Wahhabi Propaganda in Morocco during the Reign of Sultan Sulayman (1792-1822) as Reflected in the Sources of His Era

Abstract

Wahhabism is a fundamentalist branch of Islam, which was founded in the eighteenth century. It built its stronghold mainly in the region where it was established, on the Arabian Peninsula. Attempts to spread and gain popularity elsewhere in the Islamic world were made by various rulers from the House of Al Su’ud, but never yielded any great results. One such attempt was a letter sent in 1811 by Abd Allah Ibn Su’ud to the ruler of Morocco, Sulayman (known for adopting Salafi ideas), in which Ibn Su’ud elaborated on the nature of his religious doctrine and encouraged its adoption. These events were described by the most important Moroccan historians of the nineteenth century, including Al-Kansusi, Az-Zayyani, and An-Nasiri. This article is an attempt to recapitulate and arrange these records in order.