The Wahabi Doctrine Concerning The Attributes Of Allah:
The Wahabi doctrine on Allah’s attributes is the same as that of al- Mujasima:* They claim that Allah possesses actual organs such as a hand, a leg, an eye and a face. They also describe him as literally siting, moving, changing position, descending and ascending.8
This doctrine which they borrowed from Ibn Taimia originated with the Hoshawia who lacked profound knowledge of Islamic tenets and teachings. The Hashawia endorsed the literal meanings of religious texts and their tajseem is similar to that of some Jewish denominations.
The Wahabis failed to support this belief with a single testimony by any of the Companions or early Muslims. But this did not deter them from claiming that this belief represents the consensus of early Muslims. In any case, their argument in defense of their belief regarding divine attributes lacks logical substance and hence it is unconvincing.
To justify their belief, however, the Wahabis relied entirely on a statement by Ibn Taimia who claimed that after reviewing all available commentaries by the Companions and the traditions reported by them and collected from several sources which amounted to more than 100 commentaries he could not find a single evidence from one Companion interpreting the attributes’ verses in variance with their literal meanings.9
This allegation repeated by Ibn Taimia is false and was clearly refuted by the same sources whose authenticity and reliability were confirmed by Ibn Taimia himself. These sources include the commentaries of al-Tabari, Ibn Atia and al-Bagawi.10
All of these sources reported that the Companions interpreted the Quranic verses on Allah’s attributes and did not endorse their literal meanings. To illustrate, Ayat al-Kursi or Chair verse was interpreted by Al-Tabari, Ibn Atia and al-Bagawi by referring to Ibn Abbas’ comment that the chair means Allah’s knowledge. Ibn Atia upheld this and regarded any other interpretation to be of Jewish or Hashawi origin which must be ignored.11
In the same fashion, Allah’s ‘face’ is interpreted in all verses in which mention of it is found as purpose, recompense or other meanings depending on its context. Anyone can check al-Bagawi’s commentary which Ibn Taimia praised as utterly reliable to find out for himself that Ibn Taimia’s claim is unfounded. In specific, al-Bagawi’s commentaries on the following verses may be consulted: The Cow: 115, 255 and 272; Thunder: 22; The Narratives: 88; The Romans: 38, 39; The Man: 9; and the Night: 2. From this evidence it can be concluded that the companions did not support the Wahabi’s doctrine on divine attributes.
* Al-Mujasima or anthropomorphist believed that Allah possessed physical attributes.
The Wahabi And Muslim: The Wahabi Biddah {Innovation}:
The Wahabis believe that they are the only true Muslims because they uphold divine unity while other Muslims are idolaters who deserve to lose their lives and possessions. According to them, a person must not be considered a Muslim even if he pronounces al-Shahadatain, the two testimonies, that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his apostle if he also believes that he could be blessed by visiting the Prophet’s mosque and ask for his intercession.
They maintain that any Muslim who professes such beliefs is an idolater whose idolatry is a worse kind than that of Pre-Islamic people who worshipped idols and planets.
In his book Kashful al-Shubuhat, Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab called all Muslims, with the exception of his followers, idolaters about 24 times. Other labels he used to describe them were: heretics, idols’ worshippers apostates, anti-divine unity, enemies of divine unity, Allah’s enemies and perfidious Muslims in 20 different parts of the same book. His followers copied him in this practice.
It is essential to ask here if this doctrine was truly based on a consensus of learned scholars or is it a Wahabi bida’ or corruption? Ibn Hazim, the well- known Sunni scholar, asserted that «a Muslim can not be called a heretic or a sinner on the bases of his opinions whether made in the form of a doctrine or a religious decree. After mentioning numerous religious scholars who endorsed this viewpoint he concluded that it was the consensus of all Companions who commented on it.»13
According to Ibn Taimia only the Khawarij judged other Muslims to be heretics on the bases of their sins and learned opinions or deductions.14 As such, the Wahabis have no precedent supporting this bida’ except the infamous Khawarij.
The Wahabi & Khawarij:
Surprising, there are many similarities between the Wahabi and the Khawarij which distinguish them from the rest of the Muslim. Some of these common points follow.
1. The Khawarij disagreed with all Muslims by maintaining that whoever commits a cardinal sin is a heretic. The Wahabis copied them by equating heresy with committing what they considered to be sins.15
2. The Khawarij decreed that if committing cardinal sins become common in a Muslim land then it deserved to be considered dar harb, literally a land of war and those who live in it forfeit their lives and possessions.
