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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
good and forbid what is evil. And with Allaah rests the end of (all)
matters (of creatures)’ (al-Hajj 41).” 1 Indeed, he stated, “We shall
fight against those who abandon the prayers and those who refuse to
give the zakat just like the truthful one of the Nation, Abu Bakr al-
Siddeeq, fought those who refused to give zakat.” 2
In addition to seeing that his followers performed the acts of
worship, ibn Abdul-Wahhaab also strove to eradicate the heretical
aspects that had crept into the acts of worship. He followed the
view—strongly supported by the clear hadith of the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him)—that every innovation is an act
of misguidance and is wrong. Thus, ibn Abdul-Wahhaab objected to
the practice of making an extra call to prayer, the caller to prayer
making prayers upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) aloud after the call to prayer and similar other acts. 3
(3) The realm of muamalaat (“business and worldly
interactions”): Ibn Abdul-Wahhaab objected to the evil practice of
leaving endowments for the purpose of preventing some rightful heirs,
particularly the females, from receiving their due shares. Although
religious endowments as a whole are something sanctioned in the
Shareeah, there are some basic principles that must be abided by. In
particular, there is a difference of opinion as to whether it is allowed
to leave an endowment benefiting some of one’s children and not the
others, especially if the former children are not in a state of need.
When doing so, one lessens the inheritance and future income of those
children who do not receive funds from the endowment. 4 However,
during ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s time, the act of leaving endowments was
done in such a way that it was clear that the intention behind it was
1 Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab, Muallifaat, vol. 7, p. 114.
2 Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab, Muallifaat, vol. 7, p. 98. As quoted earlier, ibn
Abdul-Wahhaab also wrote, “The pillars of Islam are five. The first of them are
the two statements testifying to the faith. Then come the [remaining] four
pillars. If one affirms them but does not perform them out of laziness, we, even
if we should fight him over what he has done, do not declare him a disbeliever
for leaving those acts. The scholars have differed over the disbelief of one who
abandons those acts out of laziness, without rejecting them [as obligations].
And we do not declare anyone a disbeliever save based on what all the scholars
agree upon, and that is the two testimonies of faith.” Muhammad ibn Abdul-
Wahhaab, Muallifaat, vol. 4, section of Fataawa, p. 9.
3 Cf., Usrah, pp. 350-351.
4 For more details, see Usrah, pp. 355-357.
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