Governing dynasties can contractually institutionalize a religious-ideological alliance for internal legitimacy.
Evidence
The current ruling Saudi family is bound by a foundational agreement from 1744, according to which ʿAbd al-Wahha¯b (and now his followers) decide on religious issues, and Muh˙ammad ibn Saʿu¯d (and now his successors) control the state and its administration. … Since the 1960s, Saudi rulers have instrumentalized Wahhabism, disguising it as Salafism, to advance a pan-Islamic ideology (daʿwa¯) in an effort to fight rivals at home and to combat Arab nationalism and liberal, socialist, and Marxist trends in the Arab region and Islamic societies. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 191
Categorization
- DEFINE: The 1744 Saudi-Wahhabi pact is the foundational mechanism by which a state delegates religious authority in exchange for political rule — useful definitional anchor for the sacred-state alliance.
- XREF: Connects to reader’s core interest: this is a manufactured ideological alliance (Wahhabism packaged as Salafism) sustained deliberately, and repurposed — state ideology as constructed tool, not primordial identity. — connects to: Legitimacy in dynastic monarchy derives from family membership — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 519; A secular tyrant could win legitimacy by adopting religious identity — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 688
Broader Connections
- A secular tyrant could win legitimacy by adopting religious identity
#exemplifies(0.82) — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 688 - Legitimacy in dynastic monarchy derives from family membership
#qualifies(0.70) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 519