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The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
Manfoohah, the opponents of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab were
virtually already beating war drums. They were declaring Muhammad
ibn Abdul-Wahhaab and his followers disbelievers whose blood was
permissible to be shed. Hence, Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab and
his followers’ lives were truly in danger. 1 An armed battle with al-
Diriyyah may have been beyond the means of some, so they resorted
to other measures to try to fight and destroy the strength of the new
collection of believers. Indeed, the opponents of the call went outside
of Najd for help and assistance in trying to stop the sweeping call.
In fact, in Huraimila itself, in the year 1165 A.H., there was a
kind of revolution against Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab. This was
instigated by its judge, Sulaimaan ibn Abdul-Wahhaab, Muhammad’s
own brother. Sulaimaan even tried to convince the inhabitants of al-
Diriyyah to revolt. He wrote a book attempting to refute ibn Abdul-
Wahhaab, especially in matters related to declaring Muslims
disbelievers and issues of fighting, and sent it to the inhabitants of al-
Diriyyah. 2 Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab quickly responded by
writing a refutation of Sulaimaan’s book. 3 Abdul-Azeez ibn
Muhammad ibn Saud was able to lead a force of around eight hundred
men to quell the unrest in Huraimila. Sulaimaan fled to al-Sudair. 4
Similar small uprisings occurred in Manfoohah and Durma, but they
were both quieted. Within Najd, thus, it can be said that all the
attempts—the use of force and the use of false arguments—failed to
stop the growth and strength of this collection of Muslim.
1 Cf., Abdul-Muhsin ibn Baaz, vol. 1, p. 92.
2 The work was later published under the title al-Sawaaiq al-Ilahiyah fi al-Radd
ala al-Wahaabiyyah, although apparently it was originally entitled Fasl al-
Khitaab fi al-Radd ala Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab. Similarly, Murbad ibn
Ahmad al-Tameemi, from Huraimila, traveled in 1170 A.H. to Yemen to spread
false reports about Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab to the scholars there, such
as Muhammad ibn Ismaaeel al-Sanaani. At first, al-Sanaani was fooled by such
untruths but later when he discovered the reality, he sent ibn Abdul-Wahhaab
a poem expressing his appreciation for his efforts.
3 This work is entitled Mufeed al-Mustafeed fi Kufr Taarik al-Tauheed. Cf., al-
Uthaimeen, Al-Shaikh Muhammad, pp. 61-62. This work is found in
Muallifaat, vol. 1, pp. 279-329.
4 For more details concerning the battles over Huraimila, see ibn Ghannaam, vol.
1, pp. 100-101, 103-104, 110-111.