Imam ibn Taymiyya on Awliya

[Kowneyn]

Imam Ibn Taymiyya mentions in the volume already cited, page 190: "A servant of Allah, Almighty and Exalted, cannot be considered a saint unless he is a true believer. Allah mentions in Qur'an, Surat Yunus, 62-63: "Now surely, on the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve; those who believe and guard against evil."

 

He then quotes the famous hadith from Bukhari: "My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him."

 

He explains the phrase, "Whoever comes against one of My saints is challenging Me to fight" thus: "It means that Allah is expressing: 'I will seek revenge against anyone who comes against My saints like an aggressive lion.'" (p. 314)

 

Imam Ibn Taymiyya About Miracles of Saints

 

"It is said that after the Seal of Prophets (s), revelation does not descend upon anyone else. Why not? In fact it does, but then it is not called 'revelation.' It is what the Prophet (s) referred to when he said, 'The believer sees with the Light of God.' When the believer looks with God's Light, he sees all things: the first and the last, the present and the absent. For how can anything be hidden from God's Light? And if something is hidden, then that is not the Light of God. Therefore the meaning of revelation exists, even if it is not called revelation."

 

From Rama's Fihi ma fihi.

 

Ibn Taymiyya continues in the same book, Majmu'a Fatawi Ibn Taymiyya: "What is considered as a miracle for a saint is that sometimes the saint might hear something that others do not hear or see something that others do not see, not while asleep, but in a wakened state of vision. He can know things that others cannot know, through revelation or inspiration."

 

In another book, Mukhtasar al-Fatawa al-Masriyya, published by al-Madani Publishing House, 1980, page 603, he writes: "The miracles of saints are absolutely true and correct, and acknowledged by all Muslim scholars. The Qur'an has pointed to it in different places, and the Hadith of the Prophet (s) have mentioned it, and whoever denies the miraculous power of saints are innovators or following innovators."

 

He continues quoting the Prophet's saying about the saints: "You are the witnesses of Allah on earth."

 

Imam Ibn Taymiyya About the Unveiling of Appearances

 

He said (volume 11, page 313): "Allah Almighty will unveil to his saints states that have never been unveiled before and He will give them support without measure. If that saint begins to speak from the things of the unseen, past or present or future, it is considered from the viewpoint of Bab al-cilm al-khariq, miraculous knowledge. Anything that a saint does which is from the unseen, for people or for listeners, of healing or teaching knowledge, it is accepted and we must thank Allah for it."

 

Imam Ibn Taymiyya Mentions some Great Shaikhs of Sufism

 

In the volume entitled cIlm as-Suluk, ("The Science of Travelling the Way to God"), which consists of the entire 775 pages of volume 10 of Majmaca al-Fatawa, he says (p. 516): "The great Sufi shaikhs are well known and accepted,such as: Bayazid al-Bistami, Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, Junaid ibn Muhammad, Hasan al-Basri, al Fudayl ibn al-Ayyad, Ibrahim bin al-Adham, Abi Sulayman ad-Daarani, Ma'ruf al-Karkhi, Siri as-Saqati, Shaikh Hammad, Shaikh Abul Bayan.

 

"Those great Sufis were the leaders of humanity, and they were calling to what is right and forbidding what is wrong."

 

Ibn Taymiyya's Qadiri Lineage as a Sufi Shaikh

 

At present we are in a position to go much further than saying that Ibn Taymiyya simply praised Sufism. We can say with definitiveness that he was an aspirant in the Sufi Way who belonged to more than one tariqat, primarily to theQadiri Tariqat, of Shaikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani.

 

In a unique manuscript of the H anbali Yusuf ibn cAbd al-Hadi (d. 909 H./1503 CE), entitled Bad' al-culqa bi labs al-khirqa, uncovered in the Princeton University Library, Ibn Taymiyya is listed in a Sufi spiritual genealogy with other well-known Hanbali scholars. The links in this genealogy are, in descending order from cAbdul Qadir Jilani:

 

Shaikh cAbdul Qadir Jilani (d. 561 H./1165 CE)

 

Abu cUmar b. Qudama (d. 607 H./1210 CE)

 

Muwaffaq ad-Din b. Qudama (d. 620 H./1223 CE)

 

Ibn cAli b. Qudama (d. 682 H./1283 CE)

 

Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H./1328 CE)

 

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751 H./1350 CE)

 

Ibn Rajab (d. 795 H./1393 CE)

 

Furthermore, there is another unique manuscript, also found in the Princeton Library, of the work of Ibn Taymiyya himself, in a book named, Targhib al-Mutahabbin fi labs Khirqat al-Mutammayyazan by Jamal ad-Dan al-Talyani. Here are Ibn Taymiyya's own words, as quoted from a work of his, al-Mas'ala at-Tabraziyya: "I wore the blessed Sufi cloak of Shaikh cAbdul Qadir Jilani, there being between him and me two Sufi shaikhs."

