Abdul Rahman bin Faisal and his brother Muhammad had tended to align themselves with their elder brother Saud against their other elder brother, Abdullah, when the two were struggling for power in 1865.

Abdul Rahman had been sent to Baghdad in 1871 to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire for help after Saud had taken the capital Riyadh.

Saud, unsuccessful after two years, had tried to take Al-Hasa in the east where Abdullah had become based, but had eventually returned to Riyadh without success.

The unity of the Wahhabi community disintegrates as both drought and civil war continue, while the throne changes hands several times in favor of different members of the Saudi family.

The drought had ended in 1874, and Saud II had died the following year.

After a brief interval of chaos, Abdullah II returns to the throne in 1876, only to find himself powerless against the Rashidi emir of Jabal Shammar.

The Rashidis have ruled from their capital at Ha'il since 1836, initially as agents for the Saudis, and had subsequently become independent, with strong links to the Ottomans and growing wealth from the caravan trade.

Muhammad ibn Abdullah ar-Rashid, who had become emir in 1869, had dominated Arabian politics when Abdullah II ibn Saud returned to Riyadh for his third spell of authority.

The Rashidis, who had refrained, at first, from any overt action, soon intervene in the chaotic affairs of the Wahhabi state; Ibn Rashid “invites” Abdullah to be his guest at Ha'il.