Misconceptions about the Salafi Dawah - Wahabbism unveiled

um muhammad al-mahdi

لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله
Staff member
All Praise is due to Allaah (Azza wa Jall) who sent his Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) with guidance and the true religion so that it may become manifest over all other religions. May the Salaat and Salaam of Allaah be upon the last and noblest of All the Prophets, Muhammad (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam), on the family of the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) and upon the noble companions (ra) and on all those who follow the path of righteousness until the last day.

It is the habit of the people of today that they label as anyone who calls to Tawheed and warns against all forms of shirk a Wahabbi. So since this has become prominent amongst some of the Muslims, who call themselves Sunnis then we should refer back to the Qur'aan and the Sunnah upon the understanding of the first three generations in order to ascertain what is the truth.

(1) Firstly Al-Wahabb is one of the beautiful names of Allaah (Azza Wa Jall) meaning the all-giver and so how can anyone twist this beautiful name, Aoudhoubillah.

(2) The usage of 'Wahabbi' comes from a scholar who lived some time ago by the name of Muhammad Bin Abdul-Wahaab, who called to Tawheed and defended it and warned against Shirk and fought its people. So if these people were truthful they would use the term 'Muhammadi' since Abdul-Wahaab was the name of his father.

(3) Allaah (Azza Wa Jall) has prohibited us from insulting using nicknames as He (Azza Wa Jall) says:

"And do not insult by nicknames" Al Hujuraat 49:11

(4) The people of the past accused Imaam Shafiee of being a Rafidee and he replied with:

If Rafd is loving the Family of Muhammad (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam)
Then the humans and Jinns witness that I am a Rafidee.

So we refute with what a poet said:

If the follower of the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) is a Wahabbi
Then I affirm that I am a Wahabbi

(5) It is the duty of the Muslims to call to Tawheed and warn against Shirk:

Allaah (Azza Wa Jall) says: "And we have sent to every nation a Messenger saying Worship Allaah alone and avoid the Taghoot " [An Nahl 36]

The Taghoot is anything that is worshipped besides Allaah (Azza Wa Jall).

The call to Tawheed is the call of all the Messengers:

Allaah (Azza Wa Jall) says: "To Aad (We sent) their brother Hud. He said: 'Oh my people, worship Allaah, you have no other Illah except Him, will you not fear (Allaah) " [Al Aa'raaf 7:65]

And He (Azza Wa Jall) says: "To Thamud we sent their brother Salih. He said: O my people worship Allaah You have no other Illah except Him " [Hud 11:61]

So see how the dawah to Tawheed is the dawah of all the Prophets and the battle between Tawheed and Shirk is long standing.

But today if you make this call you are labelled a Wahabbi. But this call existed long before Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahabb was born. The evidences of Tawheed existed long before the birth of Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahabb. The collection of hadeeth like Bukhari and Muslim existed hundreds of years before even the great great grandfather of Muhammad bin Abdul Wahaab was born. So if we quote hadeeth from Bukhari and Muslim as evidences for Tawheed and we are Wahaabis then was Imaam Bukhari a Wahaabi or Imaam Muslim.

(1) If you read the ayat in the Qur'aan:

"You alone do we Worship and you alone do we seek help from " [Fatihah 1:4]

Then are you a Wahabbi?

(2) If you mention the hadeeth narrated by Ibn Abbas (ra) found in An-Nawawis Fourty Hadeeth:

The Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) said: "When you ask, then ask Allaah, and when you seek help seek help from Allaah alone " Are you a Wahabbi?

(3) Or maybe if you mention the hadeeth of the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam):

"Whoever dies while calling upon other than Allaah shall enter the Hell fire " [Bukhari]

(4) Or maybe you are a Wahabbi if when told that the Awliyah know the unseen you say But Allaah (Azza wa Jall) says:

"With him are the keys of the unseen, none knows them but He " [Al An'aam 6:59]

(5) And perhaps you are a Wahabbi if you expose Ibn Arabi for his kufr statements such as:

"The Lord is the Slave and the Slave is the Lord
Oh I wish I knew who was the one in authority"

(6) Or maybe you are a Wahabbi if you deny that the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) was made from light and that he had and still has the power to bring good to us:

Allaah (Azza wa Jall) says:

