The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-02
wahhabeeism i'm India.
The Pal Man Gazette.

From the Pail Mall Gazette
What is the origin and what is the object
of the commotion which within the last few
years has been noticed among the Mussul-
mans in different parts of India, and which
very recently caused some apprehension of
conspiracy at Vellore? Most of the Indian
journals, as also some official papers, desig-
nate the movement as Wahhabeeism-a reli-
gious system founded by one Abdul -Wahhab,
a native of Maid in Arabia, about the middle
of the last century, and which, with varying
fortune, has maintained it's hold over the
country lying to the westward Of the Persian
Gulf The central authority is at Riadh, in
the province of Aredh, where a descendant of
Sa'ud, Abd-ul-Wahhab first convert and
military champion, still rules over Maid and
several of the adjacent maritime districts
The religion and government of this sect may
be briefly described as a Mohammedan puri-
tanism, Joined to a Bedawin phylarchy, in
which the chief is the political and religious
ruler of the nation.
In their creed the Wahhabis are perfectly
orthodox; the unity of God is the fundamental
principle of their faith; they believe in Mo-
hammed, but regard him as essentially mortal,
though gifted with divine mission; and the
Koran, and the Koran alone, is their professed
guide in all matters of faith and practice.
This latter popularity is the most dangerous
article of their creed, for it revives the merit
of using arms to convert or destroy heretics
and infdels-a doctrine which, owing to a va
riety of causes too numerous and complicated
to be noticed here, has been gradually dying
out from amongst most of the Mussulman
sects. Saud and his successors were strongly
imbued with this dogma, and their zeal in
carrying it out was rewarded by the willing or
forced subsection of some of the remotest
provinces of Arabia to their sway. The Wa
habits of the present day are no less fanatical
than their predecessors, but they have made
no new conquests of late years, and it is no
torious that some of the maritime tribes on
the Persian Gulf would gladly be freed from
their expressions. Hence it is not probable
that any emissaries from them have found
their way into India; neither is it likely that
there has been any intercourse between the
Indian Mussulmans and these Wahhabis. That
a similar reform may have sprung up among
some of the zealots of the former, half-Hin-
dooized as many of them are, is conceivable;
but we question its having any connection
with Wahhabeeism proper, and therefore the
appellation given to it is a misnomer calcu-
lated to mislead. Our doubts in this respect
are confirmed by reading in Madras journal
that ''these puritans" in that presidency re-
pudiate the title, 'calling Wahhabee pig,
and splitting at the same time" If there is
any good ground for believing that the move
ment in India has common origin, and is
more or less under the same guidance, it
ought not to be beyond the capability of our
officials there to discover both, and to afford
us some clearer insight into a system which
cannot be Wahhabeeism, which may be some
thing like it, and which it greatly concerns us
as the rulers of that empire to understand
thoroughly.
On this subject an Indian journalist sup
plies us with the following additional par
| ticulars:--
"The name Wahhabees was originally APP
| piled as a term Of reproach by the orthodox
Indian Mussulmans to certain sects of Re-
| formers which have at different times sprung
up in different parts of the country. The
most important of these sects accepted the
! title as a means of distinguishing themselves
! from the inert mass that had suffered vain
traditions to incrust and overlay the inspired
Koran. These Reformers, have very little in
common with the followers of Abd-ud- Wahib
of Nejd, nor is their Puritanism of such a
pronounced character. The founder of this
sect was Syud Uhmed, British subject, born
at Bareilly, who took service with Ameel
Khan, Nawab of Tonk. On the subjugation
of this petty prince, Syud Uhmed proceeded
to Delhi, where he set up as a preacher
and reformer (0ide Cunningham's 'Histor.
of the Sikhs), and made many converts Th'
most jealous of his disciples was moulve'
named Ishmael, who was the St. Paul of thu
new sect, and by his writings gave form anC
consistency to the utterances of the Syud. Ii
1881 the latter was defeated and slain by tn
troops of Runjeet Sing, against whom he haC
, WarEed continuously for two whole years. o.