Wahhabism is a traditionalist religious movement within Sunni Islam founded by the Nejdi scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in the 18th century. It states that, in order to purify Islam, Muslims must return to the principles of the first three generations of Muslims from the time of Muhammad in the 7th century, and it therefore became an anti-modern movement by the time that it had gained popularity in the 20th and 21st centuries in the Middle East. Wahhabism and 1960s Middle Eastern political movements combined to form Salafism, and while Saudi Arabia advocates Wahhabism as its main school of thought, Salafism is endorsed by the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and other Sunni Islamist extremist groups.
Wahhabism is a far-right political ideology, advocating fascistic views such as the rejection of both capitalism and communism, staunch opposition to liberalism, support for authoritarianism, a strong sense of nationalism, and belief in the dominance of the Sunni faith over all other faiths. Wahhabism advocated for Islam to play a major role in both the public and private lives of Muslim citizens, who were to be governed according to sharia law. Wahhabism is the dominant political ideology among the Gulf kingdoms of the Middle East, as well as of Islamic fundamentalist organizations.
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