Al-Salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah,
we live in a day and age were the Muslims have become weaker than ever before and their enemies - those from outside and those from within - have surrounded them from all sides and even infiltrated them. The number of real scholars - the heirs of the Prophetic knowledge - upon classical Islam are becoming less day by day. This is a process that got accelerated since the fall of the Khilafa and has reached very dangerous levels.
The issue has reached such a degree that the rulers in our lands have thrown away the book of Allah ta'ala behind their backs and allied themselves with the people of [real] disbelief and [real] polytheism, [many] people have left the relied upon schools of thoughts (Madhahib) and the classical understanding of Islam for deviant and even heretic ideas, some have reduced the Shari'a to the implementation of the Hudud punishments, others have reduced it to its implementation on the level of the civil law, while others regard the implementation of the Hudud as outdated and others went even as far in disbelief as to claim that the religion is only a matter between oneself and ones Lord and that the state should not implement the divine law and should not legislate based upon achieving its objectives.
Truth has is regarded as falsehood and falsehood as truth, Iman (belief) and Tawhid (monotheism) is regarded as Kufr (disbelief) and Shirk (polytheism) [by some], while Kufr and Shirk is regarded as Iman and Tawhid!
In this context groups from among the people have lost respect for those whom Allah ta'ala has honored with knowledge and piety - like for the family of our beloved Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam), his noble companions, the leading scholars of Islam and the righteous - and have started to look up to deviant and even heretic persons, following them and their call to hellfire.
We ask Allah ta'ala for well-being and protection.
Among these deviant and heretic personalities is without any doubt Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1206 AH), whom a group of people regard as a major scholar and they refer to him as "Mujaddid" (reviver [of the religion]) and "Imam" (leading scholar). This with the knowledge the scholars in his time have warned against him, refuted his ideas and explained the truth.
In this thread we shall see by the permission of Allah ta'ala how this person lacked basic qualifications to be even regarded as a scholar in the first place - let alone a reviver of the religion (!) or a leading scholar (!) - and how his lack of qualifications combined with his extreme ideas lead him and his early followers to huge and grave mistakes not just on a theoretical level (by accusing the Muslims and their scholars of disbelief and polytheism), but also on a practical level (by attacking, oppressing and mass-killing Muslims and stealing from them and destroying their property).
Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab and his lack of chain of knowledge and permission to teach any Islamic science
The opposition of his teachers - from among them the 'Allama Muhammad bin Sulayman al-Kurdi (d. 1194 AH) (the Mufti of the Shafi'iyya in al-Madina al-Munawwara) - to his extreme ideas is a known issue, but let us see what Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1206 AH) himself said in one of his letters (also found in al-Durar al-Saniyya) in order for us to understand where he got his ideas from:
وأنا أخبركم عن نفسي والله الذي لا إله إلا هو لقد طلبت العلم واعتقد من عرفني أن لي معرفة وأنا ذلك الوقت لا أعرف معنى لا إله إلا الله، ولا أعرف دين الإسلام قبل هذا الخير الذي من الله به. وكذلك مشايخي ما منهم رجل عرف ذلك، فمن زعم من علماء العارض أنه عرف معنى لا إله إلا الله أو عرف معنى الإسلام قبل هذا الوقت أو زعم عن مشايخه أن أحداً عرف ذلك فقد كذب وافترى ولبس على الناس ومدح نفسه بما ليس فيه
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 "La Ilaha illa Allah" at that time and did not know the religion of Islam before this grace that Allah favored. As well as my teachers (Mashayikh) no one among them knew that. And if someone from the scholars of al-'Aridh (the lands of Najd and surrounding areas) claims that he knew the meaning of "La 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 the people and praised himself with something he does not possess.
- end of quote -
This means that he had no teacher for his [new and distorted] understanding of Islam and simply came up with his own [lack of] understanding, which was literally rejected by all of the major scholars of his region and the surrounding areas!
That such a person is not allowed to teach any Islamic science nor to issue any rulings (especially those regarding the blood of the people!) - as explicitly stated by the scholars of his time - should not be even subject to discussion for anyone who knows how authentic Islamic knowledge is attained and how Islamic scholarship works!
Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's ignorance regarding basic Islamic sciences
The 'Allama [Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Rahman] Ibn 'Afaliq [al-Ahsa`i al-Hanbali] (d. 1164 AH) authored the work Tahakkum al-Muqallidin bi man idda'a Tajdid al-Din ("Sarcasm of the Muqallids against the false claimants to the Renewal of Religion") against Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab. In this book he asks Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Wahhab questions regarding Hadith, Tafsir, Fiqh, Ijtihad and Taqlid, and this in order to show that Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab was an ignorant person lacking knowledge in all of these sciences (!) and was not in any way or form qualified to issue the rulings he used to issue.
From among the questions that he asked him was some questions concerning the Lughwa (language) and Balagha (rhetoric) found in Surat al-'Adiyat, which any student of knowledge who has studied the Arabic language properly should have been able to answer.
IAW did not answer these questions concerning language and rhetoric. Nor did his direct followers do so.
What was the reason? He could not answer it! Imagine the amount of his ignorance! He was ignorant (!) of basic sciences of the Arabic language (which plays a huge role in the Tafsir of the Qur`an al-karim and in Islamic sciences in general!), yet he thought himself to be qualified to speak regarding the explanation of the Qur`an and derive and issue rulings!?!
It should be noted here that the Sayyid and 'Allama 'Alawi bin Ahmad al-Haddad [al-Hadhrami al-Shafi'i] (d. 1232 AH) also mentioned these questions of the 'Allama Ibn 'Afaliq and also that Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab was unable to respond. So what did the Najdis reply? Let's see:
Sulayman bin Sahman (d. 1349 AH) - whom the "Salafis" regard as a major scholar and one of the Imams (!) of Najd - said in his work al-Asna al-Haddad fi Radd Shubuhat 'Alawi al-Haddad (see p. 7-8) (before even answering he explicitly calls the 'Allama 'Alawi bin Ahmad al-Haddad as "Mulhid" (atheist) on p. 6 and I mention this in order for one to understand how these Najdis would speak with real major scholars!):
The response to this is from [different] directions:
...
The second: Not being able to answer these questions (!) does not indicate his lack of proficiency in the religious sciences like Hadith, Tafsir and Fiqh.
...
The fourth: If the Messenger of Allah - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam - (!!!) and his companions - may Allah be pleased with them - and his family - may Allah be pleased with them all - and the people of knowledge from the Tabi'in and the Tabi' al-Tabi'in - especially the four leading scholars of jurisprudence and the six leading scholars from the people of Hadith - would have been asked regarding the like of these issues (i.e. regarding language and rhetoric), would they have been able to respond to any of it or [rather] not [been able to respond]?
Based upon the second (i.e. that they would have not been able to answer!): Then the Shaykh [Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Wahhab] - may Allah ta'ala have mercy upon him - has a good example in these major leaders [of the Islamic nation].
[Based upon] the first (i.e. that they would have been able to answer): [This is] very unlikely, because the Messenger of Allah - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam - did not know anything (!!!) about Haqiqa Shar'iyya, Haqiqa Lughawiyya, Haqiqa 'Urfiyya, Majaz Mursal and other issues mentioned in the question [of Ibn 'Afaliq], likewise his companions and his family - may Allah be pleased with them - and likewise....
I say: These issues that Ibn 'Afaliq mentioned regarding Haqiqa and Majaz and their types and other new terminological sciences, which is not known from the speech of the companions, their followers and the followers of their followers and the rightly guided leading scholars, then most of it came from the side of the Mu'tazila and their likes from the people of Kalam. If this would be from the Shar'i sciences and the religious issues, then the Prophet - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam - would have teached it and his companions would have teached it...
- end of quote -
(For the Arabic, please click on the link to the pdf.)
The amount of compound ignorance (!) that is found in the above quote is really shocking. Him not being able to answer these questions excludes him from being even a serious student of knowledge, let alone a scholar!
Note that the sciences connected to the Islamic Shari'a (like 'Ilm al-Balagha, Usul al-Fiqh, etc.) are there in order to comprehend and learn and teach the religion of Allah ta'ala in systematic way and they are necessary because we're not in the time of the Messenger of Allah - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam - in order to learn everything directly from him with the correct understanding.
To accuse our beloved Prophet - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam - of ignorance (!) in this context - while these sciences are only there to understand his teachings better! - shows that this evil Ibn Sahman did not have basic manners regarding the best of creation and the most knowledgeable one of them! How could this worthless person even dare to write such a thing?
