Confessions Of A British Spy

shop. His attirement was that of a student doing scientific research,
and he understood Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. His name was
Muhammad bin Abd-ul-Wahhâb Najdî. This youngster was an
extremely rude and very nervous person. While abusing the
Ottoman government very much, he would never speak ill of the
Iranian government. The common ground which made him and
the shop-owner Abd-ur-Ridâ so friendly was that both were
inimical towards the Khalîfa in Istanbul. But how was it possible
that this young man, who was a Sunnî, understood Persian and was
friends with Abd-ur-Ridâ, who was a Shi’î? In this city Sunnites
pretended to be friendly and even brotherly with Shiites. Most of
the city’s inhabitants understood both Arabic and Persian. And
most people understood Turkish as well.
Muhammad of Najd was a Sunnî outwardly. Although most
Sunnites censured Shiites, — in fact, they say that Shiites are
disbelievers — this man never would revile Shiites. According to
Muhammad of Najd, there was no reason for Sunnites to adapt
themselves to one of the four madh-habs; he would say, “Allah’s
Book does not contain any evidence pertaining to these madhhabs.”
He purposefully ignored the âyet-i-kerîmas on this subject
and slighted the hadîth-i-sherîfs.
Concerning the matter of four madh-habs: A century after the
death of their Prophet Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’, four scholars
came forward from among Sunnite Muslims: Abû Hanîfa, Ahmad
bin Hanbal, Mâlik bin Anas, and Muhammad bin Idris Shâfi’î.
Some Khalîfas forced the Sunnites to imitate one of these four
scholars. They said no one except these four scholars could
perform ijtihâd in Qur’ân al-kerîm or with the Sunna. This
movement closed the gates of knowledge and understanding for
Muslims. This prohibition of ijtihâd is considered to have been the
reason for Islam’s standstill.
Shiites exploited these erroneous statements to promulgate
their sect. The number of Shiites was smaller than one-tenth that
of Sunnites. But now they have increased and become equal with
Sunnites in number. This result is natural. For ijtihâd is like a
weapon. It will improve Islam’s fiqh and renovate the
understanding of Qur’ân al-kerîm and Sunna. The prohibition of
ijtihâd, on the other hand, is like a rotten weapon. It will confine
the madh-habs within a certain framework. And this, in its turn,
means to close the gates of inference and to disregard the time’s
requirements. If your weapon is rotten and your enemy is perfect,
you are doomed to be beaten by your enemy sooner or later. I
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