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

301
The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
Muslims. He even writes that ibn Abdul-Wahhaab “abused the
prophets, scholars, saints, and other pious figures of the past.” 1 Any
writer who expects to be taken seriously would at least present one
quote from ibn Abdul-Wahhaab to support this wild assertion. But, of
course, Schwartz does not. He then goes on to quote some of al-
Zahawi’s statements that were dealt with in the previous chapter.
Schwartz then writes, “The Wahhabi call for ‘reform’ had no
support in the Sunna. In his predictions of the future, which were
many, Muhammad never once forecast that the Muslims would fall
back into polytheism, as Wahhabis have strenuously accused them of
doing since the 18 th Century.” 2 Had he even referred to the collections
of hadith available in English or even the books regarding the signs of
the Day of Judgment available in English, he may have learned
differently. But, alas, there is not one collection of hadith mentioned
in his bibliography. He also does not list any major reference book in
Arabic. Amazingly, he does not even reference any book written by
Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab or any of his descendants—yet he
claims to be writing about them. It is therefore not surprising that it
seems on many occasions that he makes statements that are simply
untrue. 3 Given his extremely limited accessibility to the sources of
hadith, at the very least, Schwartz should have said, “I am not aware
of any hadith in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) said that Muslims would revert to polytheism.”
Actually, all he had to do was to read ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s
own Kitaab al-Tauheed or any of its commentaries and he would find
the chapter, “What has come concerning part of the Nation
worshipping idols.” This chapter demonstrates that even among those
who say, “There is no one worthy of worship except Allah,” there will
be some who will revert to shirk. Thaubaan narrated that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,
1 Schwartz, p. 71.
2 Schwartz, p. 71.
3 He does however list 57 of his own little writings and articles in his
bibliography.