Background On The Tribulations Of The Wahabi

Introduction

During the reign of Sultan Salim 3 (1204-1222 AH) many tribulations took place. One was the tribulation of the Wahabiyyah which started in the area of al-Hijaz (1) where they captured al-Haramain (2) & prevented Muslims coming from ash-Sham (3) & Egypt from reaching their destination to perform Pilgrimage (Hajj). Another tribulation is that of the French who controlled Egypt from 1213 A.H. until 1216 A.H. Let us here speak briefly about the two adversities (4), because each was mentioned in detail in the books of history &  in separate treatises.

Background On The Tribulations Of The Wahabis
The fighting started between the Wahabis & the Prince of Makkah, Maulana Sharif Ghalib Ibn Bu Sa'id, who had been appointed by the honoured Muslim Sultan as his ruling representative over the areas of al-Hijaz. This was in 1205 AH during the time of Sultan Salim III, the son of Sultan Mustafa 3, the son of Ahmad. Previous to the outbreak of fighting, the Wahabis began to build power & gain followers in their areas. As their territories expanded, their evil & harm increased They killed countless numbers of Muslims, legitimated confiscating their money & possessions & captured their women. The founder of their wicked doctrine was Muhammad Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab, who originated from eastern Arabia, from the tribe of Banu Tamim. He lived a long life, about one-hundred years. He was born in 1111 AH & died in 1200 AH. His history was narrated as follows:

Muhammad Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab started as a student of knowledge in the city of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam): al-Madinah al-Munawwarah. Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab's father was a good, pious man among the people of knowledge as was his brother, Sheikh Suleman. His father, his brother & his sheikhs (teachers of religion) had the foresight Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab would innovate a great deal of deviation & misguidance, because of their observance of his sayings, actions & inclinations concerning many issues. They used to reprimand him & warn people against him.

Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab in the Balance

Some Of The Beliefs Of Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab

What Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab’s father, brother & shaykhs speculated about him came true--by the Will of Allah, ta'ala. Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab innovated deviant & misleading ways & beliefs & managed to allure some ignorant people to follow him. His deviant & misleading ways & beliefs disagreed with the sayings of the scholars of the Religion. His deviant beliefs led him to label the believers as blasphemers! He falsely claimed visiting the grave of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) & performing the tawassul (5) by him as shirk (6). Additionally, he falsely claimed visiting the graves of other prophets & righteous Muslims (auliya') & performing tawassul by them was shirk as well. He added to this by saying, "To call upon the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) when performing tawassul by the Prophet is shirk." He passed the same judgment of shirk on the ones who call upon other prophets & righteous Muslims (auliya') in performing tawassul by them.

In an effort to give credibility to his innovations Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab embellished his sayings by quotations which he selected from Islamic sources, i.e., quotations which are used as proofs for many issues but not the issues which Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab was attempting to support. He brought false statements & tried to beautify them for the laymen until they followed him. He wrote treatises for them until they believed that most of the People of Tauheed (7) were blasphemers.

Alliance With The Su'udiyy Family
Moreover, Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab called upon the princes of eastern Arabia & the people of ad-Dar'iyyah (8) to support him. They carried his doctrine & made this endeavour a means to strengthen & expand their kingdom. They worked together to suppress the Bedouins of the deserts until they overcame them & those Bedouins followed them & became foot-soldiers for them without pay. After that, these masses started to believe that whoever does not believe in what Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab said is a blasphemer & it is Islamically lawful (halal) to shed his blood & plunder his money.

The matter of Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab started to evidence itself in 1143 A.H. & began spreading after 1150 A.H. Subsequently, the scholars - even his brother, Sheikh Suleman & the rest of his sheikhs - authored many treatises to refute him. But Muhammad Ibn Su'ud, the Prince of ad-Dar'iyyah in eastern Arabia, supported him & worked to spread his ideology. Ibn Su'ud was from Banu Hanifah, the people of Musaylimah al-Kazzab (9). When Muhammad Ibn Su'ud died, his son #Abdul 'Aziz Ibn Muhammad Ibn Su'ud took over the responsibility of fulfilling the vile task of spreading the Wahhabi beliefs.

