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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
At the end of the above passage, Algar states, “Even if that
were not the case, and the belief that ziyara and tawassul is valid and
beneficial were to be false, there is no logical reason for condemning
the belief as entailing exclusion from Islam.” This is a classic example
of a straw man fallacy: Algar is erecting an erroneous claim and then
refuting it. At no time did ibn Abdul-Wahhaab or his followers say
that simply visiting a grave (ziyara) or even tawassul (assuming he
means by that invoking the right of the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) for example) are actions that entail “exclusion
from Islam.” 1 Furthermore, it is interesting to note that in this passage,
Algar only mentions ziyara and tawassul. Maybe he himself is
admitting that the other acts that he had mentioned, such as “isti’ana
and istighatha, seeking help in mundane or spiritual matters with a
form of words that implies expectation of help from a given person,
rather than from God,” can indeed be shown to take one out of the
fold of Islam.
On the following page after the above passage, Algar then
goes on to discuss the Wahhabi teachings concerning innovations. He
does not seem to care for the “Wahhabi” approach that all innovations
are misguidance. Of course, at no time does he quote the hadith,
ﹲﺔﹶﻟﻼ�ﺿ �ﺔ�ﻋ�ﺪﹺﺑ ﱠﻞﹸﻛ ﱠﻥﹺﺈﹶﻓ ﹺﺭﻮ�ﻣُﻷﺍ �ﺕﺎﹶﺛ�ﺪ�ﺤ�ﻣ�ﻭ �ﻢﹸﻛﺎ�ﻳﹺﺇ�ﻭ
“Avoid newly-introduced matters. Verily, every heresy is a going
astray.” 2 Instead, Algar writes, “Broader and more positive
understandings are, however, to be encountered. The Shafii scholar
‘Izz al-Din b. ‘Abd as-Salam was, for example, of the opinion that it is
permissible to speak of a bid’a hasana, ‘a good innovation,’ and that
1 Al-Saabiq (p. 286) wrote, “The opponents of the ‘Wahhabis’ and their brethren
claim that the ‘Wahhabis’ say that tawassul by the status of the Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and visiting his honorable grave are
acts of shirk and negate tauheed. That is a lie and a fabrication from the
opponents. In fact, the ‘Wahhabis’ and their brethren simply say that tawassul
by the status of any of the creation is something that neither Allah or His
Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sanctioned and the
Companions and the Followers after them never did it… Hence, it is a rejected
act [and type of innovation].”
2 This hadith is sahih. It was recorded, with slightly different wordings, by
Ahmad, Abu Daawood, al-Tirmidhi, ibn Hibbaan, ibn Abu Aasim, al-Baihaqi,
al-Haakim and a number of others. For details concerning the grading of this
hadith, see Zarabozo, Commentary, vol. 2, pp. 1044-1046.
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