I guess this a case were the Takfir literally went back!
Are these the people one should respect, o slaves of Allah?! Are these the people you want to take your religion from?! Allahul musta'an!
Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's ignorance regarding the Hanbali Madhhab
Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab said as mentioned in al-Durar al-Saniyya:
وأكثر الإقناع، والمنتهى، مخالف لمذهب أحمد ونصه
Most of what is in al-Iqna' and al-Muntaha is in opposition to the way (Madhhab) of [Imam] Ahmad and his explicit statement[s].
- end of quote -
He also said as also mentioned in al-Durar al-Saniyya:
أكثر ما في الإقناع والمنتهى، مخالف لنص أحمد، فضلاً عن نص رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
Most of what is in al-Iqna' and al-Muntaha is in opposition to the explicit statement[s] of [Imam] Ahmad, let alone the explicit statement[s] of the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam.
- end of quote -
If one rechecks the context of these two statements the issue gets even worse!
It should be noted here that al-Iqna" [by Imam al-Hajjawi (d. 968 AH)] and Muntaha al-Iradat [by Imam Ibn al-Najjar al-Futuhi (d. 972 AH] are among the most reliable (!) books regarding jurisprudence according to the Hanbali Madhhab. The issue is clear to such a degree that even "Salafi" Mashayikh really get embarrassed whenever someone asks regarding this statement of their leader!
And Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab has many other statements regarding Fiqh and other sciences, which all show that he had no connection to any of the 4 Madhahib whatsoever, let alone the Hanbali Madhhab!
So let's now see what the result of this lack of qualifications combined with his extreme ideas was.
The like of what shall be quoted insha`Allah is not found in any of the books of the leading and accepted scholars from this Umma, but rather only found in the speech of the worst of the Khawarij.
So do not be in doubt regarding the ruling upon this person and his early followers for they were Khawarij (as explicitly stated by the 'Allama Ibn 'Abidin (d. 1252 AH)) without any doubt and from the group of satan (as explicitly stated by the 'Allama al-Sawi (d. 1241 AH))!
we live in a day and age were the Muslims have become weaker than ever before and their enemies - those from outside and those from within - have surrounded them from all sides and even infiltrated them. The number of real scholars - the heirs of the Prophetic knowledge - upon classical Islam are becoming less day by day. This is a process that got accelerated since the fall of the Khilafa and has reached very dangerous levels.
The issue has reached such a degree that the rulers in our lands have thrown away the book of Allah ta'ala behind their backs and allied themselves with the people of [real] disbelief and [real] polytheism, [many] people have left the relied upon schools of thoughts (Madhahib) and the classical understanding of Islam for deviant and even heretic ideas, some have reduced the Shari'a to the implementation of the Hudud punishments, others have reduced it to its implementation on the level of the civil law, while others regard the implementation of the Hudud as outdated and others went even as far in disbelief as to claim that the religion is only a matter between oneself and ones Lord and that the state should not implement the divine law and should not legislate based upon achieving its objectives.
Truth has is regarded as falsehood and falsehood as truth, Iman (belief) and Tawhid (monotheism) is regarded as Kufr (disbelief) and Shirk (polytheism) [by some], while Kufr and Shirk is regarded as Iman and Tawhid!
In this context groups from among the people have lost respect for those whom Allah ta'ala has honored with knowledge and piety - like for the family of our beloved Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam), his noble companions, the leading scholars of Islam and the righteous - and have started to look up to deviant and even heretic persons, following them and their call to hellfire.
We ask Allah ta'ala for well-being and protection.
Among these deviant and heretic personalities is without any doubt Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1206 AH), whom a group of people regard as a major scholar and they refer to him as "Mujaddid" (reviver [of the religion]) and "Imam" (leading scholar). This with the knowledge the scholars in his time have warned against him, refuted his ideas and explained the truth.
In this thread we shall see by the permission of Allah ta'ala how this person lacked basic qualifications to be even regarded as a scholar in the first place - let alone a reviver of the religion (!) or a leading scholar (!) - and how his lack of qualifications combined with his extreme ideas lead him and his early followers to huge and grave mistakes not just on a theoretical level (by accusing the Muslims and their scholars of disbelief and polytheism), but also on a practical level (by attacking, oppressing and mass-killing Muslims and stealing from them and destroying their property).
Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab and his lack of chain of knowledge and permission to teach any Islamic science
The opposition of his teachers - from among them the 'Allama Muhammad bin Sulayman al-Kurdi (d. 1194 AH) (the Mufti of the Shafi'iyya in al-Madina al-Munawwara) - to his extreme ideas is a known issue, but let us see what Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1206 AH) himself said in one of his letters (also found in al-Durar al-Saniyya) in order for us to understand where he got his ideas from:
وأنا أخبركم عن نفسي والله الذي لا إله إلا هو لقد طلبت العلم واعتقد من عرفني أن لي معرفة وأنا ذلك الوقت لا أعرف معنى لا إله إلا الله، ولا أعرف دين الإسلام قبل هذا الخير الذي من الله به. وكذلك مشايخي ما منهم رجل عرف ذلك، فمن زعم من علماء العارض أنه عرف معنى لا إله إلا الله أو عرف معنى الإسلام قبل هذا الوقت أو زعم عن مشايخه أن أحداً عرف ذلك فقد كذب وافترى ولبس على الناس ومدح نفسه بما ليس فيه
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 "La Ilaha illa Allah" at that time and did not know the religion of Islam before this grace that Allah favored. As well as my teachers (Mashayikh) no one among them knew that. And if someone from the scholars of al-'Aridh (the lands of Najd and surrounding areas) claims that he knew the meaning of "La 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 the people and praised himself with something he does not possess.
- end of quote -
This means that he had no teacher for his [new and distorted] understanding of Islam and simply came up with his own [lack of] understanding, which was literally rejected by all of the major scholars of his region and the surrounding areas!
That such a person is not allowed to teach any Islamic science nor to issue any rulings (especially those regarding the blood of the people!) - as explicitly stated by the scholars of his time - should not be even subject to discussion for anyone who knows how authentic Islamic knowledge is attained and how Islamic scholarship works!
Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's ignorance regarding basic Islamic sciences
The 'Allama [Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Rahman] Ibn 'Afaliq [al-Ahsa`i al-Hanbali] (d. 1164 AH) authored the work Tahakkum al-Muqallidin bi man idda'a Tajdid al-Din ("Sarcasm of the Muqallids against the false claimants to the Renewal of Religion") against Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab. In this book he asks Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Wahhab questions regarding Hadith, Tafsir, Fiqh, Ijtihad and Taqlid, and this in order to show that Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab was an ignorant person lacking knowledge in all of these sciences (!) and was not in any way or form qualified to issue the rulings he used to issue.
From among the questions that he asked him was some questions concerning the Lughwa (language) and Balagha (rhetoric) found in Surat al-'Adiyat, which any student of knowledge who has studied the Arabic language properly should have been able to answer.
IAW did not answer these questions concerning language and rhetoric. Nor did his direct followers do so.
What was the reason? He could not answer it! Imagine the amount of his ignorance! He was ignorant (!) of basic sciences of the Arabic language (which plays a huge role in the Tafsir of the Qur`an al-karim and in Islamic sciences in general!), yet he thought himself to be qualified to speak regarding the explanation of the Qur`an and derive and issue rulings!?!
It should be noted here that the Sayyid and 'Allama 'Alawi bin Ahmad al-Haddad [al-Hadhrami al-Shafi'i] (d. 1232 AH) also mentioned these questions of the 'Allama Ibn 'Afaliq and also that Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab was unable to respond. So what did the Najdis reply? Let's see:
Sulayman bin Sahman (d. 1349 AH) - whom the "Salafis" regard as a major scholar and one of the Imams (!) of Najd - said in his work al-Asna al-Haddad fi Radd Shubuhat 'Alawi al-Haddad (see p. 7-8) (before even answering he explicitly calls the 'Allama 'Alawi bin Ahmad al-Haddad as "Mulhid" (atheist) on p. 6 and I mention this in order for one to understand how these Najdis would speak with real major scholars!):
The response to this is from [different] directions:
...
The second: Not being able to answer these questions (!) does not indicate his lack of proficiency in the religious sciences like Hadith, Tafsir and Fiqh.
...
