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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab command of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)—but, of course, poor de Corancez had already obviously been fed the propaganda that ibn Abdul-Wahhaab belittled the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) such that he probably could have never realized that ibn Abdul-Wahhaab was fulfilling the prophet’s commands. In Burrell’s introduction, written in 1995, he says that de Corancez refers to the Wahhabis as “reformed Muslims” while he refers to the non-Wahabis as “Mohammedan Muslims,” because, Burrell writes, “of the much greater status the latter afford the Prophet.” 1 Of course, nothing could be further from the truth to claim that the Ottoman Turks, Sufis and blind followers of the different schools of fiqh afford the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) more status than the followers of ibn Abdul-Wahhaab. An interesting thing about this book is that it was translated into English and published recently, in 1995, yet there is no attempt in the introduction or footnotes to point out the mistakes that the author made. The reader is left with the impression that de Corancez’s description of the “Wahhabi” beliefs are accurate. De Corancez himself could be excused as he was forced to work with what was available to him given his time and place. However, there is no such excuse for the translator or publishers who have a great deal of at least more accurate information available to them. Burckhardt Burckhardt was very close to Muhammad Ali Pasha, the one who militarily defeated and destroyed al-Diriyyah. He spent much of his time in the Hijaz, having performed the pilgrimage under disguise as a Muslim. However, he lived for many years among the Bedouins between the Hijaz and Syria. Although his accounts of the Wahhabis are considered second-hand, they are to a good extent remarkably accurate, perhaps because he spent some of his time with Bedouin tribes that could be considered “Wahhabis.” Here just a few passages from his work will be quoted in order to give the reader a glimpse of his views. 1 R. M. Burrell, “Introduction,” to de Corancez, p. xi. 276
277 The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab It definitely seems that Burckhardt truly meant to be objective in his study. He begins his section on the Wahhabis by writing, Respecting the Wahabys, various contradictory and erroneous statements have been given in the few accounts hitherto published. Some anecdotes of those remarkable sectaries, collected from the best sources of information to which I could obtain access in the East, may prove interesting to many readers. I must, however, regret, that during my residence in Hedjaz [Hijaz] this country was, on account of the war with Mohammed Aly, closed against the people of Nedjd, who, above all others, were qualified to give faithful and accurate details of the Wahabys; while those Bedouins of the common classes, who had adopted the new faith, were, in general, wholly ignorant of its true import and doctrines. 1 For some reason, though, Burckhardt continues to refer to the original teacher as Abd el Wahab instead of ibn Abd el Wahab (to use his writing of the word). About ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s teachings, he writes, The doctrines of Abd el Wahab were not those of a new religion; his efforts were directed only to reform abuses in the followers of Islam, and to disseminate the pure faith among Bedouins; who, although nominally Muselmans, were equally ignorant of religion, as indifferent about all the duties which it prescribed. As generally has been the case with reformers, he was misunderstood both by his friends and his enemies. The latter, hearing of a new sect, which accused the Turks of heresy, and held their prophet, Mohammed, in much less veneration than they did, were easily persuaded that a new creed was professed, and that the Wahabys were consequently not merely heretics, but kafirs, or infidels… 2 He notes that the true teachings of the “Wahhabis” are nothing more than the well-known teachings of Islam and it was only the negative propaganda about them that led people to believe otherwise. Thus, he writes, If farther proof were required that the Wahabys are very orthodox Muselmans, their catechism would furnish it. When Saoud took possession of Makkah, he distributed copies of this catechism among the inhabitants, and ordered that the pupils in public schools should learn it by heart. Its contents are nothing more than 1 Burckhardt, vol. 2, pp. 95-96. 2 Burckhardt, vol. 2, pp. 99-100.
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