"Say O Muhammad (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) I posess no power to benefit or hurt myself except as Allaah wills. If I had Knowledge of the unseen , I should have secured for myself an abundance of wealth, and no evil should have touched me. I am but a warner , and a bringer of glad tidings unto people who believe " [Al A'raaf 7:188]

(7) Or maybe you're a Wahabbi if you don't celebarate the birthday of the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) or Praise him highly elevating him above his being a Prophet:

The Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) said: "Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising the Son of Maryam (Eesaa) (alaihis-salaam), for verily I am only a slave, so say slave of Allaah and His Messenger " [Bukhari]

(8) Maybe you are a Wahaabi if you don't call upon Abdul Qaadir al-Jeelaanee to remove some harm from you and you mention the ayah:

"If Allaah touches you with harm, none can remove it except He " Al An'aam 6: 17.

Was the Scholar who said the following a Wahabbi ?

"Ask Allaah and do not ask other than Him,. Seek help from Allaah and do not seek help from other then Him. Woe to you, with which face will you meet Him tomorrow? You contend with Him in the world, turning away from Him, and approaching His creation thus associating partners with Him. You submit your needs to them and rely on them in your important matters. Increase the ways and means between yourself and Allaah, for verily, if you stop that, then it is foolishness. There is no king, or authority, no self-sufficiency and no might except with Allaah, The Mighty, The Magestic, turn towards Allaah without the creation"

He seems to meet the criterion, who was he, he was none other than the one some people call upon, Abdul Qaadir al-Jeelaanee, he said this in Fath ur Rabaanee.

Or maybe the one who said the following was a Wahabbi:

" I hate to ask Allaah, by other than Allaah"

This man was Imaam Abu Haneefah, reported in Daar ul Mukhtaar.

They (the so called 'Sunnis') say the Wahabbis don't love the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) since we don't call upon him or make intercession through him, they claim that they are lovers of the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam), and we reply with the saying of a poet:

"If your love was true you would have obeyed him,
Verily the lover is to the beloved obedient"

In Conclusion:

It seems that they call people a Wahabbi who

(1) Worship Allaah alone, love Tawheed and hate Shirk
(2) Make duaa to Allaah alone
(3) Rely in Allaah alone
(4) Follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam), and hate and avoid innovations.
(5) Adhere to the path of the companions (ra)
(6) Read the books of the Imaams and take from them.

And our final call is to Allaah Lord of all the Creation.

Spubs.com
 

MehmetHilmi

Junior Member
Why do you guys run around destroying historic sites and graves. Why is IslamQA misogynist? Why do you do takfeer on everyone who is slightly different than you? Why do you make life so difficult? Really, I do have a problem with this system that was introduced as Wahhabism. I don't have a high opinion of Muhammad bin Wahhab. I read that he was a very cruel person.
 
HE WAS NOT A CRUEL PERSON .THIS LABELLING IS JUST LIKE THE QURAISH CALLING THE PROPHET A LIAR WHEN HE CALLED THEM TO DECLARE HIS PROPHETHOOD WHICH DID NOT PLEASE THEM. SO IS LIKE IMAM MUHAMMAD IBN WAHHAB CASE , BECAUSE PEOPLE DO NOT WANT THE TRUTH THEY WILL SAY WHATEVER THEY LIKE AGAINST HIM..MAY ALLAH HAVE MERCY UPON US ALL AND GUIDE US TO THE RIGHT PATH.
 
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SonOfAdam

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Unfortunately, most of the ummah view Salafi like brother Mehmet Hilmi. I agree many "salafi's" are too extreme (a lot of takfiri's too rigid in their views) but many are perfect Muslims too, mashallah. Don't let a few bad examples make you dislike a large chunk of the Ummah. Just like "goofy sufi's" doing shirk should not be made to represent real Sufis, a takfiri does not represent true Salafis. I stay away from both labels Sufi/Salafi just because all the bad things that are attributed to them by the other side. I don't need any of these labels, I love and respect both my Sufi brothers and Salafi. Those that hate the other side probably never even met the other side, if they did they would be shocked and see how good that person is. They all say identical things out of the Quran and Sunnah and I see little differences in them other than when they start talking bad about the other group based on one off and offshoots of each group or get into really deep and mostly unimportant things that will not benefit you much either way. You have to be more open minded and accepting of others, it is not hard to make excuses for your brothers. If you look at your Muslim brother that prays 5 times a day, fasts, gives Zakat, etc. and loves Allah and the Prophet SAW more than anything else and you feel something bad in your heart then you really have something wrong with yourself. We should just try to correct people in a nice way if we see they are doing something wrong, if they don't change then it is ok, it is their right to believe and do what they want. Their is no compulsion in religion. Unity is more important than subtle differences which have always existed in the Ummah and always will.

Again, exteme groups and personalities should not be used to reflect the larger middle path and mainstream groups.
 
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MehmetHilmi

Junior Member
I am not blaming any Salafi brother or sister now. In fact I think there are a lot of wonderful Salafis (like a lot of people on this site), But the more I continue to learn about this issue, the more I believe this is a very dangerous ideology.

Think about this. Ibn Wahhab was just an ordinary person in Saudi Arabia during the Ottoman Caliphate. There were a lot of other important religious figures from that time. However, Ibn Wahhab thought Muslims were starting to deviate from the path of Islamic monotheism. He never was fully educated in any discipline. His teachers themselves were against ibn Wahhab's ideas. Both his brother and his father were against his views. And his father was also a very important religious figure. When his father died, Ibn Wahhab gained the support of some militia. He then permitted the killing of other Muslims. From one of his works:
“The people that ask for intercession through the Prophets and Angels, calling upon them and making supplication through their waseelah in attempt to draw nearer to Allah are committing the greatest of sins. Thus it is permitted to kill them and take their property” (Kashf ash-Shubbahaat)

Eventually, Ibn Wahhab took his armed men and raided villages in Najd, killing everyone who did not agree with his view (women and children involved).
This continued with him raiding settlements and demolishing graves and shedding blood of other Muslims. After he died, much more were put to the sword and killed. His ideology inspired the creation of the First Saudi State. This Saudi State's atrocities against MUSLIM Meccans prompted Ottomans to send an army to fight this new force. The Ottomans swiftly defeated these rebels and executed their leader.

As time passed however, the British realised that these new Saudi Wahhabi inspired rebels would be useful to them as they would fight against the Ottomans and create havoc in the Muslim world. So, the British did Fitna by supporting these rebels. Otherwise Wahhabism would have disappeared probably.

So yes Ibn Wahhab did call for adherence to Tawheed and he did go against Shirk. But he did this by spilling blood of many innocent Muslims, causing GREAT FITNA, and totally disregarding religious opinions of his time.
 
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Mabsoot

Amir
Staff member
I am not blaming any Salafi brother or sister now. In fact I think there are a lot of wonderful Salafis (like a lot of people on this site), But the more I continue to learn about this issue, the more I believe this is a very dangerous ideology.

Think about this. Ibn Wahhab was just an ordinary person in Saudi Arabia during the Ottoman Caliphate. There were a lot of other important religious figures from that time. However, Ibn Wahhab thought Muslims were starting to deviate from the path of Islamic monotheism. He never was fully educated in any discipline. His teachers themselves were against ibn Wahhab's ideas. Both his brother and his father were against his views. And his father was also a very important religious figure. When his father died, Ibn Wahhab gained the support of some militia. He then permitted the killing of other Muslims. From one of his works:
“The people that ask for intercession through the Prophets and Angels, calling upon them and making supplication through their waseelah in attempt to draw nearer to Allah are committing the greatest of sins. Thus it is permitted to kill them and take their property” (Kashf ash-Shubbahaat)

Eventually, Ibn Wahhab took his armed men and raided villages in Najd, killing everyone who did not agree with his view (women and children involved).
This continued with him raiding settlements and demolishing graves and shedding blood of other Muslims. After he died, much more were put to the sword and killed. His ideology inspired the creation of the First Saudi State. This Saudi State's atrocities against MUSLIM Meccans prompted Ottomans to send an army to fight this new force. The Ottomans swiftly defeated these rebels and executed their leader.

As time passed however, the British realised that these new Saudi Wahhabi inspired rebels would be useful to them as they would fight against the Ottomans and create havoc in the Muslim world. So, the British did Fitna by supporting these rebels. Otherwise Wahhabism would have disappeared probably.

So yes Ibn Wahhab did call for adherence to Tawheed and he did go against Shirk. But he did this by spilling blood of many innocent Muslims, causing GREAT FITNA, and totally disregarding religious opinions of his time.