 

In another manuscript he said, "I have worn the Sufi cloak of a number of Sufi shaikhs, belonging to various tariqats, among them Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, whose tariqat is the greatest of the well-known ones, may Allah have mercy on him."

 

After him, the lineage continues on to his student, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, and his student Ibn Rajab.

 

The references for what we have mentioned are: "al-Hadi" manuscript in Princeton Library, Yahuda Collection, fol. 154a, 169b, 171b-172a; "at-Talyani," manuscript, Chester Beatty, 3296 (8) in Dublin, fol. 67a.

[Armstrong]

Salaamu Alaikum,

 

Interesting articles of Ibn Taymiyah' works one of the mightest scholars of Islam. All Muslims should follow the path of such scholars and work on themselves by undertaking Jihadul Nafs to reduce our sins and repent and increase the axsanu camala (good deeds).

 

Keep up the Jihaad...

 

W/Salaam,

[Rahima]

It is well known that Shaykul-Islam ibn Taymiyyah refuted Sufism and so for anyone to attribute sufism to him is to not only lie and backbite him but rather slander him for the blessed prophet s.a.w said backbiting was to say of someone something which is true but he/she dislikes and to slander someone is to attribute something to them which is completely false and they disllike. Anyone who knows anything about history would know that the Shaykh spent most of his life fighting against the bidcas of the Sufis.

 

Ibn Taymiyah ® mentions in Al-Fataawaa (11/7) from Muhammad ibn Seereen (a famous Tabi'ee who died in 110H) that it reached him that a certain people had taken to wearing woollen clothes in order to resemble 'Isa ibn Maryam (AS), so he said: 'There are a people (Sufis) who have chosen and preferred the wearing of woollen clothes, claiming that they want to resemble Al-Maseeh ibn Maryam (AS). But the way of our Prophet (SAAW) is more beloved to us, and the Prophet (SAAW) used to wear cotton and other garments. I believe from this it is clear the Shaykh was in conflict with the sufis because of their many bidcas including the continuous wearing of wool (believing its a religious duty).

 

Speaking of the false miracles claimed by many Sufi leaders, Ibn Taymiyah said:

 

"It may also be done with the help of their devils as they are a people who are as closely attended by devils as they are by their own brothers... These people who experience these satanic happenings are under a great delusion, in their foolishness they are deprived of all blessings, they only increase that which is feared, they devour the wealth of the people in futile acts, they do not order the good, nor do they forbid evil, and they do not fight Jihaad in Allah's Cause." [Al-Fataawaa].

 

Brother Mujahid, do not be fooled akhi, this is either a false accusation to the shaykh (there are many of those of the internet) or it is taken out of context. Allah knows best, but believe you me the shaykh was not very impressed with sufism. As for tasawuf, yes it exists in Islam but not as defined by the sufis. Tasawuf just means purification, but as will all actions it must be in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah to be accepted by Allah. Islam requires not only intention (for i know many who follow sufism have good intentions)but also correct following of our blessed prophet. Our religion was completed as told to us by Allah, we DO NOT need Shaykhs to "continue the revelation", it was completed already.

[Samafal]

Salaam,

It is known from our religion that saints exist and as you quoted the ayah there should be iman and taqwa to gain that status. Any one who have these two chracters could be wali on his own benefits and all saints can do for us is to do Dua for us as their prayer is mustajabah. It is important that our great sahabas were all saints, who is more saint than Abubakar(Thaniya Ithneyn), cumar ibnu khatab, Uthman ibnu caffan, Caliyi ibnu abiii talib and all the rest? No one . so we know how they spent their lives standing for this religion however they could until they passed away may Allah's consent be upon them. And any one who follow their way of life will be Wali.

 

it is not for us to say who is saint and who is not. it is ONLY ALLAH who knows what are in the hearts (Iman and taqwa).

