Wahhabi

American  

[wuh-hah-bee, wah-] / wəˈhɑ bi, wɑ- /

Also Wahabi,

noun

Islam.

plural

Wahhabis

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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

• Wahhabism noun

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

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

But things have moved slower in Saudi Arabia, once dominated by ultraconservative Wahhabi religious leaders before the rise of Prince Mohammed.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 13, 2024

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