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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
So glad tidings of Tooba [a tree in Paradise] for the strangers.” 1
They said, “O Messenger of Allah, who are the strangers?” He
replied, “Those who rectify themselves when the people have
become evil.” 2 Isn’t that a wonderful blessing? Isn’t that a great
matter? May Allah make us and you from those who follow the
Messenger and gather us under his banner and present us at his
cistern, at which those who adhere to his way in this life will be
presented. 3
However, his story demonstrates that the ordering of good and
eradicating of evil that ibn Abdul-Wahhaab stressed (and was
discussed in Chapter 3) is a key to bringing the Muslim nation back to
the straight path. There is no question that much needs to be done as
Muslims themselves, unfortunately, ignore the clear admonitions of
the Quran and Sunnah in favor of their own customs, the teachings of
their own “shaikhs” and holy men.
It should be noted that the opponents of ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
tried to destroy his call both physically and intellectually (if one wants
to call it that, although their arguments were intellectually very weak).
Even when they could militarily get an upper hand on the followers of
ibn Abdul-Wahhaab, it did not mean that the call would die. Vassiliev
stated, discussing the aftermath of the fall of al-Diriyyah, “[T]he
Egyptians became absolute masters of central Arabia and started to
root out the influence of the Saudis and the Wahhabis by fire and the
sword. Emirs, military commanders and ulama were tortured, shot
(singly and in groups), fastened to the muzzles of guns and torn to
pieces… Captain G. F. Sadlier describes Ibrahim’s campaigns as a
series of barbaric atrocities and violations of his most sacred
obligations…” 4
Even after the state was crushed, the teachings lived on and
were revived twice. In fact, today the teachings are dominating many
parts of the world. This is because Allah does not will that His light
shall ever be completely extinguished, even if the unbelievers are
1 This portion of the hadith was recorded by Muslim.
2 This latter portion was recorded by Ahmad. With this exact wording, the
hadith, according to Shuaib al-Arnaaoot, et al., is very weak. However, with a
very similar meaning, a hadith is recorded with a good chain. See Shuaib al-
Arnaaoot, et al., footnotes to Musnad, vol. 27, pp. 237-238.
3 Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab, Muallifaat, vol. 7, pp. 308-309.
4 Vassiliev, p. 158.