Changes

The Saudi state began in central Arabia in about 1750. A local ruler, Muhammad bin Saud, joined forces with an Islamic reformer, Muhammad Abd Al-Wahhab, to create a new political entity. Over the next 150 years, the fortunes of the Saud family rose and fell several times as Saudi rulers contended with Egypt, the [[Ottoman Empire]], and other Arabian families for control on the peninsula.  

The Saudi state began in central Arabia in about 1750. A local ruler, Muhammad bin Saud, joined forces with an Islamic reformer, Muhammad Abd Al-Wahhab, to create a new political entity. Over the next 150 years, the fortunes of the Saud family rose and fell several times as Saudi rulers contended with Egypt, the [[Ottoman Empire]], and other Arabian families for control on the peninsula.  

===Wahhabi===

===Wahhabi===

[[Wahhabi]] fundamentalism originated with [[Syria]]n jurist Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–92), but was hounded by the more moderate leaders of the [[Ottoman Empire]].  In the early 19th century, alarmed by the increasing influence of Wahhabism in Saudi-controlled Arabia, the Ottoman Empire urged its Egyptian vassal Muhammad Ali Pasha (1769-1849) to mount an armed attack on the movement, which was considered anti-Turkish. Muhammad Ali began operations in 1811, and bitter fighting ensued on and off, with several cease-fires and impermanent peace agreements being tried until Egypt finally seemed to have succeeded (with the help of some Bedouin tribes that also objected to the stern religious views of Wahhabism) in subduing Arabia by 1818. However, Egypt had to concentrate on insurrections at home, and the Saudi Wahhabists eventually recovered their strength in the 1830s. The were confined to Arabia but Abdul Aziz ibn Saud (1876-1953), the founder of modern Saudi Arabia in 1924, was faithful to the Wahhabi sect, as are his hundreds of sons and grandsons who still rule the country.  Once they gained oil money they used it to spread the sect. Wahhabism's explosive growth outside Arabia began in the 1970s when Saudi charities started funding Wahhabi schools (madrassas) and mosques from Pakistan to California.

[[Wahhabi]] fundamentalism originated with [[Syria]]n jurist Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–92), but was hounded by the more moderate leaders of the [[Ottoman Empire]].  In the early 19th century, alarmed by the increasing influence of Wahhabism in Saudi-controlled Arabia, the Ottoman Empire urged its Egyptian vassal Muhammad Ali Pasha (1769-1849) to mount an armed attack on the movement, which was considered anti-Turkish. Muhammad Ali began operations in 1811, and bitter fighting ensued on and off, with several cease-fires and impermanent peace agreements being tried until Egypt finally seemed to have succeeded (with the help of some Bedouin tribes that also objected to the stern religious views of Wahhabism) in subduing Arabia by 1818. However, Egypt had to concentrate on insurrections at home, and the Saudi Wahhabists eventually recovered their strength in the 1830s. The were confined to Arabia but Abdul Aziz ibn Saud (1876-1953), the founder of modern Saudi Arabia in 1924, was faithful to the Wahhabi sect, as are his hundreds of sons and grandsons who still rule the country.  Once they gained oil money they used it to spread the sect. Wahhabism's explosive growth outside Arabia began in the 1970s when Saudi charities started funding Wahhabi schools (madrassas) and mosques from Pakistan to California.