This is also the Wahabi’s verdict on the nation of Islam if they believe that it is permissible to travel to the Prophet’s tomb and the shrines of pious men and ask for their intercession with Allah, though they worship only Allah and perform good deeds.
It is clear from the previous two points that the Wahabis are more disruptive and evil than the Khawarij While the khawarij based their verdict of heresy on deeds that all Muslims agreed on being cardinal sins, the Wahabis chose acts which are not actually sins but favourable deeds performed by devout early Muslims including the Prophet’s Companions.
3. The Wahabis and the Khawarij are similar in their strict application of religion and their ossified interpretations of its doctrines. Thus when the Khawarij read the Quranic verse: «Judgment belongs to Allah» they said that whoever allowed resort to settlement is an idolator. ‘There is no judgment but Allah’s’ became their slogan. And though it is indisputable it was misapplied to justify their deviant ways. This attitude illustrates their ignorance of Islam and rigid thinking since the principle of settlement of dispute through adjudicator or third-party intervention was established by the Holy Quran, the Prophet’s Tradition and the deeds of the Companions and early Muslims. It is also supported by common logic.
Similarly, the Wahabis interpreted the following verses:
«You alone we worship and You alone we pray for help».16
«Who is he that can intercede with Him but by His own permission».17
No intercession shall avail with Him but that which He Himself allow».18
To mean that anyone who justifies visiting the Prophet’s Mosque or the shrines of pious Muslim and ask for their intercession is an idolator. They considered such acts as tantamount to worshipping the Prophet or those pious Muslims instead of Allah. Accordingly, they declared that there is no deity but Allah and there is no intercession except His.
While these heated declarations are indisputable, the intentions behind them are open to suspicions. The Wahabis chose to ignore the tradition established by the Companions and early Muslims regarding the legality of visiting the Prophet’s Mosque and other shrines and asking for intercession.
4. Ibn Taimia observed that the deviant group the Khawarij was the first bida’ or corruption in Islam because its followers judged other Muslims as heretics and legalized killing them.19 It can be added that the Wahabia, and for the same reason, is the last bida’ in Islam.
5. Some of the Prophet’s comments on the rise of the Khawarij and their deviation from Islam also apply to the Wahabis. Consider, for example, the Prophet’s saying that: «a group of people shall emerge from the east who reads the Quran without understanding it. They shall deviate from it like an arrow missing its target. Shaving the head shall be their distinguishing characteristic.»20 In commenting on this saying, al-Qastalani said that «’due east’ means east of al-Medina such as Najid and further.»
Najid is the birthplace of Wahabia from which it spread to other places. Also, shaving their heads was one of the Wahabis’ established tradition which was mandatory for all their followers including women. None of the deviant groups who predated them was known to impose it. Some of the religious scholars who witnessed the rise of this movement maintained that there is no need to write books to refute the Wahabia because it is sufficient to repeat the Prophet’s saying that ‘Shaving the head is their distinguishing characteristic,’ since none has done it before them.
6. The Prophet described the Khawarij as «those who will slaughter Muslims and leave the pagans unharmed.» This also applies to the Wahabis who fought only Muslims. Their scholars and books also call for waging war on other Muslims only.
7. Al-Bukhari reported that Ibn Omar described the Khawarij as «having applied verses revealed regarding pagans to the believers.»24 Ibn Abbas is reported to have said on the same subject:
Don’t be like the Khawarij who interpreted some [verses] of the Quran to apply to the faithful. Those verses were revealed regarding followers of other divine messages and pagans. The Khawarij were ignorant of their meanings and as a result they killed [Muslims] and looted their possessions.
The Wahabis followed suit by applying verses revealed in the case of idolaters to the believers.
8. We can now imagine the following dialogue between a Sunni and a Wahabi:
-The Wahabi: The Hanabila [i.e. followers of Imam Ibn Hanbal] books are also ours. Which of these books do you disapprove of? If you indeed have something against them then you must cite their books and not their critics!
-The Sunni: What do you think of the Karamita? [a dissident group formed during the Abbasid rule].
-The Wahabi: They are pagans and idolaters.
