'File 61/6 vol.4 (D 34) Bin Saud and Akwan Movement' [‎36v] (72/565)

referring to the Holy Prophet)— <c And you have to obey me according to Kitab-
Allah (Book of God, Al-Koran) and " Sunnat Rasuleh " (recorded customs
and traditions of the Prophet. Next morning when I was calling on him,
I complimented him as doing the duty of an Imam in addition to his arduous task
as a ruler. Thereupon Bin Saud said that he had no rest or peace, he would rather
forsake the world and go and live peaceably in a small island if he could, and
would fly from his present environments which were so much taxing his
energies and weighing him down. He did not even enjoy the ordinary night's
rest in his harem, but often passed sleepless nights. The Shaikh (meaning Ab
dullah bin Abdul Latif, the chief Alim, Qazi and Mufti of Riyadh) was annoyed
and disappointed with the Ikhwan Ulema, as they preached against every body
and everything outside their narrow circle and exhorted their followers to shid-
dah " (aggression or use of force). They even strongly criticised him, Bin Saud,
for his friendly relations with " ajanib(foreigners). He had a most difficult
task to perform to maintain friendly relations with rule s and powers. Unlike
his predecessors, he had to live in treaty relations with powers, like the British,
whom he liked for their justice and fair-dealing, otherwise, as Christians, he should
forsake and shun them " Abri ila-Allah minhum ". He had called some ten of
these Ulema to wait on the Shaikh and to conciliate him. He had already been
with them to the Shaikh on the previous evening when the Shaikh could not be pro
pitiated ; but that very morning he had effected a full compromise. The Ikhwan
Ulema had solemnly promised to the Shaikh as their spiritual head (Bin Saud,
it may be noted here, most wisely ignores himself for a moments, acts as a go-
between, and keeps in the back-ground, as, after all, he is only their ruler, and does
not stand in the religious bigot's mind for quite as much respect and devotion as
does a spiritual head—Shaikh) that they will attend to and settle all cases sent to
them by him, and will only refer back to him in case of real doubt or difficulty ;
that they will preach in mosques only on subjects or topics of a purely religious
nature which will be previously noted down for thern by the Shaikh himself ; that
they will without fail, come to Riyadh and receive instructions from the Shaikh
at short intervals ; that they will say nothing to what Bin Saud said or did in poli
tical external matters or about his relations outside Nejd. With immense influeDce
that this Shaikh has over all in Nejd, the above is, I think, the best remedy and
safeguard Bin Saud could possibly apply or devise against rampant Ikhwanism
which, one is often lead to think is fast getting out of hand control of even so strong
and perfect an Arab ruler as Abdul Aziz bin Saud himself.
(4) There is a surprisingly large number of men coming to Bin Saud daily
from all sides. These visitors really mean a great deal of expense, as, according
to the Arab custom, they are all guests, not excluding litigants, who come to
fight their own cases or answer charges, and are not only fed, but given £< kiswah "
(robes) and other " ikram " (cash present, arms, etc.).
One of these is an Abbas al Fallaj from Syria, arrived 10 days ago. is said to have
brought letter (whether from Emir Faisal or other leading men, it cannot be as
certained. Bin Saud, however, mentioned to me in the course of his conversations
that in addition to the pressure laid by His Majesty's Government, he knew that
much pressure was brought to bear upon the Sharif from Syria, urging him to
try and make peace with him. Bin Saud). This man is said to have come here twice
before. He is camping out near the Imam's garden, north of the town, and appears
to be of some importance as he has 5 horses and several attendants with him.
Some of these daily visitors come with cases and complaints of a serious nature, or
inter-tribal disputes, other, for mere " wajah " (seeing) Imam, which means a
begging visit, to get money or help. But a large proportion are evidently news
letters-carriers, who come from far and near. Fine, though evidently expensive,
intelligence system is thus created and maintained by the Imam. As ^oon as a
man " nawwakh " (dismounts from his camel), he is reported by means of a little
slip, which is written and sent up by a clerk, always present at the gate (of which
I am enclosing two samples herein) and is
Slips detained m tins oihce. immediately called up and seen by Bin
Saud himself, though for a couple of minutes. His verbal news, or message or letter,
as the case may be, is received, and he is sent off to the " mudhif guest-house.
Ordinary visitors are sent away after a day or two of their arrival with " ikram
while others remain according to their business or object of visit, are granted private