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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.