Wahhabism
Socio-politically, the movement represented the first major Arab-led revolt against the Turkish, Persian and foreign empires that had dominated the Islamic world since the Mongol invasions and the fall of Abbasid Caliphate in the 13th century; and would later serve as a revolutionary impetus for 19th-century pan-Arab trends.
[7] The word is primarily an exonym and was not used by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab or by his partisans, who called themselves Muwahhidun ("the Unitarians") derived from Tawhid, the central Islamic tenet denoting the oneness of God.
[1][2][3][34][k][excessive citations] Since the colonial period, the Wahhabi epithet has been commonly invoked by various external observers to erroneously or pejoratively denote a wide range of reform movements across the Muslim world.
[53][54] Professor Ingrid Mattson stated that "Wahhbism is not a sect: It is a social movement that began 200 years ago to rid Islam of rigid cultural practices that had [been] acquired over the centuries.
[m] A young Hanbali cleric named Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792 CE/AH 1115–1206), the leader of the Muwahhidun and eponym of the Wahhabi movement,[n] called upon his disciples to denounce certain beliefs and practices associated with Sufi orders as idolatrous impurities and innovations in Islam (bid'ah).
[66] Eventually, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab formed a pact with a local leader, Muhammad bin Saud,[69] offering political obedience and promising that protection and propagation of the Wahhabi movement meant "power and glory" and rule of "lands and men".
Calvinist scholar John Ludwig Burckhardt, author of the well-received works "Travels in Arabia" (1829) and "Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys" (1830), described the Muwahhidun as Arabian locals who resisted Turkish hegemony and its "Napoleonic" tactics.
Historian Loius Alexander Corancez in his book "Histoire des Wahabis" described the movement as an Asiatic revolution that sought a powerful revival of Arab civilisation by establishing a new order in Arabia and cleansing all the irrational elements and superstitions which had been normalised through Sufi excesses from Turkish and foreign influences.
advocated Ijtihad (independent legal research) of Scriptures to solve the new contemporary demands and problems faced by Muslims living in a modern age through a pragmatic, juristic path faithful to the rich Islamic tradition.
According to Albani, although Wahhabis doctrinally professed exclusive adherence to the Qur'an, the Hadith, and the Ijma of Salaf al-salih; in practice they almost solely relied on Hanbali jurisprudence for their fatwas—acting therefore as undeclared partisans of a particular madhab.
[93]: 68 : 220 In spite of this, Albani's efforts at hadith revivalism and his claims of being more faithful to the spirit of Wahhabism than Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab himself; made the former's ideas highly popular amongst Salafi religious students across the World, including Saudi Arabia.
[102] The Hanafite scholar Ibn Abi al-Izz's sharh (explanation) on Al-Tahawi's creedal treatise Al-Aqida al-Tahawiyya proved popular with the later adherents of the Muwahidun movement; who regarded it as a true representation of the work, free from Maturidi influences and as a standard theological reference for the Athari creed.
[112] Whether the teachings of Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab included the need for social renewal and "plans for socio-religious reform of society" in the Arabian Peninsula, rather than simply a return to "ritual correctness and moral purity", is disputed.
[117][118] Prominent Wahhabi Qadi of the Second Saudi State, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan Aal-Al Shaykh (1782–1868 CE/AH 1196–1285) strongly condemned the practice of taqlid as a form of shirk (polytheism) in his treatises, writing:[119] One who asks for a religious verdict concerning an issue, he should examine the sayings and opinions of the Imams and scholars and take only what complies with Allah's Rulings and the teachings of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Committee "field officers" enforce strict closing of shops at prayer time, segregation of the sexes, prohibition of the sale and consumption of alcohol, driving of motor vehicles by women, and other social restrictions.
[181] The excesses reported to have committed by soldiers of Emirate of Diriyah were regularly rebuked by the traditional Wahhabi Aal al-Shaykhs (descendants of Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab) who took care to condemn and religiously delegitimise war crimes.
[190] Explaining the stance of early Wahhabis on Tasawwuf, Abdullah Aal al-Shaykh (d. 1829 CE/AH 1244), son of Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab writes:[191][192][193] My father and I do not deny or criticise the science of Sufism, but on the contrary we support it because it purifies the external and the internal of the hidden sins which are related to the heart and the outward form.
[194] On the other hand, some influential Wahhabi clerics had also been noteworthy for issuing various archaic fatawa such as declaring "that the sun orbited the Earth", and forbidding "women from riding bicycles on the grounds that they were "the devil's horses", and "from watching TV without veiling, just in case the presenters could see them through the screen".
Dar al-Ifta headed by the Saudi Grand Mufti, consists of two agencies: i) Board of Senior Ulema (BSU) ii) Permanent Committee for Scientific Research and Legal Opinions (C.R.L.O) Wahhabi scholars advocated a positive approach to embracing technology, political affairs, etc.
On the issues of birth control, abortions and family planning, the legal bodies are conservative and generally prohibit them, viewing them as a contrary to Qur'anic commandments and Islamic principles to raise Muslim population.
[117][118] Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab asserted that every Muslim layman, even one without modest educational credentials, have a duty to read and study the Qur'an and the Sunnah; encouraging them to research religious scriptures.
[211] Professor of history at Dickinson College, David Commins also states that early disputes with other Muslims did not center on fiqh, and that the belief that the distinctive character of Wahhabism stems from Hanbali legal thought is a "myth".
What made Ibn Mu'ammar's proposed system unique was its "microcosmic" and flexible nature; which permitted the scholars to simultaneously represent different ranks within the hierarchy to carry out their responsibilities of Ijtihad.
"[69] While socio-political issues constituted a major aspect of his reformist programme, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab nonetheless didn't advocate revolutionary overthrowal of the ruling order to establish a Caliphate across the Muslim world.
[281][282] Peter Mandaville asserts that the commonly reported data estimates regarding Saudi religious funding are unreliable due to the sources being "internally inconsistent" and based on "non-specific hearsay".
[283] Throughout the 20th century Board of Senior Ulema (BSU) of the Dar al-Ifta in Saudi Arabia, were known for issuing fatawa which strongly condemned various forms of war crimes and terrorism, in line with Islamic military jurisprudence.
[38] During the Soviet-era, the Muslim dissidents were usually labelled with terms such as "Sufi" and "fanatic" employing Islamophobic discourses that aroused hysteria of an underground religious activists threatening the stability of the Marxist order.
[292] According to M. Reza Pirbhai, Associate Professor of History at Georgetown University, notions of a "Wahhabi conspiracy" against the West have in recent times resurfaced in various sections of the Western media; employing the term as a catch-all phrase to frame an official narrative that erases the concerns of broad and disparate disenchanted groups pursuing redress for local discontentment caused by neo-colonialism.
[310][311] In "The Refutation of Wahhabism in Arabic Sources, 1745–1932",[309] Hamadi Redissi provides original references to the description of Wahhabis as a divisive sect (firqa) and outliers (Kharijites) in communications between Ottomans and Egyptian Khedive Muhammad Ali.
[337] Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia, had openly expressed his view in his book Dibawah bendera revolusi, that the progressive Tajdid movement by Wahhabis was essentially a positive influence on Islam globally, particularly in developing nations struggling to gain independence.
