SuperJail Warden wrote:
No they aren't. Wahhabism is a Saudi subset of Salafism.
Wikipedia wrote:
Naming controversy: Wahhabis, Muwahhidun, and Salafis
According to Robert Lacey "the Wahhabis have always disliked the name customarily given to them" and preferred to be called Muwahhidun (Unitarians). Another preferred term was simply "Muslims" since their creed is "pure Islam".[53] However, critics complain these terms imply non-Wahhabis are not monotheists or Muslims,[53][54] and the English translation of that term causes confusion with the Christian denomination (Unitarian Universalism).
Other terms Wahhabis have been said to use and/or prefer include ahl al-hadith ("people of hadith"), Salafi Da'wa or al-da'wa ila al-tawhid[55] ("Salafi preaching" or "preaching of monotheism", for the school rather than the adherents) or Ahl ul-Sunna wal Jama'a ("people of the tradition of Muhammad and the consensus of the Ummah"),[5] Ahl al-Sunnah ("People of the Sunna"),[56] or "the reform or Salafi movement of the Sheikh" (the sheikh being ibn Abdul-Wahhab).[57] Early Salafis referred to themselves simply as "Muslims", believing the neighboring Ottoman Caliphate was al-dawlah al-kufriyya (a heretical nation) and its self-professed Muslim inhabitants actually non-Muslim.[31][58][59][60] The prominent 20th-century Muslim scholar Nasiruddin Albani, who considered himself "of the Salaf," referred to Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's activities as "Najdi da'wah."[61]
Many, such as writer Quinton Wiktorowicz, urge use of the term Salafi, maintaining that "one would be hard pressed to find individuals who refer to themselves as Wahhabis or organizations that use 'Wahhabi' in their title, or refer to their ideology in this manner (unless they are speaking to a Western audience that is unfamiliar with Islamic terminology, and even then usage is limited and often appears as 'Salafi/Wahhabi')."[14] A New York Times journalist writes that Saudis "abhor" the term Wahhabism, "feeling it sets them apart and contradicts the notion that Islam is a monolithic faith."[62] Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for example has attacked the term as "a doctrine that doesn't exist here (Saudi Arabia)" and challenged users of the term to locate any "deviance of the form of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia from the teachings of the Quran and Prophetic Hadiths".[63][64] Ingrid Mattson argues that, "'Wahhbism' is not a sect. It is a social movement that began 200 years ago to rid Islam of rigid cultural practices that had (been) acquired over the centuries."[65][66][Note 1] Another source criticized the use of the word for its confusion, as it has different meanings to different groups. In South Asia, Deobandis call the Ahle Hadith "Wahhabis", while Barelvis call Deobandis "Wahhabis."[68]
On the other hand, according to authors at Global Security and Library of Congress the term is now commonplace and used even by Wahhabi scholars[who?] in the Najd,[5][69] a region often called the "heartland" of Wahhabism.[70] Journalist Karen House calls Salafi, "a more politically correct term" for Wahhabi.[71]
In any case, according to Lacey, none of the other terms have caught on, and so like the Christian Quakers, Wahhabis have "remained known by the name first assigned to them by their detractors."[72]
Aren't you holding a history degree or some such nonsense?