[Taqwa]

To Whom It May Concern!

 

To say Ibn Taimiyah was pro-Sufism is either ignorance, or lack of knowledge about this great individual. Are we forgetting that one of the reasons he got arrested during his life time was his attack on Sufism. Most of the Sultans at that time where very sympathetic to Sufism and Ibn Taimiyah was the only individual who challenged their distorted believes.

 

Let me remind your what a Sufi is:

 

-It's a person who hates this dunya and spends his time/energy worshipping Allah.

-Studying the Quran and Sunnah of the RAsul (pbuh).

 

**That is what a Sufi Muslim does. He doesn't put on some super-man uniform and perform some sort of stupid dance. NO this is nonsense.

 

NOW wahhabism is just a word, and the last name of a Sheikh so lets not use it, we'll let CNN do that.

 

P.S. Another point I wanted to add is that Ibn Taiymiah and Imam Ahmed ibn hanbal where the inspiration for Sheikh Mohamed Ibn abd-al-Wahhab. One of the men that Sheikh Mohamed loved to study was Ibn taymiah and I remember that Sheikh abd al-wahhab considered Sufism as shirkh. So brother Kowneyn, your article discredits itself. Plus it was written by a Shia Sufi in the late 1990's, incase you didn't know that.

 

I didn't want to reply to these arguments going on between Kowneyen, Yacquup, and Rahima, but I just want to say that it’s worthless and time consuming to discuss something that has no benefit but just discredits great Sheikhs. So next time you take the task of arguing be smart about it guys.

 

****My post isn't intended to argue but to make some issue's clear.

 

Cheers,

Taqwa

[Samafal]

salaam,

 

Taqwa,

 

Thanks for commenting. Before saying that our urgument is worthless i advice you to take a few minutes to follow up all brother kowneyn's posts you will find out then who is discrediting sheikhs and who is not.

 

salaams

[Kowneyn]

Ms Assomaali:

 

Somalis say: Doqoni halkii lagu gartamo in lagu kala tagayay mooda.

 

Imaam ibn Taymiya (raximullaah) criticism and or warning to those who are on the path doesnot mean a denouncement. In fact, no true scholar can denounce the essence of tasawwuf since its the heart of islam. Such caution is prudent since the path entails inner jihad or is a spiritual jihad. One should know that ur delving into a different dimension or another realm of your existence. You and your brothers in islam seen or unseen are facing an enemy with different kind of arsenal so dont be deluded or enticed. Keep yourself focused in attaining your goal.

 

The sheikh(radiallaahu canhu) was not outsider to the establishment, he infact calls his shaikh the Grand Shaikh Cabdul-Qadir Al-Jillaani (radiyallaahu canhu). One may not aggree with all his conclusions about other parts of the diin but regarding sufis his criticism did not mean denouncement.

 

They say dont throw the baby with the bath water.!!!

 

Its one think for this shaykh to criticise some sufis and their practices but its another to denounce tasawwuf al-together.

 

Only shaydaan will order you to throw the baby along with the bathwater!!!

 

To reject tasawwuf al-together and its role in islam or to deny, belittle and or side-line the awliya amounts to throwing the baby with the bath water!!!

This is why ulema urged muslim to keep good opinion of the sufis because they are the order of awliya and the doctors of the hearts.

 

Its obvious to any discerning mind what the source of wahhabism/salafism is since its main target is tasawwuf and they belittle, deny and sideline the awliya.

 

Kowneyn

[Kowneyn]

Taqwa:

 

Tasawwuf is not hatred of the world but striking the correct balance by which everything is prioritized correctly according to the way Allaah wish it. The ultimate goal is to reach a state where ur constantly concious of ALLAAH and perpetually obedient while living and loving in this world.

 

Regarding the whirling dance of the dervishes its meant to explain visually concepts in Islam and its philosophy( among them the three levels of yaqiin or conviction). This our heritage from one of the walis of Allaah (radiallaahu canhu)

 

I think he said: that a he-devil dances to seduce a she-devil.

But I dance for the love of ALLAAH

 

He also said: “Wherever men or women put a big lock, that is a sign of something precious and valuable. Just like the snake that guards a treasure, do not regard what repels you, but look instead at the preciousness of the treasure.”

 

With that in mind this poem may give you a clearer image of what is meant:

 

Rumi -

The Dancing Cry Of The Soul

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Love is the dancing cry of the soul, calling the body to worship

Like a shining whirlpool, or a spinning mayfly

So is love among the skies.

