Page 101 - The Origins of the United Arab Emirates_Neat

Saudi Arabia and Iran: Outside Pressures 77

Hasa, and that in turn provoked Ibn Sa‘ud to issue an embargo
on trade with Kuwait. 'I bis led to great commercial stagnation
in Kuwait, which Ibn Sa‘ud suggested should be solved by the
establishment of a Ncjdi customs house there; afraid of the strangle­
hold of the Wahhabis if he accepted, the shaykh of Kuwait refused
to acquiesce, and a deadlock ensued.
In Qatar and on the Trucial Coast, by contrast, Wahhabi pressure
was more subtle. Ibn Sa‘ud knew exactly how to gauge the dissensions
existing between the Ghafiriyyali and Hinawiyyah, the bedouin
and the settled people, the Bani Yas and the Qawasim, and how
to exploit them. He confidently assured the Lebanese writer Amccn
Rihani that he did not need to reach out to the Coast; the Coast
instead would reach out to him.9 Although his power in the area
grew perceptibly during the 1920s and 1930s, there were few incidents
that could be pointed to by the anxious British authorities as
positive encroachments on their sphere of influence. After a visit
to inland Oman in 1927, Bertram Thomas concluded, ‘The prestige
of Ibn Saud in Peninsular Oman is in direct proportion to his
strength and ability to harm it.’10 The king was a strong force
in the background, a father-figure who could be turned to for
help against enemies. He knew how to use the available sources
of power, and how to use them effectively. It consequently is
extremely difficult to analyse the extent of his influence accurately,
especially as regards his personal knowledge of the activities of
‘Abdallah ibn Jaluwi, his governor in Hasa.
Since Ibn Jaluwi was the Wahhabi official nearest the Trucial
Coast, the fear and terror he inspired there were often mistakenly
attributed to Ibn Sa‘ud, who remained distant and slightly aloof,
a man of great legend. Ibn Jaluwi’s effectiveness was known and
tested; it was very often he who instigated Wahhabi pressure on
the tribes and rulers of the Coast, even interfering in the manner
in which they conducted their affairs. The stories of his power
and determination to enforce the law were so full of rumours
that it was difficult to separate fact from fiction. One such tale
that reached the Coast runs as follows. A bag of coffee, a stimulant
forbidden by Wahhabi doctrine, was found by a woman, who
took it to Ibn Jaluwi. On being asked how she knew what the
bag contained, the unfortunate woman said she had tested the
contents with her finger. The Governor ordered her finger to be
cut off, since it had been in direct contact with the forbidden
stuff11
The first formal intimation of possible Wahhabi influence in the
Gulf shaykhdoms occurred in May 1921, when ‘Abdallah bin Qasim
Al-Thani of Qatar appealed to the Political Resident for help.12
He expressed alarm at the growing strength of the Ikhwan in Qatar,