This is a definitive and authoritative account of the conservative interpretation of Islam that is the official creed of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Wahhabism. Muslim critics have dismissed it as a heretical innovation that manipulated a backward people to gain political control. David Commins dismisses the clichés, examines the nature of Wahhabism, and offers original findings as to how Wahhabism rose to dominance in Arabia and projected its influence in the Muslim world. He also assesses the challenges that it faces from radical militants within the Kingdom.