Why We Call Them “Wahhabi”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

A Wahhabi is defined as one who follows the creed of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab.  This definition is accepted by most Muslims worldwide.  It is also a documented in many books of Western Academia.  For example, the Encyclopaedia Britannica states, “Wahhabiyyah, the Muslim puritan movement founded by Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, in the 18^th century, in Najd, central Arabia …”

The Wahhabis, however, object to being called Wahhabis under the pretext that “al-Wahhab” is one of many of Allah’s (s.w.t.) Attributes.  This argument is nonsense.  There have been numerous sects named after their leaders, whose names mentioned one of Allah’s (s.w.t.) Attributes as a name.  For example, “al-Karram” is one of Allah’s (s.w.t.) Attributes.  There is the Karramiyyah sect who were named after their leader, Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Karram.

Deviant groups were also named after something they may have denied from the creed.  For example the Qadriyyah were named so because they denied al-Qadr, destiny and Divine Will.  Yet, its derivative, “al-Qadir”, is also one of Allah’s (s.w.t.) Attributes.  Another example, the Jabbariyyah are a sect that denies that man has any free will and alleges that Allah (s.w.t.) forced His Creation to do actions.  The Jabbariyyah have been mentioned by numerous scholars, even Wahhabi shuyukh such as ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Jibrin, Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Swalih ibn al-‘Utsaymin and others in the ‘aqidah texts, yet, “al-Jabbar” is also one of Allah’s (s.w.t.) Names.

The Wahhabi Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia in his time, ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Baz, used the term, “Wahhabi”, to refer to his own group: “The Wahhabiyyah are not new in rejecting all such innovations.  Their creed is to hold fast to the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Messenger, and to follow his footsteps, and those of his rightly guided successors.”  He continued, “The Wahhabiyyah believe in them, the way they reported without any alteration.  The creed of the Wahhabiyyah is based upon fulfillment of witnessing that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and completely abandoning all innovations.  This is the foundation of the Sa’udi regime and this is the view held by the scholars of Sa’udi Arabia.  The hard attitude shown by the Sa’udi government is directed only against the superstitions and innovations in contradiction with Islam.”

In Islam, any group, whether orthodox or deviant, are named after their founders, or their unique quality, or an action they do or have done, or even something from the creed they have denied.  Therefore, it cannot be deemed a personal insult, a derogatory statement, an ad hominem to use the term “Wahhabi” for the followers of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab.  Wahhabis object to this term because they want to dishonestly claim to be inheritors of the Salaf, and part of Sunni Islam.

We must also remember that the very first people to use the term ‘Wahhabi’ were in fact that scholars that lived in his time, and in the time of his son.  They witnessed the Wahhabi invasions, predations, and atrocities.  Thus, it is only correct that we call the deviant followers of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, Wahhabis, after their true founder, as a distinct sect of the end of times Khwarij.