ended the influence of the Wahhabis, who rejected all luxury, dancing, gambling, music, and the use of tobacco. Wahhabism spread rapidly as a nationalist religious movement, gaining ascendancy throughout Arabia. Wahhabi warriors successfully attacked and purged the Islamic shrine at Karbala and the cities of Riyadh, Mecca, and Medina in the early years of the 19th century before they were defeated by the armies of the Turkish sultan Mahmud II, after a campaign ending in 1818. The number of Wahhabis today probably exceeds 8 million, but they are confined almost entirely to the Arabian Peninsula, in Saudi Arabia. It is through the historical connections of Saudi Arabia (and its influence) on Qatar that Qatar shares these religious practices (Sherman, 1998, p. 3).
Petroleum is the dominant source of income and accounts for more than 90 percent of yearly exports although fish are also an important product. (The annual fish catch totaled 2700 metric tons in 1993.) Agriculture acc
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