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

The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
was the case that the main acts that he criticized as being idolatrous
are all Sufi mainstays. Jameelah wrote,
With unerring clarity of insight, Shaikh Muhammad ibn Abdul
Wahab diagnosed the worst malady of contemporary Muslims,
their morbid attachment to Tasawwuf or mysticism… The Arabian
Shaikh fully understood that the Muslims of his day had become
addicted to Sufism as a kind of opiate which lulled them to sleep
and deprived them of all vigor and vitality. Thus did the Shaikh
conduct his campaign against all the deviations of the mystic way
which conflicted with the doctrine of Tauheed or the Unity of God,
the most essential element of Islam. He put up a tough fight against
all such innovations as saint worship, symbol worship and grave
worship. He particularly condemned the prevailing practice—
diametrically opposed to the Sunnah of the Prophet—of erecting
mosques and mausoleums over graves and ordered them all
demolished at once… he was vehemently opposed to such practices
as ancestor-worship, seeking aid from those buried in the graves
and begging their intercession with God. 1
Again, ibn Abdul-Wahhaab attacked those actions but he never spoke
much about or attacked Sufi individuals or shaikhs. However, the root
of their hatred towards him lies with him criticizing, via clear texts of
the Quran and Sunnah, the evil practices that they had fallen into.
The Rafidhah and Shiites are another group that have always
opposed the “Wahhabis.” This group can also be considered
“extremist,” since they went to an extreme with respect to the person
of Ali ibn Abi Taalib, the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) and their Imams. They consider their Imams,
the descendents of Ali, to be infallible. Ibn Abdul-Wahhaab credits
them with being the first to introduce tomb visitations.
Other groups who oppose ibn Abdul-Wahhaab and his
followers were the Asharis and the Maturidis. This author has noticed
that there opposition has been much more tempered. Perhaps this is
due to them viewing the difference as more of an academic or
theoretical issue. Allah knows best.
(5) Colonization of the past and today’s globalization.
Vassiliev wrote, “According to the British historian W. Hunter, all the
governments of British India considered the Wahhabis a source of
1 Jameelah, p. 119-120.
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