[8] The initial power base was the town of Diriyah where he met Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab, who asked for protection.
However, the alliance was not totally supported by his family, and one of his brothers, Thunayyan bin Saud, objected to such a cooperation.
[12] In addition, following their alliance Muhammad bin Saud began to collect taxes from his subjects, and the first members of the Najdi-Wahhabi elites emerged.
[15] Muhammad sent one of his slaves, Salim bin Belal Al Harik, to Oman, who was accompanied with an armed group of seventy men, to make the tribes loyal to the Saudis.
[16] When Muhammad bin Saud himself would attack anywhere, he invited the people three times to adopt his religion, Wahhabism.
[20][21] Ibn Saud's wife was Moudi bint Abi Wahtan Al Kathir who was instrumental in his meeting with Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab.
[23] Muhammad bin Saud dressed in a plain way and, unlike those of the Mamluk and Ottoman rulers, his armaments were not decorated.
[25][26] As the head of a forerunner of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University is named after him.