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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
that letter is false and Sulaimaan actually never changed his position. 1
Muhammad al-Sakaakir, in his Master’s thesis, tried to refute al-
Bassaam’s view. Al-Abdullateef presents even further evidence to
show that Sulaimaan never joined Muhammad’s followers, finally
quoting the hadith,
�ﻪ�ﺒ�ﺴ�ﻧ �ﻪﹺﺑ �ﻉﹺﺮ�ﺴ�ﻳ �ﻢﹶﻟ �ﻪﹸﻠ�ﻤ�ﻋ �ﻪﹺﺑ ﹶﺄﱠﻄ�ﺑ �ﻦ�ﻣ
“Whoever is slowed by his deeds will not be hastened forward by his
lineage.” (Recorded by Muslim.) He further notes that it is not strange
that someone close to the caller himself may disbelieve in his
message. The prophets and the companions had close relatives who
were staunch enemies of the call. Noah’s own son and wife refused to
believe in him. In fact, one need only think of the Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his uncle Abu Lahab
as sufficient evidence that a near relative rejecting one’s call is not a
sign that one is a liar or that one’s call is false. 2 In any case,
Sulaimaan’s continued opposition or his later acceptance of the call
does not affect the validity of ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s teachings when
they are clearly backed by the Quran and Sunnah.
(ii) Sulaimaan ibn Suhaim, the mutawwa of Riyadh, and his
father Muhammad are described by ibn Ghannaam as the staunchest
of opponents of ibn Abdul-Wahhaab. Sulaimaan wrote to al-Ahsaa,
Makkah, Madinah and Basrah to scare people away from ibn Abdul-
Wahhaab and his teachings. He was relentless in his efforts and often
given to lies and harsh language. His writings were very deceptive and
would often twist the meanings of the Quran and Sunnah. 3 He
declared the followers of ibn Abdul-Wahhaab to be Khawaarij. In a
letter written by Ibn Abdul-Wahhaab to the people of al-Qaseem, he
wrote, “It has been conveyed to me that the letter of ibn Suhaim has
reached you and that some of the people of knowledge there have
accepted it and believed it. Allah knows that that man has fabricated
1 See Usrah, pp. 88-89.
2 See al-Abdul-Lateef, pp. 41-42. He goes on to mention a number of important
scholars, such as Abdul-Rahmaan ibn Hasan, who made no mention of
Sulaimaan’s changing of his views.
3 The Arabic text of one of ibn Suhaim’s letter and ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s response
may be found in Umair, vol. 2, pp. 79-91. A complete English translation of the
two letters may be found in al-Huqail, pp. 167-187.