* specially
employed to denote descent from a founder of a family, cc celebrity.
The form Beni is aho usual for Benu in naming tribes.