AKHWAN MOVEMENT, a religious revival or reform, confined mostly to the Nejd districts of Arabia. The term akhwan, or ikhwan, signifies “brethren,” and the tenets of the brotherhood are those of Wahabism revived and intensified (see 28.245). The movement, recognized by Ibn Sa'ud, Emir of Nejd, had taken definite shape after 1910; and in 1921 it still seemed likely to have far-reaching effects upon the attitude of the people of Central Arabia towards other Arabian communities and even to the outer world.