Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: In late 1924–1925, ʿAbd ul-ʿAzīz us-Saʿūd of Najd invaded and conquered the Hijaz. Guided by their austere Wahhabi convictions, his victorious forces quickly destroyed religious and historical sites and banned myriad “un-Islamic” religious and social practices. These changes had a significant impact on Indian pilgrims to the region, who reacted swiftly and emotionally. Some lauded the reforms and others reviled them, but all spoke with the conviction that they were stakeholders in the region’s future. Most Western scholarship on this event examines its geopolitical complications, but in India the rise of the House of Saud had deep emotional and even existential implications. This article examines early responses to Saudi rule as reflected in Urdu print sources, showing how Indian Muslims responded to it by renegotiating the logistics of pilgrimage, debating restrictions to religious tolerance, and recalibrating their own status and place with the emergent “Muslim World.”
Source: Journal of Urdu Studies
Author: Daniel Majchrowicz
Institution: Northwestern University
Language: English
Topic: Islamic Studies and History
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4365146262