Wahhabism

Also Wah·ha·bi·ism

[wuh-hah-biz-uhm, wah-]

noun

1. the group of doctrines or practices of the Wahhabis.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Wahhabism¹

First recorded in 1820–30; Wahhab(i) + -ism

Example Sentences

Saudi Arabia is the cradle of the austere Sunni doctrine known as Wahhabism, which embraces a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

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That country’s Wahhabism had arisen as a puritan reform of Sunnism in the 18th century.

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Following Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and a militant attack on the Grand Mosque at Mecca, Saudi Arabia’s rulers soon further embraced Wahhabism, an ultraconservative Islamic doctrine born in the kingdom.

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Ruled for generations by the House of Saud under Wahhabism, a fundamentalist form of Sunni Islam, Saudi Arabia perennially scores near the bottom of most international human rights indices.

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However, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has curbed the influence of Wahhabism on Saudi society and arts, also reining in the religious police and letting women drive cars.

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