A Brief History of How the Saudi State Rebranded Wahhabism Prior to the mid-20th century, Wahhabis used to call themselves Wahhabis. For example, the leading Wahhabi scholar Sulayman ibn Sihman (1850-1930) (sometimes written Sahman) wrote a work titled: "The Divine Gifts in the Defense of the Muhammadan Wahhabi Sect" "Al-Mawāhib ar-Rabbāniyyah fī al-Intiṣār liṭ-Ṭā'ifah al-Muḥammadiyyah al-Wahhābiyyah" Now, from the time of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab until the early 20th century, Wahhabis were known as khariji deviants at war with Ahl al-Sunna. Things changed during the reign of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (1875- 1953). Widely known as "Ibn Saud," he is the founder of the modern state of Saudi Arabia. In 1925, Ibn Saud conquered the Hijaz, which caused widespread opposition from the world's Muslims. They did not want to see Makka and Madina overrun by kharijis. Ibn Saud responded by denying that the Saudi state was a deviant khariji government. Ibn Saud wanted to integrate with the rest of the Sunni world. So he had to eliminate many of the khariji teachings of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. However, he was opposed by those Wahhabis who closely followed the teachings of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. So they rebelled against him and he crushed them in the Ikhwan revolt (1927-1930). This is where Rashid Rida (1865-1935), the famous student of Muhammad Abduh, comes in. Rida was the most important figure in Islamic publishing in the early 20th century. He published the reformist journal al-Manar. He also printed off many key Islamic texts. Rida formed a partnership with Ibn Saud to reform Wahhabi religious teachings. Such reform meant that Wahhabis would start adopting certain ideas from Abduh and Rida (e.g., opposition to non-scientific "superstitions"). Such reform also meant deleting, or concealing the most extreme elements of Wahhabi teachings - which included mass takfir of other Muslims on the grounds that they were mushriks or jahmis. In order to better conceal Wahhabi teachings, Wahhabis started calling themselves "Salafis." The term "Salafi" actually came from Rida, who used it to refer to his teachings and those of Abduh. This fact is repressed because Abduh is famous for embracing liberal modern reform and for arguing in favor of "Jahmi" Mutazili views like the createdness of the Quran. In order to further repress actual Wahhabi religious teachings, the Saudi state began promoting scholars like Ibn Baz, al-Albani, and Ibn Uthaymin. These figures distanced themselves from the khariji teachings of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. However, they continued to say some nice things about him. This has led to a situation where there are many "Salafi" followers of Ibn Baz, al-Albani, and Ibn Uthaymin. These "Salafis" also see themselves as loyal to teachings of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. But in reality they know nothing of his teachings. Indeed, they are not even aware that the Saudi state forcefully reformed Wahhabism into "Salafism" as a way of repudiating the figure of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. But then again, matters are not so simple. To this day, within the Salafi movement, there are sub-groups who still are influenced by Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and read his works. Among them are ISIS, the Madkhalis, and the Haddadis. The mark of all these groups is hatred of all other Muslims and calls to kill them as kafirs and deviants. At any rate, all of this offers an important lesson in religious history. Many people imagine that their religious beliefs have simply been preserved from the past or come from objective academic research. But this is not true. What we today call Wahhabi and Salafi beliefs have been shaped to a great extent by political power - or more specifically - the politics of the Saudi state. This, alone, does not necessarily mean that Salafi (or even Wahhabi) ideas are wrong. But it is naive in the extreme to pretend that such ideas have simply been taken from the ninth century Ahl al-Hadith or the writings of Ibn Taymiyya.