The contemporary status of women in Saudi Arabia is shaped by the historical legacy of Wahhabiyya and its transformation into a religious nationalist movement under the banner of the Saudi state. This transformation had an important impact on gender after the movement became not only state religion but also state nationalism. Under the auspices of the state, Wahhabiyya transformed personal piety into a public project, the objective of which was to create a moral community under the authority of a political centre. The personal and the public combined to foster the piety of the state. The state was able to manipulate public Islam, enforced by Wahhabi teachings and scholars, to create a legitimacy and a rationale for the foundation of a pious nation. But historically, the contemporary state oscillated between demonstrating piety and Islamic authenticity on the one hand and modernity, reform, and progress on the other. With the changing and evolving political agenda of the state, we find that the religious element, mainly the Wahhabi historical legacy, was co-opted by a state acting in response to evolving political contexts and agendas of changing historical periods.

When Wahhabiyya emerged in the eighteenth century, it was a religious revivalist movement sharing in character and orientation many similarities with its contemporaries in the Muslim world. As such, its teachings centred on the cleansing of faith from impurities and a return to authentic Islam. Central to this project was the status and rights of women, their piety and ritual practices. While men's religious practices and piety were crucial for the revival of true Islam, women were nevertheless seen as important pillars for the return to an authentic religious tradition among a stable, settled community.