Page:Thomas Patrick Hughes - Notes on Muhammadanism - 2ed. (1877).djvu/242

Rh The whole of Eastern Arabia has embraced the reformed doctrines of the Wahhábís, and Mr. Palgrave, in his account of his travels in those parts, has given an interesting sketch of the Wahhábí religionists, although he is not always correct as to the distinctive principles of their religious creed.

In the great Wahhábí revival, political interests were united with religious reform, as was the case in the great Puritan struggle in England; and the Wahhábís soon pushed their conquests over the whole of Arabia. In 1803, they conquered Mecca and Madina, and for many years threatened the subjugation of the whole Turkish empire; but in  1811, Muhammad ʾAli, the celebrated Pasha of Egypt, commenced a war against the Wahhábís, and soon recovered Mecca and Madina; and in 1818, his son, Ibrahím Pasha, totally defeated Abdullah, the Wahhábí leader, and