| Born | 1703 'Uyayna, Najd, Mamluk Arabia |
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| Died | 1792 (aged 88–89) Emirate of Diriyah |
| Era | 18th century |
| Region | Arabian Peninsula |
| School/tradition | Hanbali[1] |
| Notable ideas | Views on innovations within Islam (bid‘ah) and polytheism (shirk) |
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Influenced by
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Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab (1703 – 1792) (Arabic: محمد بن عبد الوهاب) was an Arabian religious reformer whose pact with Muhammad bin Saud helped to establish the first Saudi state[2] and began a dynastic alliance and power-sharing arrangement between their families which continues to the present day.[3][4]
The descendants of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab, the Al ash-Sheikh, have historically led the ulama in the Saudi state,[5] dominating the state's clerical institutions.[6]
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Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab is generally acknowledged[7] to have been born in 1703[8] into the Arab tribe of Banu Tamim[9] in 'Uyayna, a village in the Najd region of the modern Saudi Arabia.[10][11]
He was thought to have started studying Islam at an early age, primarily with his father, ʿAbd al-Wahhab[12][13] as he was from a line of scholars of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence.[14]
Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab spent some time studying with Muslim scholars in Basra (in southern Iraq)[12][15] and it is reported that he traveled to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina to perform Hajj and study with the scholars there.[16][17][18]
In Mecca, the Hanbali mufti, Ibn Humaydi, reported that Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab was not a good student and was arrogant and defiant with his teachers, which upset his father. Consequently, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab did not complete his studies, but whether he was expelled or dropped out is unknown.[19]
In Medina, he studied under Mohammad Hayya Al-Sindhi, to whom he was introduced by an earlier tutor.[20] According to Voll, it was Muhammad Hayya who taught Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab to reject the the popular veneration of saints and their tombs.[20] Nonetheless, almost all sources agree that his reformist ideas were formulated while living in Basra. He returned to 'Uyayna in 1740.
After his return home, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab began to attract followers, including the ruler of 'Uyayna, Uthman ibn Mu'ammar. With Ibn Mu'ammar's support, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab began to implement some of his ideas for reform. First, citing Islamic teachings forbidding grave worship, he persuaded Ibn Mu'ammar to level the grave of Zayd ibn al-Khattab, a companion of Muhammad, whose grave was revered by locals. Secondly, he ordered that all adulterors be stoned to death, a practice that had become uncommon in the area. Indeed, he personally organised the stoning of a woman who confessed that she had committed adultery.[21]
These actions gained the attention of Sulaiman ibn Muhammad ibn Ghurayr of the tribe of Bani Khalid, the chief of Al-Hasa and Qatif, who held substantial influence in Najd. Ibn Ghurayr threatened Ibn Mu'ammar that he would not allow him to collect a land tax for some properties that he owned in Al-Hasa if he did not kill Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab. Although Ibn Mu'ammar declined to do this, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab was still forced to leave.[22]
Upon his expulsion from 'Uyayna, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab was invited to settle in neighboring Diriyah by its ruler Muhammad bin Saud. Upon arriving in Diriyah, Muhammad bin Saud and Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab concluded an agreement that, together, they would bring the Arabs of the peninsula back to the "true" principles of Islam as they saw it. According to one source, when they first met, bin Saud declared:
"This oasis is yours, do not fear your enemies. By the name of God, if all Nejd was summoned to throw you out, we will never agree to expel you." Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab replied, "You are the settlement's chief and wise man. I want you to grant me an oath that you will perform jihad (holy war) against the unbelievers. In return you will be imam, leader of the Muslim community and I will be leader in religious matters".—Madawi al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia: 16
The agreement was confirmed with an oath in 1744.[23] This agreement became a "mutual support pact"[3] and power-sharing arrangement between the Al Saud and the Al ash-Sheikh, which has remained in place for nearly 300 years,[24] providing the ideological impetus to Saudi expansion.[25]
The 1744 pact between Muhammad bin Saud and Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab marked the emergence of the first Saudi state, the Emirate of Diriyah. By offfering the Al Saud a clearly defined religious mission, the alliance provided the idealogical impetus to Saudi expansion.[6] First conquering Najd, Saud's forces expanded the Wahhabi influence to most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia,[6] eradicating various popular and Shia practices and propagating the doctrines of ʿAbd al-Wahhab.[6][26]
Muhammad bin Saud died in 1765 but his son, Abd al Aziz, continued the Wahhabi cause.[6] Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab in turn died in 1792
Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab considered his movement an effort to purify Islam by returning Muslims to what he believed were the original principles of that religion, as typified by the Salaf and rejecting what he regarded as corruptions introduced by Bid'ah and Shirk.[27]
Although all Muslims pray to one God, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab was keen on emphasising that no intercession with God was possible without God's permission, which God only grants to whom He wills and only to benefit those whom He wills, certainly not the ones who invoke anything or anyone except Him, as these would never be forgiven.[28]
While in Baghdad, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab married an affluent woman. When she died, he inherited her property and wealth.[30]
The descendants of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab, the Al ash-Sheikh, have historically led the ulama in the Saudi state,[31] dominating the state's religious institutions.[6] Within Saudi Arabia, the family is held in prestige similar to the Saudi royal family, with whom they share power, and has included several religious scholars and officials.[29] The arrangement between the two families, which persists to this day,[3] is based on the Al Saud maintaining the Al ash-Sheikh's authority in religious matters and upholding and propagating Wahhabi doctrine. In return, the Al ash-Sheikh support the Al Saud's political authority[32] thereby using its religious-moral authority to legitimise the royal family's rule.[33] Consequently, each legitimises the other.[3]
As with the early Wahhabis, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab was criticised for disregarding Islamic history, mounments, traditions and the sanctity of Muslim life.[19] His own brother, Sulayman, was particularly critical, claiming he was ill-educated and intolerant, classing Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's views as fringe and fanatical.[19] Sulayman ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab also suggested his brother was selective with the juristic predecessors, to the point of being ignorantly dismissive towards some and treating others as divinely infallible. Both Sulayman and Ibn Humaydi (the Hanbali mufti in Mecca) suggested Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab was even selective with the works of Ibn Taymiyyah, whose views otherwise closely influenced the Wahhabis.[19]
Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab is accepted by Salafi scholars as an authority and source of reference.[34]
There are two contemporary histories of Muhammed ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab and his religious movement from the point of view of his supporters: Ibn Ghannam's Rawdhat al-Afkar wal-Afham or Tarikh Najd (History of Najd) and Ibn Bishr's 'Unwan al-Majd fi Tarikh Najd. Husain ibn Ghannam (d. 1811), an alim from al-Hasa was the only historian to have observed the beginnings of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's movement first-hand. His chronicle ends at the year 1797.[36][37] Ibn Bishr's chronicle, which stops at the year 1854, was written a generation later than Ibn Ghannam's, but is considered valuable partly because Ibn Bishr was a native of Najd and because he adds many details to Ibn Ghannam's account.[38]
A third account, dating from around 1817 is Lam' al-Shihab, written by an anonymous Sunni author who respectfully disapproved of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's movement, regarding it as a bid‘ah. It is also commonly cited because it is considered to be a relatively objective contemporary treatment of the subject. However, unlike Ibn Ghannam and Ibn Bishr, its author did not live in Najd and his work is believed to contain some apocryphal and legendary material with respect to the details of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's life.[39][40]