The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ... - IslamHouse.com

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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
Although the discussion of ijtihaad and taqleed is often seen in
the light of fiqh, its ramifications go well beyond fiqh. The idea that
the door to ijtihaad was closed actually closed people’s thinking in
many ways. It was the final barrier between the people and the
revelation, as in matters of aqeedah and “spirituality” (mysticism,
Sufism) wherein many had already began to doubt the relevance of the
words of revelation. Hence, to revive the thinking process, it was
necessary to reestablish that link between the Muslim individual,
especially the scholar, and the Quran and Sunnah. When that is done,
the decay in fiqh as well as the decay in matters of faith (aqeedah) and
spirituality can be overcome. As Nusair noted, this was the only way
to make the proper bridge between the rightful place of human
thinking and the authority of revelation. She states that nobody was
able to fulfill that role of breaking down such barriers until
Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab came along and blazed the path.
True monotheism (tauheed) was lost to ascribing partners to Allah
(shirk) precisely due to the lack of knowledge concerning the way of
the early generations of pious Muslims. Instead of going to the sources
of guidance, people blindly adhered to later writings. It was
Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab who brought his followers back to
the Quran and Sunnah. 1
The influence and impact of this approach was great indeed.
Siddiqi wrote,
The leaders of thought began to sift the whole of Islamic literature
handed down to them by their ancestors and with admirable skill
purified Islam of all those un-Islamic practices which had nothing
to do with the teachings of Islam but had unfortunately become
parts of Islamic culture. Thus, as a result of the efforts of
Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahhab a critical attitude was developed
amongst Muslim scholars; they would not accept anything which
came down from the past without testing its validity on the basis of
the Quran and the Sunnah.
Thus, the first change that was visible in society was an urge for
stock-taking of Fiqh. It was felt that the pristine simplicity and
reasonableness of the Shariah had almost been buried in a forest of
subjective deductions propounded by scholars several years ago.
These deductions, however valuable, could not be held final for all
times. New problems had cropped up with the march of time, and
1 Nusair, p. 10-11.