Many of the sheikhs of Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab in al-Madinah used to say, "He will be misguided & he will misguide those for whom Allah willed the misguidance." Things took place as per the speculation of the scholars. Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab claimed his intention behind the mazhab he invented was "to purify the tauheed" & "repudiate the shirk." He also claimed people had been following the shirk for six-hundred years & he revived their Religion for them!!

The Methodology Of Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab
Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab took the verses revealed to speak about the blasphemers & applied them to the Muslims. The following examples from the Qur'an illustrate this point. Allah ta'ala said in Surah al-Ahqaf, Ayat 5:

This verse means: (Who is more astray than the one who performs supplication (du'a) to (worship) other than Allah; the one other than Allah he supplicates to will not answer his du'a.)

Allah ta'ala said in Surah Yunus, Ayat 106:

This verse means: (Do not perform supplication (du'a') to (worship) other than Allah; the one other than Allah you supplicate to will not benefit you & will not harm you.)

The verses in the Qur'an similar to these ones are numerous. Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab gravely misinterpreted the previously cited verses & said: "The Muslim who asks help from the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) other prophets, or the righteous people (salihun), or who calls or asks any of them for intercession is like those blasphemers mentioned in the Qur'an." According to the false claim of Ibn Abdul Wahhab, the Muslims who do these things are blasphemers.

He also considered visiting the grave of Prophet Muhammad & the graves of other prophets & righteous Muslims for blessings as blasphemy. Allah revealed Ayat 3 of Surat az-Zumar in reference to the mushrikun:

This verse means: (Those who worship the idols said: "We do not worship them except to achieve a higher status from Allah.")

Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab falsely stated: "Those who perform tawassul (asking Allah by the prophets, for example) are similar to those blasphemers mentioned in Surat az-Zumar, Ayat 3, who claim they do not worship the idols except to achieve a higher status from Allah." He said: "The blasphemers did not believe the idols create anything; they believed Allah is the Creator." He gave his version of proof from the Qur’an by citing Surat Luqman, Ayat 25 & Surat az-Zumar, Ayat 38, in which Allah said:

These verses mean: (If you ask them, "Who created the heavens & earth?" They will say, "Allah.")

In Surah az-Zukhruf, Ayah 87, Allah said:

Which means: (If you ask them, "Who created them?" They will say, "Allah.") Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab falsely concluded from these verses that the Muslims who perform tawassul are similar to those blasphemers.

The Scholars Refute Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab
In their writings to refute Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab's sayings, the scholars said his deduction was false. The believers did not consider the prophets or the auliya' as gods & they did not deem them partners to Allah. Instead, they correctly believe the prophets & auliya' are good slaves & creations of Allah & they do not deserve to be worshipped.

The blasphemers intended in these verses believed their idols deserved Godhood. They exalted them as one would exalt his Creator, even though they believed the idols did not create the heavens & the earth. The believers, on the other hand, do not believe the prophets or righteous Muslims (auliya') deserve to be worshipped, nor do they deserve to be attributed with Godhood, nor do they exalt them as one would exalt God. They believe these people are good slaves of Allah, His beloved ones whom He chose & by their blessings (barakah) Allah grants His mercy to His creation. Hence, when the slaves of Allah seek the blessings (barakah) of the prophets & righteous Muslims (auliya') they are seeking these blessings as a mercy from Allah.

There are many proofs & examples from the Qur'an & Sunnah about this basic belief of the Muslims. Muslims believe Allah is the Creator, the One Who grants benefit & inflicts harm & the only One Who deserves to be worshipped. Muslims believe that no one other than Allah has the power to affect the creation. The prophets & righteous people do not create anything. They do not possess the power to bestow benefit or inflict harm on others, but Allah is the One Who bestows the mercy upon the slaves by the righteous Muslims blessings.

Hence, the belief of the blasphemers, i.e., the belief their idols deserve to be worshipped & have Godhood, is what makes them fall into blasphemy. This saying of the blasphemers, as previously cited in Surah az-Zumar, Ayat 3, was said in an effort to justify their belief when they were disproved & shown idols do not deserve to be worshipped.

