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

The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
in and beginning to dominate, such as in India, North Africa and
Indonesia. Even more important was the domestic situation. The
Muslims seem to have lost the true spirit, meaning and practice of
Islam. Many of them began to be overwhelmed by the scientific
advancements of the West. The Shareeah had been a forgotten part of
Islam in many areas. 1
Today, much of the same is repeating itself. The methods and
means may have changed. Politically, the Muslim countries as a whole
are very weak. Man-made laws have replaced the Shareeah in most
countries. Disunity and even hatred exists among various Muslim
populations. Some Muslims, for example, are falling for the crass
materialism of the West. This is not occurring through “trading
companies” and colonial governments. It is occurring through the
effects of international media and transnational corporations. But the
end effect is much the same. Again, the true meaning of Islam is being
lost on many Muslims. In many Muslim lands, religion is hardly being
taught in the government run schools. The needs of secularist societies
have been given precedence over the spiritual and religious needs of
the Muslim people.
Finally, when people do return to the true Islam of the Quran
and Sunnah, they are immediately “labeled,” just like ibn Abdul-
Wahhaab and his followers were immediately labeled. During his
time, it was being a Kharijite, heretic or disbeliever. Today, one is
called a fundamentalist or, much worse, a terrorist.
Yet ibn Abdul-Wahhaab, his supporters and followers were
able to change their situation. At least for their own part of the
world—and in many ways for almost every part of the world—they
were able to bring back Islam. Surely in the momentous change that
came about there are lessons to be had for Muslims of today who are
looking at a bleak situation similar to that which he faced.
Ibn Abdul-Wahhaab obviously was not a prophet nor was he
corrected by divine revelation. He was prone to make mistakes as
were his followers. Obviously, his statements and actions do not share
1 Obviously, there are also a lot of dissimilarities between ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s
time and the present time, especially with respect to political situations,
creation of nation-states, international law and so on. The Muslim scholar and
leader has to be able to discern the true similarities from the true
dissimilarities and how each new situation is to handled.
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