-The Sunni: But they claim adherence to the Prophet Household’s doctrines and that their books are also theirs. But the books of the Prophet Household contain nothing but words of enlightenment and truth.
-The Wahabi: The Qaramita were liars and historians have demonstrated their heresy and falsification.
-The Sunni: Then you accept evidence presented by historians?
-The Wahabi: Yes! Imam al-Shafi said that the historian’s methodology in relying on multiple sources is better, in his opinion, than the acceptance of a single source by the narrators of the Prophet’s Tradition.
-The Sunni: Then you must accept what the historians considered as evidence of the Wahabi heresy. A person’s deed may be held as evidence against him or her even if he denies doing it. And when the Qaramita legalized murdering Muslims and stealing their possessions no doubt regarding their heresy remained. This also applies to your Wahabi masters.
-The Wahabi: (was angry and speechless).
- The Sunni then added: What is your opinion of the description of the Khawarij as heretics who shall be punished with Hell’s fire?
-The Wahabi replied: The consensus is that the Khawarij deviated from the true path and thus incurred Allah’s wrath. But the Khawarij were put to rout at the Nahrawan battle and the Wahabis do not belong to them!
-The Sunni said: Why do you think the Khawarij deserved Allah’s wrath? was it because of the inadequacy of their prayers and fasting?
-The Wahabi: No!
-The Sunni: Was it then because of their devotion, or recital of the Quran or paying lipservice to the truth?
-The Wahabi: No!
-The Sunni persisted: Why then? Tell me!
-The Wahabi stammered and could not manage a reply.
-The Sunni: There is one and only one reason for incurring Allah’s wrath and that is legalizing the slaughter of innocent Muslims and the theft of their possessions after calling them heretics and also whoever makes the claim that he is the only true Muslim. Anyone who commits such deeds and makes such claims deserves the same fate.
The Wahabi And The Extremists:
The Ghulat or extremist are those who went to extremes in exalting a person or persons to the extent of raising him or them above the ranks of ordinary human beings.
At the same time of the rise of Wahabia in Najid, another person was preaching a new doctrine which renewed much of what has disappeared of the beliefs of the first Ghulats who deified Imam Ali and other members of the Prophet Household. His teachings were similar to those of Ibn Abdul Wahab in labeling his opponents as heretics. He actually went further than the Wahabia founder by attacking most of the Prophet’s Companions and calling them heretics.
The name of that man was Shaikh Ahmed al-Ihsaie (died 1241 AH.) His followers were thus known as al-Shaikhia. He was succeeded by Khathim al-Rashti who established his headquarters at Kerbala in southern Iraq.
The Wahabi’s attitudes toward this movement is interesting. As history report, the Wahabis attacked Karbala where al-Rashti and his followers resided. As their custom in all their military campaigns, the Wahabis sacked the city, slaughtering thousands of innocent men, women and children and looting and destroying houses and shops. But they guaranteed al-Rashti’s personal safety and declared that anyone entering his house shall be safe. This special treatment of this group and their leader unveils the true nature of the Wahabi and exposes the falsehood of their claim of opposing idolatry and defending divine unity.
At this point, it may be useful to compare this position with a similar one by Ibn Taimia, whom the Wahabis claim to follow, toward another extremist group, namely the Yazidis. The Yazidis exalted Yazid ibn Muawiya whose un-Islamic deeds were enumerated earlier. A branch of this sect was named al-Adawia after Udai ibn Musafir whom they exalted along with Yazid.
Ibn Taimia who was a contemporary of this sect maintained an inexplicably untypical attitude toward this group. Famed for his extreme opinions and fierce attacks on Islamic sects swiftly judging them to be deviant and heretic, he wrote a letter to this group addressing them as faithful Muslims. In this civil and well-wishing letter we find none of his offending style and usual labels which he used in communicating with or writing on other Islamic groups such as the Asharia, the Imamiya Shia, the Zaidis, Mutazila, Murajia and others.
His letter to this group begins as follows:26
From Ahmed ibn Tairnia to whoever receives this letter of the Muslims who belong to the Sunna and follow the exemplary, blessed, and learned shaikh Udai ibn Musafir al-Umawi. Allah has mercy on him and all those who follow his path.. May Allah lead them to His path and obey Him and His Prophet.
This shows that Ibn Taimia considered this deviant group as Sunni Muslim in variance with the consensus identifying them as extremists, heretics and idolaters who did not worship only Allah.
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