 

I leap across the mountaintops, madly singing the song of all songs

I float through the ether, intoxicated, thrilled

I think only of your love, your calling to me

And I dance the thousand dances of love, all returning to you.

 

It is not the play of children, nor the detached unity of wise sages

Unreal! Unnecessary!

Where is the beauty?

 

When I, like a glowing comet, may flash around your sun

Laughing, singing, with the joy of loving you!

 

Wine makes drunk the mind and body

But it is love which thrills the soul

When I approach you, I feel the mad pounding of love

The singing wonder

The joy which opens blossoms on the trees of the world.

 

Come to me, and I shall dance with you

In the temples, on the beaches, through the crowded streets

Be you man or woman, plant or animal, slave or free

I shall show you the brilliant crystal fires, shining within

I shall show you the beauty deep within your soul

I shall show the path beyond Heaven.

 

Only dance, and your illusions will blow in the wind

Dance, and make joyous the love around you

Dance, and your veils which hide the Light

Shall swirl in a heap at your feet.

[Rahima]

Read once more-

 

"Tasawuf just means purification, but as will all actions it must be in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah to be accepted by Allah."

 

Does that sound like denial to you? :rolleyes: I did not deny Tasawuf, just the definition given to it by the sufis.

 

And if you don't think fighting a people because of their innovations to our complete religion is to denounce their practise, Sufism, then you obviously have difficulty in understanding what it means to denounce. Also, I don't believe Shaykh Abdul-Qadir Jaylani was a Sufi, i believe he was a Muslim, a shaykh i respect and love. Just because some innovaters attribute their acts to him doesn't make him as part of them. It seems some us are trying to do the same with Shykh-ul-islam ibn Taymiyyah.

 

Anyway, on the Day of Judgement Allah will resolve all conflicts, all disagreements and set the right. So on that day brother konweyn since you obviously think your so high and mighty, you debate the issue with Imam Muhammed ibn Abdulwahab and we will see who was confused. Also while your at it, why don't you confirm weather or not ibn Taymiyah was in agreement with sufism. Quite arguing with us all, if your so sure, then let it be, frankly i don't see this as beneficial as brother Taqwa said. Inshallah i have done my best to defend the scholars of Islam and once again warn you from this evil act.

 

w/salaam wr wb

[Taqwa]

Dear Kownyen,

 

If humanity where given the gift of seeing with the eyes of our beloved Rasul (pbuh) then this world would be different, yet mankind has been drawn to argue with the simplest of questions. I for one hate to quarrel , especially on religious topics. Every Muslim has a incontestable believe in his heart, and it shall be seen in the day of Judgement. I truly respect Sufi's, and I respect anyone that advocates for the Quran and the teachings of Mohamed(pbuh). Why should I concern myself with Wahhabis or Sufism when this world could end in any minute. Follow the Quran and the Sunnah, then inshallah everything will fall in place for you. You seem to be passionate for Sufism, but you must remember that Rumi said, “ passion is the cause of confusion for the mind.” So lets use the faculty of reasoning when dealing with such delicate topics concerning great Sheikhs. I advice you to do what you like. Its up to you if you want to continue with this debate or not. The above paragraph is meant to show you what is logical in my views.

 

Good Day Walaal.

[Haashim]

Assalaamu calaykum wa raxmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu

 

to contribute this subject i want to repeat the saying "the names cann't change the reality of things" the sufism begins the early times of islam but some misused and gave a bad picture, thats why many muslim ulams fought these bad sufi claimers to show the people that this is not the right way but they didn't fight against good sufism and they never blame the good famous ulamas like QAZAALI and many others who were labeled to this name instead they were using for their lives, sayings etc as a examples of a salf salih. Imam ibn taymiyah and ibn qayim are among these big ulumas who fought the bad sufism and defend good muslism weather they are labeled to sufism or not, and its unimaginable to think that IMAMS such a ibn taymiya and his student ibn qayim to hide us the reality of sufism and how it begun and its good picture and to show us only one side of the reality as many sheikhs do today when they are speaking about the sufism, they show us only like shekh abdi xaadir who's purpose to get as much money as he can from the shoppers of mogadsisho markets and forgetting the bright and fruitfull sides of sufism e.g how they fought against imperialism how they teach KORAN AND SUNNAH to many students who unfortunately some of them became their bitter enemies, how they kept us our religion so long time enz. so, it's far such imams (IBN TAYMIYAH AND IBN QAYIM)to forget the bright side of one thing and to concentrate on one side, anyone who intrest how they defend good sufism can read IQAATHATU LAHFAAN MIN MAZAAYIDISHAYDAAN (RESCUING FROM SHAYDANS NETS)and ARRUUH (THE SOUL) for IBN QAYIM also mMADAARIJI SAALIKIIN and others also please read RAFCULMALAAM CAN AIMATIL ACLAAM for IBN TAYMIYAH which shaykh defending all muslim ulumas (particullarly 4 big imams) when he saw some faasiqiin talking about them as they do today.

