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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
much different in style from Kitaab al-Tauheed. However, in its
argumentation it is very powerful in refuting the false claims of those
who attempted to refute the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abdul-
Wahhaab. Al-Nadwi calls this work a sort of “completion” of Kitaab
al-Tauheed. 1 Although it is not known exactly when ibn Abdul-
Wahhaab wrote this work, it is apparent that he wrote it after some
refutations of his teachings began to appear, probably while in al-
Uyainah or shortly after moving to al-Diriyyah. 2
In this work, ibn Abdul-Wahhaab makes the point that tauheed
al-ibaadah or the oneness of worship, meaning the worship of Allah
alone, was the essence of the dispute between the messengers and
those who refuse to follow and obey them. He shows from
unequivocal evidence directly from the Quran that the polytheists of
the Arabs believed in Allah as the “Supreme Being” yet they refused
to give up praying to others and seeking the intercession of others.
Among the important statements that ibn Abdul-Wahhaab makes in
this work is, “Monotheism (tauheed) must be with the heart, tongue
and deeds. If any of those are not fulfilled, the person is not a
Muslim.” 3
(iii) Mufeed al-Mustafeed fi Kufr Taarik al-Tauheed 4: This
work was written by Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab in 1167. It was
written as a rebuttal of Muhammad’s own brother Sulaimaan’s Fasl
al-Khitaab fi al-Radd ala Muhammad ibn Abdil-Wahhaab. The main
issue that Sulaimaan wrote about was the question of declaring a
person—a Muslim—to be a non-Muslim. The purport of Sulaimaan’s
work was to show that Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s views on
these issues differed from those of ibn Taimiyyah. In this work,
Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab shows that his thoughts are
consistent with the thoughts of ibn Taimiyyah. He also states that even
if ibn Taimiyyah should make a mistake on such an issue, one is still
obliged to follow what can be shown directly from the Quran and
Sunnah. Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab goes further to show that
pp. 25-40. A commentary by Muhammad ibn Saalih al-Uthaimeen, al-
Taleeqaat ala Kashf al-Shuhuhaat, has recently been published.
1 Al-Nadwi, p. 168.
2 Cf., al-Uthaimeen, al-Shaikh, p. 77.
3 Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab, Muallifaat, vol. 1, p. 189.
4 Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab, Muallifaat, vol. 1, pp. 279-329.