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

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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
to scholars such as Shaykh Ja’far Kashif al-Ghita.” 1 This is very sad
indeed. Even if ibn Abdul-Wahhaab were the most evil of all people,
that does not give anyone the right to lie and spread fabrications about
him. This is nothing but a violation of the Islamic concept of justice
and rights.
Much of the rest of his work is beyond the scope of this
present work. However, there are three appendices of interest. The
first is a short passage from ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s Kashf al-
Shubuhaat, the second a short passage from Dahlaan’s critique of
“Wahhabism,” and the third is a short passage from the Shiite Ja’far
Kashif al-Ghita.
He introduces ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s writing with a short
passage wherein he is very upset that Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
claimed that the Arabs at the time of Ignorance understood the
concept of Allah being only one God but that they had fallen into
believing in intermediaries. 2 Once again, though, it seems that Algar’s
true problems lie with what the verses of the Quran state and have
very little to do with ibn Abdul-Wahhaab, who simply restated what is
explicit in the Quran.
Algar tries to show that ibn Abdul-Wahhaab contradicts
himself. After quoting the passage which says that the polytheists
called upon God and upon others at times of ease, Algar wrote a
footnote, “This sentence seems to contradict the statement contained
in the opening of the second paragraph of this extract.” 3 He is
referring to the following passage—and this is Algar’s own
translation—“The first is that the ancients did not, in times of
prosperity, assign partners to God nor did they call on angels, sacred
personages (al-awliya`), and idols.” 4 The reason there is a
contradiction is because Algar has totally mistranslated that passage.
That passage reads,
ﺀﺎﺧﺮﻟﺍ ﰲ ﻻﺇ ﷲﺍ ﻊﻣ ﻥﺎﺛﻭﻷﺍﻭ ﺀﺎﻴﻟﻭﻷﺍﻭ ﺔﻜﺋﻼﳌﺍ ﻥﻮﻋﺪﻳ ﻻﻭ ﻥﻮﻛﺮﺸﻳ ﻻ ﲔﻟﻭﻷﺍ ﻥﺃ ﺎﻫﺪﺣﺃ
1 Algar, p. 39.
2 Cf., Algar, p. 71.
3 Algar, p. 75.
4 Algar, p. 74.