Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender and Pluralism (17 page)

In 1933, the prominent Azharite Maliki jurist Yusuf al-Dijawi (d. 1365/1946) noted, with great concern, that puritan orientations, such as the Wahhabis, were deprecating the Islamic tradition by enabling people with a very limited education in Islamic sciences to become self-proclaimed experts in
Shari‘ah
. See Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Dijawi, “al-hukm ‘ala al-muslimin bi’l kufr,”
Nurr al-Islam
, 1(4), 1933, 173–4.

Arnold Toynbee, the well-known British historian, had already noted the fact that many Muslims in the early twentieth century had hoped to import Western scientific methods, especially the military sciences, while insulating themselves from the rest of Western culture. This proved to be much harder to achieve in practice than in theory. See Arnold Toynbee,
Civilization on Trial
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1948), 184–212; Arnold Toynbee,
The World and the West
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1953), 18–33. Today, many Muslim puritans come to the West to learn the Western physical sciences, while hoping to insulate themselves from the influence of Western culture by, for example, refusing to study the humanities or social sciences.

This is clear, for instance, in very popular slogans such “Islam is the solution” and “The Qur’an is our constitution.” If considered from a historical perspective, both of these slogans would be anachronisms.

Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Kashf al-Shubuhat: al-Risalah al-Thalitha,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
(Damascus: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1962), 106; ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Bayan al-Mahajja fi al-Radd ‘ala al-Lujja: al-Risala al-Thalitha ‘Ashra,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
(Damascus: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1962), 459, 534. Part of the puritan approach on this issue is to cite and emphasize traditions, attributed to the Prophet or Companions, that seem to condemn debate, argumentativeness, excessive eloquence, or sophistry; see Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab,
Mu’allafat al-Shaykh al-Imam Muhammad bin ‘Abd al-Wahhab: Qism al-‘Aqidah wa al-Adab al-Islamiyya
(Riyadh: Jami‘at al-Imam Muhammad bin Sa‘ud al-Islamiyya, n.d.), part 1, 13–14. For a work by a Wahhabi author attacking all rationalist orientations within Islam, see al-Amin al-Sadiq al-Amin,
Mawqif al-Madrasah al-‘Aqliyya min al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya
(Riyadh: Maktabat al-Rushd, 1998),

2 vols. Another Wahhabi author wrote a multi-volume work listing a number of presumably heretical books that Muslims should not read. The list includes a large number of books advocating rationalist approaches to the study of Islam; see Abu ‘Ubaydah Mashhur b. Hasan Al Salman,
Kutub Hadhdhar minha al-‘Ulama’
(Riyadh: Dar Ibn Hazm,

1995). The author also includes all the books that criticized the Wahhabis, or the founder of their movement; see vol. 1, 250–87.

According to ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s son, only the first three centuries of Islam could be said to have been authentically Islamic to any extent, at all. After these centuries, Islamic history ceased to be Islamic, as the religion was overcome by heretical innovations and corruptions; see ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Bayan al-Mahajja: al-Risala al-Thalitha ‘Ashra,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 494–5.

For an example of a list containing acts the commission of which would make a Muslim an infidel, see ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Bayan al-Najah wa al-Fakak min Muwalat al-Murtaddin wa Ahl al-Shirk: al-Risala al-Thaniya ‘Ashra,” collected by Hamad b. ‘Atiq al-Najdi, in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 413–16. In this treatise, the author contends that anyone who fails to obey the literal commands of God is an infidel. For instance, if a Muslim asserts that the consumption of bread or meat is unlawful in Islam then he has become an infidel because it is clear that bread and meat are lawful in Islamic law.

Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “al-Risalah al-Ula,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 37–9, 50–2; Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Kashf al-Shubuhat: al-Risalah al-Thalitha,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 100–3, 114; Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Asbab Najat al-Sul min al-Sayf al-Maslul: al-Risalah Thamina,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 205; ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Bayan al-Najah wa al-Fakak: al-Risala al-Thaniya ‘Ashra,” collected by Hamad al-Najdi, in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 401.

Taqi al-Din Abu al-‘Abbas ‘Abd al-Halim, “‘Ubudiyya: al-Risala al-Rabi‘a ‘Ashra,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 569. Of course, the lawfulness of music was a hotly contested issue in Islamic law, but what is unique about the Wahhabi discourse on this matter is its explicit reference to the evils of individual creativity, as a general matter, and its unequivocal condemnation of imaginative thinking.

