ABSTRACT
The dispute between ibn Sa'ud and King Husain over the possession of the villages of Khurma and Turaba is important for two reasons. Firstly, it marks the first major clash between the two Arabian rulers; secondly, the British were faced for the first time with the threat of a Wahhabi invasion of the Hedjaz and the effect that this would have primarily on their Moslem subjects. Essentially, as will be seen, the Khurma-Turaba dispute was both a religious and a political issue. Fearing that the Wahhabi revival which was beginning to assume significant proportions in Najd might successfully attract many of his followers to the Sa'udi standard, Husain endeavoured to prevent the penetration into the Hedjaz of militant Wahhabi tenets and to assert his ownership of Khurma and Turaba to which ibn Sa'ud now laid claim.
