In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “strain of islamist thought within the larger salafist movement based on the writings of rabee al-madkhali”. Today it says “strain of quietist thought within the larger salafi movement characterised by monarchism and loyalty to secular”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “strain of islamist thought within the larger salafist movement based on the writings of rabee al-madkhali”. Today it says “strain of quietist thought within the larger salafi movement characterised by monarchism and loyalty to secular”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the October 6, 2023 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in October 6, 2023
Madkhalism is a strain of Quietist thought within the larger Salafist movement based on the writings of Sheikh Rabee al-Madkhali , characterised by monarchism and loyalty to secular authoritarian governments in the Arab world .1Arab states have generally favored Madkhalism due to its support for secular forms of government as opposed to other strains of Salafism, and Madkhalism's decline in Saudi Arabia has been connected with a decline in support for secular forms of government in the Muslim world.2Though originating in Saudi Arabia , the movement lost its support base in the country and has mostly been relegated to the Muslim community in Europe , with most Saudi Arabians not taking the edicts of Madkhalists seriously.3 Political scientist Omar Ashour has described the movement as resembling a cult, and English-language media has referred to the group as such. In addition to Arab regimes, US policy-makers and senior advisors to the U.S. State Department have also advised the US government to fund al-Madkhali and his strain of thought.4Madkhalis, in contrast to members of other groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State, have been described as very simple men who do not have the same level of intellectual depth and knowledge. As such, they are viewed as less of a threat by their opponents.5 The Challenge for Euro-Mediterranean Relations , pg. 74. Brussels : Centre for European Policy Studies , 2009. New York : Columbia University Press , 2009. Brachman, Global Jihadism: Theory and Practice , pg. 29.6 Roel Meijer, "Politicizing al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil : Rabi b. Hadi al-Madkhali and the transnational battle for religious authority." Taken from The Transmission and Dynamics of the Textual Sources of Islam: Essays in Honour of Harald Motzki , eds.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1178082307.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Madkhalism is a strain of Islamist thought within the larger Salafist movement based on the writings of Rabee Al-Madkhali . Arab states have generally favored Madkhalism due to its support for secular forms of government as opposed to other strains of Salafism, and Madkhalism's decline in Saudi Arabia has been connected with a decline in support for secular forms of government in the Muslim world. Though originating in Saudi Arabia , the movement lost its support base in the country and has mostly been relegated to the Muslim community in Europe , with most Saudi Arabians not taking the edicts of Madkhalists seriously. Political scientist Omar Ashour has described the movement as resembling a cult, and English-language media has referred to the group as such. The Challenge for Euro-Mediterranean Relations , pg. 74. Brussels : Centre for European Policy Studies , 2009. New York : Columbia University Press , 2009. Brachman, Global Jihadism: Theory and Practice , pg. 29. Roel Meijer, "Politicizing al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil : Rabi b. Hadi al-Madkhali and the transnational battle for religious authority." Taken from The Transmission and Dynamics of the Textual Sources of Islam: Essays in Honour of Harald Motzki , eds.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 664678627.
The opening as it stood in 2020
A heterodox strain of Islam within the larger Salafist movement based on the writings of Rabee al-Madkhali Madkhalism is a strain of Islamist thought within the larger Salafist movement based on the writings of Rabee al-Madkhali . Arab states have generally favored Madkhalism due to its support for secular forms of government as opposed to other strains of Salafism, and Madkhalism's decline in Saudi Arabia has been connected with a decline in support for secular forms of government in the Muslim world. Though originating in Saudi Arabia , the movement lost its support base in the country and has mostly been relegated to the Muslim community in Europe , with most Saudi Arabians not taking the edicts of Madkhalists seriously. Political scientist Omar Ashour has described the movement as resembling a cult, and English-language media has referred to the group as such. The Challenge for Euro-Mediterranean Relations , pg. 74. Brussels : Centre for European Policy Studies , 2009. New York : Columbia University Press , 2009. Brachman, Global Jihadism: Theory and Practice , pg. 29. Roel Meijer, "Politicizing al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil : Rabi b. Hadi al-Madkhali and the transnational battle for religious authority." Taken from The Transmission and Dynamics of the Textual Sources of Islam: Essays in Honour of Harald Motzki , eds.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 964691995.
The opening as it stood in 2025 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Strain of Salafi thought Madkhalism is a strain of quietist thought within the larger Salafi movement characterised by monarchism and loyalty to secular and authoritarian governments in the Arab world , based on the writings of Sheikh Rabee al-Madkhali . Originating in Saudi Arabia , the movement lost its support base in the country and has mostly been relegated to other countries, with most Saudi Arabians not taking the edicts of Madkhalists seriously. Political scientist Omar Ashour has described the movement as resembling a cult, and English-language media has referred to the group as such. Madkhalism today is mostly popular in Western English-speaking countries and Libya .In addition to Arab regimes, U.S. policymakers and senior advisors to the U.S.Department of State have also reportedly advised the U.S. government to fund al-Madkhali and his strain of thought. The Challenge for Euro-Mediterranean Relations , pg. 74. Brussels : Centre for European Policy Studies , 2009. New York : Columbia University Press , 2009. Roel Meijer, "Politicizing al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil : Rabi b. Hadi al-Madkhali and the transnational battle for religious authority." Taken from The Transmission and Dynamics of the Textual Sources of Islam: Essays in Honour of Harald Motzki , eds.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1296546376. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “strain of islamist thought within the larger salafist movement based on the writings of rabee al-madkhali”. Today it says “strain of quietist thought within the larger salafi movement characterised by monarchism and loyalty to secular”. Read the current article and compare.
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
islamist
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1
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2015 and 2025.
Then
strain of islamist thought within the larger salafist movement based on the writings of rabee al-madkhali
Now
strain of quietist thought within the larger salafi movement characterised by monarchism and loyalty to secular
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