so please don't generalise anything, sufisim has many positive sides and it will keep inshaaallah. if there are some bad sufisim we have to know that all islam madhabis there are good and bad fellowers, so we should be rightous for our saying.

WASALAAMU CALAYKUM.

[Kowneyn]

For the record: I have not insulted any scholar except to prove the source of salafis?wahhabism the Shaikh an-Najdi (M ibn Abdul-Wahhab)--the kunya or the nickname given to shaydan by none other than rasuulullaah scws. If you had an ounce of sense and faith the very name of this Shaikh should ring bells in your heads.

 

Here is what one of the scholars of the ahlul sunnah said about him:

 

Muhammad Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab was born in 1111 and died in 1207 (1699-1792 CE). At the outset of his career, he used to go back and forth to Mecca and Madina in quest of knowledge.  In Madina, he studied with Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Sulayman al-Kurdi and Shaykh Muhammad Hayat al-Sindi (d. 1750).  These two shaykhs as well as others with whom he studied early on detected the heresy of Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab's creed.  They used to say: "Allah will allow him be led astray; but even unhappier will be the lot of those misled by him."  Circumstances had reached this state when his father `Abd al-Wahhab, a pious scholars of the religion, detected heresy in his belief and began to warn others about his son.  His own brother Sulayman soon followed suit, going so far as to write a book entitled al-Sawa`iq (the thunderbolts)[3] to refute the innovative and subversive creed manufactured by Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab.

 

            Famous writers of the day made a point of noting  the similarity between Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab's beginnings and those of the false prophets prominent in Islam's initial epoch like Musaylima the Prevaricator, Sajah al-Aswad al-Anasi, Tulaiha al-Asadi and others of their kind.[4]  What was different in `Abd al-Wahhab's case was his concealment in himself of any outright claim to prophecy.  Undoubtedly, he was unable to gain support enough to openly proclaim it.  Nevertheless,  he would call those who came from abroad to join his movement Muhajirun and those who came from his own region Ansar in patent imitation of those who took flight from Mecca with the Prophet Muhammad in contrast  to the inhabitants of Madina at the start of Islam.  Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab habitually ordered anyone who had already made the obligatory Pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca prior joining him to remake it since Allah had not accepted it the first time they performed because  they had done so as unbelievers.  He was also given to telling people wishing to enter his religion: "You must bear witness against yourself that you were a disbeliever and you must bear witness against your parents that they were disbelievers and died as such."

 

             His practice was to declare a group of famous scholars of the past unbelievers.  If a potential recruit to his movement agreed and testified to the truth of that declaration,  he  was accepted; if not, an order was given and he was summarily put to death.  Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab made no secret of his view that the Muslim community had existed for the last six hundred years in a state of unbelief (kufr) and he said the same of whoever did not follow him.  Even if a person was the most pious and Allah-fearing of Muslims, he would denounce them as idolaters (mushrikun), thus making the shedding of their blood and confiscation of their wealth licit (halal). 

 

            On the other hand, he affirmed the faith of anyone who followed him even though they be persons of most notoriously corrupt and profligate styles of life .  He played always on a single theme: the dignity to which Allah had entitled him. This directly corresponded to the decreased reverence he claimed was due the  Prophet whose status as Messenger he frequently depreciated using language fit to describe an errand boy rather than a divinely commissioned apostle of faith. He would say such things as  "I looked up the account of Hudaybiyya and found it to contain this or that  lie."  He was in the habit of using contemptuous speech of this kind to the point that one follower felt free to say in his actual  presence: "This stick in my hand is better than Muhammad because it benefits me by enabling me to walk.  But Muhammad is dead and benefits me not at all".  This, of course, expresses nothing less than disbelief and counts legally as such in the fours schools of Islamic law.[5]

 

             Returning always to the same theme, Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab used to say that prayer for the Prophet was reprehensible and disliked (makruh) in the Shari`a. He would prohibit blessings on  the Prophet from being recited on the eve of Friday prayer and their public utterance from the minbar, and punish harshly anyone who pronounced such blessings. He even went so far as to kill a blind mu'adhdhin (caller to prayer) who did not cease  and desist when he commanded him to abandon praying for the Prophet in the conclusion to his call to prayer.  He deceived his followers by saying that all that was done to keep monotheism pure.

