Apart from his emphasis on hadith studies, aversion for the madhhab system and disregard for technical juristic discussions involving legal principles, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb's views on ziyārah (visitations to the shrines of Awliyaa) were also shaped by Al-Sindhi.

[64][65] His leave from Basra marked the end of his education and by the time of his return to 'Uyayna, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab had mastered various religious disciplines such as Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence), theology, hadith sciences and Tasawwuf.

[86] Reviving the teachings of Ibn Taymiyya, the Muwaḥḥidūn (Unitarian) movement emphasized strict adherence to Qur'an and Sunnah; while simultaneously championing the conception of an Islamic state based on the model of early Muslim community in Medina.

[90] Realising the significance of efficient religious preaching (da'wa), Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab called upon his students to master the path of reasoning and proselytising over warfare to convince other Muslims of their reformist endeavour.

[92] First conquering Najd, Muhammad ibn Saud's forces expanded the Wahhabi influence to most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia,[33] eradicating various popular practices they viewed as akin to polytheism and propagating the doctrines of ʿAbd al-Wahhab.

More significantly, the rationale behind the campaign was based on Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb's newly written epistle Mufīd al-mustafīd, which marked a shift from the earlier posture of defensive Jihad to justify a more aggressive one.

Four of his sons, Hussain, Abdullah, Ali and Ibrahim, established religious schools close to their home in Dir'iyah and taught the young students from Yemen, Oman, Najd and other parts of Arabia at their majlis (study circle).

[89][122] The "core" of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's teaching is found in Kitāb at-Tawḥīd, a theological treatise which draws from material in the Qur'an and the recorded doings and sayings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Hadith literature.

[130] In a letter addressed to the Iraqi scholar Abdul Rahman Al-Suwaidi who had sought clarification over the rumours spread against his mission, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab explains:"I am a man of social standing in my village and the people respect my word.

His advocacy of Ijtihad and harsh denunciation of Taqlid arose widespread condemnation from Sufi orthodoxy in Najd and beyond, compelling him to express many of his legal verdicts (fatwas) discreetly, using convincing juristic terms.

Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab further tries to undermine the belief in the pre-existence of Muḥammad as a divine light preceding all other creation, a salient concept that served as an aspect of Prophetic devotion during the eleventh Islamic century.

Additionally, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb omitted mentioning other episodes narrated in various sirah (Prophetic biography) works such as trees and stones allegedly expressing veneration for Muḥammad, purification of Muhammad's heart by angels, etc.

[148] According to professor Abdullah Saeed, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab should rather be considered as one of the "precursors" of the modern Salafiyya movement since he called for a return to the pristine purity of the early eras of Islam by adhering to the Qur'an and the Sunnah, rejection of the blind following (Taqlid) of earlier scholars and advocating for Ijtihad.

[117] Scholars like Adam J. Silverstein consider Wahhabi movement as "the most influential expression of Salafism of the Islamist sort, both for its role in shaping (some might say: 'creating') modern Islamism, and for disseminating salafi ideas widely across the Muslim world.

As a deferential and accomplished jurist with the experience of religious training under numerous masters in his travels, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab opposed the rigid, hardline views of the tradition-bound ulema who had excommunicated sinful, unrepenting Muslims; thereby making their blood forfeit based on their reading of the reports of Muhammad and Companions.

On the other hand, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb and his supporters held that they were the victims of aggressive warfare; accusing their opponents of starting the pronouncements of Takfir (excommunication) and maintained that the military operations of Emirate of Dirʿiyya were strictly defensive.

[187] In contrast, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab profoundly despised the "decorous, arty tobacco-smoking, music happy, drum pounding, Egyptian and Ottoman nobility who traveled across Arabia to pray at Mecca each year",[188] and intended to either subjugate them to his doctrine or overthrow them.

[210][211] In response, the British Indian Ahl-i Hadith scholar Muhammad Bashir Sahsawani (1834-1908 C.E) wrote the treatise Sayaanah al-Insaan an Waswaswah al-Shaikh Dahlaan in order to refute Dahlan.

[212][213] The Islamic scholar Muhammad Rashid Rida (d. 1935 C.E/ 1354 A.H) in his introduction to al-Sahsawani's refutation of Dahlan, described Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab as a mujaddid repelling the innovations and deviations in Muslim life.

Ali Bey asserts that unlike the fair-minded Muhammad Ibn Saud; his son 'Abd Al-Azeez began employing a "convert or die" approach for the acquirment of wealth and stabilising the state.

Finding them to be friendly and knowledgeable, Al-Jabarti stated that the Wahhabis were "modest men of good morals, well trained in oratory, in the principles of religion, the branches of fiqh, and the disagreements of the Schools of Law.

"[224] Various academics have compared Muhammad Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab to the 15th-century German Christian pastor Martin Luther, for their efforts in launching socio-religious movements that challenged the authority of the dominant clerical and political hierarchy of their societies.

Despite being adherents of different religions; both of them were inspired by their respective idealised visions of the past and shared similar themes such as the social and economic upliftment of their societies empowered through mass-education enabled by campaigns for open access to Scriptures.

"[230]Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, one of the founders of the Deobandi school praised Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab as a virtuous scholar who upheld the Sunnah and campaigned against polytheistic and superstitious beliefs and practices.

Islamic scholar Yusuf Al-Qārādawī praised Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab as a Mujaddid (religious reviver) of the Arabian Peninsula who defended the purity of Tawhid from various superstitions and polytheistic beliefs.

[251][252] During the early years of post-9/11 hysteria, FBI had designated al-Qaeda as "the number one terrorist threat to the United States" and the neo-cons in the Bush Administration were able to incite hysterical narratives of "Wahhabism" through their expanded influence in politics and Western media.

[254] Various scholars assert that many writings of Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab were revised during the 19th century by authorities of the Second Saudi State; transforming them away from a poetic-vernacular style of communication with mass appeal to a more rigid and purist understanding that aligned with the interests of the ruling class and the clerical establishment.

Western scholars like Michael Ryan assert that Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's reformist teachings were a rationalist enterprise that sought to eradicate superstitions widespread in the context of tribal rivalry within the Arabian Peninsula.

[264] In 2017, there was a request published in the Saudi Arabian newspaper Okaz signed by 200 descendants of Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab that the name of the mosque be changed, because according to their statement "it does not carry its true Salafi path", even though most Qataris adhere to Wahhabism.

[271] Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab has been described as a "prolific writer" whose scholarly treatises are collected into fourteen large volumes; which consists of various legal books, Qur'anic commentaries, creedal works, and compilation of fatwas.