I would totally disagree with this account of history, it is smack full of propaganda and fabrications. I don't know where you got this from, but I know you to be a good brother in sha Allah, just take your information with a grain of salt!
 

sosusume

New Member
Ya Rabbee I'm in deep trouble. I've been a Muslim for so many years, Alhamdu'illah, and I have no idea what a Salafi or Wahabi is...or why a Wahabi should be slammed if this post outlines Wahabi thought. I live to the best of my abilities in accordance with the Quran and Sunna...and no where have I come across an order for us to adhere to a certain philosophy. I truly pray I didn't somehow miss it. It boggles my mind that the older our religion gets, the more it becomes divided. I thought The Almighty's very explicit instruction is NOT to splinter into sects.
 

um muhammad al-mahdi

لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله
Staff member
Assalamu Alaykum sister @sosusume ,

You are not in any trouble. You might be a salafi even if you have never heard this word before.

Here is an explanation of Shaikh Al-Albani rahimahullah regarding the matter:

Allah has named us Muslims, so why ascribe ourselves to the Salaf

This doubt was very beatifully answered by Imam al-Albani in his discussion with someone on this subject, recorded on the cassette entitled, “I am Salafi”, and here is a presentation of the vital parts of it:

Shaykh al-Albani: “When it is said to you, ‘’What is your madhhab’’, what is your reply?”

Questioner: “A Muslim.”

Shaykh al-Albani: “This is not sufficient!”

Questioner: “Allah has named us Muslims” and he recited the saying of Allah Most High, “He is the one who has called you Muslims beforehand.” (al-Hajj 22:78)

Shaykh al-Albani: “This would be a correct answer if we were in the very first times (of Islam) before the sects had appeared and spread. But if we were to ask, now, any Muslim from any of these sects with which we differ on account of aqeedah, his answer would not be any different to this word. All of them, –the Shi’ite Rafidi, the Khaariji, the Nusayri Alawi, would say, “I am a Muslim.” Hence, this is not sufficient in these days.”

Questioner: “In that case I say, I am a Muslim upon the Book and the Sunnah.”

Shaykh al-Albani: “This is not sufficient either.”

Questioner: “Why?”

Shaykh al-Albani: “Do you find any of those whom we have just mentioned by way of example saying, ‘’I am a Muslim who is not upon the Book and the Sunnah’?’ Who is the one who says, ‘I am not upon the Book and the Sunnah’?”

At this point the Shaykh then began to explain in detail the importance of being upon the Book and the Sunnah in light of the understanding of the Salaf us-Saalih…

Questioner: “In that case I am a Muslim upon the Book and the Sunnah with the understanding of the Salaf us-Saalih.”

Shaykh al-Albani: “When a person asks you about your madhhab, is this what you will say to him?”

Questioner: ”Yes”

Shaykh al-Albani: “What is your view that we shorten this phrase in the language, since the best words are those that are few but indicated the desired intent, so we say, ‘Salafi’?” End of quotation.

Hence, the point is that naming with “Muslim” or “Sunni” is not enough, since everyone will claim that. And Imam al-Albani emphasized the importance of the truth being distinguished from the falsehood – from the point of view of the basis of manhaj and aqeedah, and that is taking from the Salaf us-Saalih, as opposed to the various sects and groups whose understandings are based upon those of their mentors and leaders and not that of the Salaf, fundamentally.

I have been Muslim for many years too and yes I do agree with what Shaikh Al-Albani says. This doesn't mean that I want to divide and I go around saying 'I'm salafi' or I ask all the Muslims I meet 'are you Salafi?' and if they don't give me a positive answer I don't speak to them or I'm rude. This is what would lead to division. I know sisters who don't say 'I'm salafi' and they might even disagree with the issue but this doesn't mean I don't like them or I keep far from them! It's when it comes to learn the deen and practice it that we have to be sure we are gaining knowledge from the right people so that we can stick to the Qur'an and Sunnah as you said mashallah. And Allah knows best.

Jazakillahu khayran
 
My understanding is that the Qur'an is sent for the whole of humanity and as such it is applicable for current times, the past and the future to come. So how can someone say saying that you are a 'Muslim' is not sufficient anymore? Where in the Qur'an is the word salafi, sunni or wahabi used?
 
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