How can Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab & those who follow him find it permissible to equate the believers, who believed in tawhid, to those blasphemers, who believed in the Godhood of the idols? All the previously cited verses & the verses which are similar to them are specific to the blasphemers who associate partners with Allah - none of the believers are included.

Al-Bukhariyy narrated by the route of Ibn 'Umar, may Allah raise their ranks, that the Prophet, (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) described the Khawarij as those who took the verses revealed about the blasphemers & attributed them to the believers! In the narration by the route of Ibn 'Umar the Prophet said:

which means: "What I fear most for my nation is a man who mis-explains the Qur'an & takes it out of context." This Hadees & the previous one apply very well to the Wahabis.

Proofs For Tawassul

The Permissibility of Asking Allah for Things by Some of His Creation

If performing tawassul had been blasphemy, then the believers, i.e., the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) his Companions & the Salaf & Khalaf of this nation would not have done it. Yet it is mentioned in the sahih hadees of the Prophet that the Prophet used to ask Allah by saying:

which means: "O Allah, I ask You by the status of those who ask You." (10) Without doubt, this is tawassul. The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) used to teach this supplication (dua') to his Companions & order them to say it. This issue was expounded upon in different books & treatises refuting Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab.

There is a hadees related by al-Hakim that mentions after Adam ate from the tree, he performed tawassul by our Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam). He did that, because he saw the name of the Prophet written on the 'Arsh, Adam said: "O Allah, by the dignity of this son (Muhammad), forgive this father "Adam)."

It was also related by Ibn Hibban, that upon the death of Fatimah bint Asad, may Allah raise her rank, the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) with his own honourable hands, put her in her grave & said: "O Allah, forgive my mother (11), Fatimah bint Asad & widen her place by the status of Your Prophet & the prophets who came before me. You are the most Merciful."

There is a hadees classified as sahih (12), that a blind man asked the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam), to make a supplication (dua') to Allah to return his sight. The Prophet ordered him to make ablution (wuzoo') & pray two rak'ats & then say: "O Allah, I ask You & direct myself to You by Your Prophet, Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad, I ask Allah by you to fulfill my need. O Allah, enable him to intercede for me."

The blind man did what the Prophet taught him to do (13) & Allah brought his sight back. Moreover, as related by at-Tabaraniyy, the tawassul made by the blind man was used by the Companions & Salaf after the death of the Prophet.

'Umar Ibn al-Khattab performed the tawassul by al-'Abbas (the uncle of the Prophet), may Allah reward their deeds, when he prayed the Salat of "Istisqa" (14) with the people. There are other proofs mentioned in the books of the Islamic scholars but we will not recount them at length here.

The one who pursues the saying of the Companions & their followers will find a great deal of proof about the validity of calling the prophet by saying "O Muhammad" in his presence as well as in his absence & in his life as well as after his death. In fact, many texts include the phrase which means, "O Muhammad". Calling the name of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) is permissible. An example is the saying of the Companion, Bilal Ibn al-Haris, may Allah reward his deeds, when he went to the grave of the Prophet. He said: "O Messenger of Allah, ask Allah to send rain to your Nation." His saying contains this format (15).

Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Sulayman al-Kurdiyy (16) was among the authors who wrote refuting Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab. He was Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab’s own shaykh. Among what he said is as follows:

O Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab, I advise you, for the sake of Allah ta'ala, to hold your tongue regarding the Muslims. If you hear from anyone who asks for help from other than Allah that one has the power to effect things without the Will of Allah, then teach him the right thing about this issue & show him the proofs which state no one other than Allah brings things from non-existence into existence. The one who rejects that is blasphemous. You have no right to label the majority of the Muslims as blasphemers. (17) while you are deviant from the majority of the Muslims. In fact, it is more reasonable to consider the one who deviates from the majority of the Muslims as a blasphemer then to consider the Muslims as a nation as blasphemers--because the deviant one has followed a path other than the path of the believers. In Surah an-Nisa', Ayat 15, Allah said:

This ayat means: "Whomever contends with the Messenger after the right path was exposed to him & follows other than the way of the believers, Allah will leave him to whatever he followed & put him in Hell (Jahannam)."