The fourth: If the Messenger of Allah - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam - (!!!) and his companions - may Allah be pleased with them - and his family - may Allah be pleased with them all - and the people of knowledge from the Tabi'in and the Tabi' al-Tabi'in - especially the four leading scholars of jurisprudence and the six leading scholars from the people of Hadith - would have been asked regarding the like of these issues (i.e. regarding language and rhetoric), would they have been able to respond to any of it or [rather] not [been able to respond]?
Based upon the second (i.e. that they would have not been able to answer!): Then the Shaykh [Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Wahhab] - may Allah ta'ala have mercy upon him - has a good example in these major leaders [of the Islamic nation].
[Based upon] the first (i.e. that they would have been able to answer): [This is] very unlikely, because the Messenger of Allah - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam - did not know anything (!!!) about Haqiqa Shar'iyya, Haqiqa Lughawiyya, Haqiqa 'Urfiyya, Majaz Mursal and other issues mentioned in the question [of Ibn 'Afaliq], likewise his companions and his family - may Allah be pleased with them - and likewise....
I say: These issues that Ibn 'Afaliq mentioned regarding Haqiqa and Majaz and their types and other new terminological sciences, which is not known from the speech of the companions, their followers and the followers of their followers and the rightly guided leading scholars, then most of it came from the side of the Mu'tazila and their likes from the people of Kalam. If this would be from the Shar'i sciences and the religious issues, then the Prophet - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam - would have teached it and his companions would have teached it...
- end of quote -
(For the Arabic, please click on the link to the pdf.)
The amount of compound ignorance (!) that is found in the above quote is really shocking. Him not being able to answer these questions excludes him from being even a serious student of knowledge, let alone a scholar!
Note that the sciences connected to the Islamic Shari'a (like 'Ilm al-Balagha, Usul al-Fiqh, etc.) are there in order to comprehend and learn and teach the religion of Allah ta'ala in systematic way and they are necessary because we're not in the time of the Messenger of Allah - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam - in order to learn everything directly from him with the correct understanding.
To accuse our beloved Prophet - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam - of ignorance (!) in this context - while these sciences are only there to understand his teachings better! - shows that this evil Ibn Sahman did not have basic manners regarding the best of creation and the most knowledgeable one of them! How could this worthless person even dare to write such a thing?
I guess this a case were the Takfir literally went back!
Are these the people one should respect, o slaves of Allah?! Are these the people you want to take your religion from?! Allahul musta'an!
Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's ignorance regarding the Hanbali Madhhab
Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab said as mentioned in al-Durar al-Saniyya:
وأكثر الإقناع، والمنتهى، مخالف لمذهب أحمد ونصه
Most of what is in al-Iqna' and al-Muntaha is in opposition to the way (Madhhab) of [Imam] Ahmad and his explicit statement[s].
- end of quote -
He also said as also mentioned in al-Durar al-Saniyya:
أكثر ما في الإقناع والمنتهى، مخالف لنص أحمد، فضلاً عن نص رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
Most of what is in al-Iqna' and al-Muntaha is in opposition to the explicit statement[s] of [Imam] Ahmad, let alone the explicit statement[s] of the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam.
- end of quote -
If one rechecks the context of these two statements the issue gets even worse!
It should be noted here that al-Iqna" [by Imam al-Hajjawi (d. 968 AH)] and Muntaha al-Iradat [by Imam Ibn al-Najjar al-Futuhi (d. 972 AH] are among the most reliable (!) books regarding jurisprudence according to the Hanbali Madhhab. The issue is clear to such a degree that even "Salafi" Mashayikh really get embarrassed whenever someone asks regarding this statement of their leader!
And Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab has many other statements regarding Fiqh and other sciences, which all show that he had no connection to any of the 4 Madhahib whatsoever, let alone the Hanbali Madhhab!
So let's now see what the result of this lack of qualifications combined with his extreme ideas was.
The like of what shall be quoted insha`Allah is not found in any of the books of the leading and accepted scholars from this Umma, but rather only found in the speech of the worst of the Khawarij.
So do not be in doubt regarding the ruling upon this person and his early followers for they were Khawarij (as explicitly stated by the 'Allama Ibn 'Abidin (d. 1252 AH)) without any doubt and from the group of satan (as explicitly stated by the 'Allama al-Sawi (d. 1241 AH))!
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