The First Saudi State

The First Saudi State founded on Islam

M- Dir'iyyah owed its foundation in 850 H (1446 AD) to Manu'a al-Maradi, one of the ancestors of Al-Saud. By the 12th century H (18th AD), the talents and abilities of the Shaikh Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Wahhab led to the foundation of the reform movement. This movement resulted in official recognition and agreement according to Islamic Shariah between the Shaikh and imam Muhammad bin Saud, ruler of al-Dir'iyyah. Thus was born a state whose whole purpose was to fulfill God's law, and which, over the next seventy years, changed the course of Arabia A history. Al-Dir'iyyah as a Center of Learning Al-Dir'iyyah became a center for teaching and learning pure Islamic doctrines. The center of study was in the village of Al-Bujayri on Wadi Hanifah. Here Shaikh Muhammad bin ’Abd al-Wahhab had his abode and mosque.

The Shaikh's sons were themselves all learned scholars of Shari'ah. Students flocked to this landmark of reform, until there were said to be twenty-seven mosques with study circles and thirty Islamic schools there. It was because of this educational effort that the spirit of the Reform Movement survived the attempt by the Ottomans to suppress it during their occupation of Najd.

The First Saudi State Established

In 1139 K/1726 AD, when Imam Muhammad bin Saud assumed its rulership, al-Dir'iyyah was just one of several Najdi towns competing for influence. Imam Muhammad bin Saud established al-Dir'iyyah as a stable polity and its prosperity increased. When, in 1157 H/1744 AD, Shaikh Muhammad bin zAbd al-Wahhab was expelled from nearby al-'Uyaynah for preaching his call to purify Islam, al-Dir'iyyah as a political center of power was the natural place to embrace him and to protect and propagate his movement.

Al-Dir'iyyah traces its origin to 850 H (1446 AD). Ibn Dir', a leading sheikh of Bani Hanifah, a tribe with pre-lslamic origins, gave the land on which Dir'iyyah was established to Mana'a al-Mareedi, who moved with his relatives from east Arabia. These were the ancestors of al-Saud. During the 10th and 11th centuries H (16th and 17th AD), al-Dir'iyyah expanded into prosperous farming communities.

Arabia at the beginning of the 12th Century (18th Century AD)

Between 1158 H/1745 AD and 1205 H/1790 AD, al-Dir'iyyah extended its authority over Najd. In the beginning of the 13th century H/1790s AD al-Dir'iyyah took control of eastern Arabia and began to encroach on the Hijaz. In 1221 H/1806 AD the Holy Cities of Makkah and al-Madinah were entered. By 1223 H/1808 AD, al-Dir'iyyah had reached the zenith of its power in Arabia.

The establishment of the First Saudi State, the expansion of its influence, the success of the Reform Movement and the speed by which it spread drew the attention of the Ottomans who waged a war against al-Dir'iyyah, the birthplace of the Saudi State and the Reform Movement. The Ottomans destroyed al-Dir'iyyah but the foundations of the Saudi State which was based on true belief and the genuine unity, security and stability that it had achieved for the people of the area enabled it to re-establish itself in Riyadh in 1240 H (1824 AD).