A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ What are some elements in mainstream Islam which have an origin in Wahhabism? ”   There are none.   The elements of Islamic theology and jurisprudence were brought by the Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ), 1,400 years ago, and refined in the intervening centuries into what we have today of the religious sciences.   Wahhabism is a heresy, a kufr that coalesced with the teachings of the arch-heretic, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab an-Najdi.   Even in that, he brought nothing new, but a rehashed version of the discredited theology of Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ), something that Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ) himself made a public renunciation of, and repented from.   ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab borrowed elements of the anthropomorphism of previous scholars, and made it manifest.   He borrowed the methodology of the worst of the Khwarij , and...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ What is Wahhabism?   Who was Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab an-Najdi inspired by, and in what ways? ”   The following is taken from my own blog: Why We Call Them “Wahhabi” , and The Fitnah of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab an-Najdi .   In simple terms, 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 lead...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Taqi’ ad-Din Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn ‘Abd al-Kafi’ as-Subki ( r.a. ) had harsh words for  Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah  ( r.a. ) and his followers.   This was on account of the clear anthropomorphism of ‘Aqidah al-Wasithiyyah .   He wrote, “As for the Hashwiyyah , they are a despicable and ignorant lot who claim to belong to the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.”   He further continued, “They have corrupted the creed of a few isolated Shafi’iyyah , especially some of the ahadits scholars among them who are lacking in reason.”   He also wrote, “They were held in utmost contempt, and then towards the end of the seventh century, a man appeared who was diligent, intelligent and well-read but did not find a shaykh to guide him, and he is of their creed and is brazen and dedicated to teaching his ideas.”   He was referring, of course, to Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ).   He co...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   As written in ar-Rasa’il ash-Shakhsiyyah , Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab an-Najdi said, “And I inform you about myself – I swear by Allah whom there is none worthy to worship except Him – I have sought knowledge, and those who knew me believed that I had knowledge while I did not know the meaning of Laa Ilaha Illa Allah at that time, and did not know the religion of Islam before this grace that Allah favoured.   As well as my teachers, no one among them knew that.   And if someone from the scholars of al-Arid claims that he knew the meaning of Laa Ilaha Illa Allah , or knew the meaning of Islam before this time, or claims on behalf of his teachers that someone from them knew that, then he has lied and said falsehood and deceived people and praised himself with something he does not possess.“   This is the original statement, in Arabic:   وأنا أخبركم عن نفسي والله الذي لا إله إلا هو لقد طلبت العلم واعتقد من عرفني أن لي...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم   The heretic, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of the Wahhabi sect said, in his Kitab at-Tawhid , “The agreement between the Scripture of the Jews and Islam, in that they both confirm that Allah has fingers, though they are unlike our fingers, and exactly how they are, is unknown to us.”     This is blatant misrepresentation of Jewish and Muslim theology.   Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu Muhammad ibn Abu Swalih ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani ( q.s. ), in his Sirr al-Asrar wa Mazhar al Anwar , wrote, “Our Master. the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, ‘The hearts of the Children of Adam are between the two fingers of the All-Merciful.   He Turns them whichever way He Wills.’”   This is a metaphorical phrase.   Shaykh Tu’sun Bayrak al-Jirrahi ( q.s. ) said, the two “fingers” of Allah ( s.w.t. ) are His Attributes of the Irresistible Power of punishment and the Loving and Delicate Beauty of the Beneficence, His Jalal wa Jamal ....

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The heretic, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab wrote Nawaqid al-Islam , where he listed acts and beliefs that nullified Islam, according to his limited understanding, notwithstanding the established position of the Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah .   The Wahhabi creed, as set down by ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, is explicit that those who seek tawaswswul , through the “dead”, by calling upon them, are out of Islam: “He who sets up intermediaries between him and Allah, calling unto them, and asking them to intercede on his behalf with Allah, and putting trust in them, is a disbeliever according to the consensus of the scholars.”   When Muslims make tawaswswul , through the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), and the pious, they address them with harf an-nida’ , which is an invocative particle.   For example, we say, “ Ya Muhammad ”, or “ Ya ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani ”.   This is a deliberate mischaracterisation of munada’ .   al-Munada’ is an ism whose ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah ’s ( r.a. ) janazah was attended by about 50,000 people, including many of the very scholars who had opposed him.  They had accepted him as one of them, and prayed for him as they would for any Muslim, and affirmed that despite his shortcomings, his famous temper, and quick tongue, his previous arrogance and character faults, he was an ‘alim , and his piety was never in question.  His repentance was acknowledged and accepted.  His repudiation of his previous kufr was documented and disseminated.  He passed away as one of us.   