The Permissibility Of Visiting The Grave Of The Prophet
Visiting the grave of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) was performed by the Companions & the Salaf & Khalaf who came after them. Many hadees cite the benefit of this deed & the scholars of Islam have written books about this matter (18).

Calling On Someone Other Than Allah

Among of what was mentioned concerning calling on someone other than Allah, whether that one is present, absent, dead or alive, is the saying of the Prophet:

which means: "If the animal of anyone of you went out of control in the wilderness, then call: "O slaves of Allah, help me", since there are slaves of Allah (i.e. the angels) who will respond to him.

There is another hadees related by al-Bazzar in which the Prophet said:

which means: "If one of you lost something or needs help while in an open land, then let him say: "O slaves of Allah, help me." Another narration says:

which means: "Rescue me, because Allah has created slaves whom you do not see."

When travelling at nightfall the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) used to say:

which means: "O earth, my Lord & your Lord is Allah."

When the Prophet visited the grave of Muslims, he used to say:

which means: "O people of the graves, peace be upon you."

In the Tashahhud in as-Salat the Muslim says:

which means: "O Prophet of Allah, may Allah protect you from infirmities & have mercy & blessings on you."

There is no harm in calling on & performing tawassul by someone unless one believes that someone other than Allah actually creates things. Hence, as long as one believes that only Allah creates them, there is no harm in performing tawassul. Likewise, attributing a certain doing to other than Allah does not harm unless one believes this doer actually creates. So once it is established the person does not believe the creating is for other than Allah then attributing a doing to other than Allah is understood in its proper context. When one says: "This medicine benefited me," or "This particular righteous Muslim benefited me," he is merely exposing the created reason of the benefit. These statements are also similar to when one says: "This food satisfied my hunger," or "This water quenched my thirst," or "This medicine cured me." When Muslims say such statements, they understand them in their proper context, i.e., food, water & medicine are only reasons & Allah is the Creator of their benefit.

The general proofs mentioned in this summary are enough to refute Ibn 'Abdul Wahhab. The scholars of Islam have expounded on this issue in several treatises.

Footnote:

1. Al-Hijaz refers to the western part of Arabia which includes Makkah & al-Madinah.
2. Al-Haramain refers to Makkah & al-Madinah.
3. Ash-Sham refers to the area that includes Syria, Lebanon, Jordan & Palestine.
4. Only the first adversity will be presented in this booklet.
5. Tawassul is asking Allah for goodness by a prophet, righteous believer, etc.
6. Shirk refers to associating partners to Allah.
7. The People of Tawheed refers to the Muslims.
8. Ad-Dar'iyyah is a region north of the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
9. Musaylimah al-Kazzab was a blasphemous man who claimed the status of prophethood for himself after the death of Prophet Muhammad. He was killed by the Muslims during the caliphate of Abu Bakr, may Allah raise his rank.
10. Ibn Majah & others related this hadees & the-Hafiz, Ibn Hajar, deemed it a strong hadees.
11. The Prophet called her "my mother" out of likening her to his real mother.
12. Sixteen hafizs of hadees classified this hadees as-sahih, including at-Tirmiziyy, at-Tabaraniyy, al-Bayhaqiyy, as-Subkiyy, among others.
13. It is clear in the narrations of this hadith, the blind man was not in the session of the Prophet when he did as the Prophet ordered him.
14. Salat of "Istisqa" refers to performing a specific prayer which includes making supplication for rain.
15. Al-Bayhaqiyy related this hadees & classified it as Sahih.
16. Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Sulaym al-Kurdiyy was the one who wrote al-Hashiyah on the explanation of Ibn Hajar to the text of Bafadl.
17. It is mentioned in a hadith it is easier for the devil to trick the lonely person who is away from other Muslims. The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) while encouraging the Muslims to perform the prayers in congregation said: which means: "Moreover, the wolf will eat the lonely lamb."
18. Among these hadees is the one related by ad-Daraqutniyy that the Prophet said: "On the Day of Judgement, I will intercede for the one who visits my grave with the good intention."