Demand for books about Saudi Arabia and its distinctive religious tradition grew as a result of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States. In addition to new monographs, the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives has sponsored publication of doctoral dissertations on Saudi history, first Uwaidah Al Juhany's Najd Before the Salafi Reform Movement (University of Washington, 1983) and now ʿAbd Allah al-ʿUthaymin's Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab (University of Edinburgh, 1972). Given this book's vintage, its approach to Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's life and thought adheres to conventions of the time and genre. It begins, in the manner of a dissertation, with a survey of primary sources: Central Arabian chronicles and the writings of Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab, his Muslim critics, and European observers. There follows a chapter about 18th-century Central Arabian society, politics, and religion. ʿUthaymin describes the region's political fragmentation, economies, and religious climate. On the latter point, ʿUthaymin reports the view of Wahhabi chroniclers that polytheism permeated the region but adds that the presence of Hanbali scholars indicates broad adherence to shariʿa in the towns.

A chapter on Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's early career details his family's reputation for religious learning and his own education and travels to Hijaz, Iraq, and al-Ahsa. ʿUthaymin proposes that Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab developed his views on theological matters during his sojourn in Medina around 1720. One teacher imparted appreciation for the works of Ibn Taymiyya; another passed along disapproval of innovations in worship. The next stage of his travels took him to al-Ahsa and then to Basra, where he undertook public denunciation of religious customs he deemed tantamount to polytheism. Not long after returning to Central Arabia, he continued his mission to suppress such customs, launching a controversy that would divide the region's religious scholars and townsmen. Under the protection of a local chieftain, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab exchanged epistles with fellow scholars on points of theology and law, spreading his reputation throughout Arabia and attracting both supporters and enemies. The latter instigated a powerful chieftain to force Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's patron to withdraw protection, compelling him to find refuge with supporters in al-Dirʿiyya.

The second chapter on Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's life recounts his settlement in al-Dirʿiyya, his pact with Muhammad ibn Saud, and the beginning of the nascent Saudi-Wahhabi state's expansion. The reformer's authority in the first Saudi state is a major theme of the chapter. That he presided over religious life, education, and public morality is well known. What is less clear is the extent of his involvement in political and military affairs. In ʿUthaymin's telling, Muhammad ibn Saud consulted with Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab on such matters, but the sources are patchy. They report a few instances of his accepting the allegiance of some towns or dividing booty. A second theme is the persecution endured by Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's followers in towns outside the Saudi domain. The Wahhabi side of the story about the military campaigns to extend Saudi rule includes the sense that their enemies struck first. A third theme is the doctrinal contestation waged in epistles and sermons between Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab and his detractors.

Discussion of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's doctrine is divided into two chapters, which consist of an annotated list of his works and an overview of controversial positions, respectively. ʿUthaymin provides summaries of some thirty treatises, from the well-known Book of God's Unity, the core treatise in the Wahhabi canon, to obscure manuscripts. The review of this body of literature is a welcome, handy guide for researchers, offering sketches of content and main ideas, which come down to reiteration of a few theological positions, a handful of abbreviated Hanbali law manuals, and sacred biographies of the Prophet. The scholarship in this section is solid, with references to rare manuscripts in Saudi Arabia, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. (The editors should have revised the original bibliography to include all cited manuscripts rather than leaving them dispersed in the endnotes.)

A chapter on controversial doctrines gives an accessible introduction to the contours of debate between Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab and his detractors. ʿUthaymin describes the core concept of tawḥīd and how Wahhabis divide it into three facets relating to God's attributes, lordship over creation, and sole right to worship. The author is more expansive in this section than in others, giving clear explanations of the differences between how Wahhabis and their detractors interpreted the Qurʾanic verses relating to God's unity. The chapter includes discussion of intercession and visits to graves, matters that stoked heated argument in Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's time. On the sensitive matter of takfīr, ʿUthaymin rehearses both the Wahhabi position and that of its critics, noting that in early years both claimed to have Ibn Taymiyya on their side. The discussion of bidʿa is couched in a concise overview of the concept's handling in the history of Islamic law. ʿUthaymin gives similar treatment to ijtihād and taqlīd in Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's writings.

In sum, this monograph represents a cautious approach to rendering its subject's life and thought. It sifts through inconsistencies in the chronicles about the details of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's early career but does not take up broad questions. For example, ʿUthaymin refrains from offering explanations for the doctrinal rupture that Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab wrought in 18th-century Arabia. Comparison to other religious-reform movements, a common feature in the literature on Wahhabism, is missing as well. The closest ʿUthaymin comes to a thesis is his suggestion that conditions in Central Arabia were ripe for religious reform and political unification, but the implications of that point are left hanging. A bare-bones presentation of material drawn from the relevant sources does have the virtue of laying out a basic framework for Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's career and doctrine. When ʿUthaymin completed his dissertation in 1972, it was an original piece of historical scholarship. Since then, historians have pushed deeper into analysis of the local sources and facets of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's education, travels, writings, and polemics. An updated preface or conclusion would have been a welcome opportunity for the author to reflect on recent scholarship. Nevertheless, the book's brevity and clarity lend it to productive use as an introduction to the sources and the subject.