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

The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
example, when Shaikh Khaleel Ahmad al-Suhaarnfoori 1 was asked about
Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab the Najdi and his followers, he replied that
they are to be treated the same as the Khawarij. Then he quoted the same
passage above from al-Shaami, that is ibn Abideen, in his Haashiyah. 2
Similarly, Muhammad al-Taanuwi, in his commentary to Sunan al-
Nasaa`ee, commenting on the hadith concerning the appearance of the
Khawarij, quoted the entire passage above from ibn Abideen, stating that the
followers of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab and those in India known as
the “Wahhabis” are nothing but Khawarij. 3 Husain Ahmad al-Madani 4 made
the same conclusion relying virtually completely on ibn Abideen’s
statement. 5 Another scholar who relied on ibn Abideen’s statement was
Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad al-Kankoohi. 6
Much of this backlash is the result of a seemingly harmless short
passage in a Hanafi book of jurisprudence. This devastating result points to
the importance of a Muslim scholar being academically rigorous about
everything that he writes or says. He must be fair, he must research and he
must weigh heavily every word he says. One small passage may have long
reaching effects while the author himself may have thought it not very
significant and thus may have simply relied upon what he heard others say
without verifying the matter for himself. Perhaps every scholar, researcher
and speaker must keep in mind the hadith that may very well apply here:
�ﻢ�ﻨ�ﻬ�ﺟ ﻲ�ﻓ ﺎ�ﻬﹺﺑ ﻱﹺﻮ�ﻬ�ﻳ ﹰﻻﺎ�ﺑ ﺎ�ﻬﹶﻟ ﻲ�ﻘﹾﻠ�ﻳ ﻻ �ﻪﱠﻠﻟﺍ �ﻂ�ﺨ�ﺳ �ﻦ�ﻣ �ﺔ�ﻤ�ﻠﹶﻜﹾﻟﺎﹺﺑ �ﻢﱠﻠﹶﻜ�ﺘ�ﻴﹶﻟ �ﺪ�ﺒ�ﻌﹾﻟﺍ ﱠﻥﹺﺇ
1 He was a scholar of hadith who taught at Deoband and Mazaahir al-Uloom. He
authored a lengthy commentary on Sunan Abi Dawood. He died in Madinah in
1346 A.H.
2 See the entire response from al-Suhaaranfoori in Sayid Taalib-ur-Rahmaan, Al-
Diywabandiyyah: Tareefuha wa Aqaaiduha (Karachi, Pakistan: Dar al-Kitaab
wa al-Sunnah, 1995), pp. 247-248. Also see Abdul-Jaleel, p. 189.
3 See Abdul-Jaleel, p. 229; Taalib-ur-Rahmaan, pp. 251-252.
4 Al-Madani was the leading scholar of hadith among the Deobandis after Anwar
Shah al-Kashmeeri. He took an active role in freeing India from the British. He
died in 1957. See Abdul-Jaleel, p. 144. For a complete discussion of his attitude
towards the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab, see Abdul-Jaleel,
pp. 144-184.
5 See Abdul-Jaleel, p. 170, 172, 177,178 and 179; Taalib-ur-Rahmaan,pp.252-257.
6 He was the director of the University of Deoband and wrote a large number of
books. He died in 1323 A.H. His reliance on ibn Abideen is noted in Abdul-
Jaleel, p. 225. The opposition to the followers of ibn Abdul-Wahhaab reached
such proportions in India that in 1926 C.E. a conference was convened in which
a declaration was made against King Abdul-Aziz and a telegram was sent to
the British government to ask them on behalf of the Muslims of India to use
their military and political power against King Abdul-Aziz in the Hijaz. See
Abdul-Jaleel, p. 28.
218