‘Abd al-Wahhab’s son wrote a long treatise attacking a poet for writing a poem praising the Prophet. In this treatise, he emphasizes, time and again, that poetical imagery, if it is not based on physical facts, is sinful because it exaggerates the truth. Furthermore, he asserts that any poetry that appears to sanctify the Prophet and give him super-human qualities is heretical. See ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Bayan al-Mahajja: al-Risala al-Thalitha ‘Ashra,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 436–42, 465–7, 480–1.

‘Abd al-Wahhab argued that Muslims must show enmity and hostility to unbelievers (
mushrikun
). This enmity and hostility must be visible and unequivocal. Importantly, among those designated as unbelievers were Muslims who, in ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s view, became infidels because of their beliefs or actions; see ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “al-Risalah al-Ula,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 30–1, 68; ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Bayan al-Najah wa al-Fakak: al-Risala al-Thaniya ‘Ashra,” collected by Hamad al-Najdi, in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 394, 400, 421–3, 433.

This was, for instance, reproduced in Sayyid Qutb’s notion that the world, including the Muslim world, is living in
jahiliya
(darkness and ignorance associated with the pre-Islamic era). See Sayyid Qutb,
Milestones on the Road
(Indianapolis: American Trust Publications, 1990); Ahmad S. Mousalli,
Radical Islamic Fundamentalism: The Ideological and Political Discourse of Sayyid Qutb
(Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1993). This intellectual and moral isolationism was resisted, perhaps not very successfully, by a variety of jurists in the first half of the twentieth century. For instance, many of the articles published in the Azhar journal
Nurr al-Islam
in the 1930s and 1940s attempted to engage, interact, and discourse with world thought. It is clear that many Muslim scholars, at that time, tried to stay informed about the latest in European thought, and attempted to discuss how the latest ideas in philosophy and sociology would impact upon Muslim culture.

‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Bayan al-Najah wa al-Fakak: al-Risala al-Thaniya ‘Ashra,” collected by Hamad al-Najdi, in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 358–68, 375, 412. In this treatise, the Ottoman Caliphate is described as a heretical nation (
al-dawlah al-kufriyya
). The author contends that supporting or allying oneself with the Ottomans is as bad a sin as supporting or allying oneself with Christians or Jews.

‘Abd al-Wahhab claimed that Abu Bakr fought and killed many so-called hypocrites, despite the fact that they practiced the five pillars or Islam. Arguing that his followers are justified in killing their opponents, he was also fond of citing a precedent in which Abu Bakr reportedly burned hypocrites to death. The Abu Bakr precedent cited by ‘Abd al-Wahhab was most certainly apocryphal. See ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “al-Risalah al-Ula,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 36, 70–2; ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Kashf al-Shubuhat: al-Risalah al-Thalitha,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 117–18; ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Bayan al-Najah wa al-Fakak: al-Risala al-Thaniya ‘Ashra,” collected by Hamad al-Najdi, in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 403–9.

‘Abd al-Wahhab frequently referred to jurists as “devils” or the “spawn of Satan” (
shayatin
and
a‘wan al-shayatin
); ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “al-Risalah al-Ula,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 34–5; ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Kashf al-Shubuhat: al-Risalah al-Thalitha,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 104; also see ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Bayan al-Najah wa al-Fakak: al-Risala al-Thaniya ‘Ashra,” collected by Hamad al-Najdi, in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 356–7.

‘Abd al-Wahhab, “al-Risalah al-Thaniya,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 4–6; ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Asbab Najat al-Sul: al-Risalah Thamina,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 208–12; ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Bayan al-Najah wa al-Fakak: al-Risala al-Thaniya ‘Ashra,” collected by Hamad al-Najdi, in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 382–3; ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Bayan al-Mahajja: al-Risala al-Thalitha ‘Ashra,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 453.

See the treatise written by Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s son, who was a devout follower of his father: ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, “Bayan al-Mahajja: al-Risala al-Thalitha ‘Ashra,” in
Majmu‘at al-Tawhid
, 466–93.

The
mufti
of the Hanbalis in Mecca, Ibn Humaydi (d. 1295/1878), reported that ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s father was upset with him because ‘Abd al-Wahhab was not a good student of Islamic jurisprudence, and was arrogantly defiant towards his teachers. Reportedly, he refused to complete his
Shari‘ah
studies. Ibn al-Humaydi claimed that, fearing the wrath of his father, ‘Abd al-Wahhab did not dare to start preaching his puritan message until after his father’s death. Muhammad b. ‘Abd Allah b. Humaydi al-Najdi,
al-Suhub al-Wabila ‘ala Dara’ih al-Hanabila
(Beirut: Maktabat al-Imam Ahmad, 1989), 275. Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s older brother, Sulayman, wrote a scathing critique of what he called the Najdi Wahhabi creed. Sulayman b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab,
al-Sawa‘iq al-Ilahiyya fi al-Radd ‘ala al-Wahhabiyya
(Damascus: Maktabat Harra’, 1997). Although Sulayman does accuse his brother of being ignorant and intolerant, he does not mention the reported friction between Muhammad and his father.

