Wahhabi

American  

[wuh-hah-bee, wah-] / wəˈhɑ bi, wɑ- /

Also Wahabi,

noun

Islam.

Wahhabis plural

1. a follower of ʿAbd al-Wahhab (1703–1792), who stringently opposed all practices not sanctioned by the Quran. The Wahhabis, founded in the 18th century, are the most conservative Muslim group and are today found mainly in Saudi Arabia.

---

Wahhabi British  

/ wəˈhɑːbɪ /

noun

1. a member of a strictly conservative Muslim sect founded in the 18th century with the aim of eliminating all innovations later than the 3rd century of Islam

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Wahhabism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Wahhabis
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Wahhabi

First recorded in 1800–10; from Arabic, equivalent to ʿAbd al- Wahhab + -ī a suffix indicating relationship or origin

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Wahhabi Wahhabis

The Helpers of God party militia, or the Houthis, arose among the Zaydi Shiites of northern Yemen in the 1990s as a backlash against the inroads that neighboring, wealthy Wahhabi Saudi Arabia had made.

From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2024

Movie theaters and concerts, including one with pop star Justin Bieber, have government backing, a major change after decades of ultraconservative Wahhabi influence.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 11, 2022

It advocates the strict Saudi-inspired Wahhabi version of Islam, while most Somalis are Sufis.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2021

Nayef embodied the Saudi old guard; he was conservative, insular and attentive to the kingdom’s Wahhabi religious establishment.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 5, 2020

Within the last century, Ghaliyah, the wife of a Wahhabi chief, opposed Mohammed Ali himself in many a bloody field.

From Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah — Volume 2 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

Ahmad Moussalli categorized Wahhabism as a subset of Salafism, declaring that “As a general rule, all Wahhabis are Salafists, but not all Salafists are Wahhabis.”

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2018

I saw several men with the carefully shaved upper lips and full beards that many Wahhabis favor.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 18, 2015

The purpose of this film is to mount an open challenge to the Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2015

I can explain to you who and what the Wahhabis are in Saudi Arabia.

From Slate ● Jan. 6, 2014

Ali Bey, who twice visited Jeddah, makes no allusion to it; we may therefore conclude that it had been destroyed by the Wahhabis.

From Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah — Volume 2 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir