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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
say. 1 This is very true. One can have a verse or a hadith in front of
oneself and a contrary statement of an individual—a scholar, a writer,
a speaker or whatever—and a Muslim may give the two equal weight.
Indeed, the statement of the individual may even be given more
weight because he is writing “in the current times…,” in the 21 st
Century where things have changed and need be looked at afresh.
Sadly, today there may not be the trees and shrubs that the people of
Najd venerated before the influence of ibn Abdul-Wahhaab, but there
are new idols. Perhaps these idols are even stronger idols, in the form
of “ideas” and “isms,” such as modernism, feminism, democracy,
nationalism and so on. Many Muslims are being swept away by these
concepts and ignoring or forgetting about the noble, perfect and
perpetual guidance of the Quran.
The Importance of Understanding the Contemporary Reality
This is one aspect that was clearly seen in ibn Abdul-
Wahhaab’s approach. He analyzed the practices, faults and virtues of
the people around him. From his own experience and study, he
realized the roots of the problems of society. He did not speak about
the truth in abstract terms. Instead, he tied those teachings directly into
the practices of the people during his time. Indeed, this was a major
cause of contention since he did not just say, for example, “Allah is to
be obeyed” and leave it that. Instead, he would say, for example,
“Allah is to be obeyed and that which you are doing today is a
violation of that teaching…” Knowing these roots allowed him to
concentrate on the main ways that these problems could be solved. In
so doing, he concentrated on what the people needed. As was noted
earlier, he even used colloquial language when needed to allow the
people to understand exactly what he was speaking about.
Thus, Idris, while noting ibn Abdul-Wahhaab’s admiration for
ibn Taimiyyah and his extensive quoting of him, stated that ibn
Abdul-Wahhaab’s style was very different from ibn Taimiyyah’s.
Idris gave the following explanation,
Ibn Taymiyyah had lived in Damascus at a time when it was
teeming with philosophers, philosophical theologians, Sufis,
1 Cf., al-Husain, p. 7.
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