Sulayman b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab,
al-Sawa‘iq al-Ilahiyya fi al-Radd ‘ala al-Wahhabiyya
, (Damascus: Maktabat Harra’, 1997), 60–1, 120. Ibn Humaydi reports the stories of some jurists who were assassinated by the followers of ‘Abd al-Wahhab; see Ibn al-Humaydi,
al-Suhub al-Wabila
, 276–80, 402, 405.

Sulayman b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab,
al-Sawa‘iq al-Ilahiyya
, 9, 34–5. On Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s education; see Michael Cook, “On the Origins of Wahhabism,”
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
, 3(2), 1992, 191–202.

In support of his argument that ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s behavior was unprecedented, Sulayman contended that the majority of the scholars of Islam refrained from accusing the rationalists and mystics of heresy, and instead tried to debate with them peacefully. Sulayman b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab,
al-Sawa‘iq al-Ilahiyya
, 21, 25, 30–2, 38.

Sulayman b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab,
al-Sawa‘iq al-Ilahiyya
, 16, 72. The Maliki jurist Ibn al-Humaydi, who was an admirer of Ibn Taymiyya as well, makes the same claim about ‘Abd al-Wahhab; see Ibn al-Humaydi,
al-Suhub al-Wabila
, 275.

Sulayman asserts that, according to the Wahhabis, Islam has been in error for seven hundred years. In addition, the Wahhabis did not hesitate to call even the inhabitants of Mecca infidels. Sulayman contends that, from a theological point of view, this claim is very troublesome. It is impossible, Sulayman argues, for Muslims, especially the inhabitants of the Prophet’s city, Mecca, to have been deluded and mistaken in understanding and practicing their religion for so long. Sulayman bin ‘Abd al-Wahhab,
al-Sawa‘iq al-Ilahiyya
,

17–19, 62–4, 70–1, 74–5, 80–2, 92, 100–2, 110–12. For Rashid Rida’s view on the merit of the first three centuries of Islam, see Muhammad Rashid Rida,
Majallat al-Manar
(Mansura, Egypt: Dar al-Wafa’, 1327), 28:502–4. (Hereinafter Rida,
al-Manar
).

Addressing the Wahhabis, Sulayman states, “wa taj‘alun mizan kufr al-nass mukhalafatakum wa mizan al-Islam muwafaqatakum.” Sulayman b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab,
al-Sawa‘iq al-Ilahiyya
, 54, also see pp. 14, 42.

Sulayman b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab,
al-Sawa‘iq al-Ilahiyya
, 48–9.

Sulayman b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab,
al-Sawa‘iq al-Ilahiyya
, 121–42.

Ahmad Dallal has already established the relative marginality of Wahhabi extremist thought in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Dallal has also shown that the thought of Salafi revivalists such as Muhammad al-Shawkani (d. 1250/1834) and al-Jalal al-San‘ani (d. 1225/1810) were quite dissimilar to Wahhabi thinking, and far more influential at that time. Ahmad Dallal, “The Origins and Objectives of Islamic Revivalist Thought, 1750–1850,”
Journal of the American Oriental Society
, 113(3), 1993, 341–59.

Egyptian and Turkish forces destroyed the city of Dhar‘iyya, the hometown of the first Saudi kingdom, and massacred its inhabitants. D. Van der Meulen,
The Wells of Ibn Sa‘ud
(London: Kegan Paul, 2000), 35–6.

Van der Meulen,
The Wells of Ibn Sa‘ud
, 33–4; Simons,
Saudi Arabia
, 151–73. For good historical surveys on these and subsequent events, see Joseph Kostiner,
The Making of Saudi Arabia: From Chieftaincy to Monarchical State
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), 62–70, 100–17; Joseph A. Kechichian,
Succession in Saudi Arabia
(New York: Palgrave Press, 2001), 161–8; Madawi Al-Rasheed,
A History of Saudi Arabia
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 22. The Shi‘i jurist known as al-‘Assar strongly protested the massacres that took place in Karbala, in the context of his critique of the Wahhabi creed; see Muhammad b. al-Layasani (aka al-‘Assar),
Risala fi Radd Madhhab al-Wahhabiyya
, ed. Nu‘man al-Nassari (n.p., 1999), 23.