His teachings were by and large forgotten, a distant nightmare of the ummah .  Forgotten that is, until the coming of the great shaythan , Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab an-Najdi.  The founder of the Wahhabi sect brought them back from oblivion, and innovated them further.  Later, the “Salafi” movement revived them through a lar...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ It is recorded in Swahih Muslim , that Sayyidina ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ( r.a. ) said, “The Messenger of Allah ( s.a.w. ) once emerged from the room of his wife, ‘Aishah ( r.a. ), and pointing towards Najd, exclaimed, ‘This is the centre of kufr , from where the Horn of Shaythan will rise.’”   Shaykh Sulayman ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab an-Najdi ( r.a. ) wrote a refutation of the creed of his brother, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, in his Sawa’iq al-Ilahiyyah ‘ala Radd al-Wahhabiyyah , and said, of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “You are that Horn of Shaythan .”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of Wahhabism, wrote, in his Kashf ash-Shubahat , “The people that ask for intercession through the prophets and angels, calling upon them, and making supplication through their wasilah , in an attempt to draw nearer to Allah, are committing the greatest of sins.  Thus, it is permitted to kill them and take their property.”   And this is why groups like ISIS, Boko Haram and every other extremists behave like this.  They all belong to the Wahhabi sect, and this is what Wahhabis really think of Muslims.  To the Wahhabis, Sunnis, and Shi’ah, are kuffar , and mushrikin , to be killed.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Sulayman ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab an-Najdi ( r.a. ) wrote, in Sawa’iq al-Ilahiyyah ‘ala Radd al-Wahhabiyyah , on his heretical brother, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “In this day and age, humanity has been tested by those who claim to be going by the Book and the sunnah , and they attempt to extract rulings from its sciences, and they do not care who opposes them.  When I tell him to take his statements to the People of Knowledge, he does not do so, but he does the contrary.  He proceeds to make it compulsory that the people should go by, and follow his statements, and understanding, and when there is someone who opposes him, according to him, he is a disbeliever, while the individual in question does not even have even one characteristic of the people of ijtihad .  By Allah ( s.w.t. ), indeed he does not possess one tenth while he is opening his mouth and speaking a great deal of ignorance.  To Allah ( s.w.t. ) we Belong, and t...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Sulayman ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab an-Najdi ( r.a. ), the elder brother of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, wrote as-Sawa’iq al-Ilahiyyah fi ar-Radd ‘ala al-Wahhabiyyah , “Divine Lightning in Answering the Wahhabis”.  The prefaces were by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Kurdi ash-Shafi’i ( r.a. ), and Shaykh Muhammad Hayyat ibn Ibrahim as-Sindhi ( r.a. ), the former teachers of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab.  They said to the effect that Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab was “ dhal mudhil ”, “misguided and misguiding”.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The principal teacher of the heretic, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, was Shaykh Muhammad Hayyat as-Sindhi ( r.a. ).  Shaykh Muhammad Hayyat as-Sindhi ( r.a. ) was a Sufi of the Naqshbandi Order.  It was Shaykh as-Sindhi ( r.a. ) who introduced ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab to the works of  Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah  ( r.a. ), a shaykh of the Qadiri Order.    ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab delved into the works of Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ), including the works the author himself repudiated as heretical.  He borrowed from them, synthesised them, and created his own sect.  Shaykh Muhammad Hayyat as-Sindhi ( r.a. ) ultimately repudiated Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, and his heretical ideas.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ In 1746, long before he aligned himself with Muhammad ibn Sa’ud, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab sent a thirty-man delegation to the Sharif of Makkah, seeking permission for his followers and him to perform the haj .   By then, his fitnah was well-known. The sharif , Shaykh Mas’ud ibn Sa’id ( r.a. ) suspected an ulterior motive for the haj , an opportunity to disseminate his kufr .  Shaykh Mas’ud ibn Sa’id ( r.a. ), therefore, organised a debate between the Wahhabis and the scholars of Makkah and Madina.   Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s representatives, the flower of Wahhabi da’wah , were utterly crushed.  They were proven to be anthropomorphists, and heretics.  The qadhi of Makkah pronounced them kafirun and mushikin , and banned them from the haj .  And the Wahhabis stayed banned until the House of Sa’ud conquered the Haramayn in 1924.   From 1746 to 1924, the scholars of Sunni Islam were unanimous that the...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Abu Bakr an-Naji might not even be one person, but a committee.   That name is attached to a book, Idarah at-Tawahhush , “Management of Desolation”.   This book sets out the political and military policy of Al-Qaida and its affiliates, such as Jabhat an-Nusrah, and splinter groups such as ISIS.   It states explicitly that the “Salafi Way” is the only and essential way, and expands on what Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab and later, people like Sayyid Quthb Ibrahim Husayn, wrote, dividing the post-caliphate ummah into the “colonised” and the “free”.   Only “true Muslims”, people with their Wahhabi ideology, are free.   Besides indicting foreign powers, extra-national agencies and corrupt civil administrations throughout the Muslim world, blame is given to the Muslims, and especially the scholars of Islam, who “lead people astray”.   It is written, “Notice we say that the masses are the difficult factor.   W...