 

            At the same time, he burned many books containing prayers for the Prophet, among them Dala'il al-Khayrat and others, similar in content and theme. In this fashion, he destroyed countless books on Islamic law, commentary on the Qur'an, and the science of hadith whose common fault lay in their contradiction of his own vacuous creed. While doing this, however, he never ceased encouraging any follower to interpret Qur'an and hadith for himself and to execute this informed only by the light of his own understanding, darkened though it be through errant belief and heretical indoctrination.

 

            Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab clung fiercely to denouncing people as unbelievers.  To do this he used Qur'anic verses  originally revealed about idolaters and extended their application to monotheists.  It has been narrated  by `Abd Allah Ibn `Umar and recorded by Imam Bukhari in his book of sound hadiths that the Khawarij transferred the Qur'anic verses meant to refer to unbelievers and made them refer to believers.[6]  He also relates another narration transmitted on the authority of Ibn `Umar whereby the Prophet, on him be peace, said: "What I most fear in my community is a man who interprets verses of the Qur'an out of context." The latter hadith and the one preceding it apply to the case of Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab and his followers.

 

            It is obvious the intention to found a new religion lay behind his statements and actions. In consequence, the only thing he accepted from the religion of our Prophet, on him be peace was the Qur'an. Yet even this was a matter of surface show.  It allowed people to be ignorant of what his aims really were. Indicating this is the way he and his followers used to interpret the Qur'an according to their own whim and ignore the commentary provided by the Prophet, on him be peace, his Companions, the pious predecessors of our Faith (al-salaf al-salihun), and the Imams of Qur'anic commentary.  He did not argue on the strength of the narrations of the Prophet and sayings of the Companions, the Successors to the Companions and the Imams among those who derived rulings in the Shari`a by means of ijtihad nor did he adjudicate legal cases on the basis of the principle sources (usul) of the Shari`a; that is, he did not adhere to Consensus (ijma`) nor to sound analogy (qiyas).  Although he claimed to belong to the legal school (madhhab) of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, this pretense was motivated by falsehood and dissimulation.  The scholars and jurists of the Hanbali school rejected his multifarious errors.  They wrote numerous articles refuting him including his brother whose book  touching on Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab's errors was mentioned earlier.

 

            The learned Sayyid al-Haddad al-Alawi[7] said: "In our opinion, the one element in the statements and actions of Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab that makes his departure from the foundations of Islam unquestionable is the fact that he, without support of any generally accepted interpretation of Qur'an or Sunna (bi la ta'wil), takes matters in our religion necessarily well-known to be objects of prohibition (haram) agreed upon by consensus (ijma`) and makes them permissible (halal).[8] Furthermore, along with that he disparages the prophets, the messengers, saints and the pious.  Willful disparagement of anyone failing under these categories of person is unbelief (kufr) according to the consensus reached by the four Imams of the schools of Islamic law.

 

            Then he wrote an essay called "The Clarification of Unclarity Concerning the Creator of Heaven and Earth" (kashf al-shubuhat `an khaliq al-ardi wa al-samawat)[9] for Ibn Sa`ud. In this work he declared that all present-day Muslims are disbelievers and have been so for the last six hundred years.  He applied the verses in the Qur'an, meant to refer to disbelievers among the tribe of the Quraysh to most Allah-fearing and pious individuals of the Muslim community.  Ibn Sa`ud naturally took this work as a pretext and device for extending his political sovereignty by subjecting the Arabs to his dominance.  Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab began to call people to his religion and instilled in their hearts the idea that every one under the sun was an idolater. What's more, anyone who slew an idolater, when he died, would go immediately to paradise.

 

            As a consequence, Ibn Sa`ud carried out whatever Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab ordered.  If he commanded him to kill someone and seize his property, he hastened to do just that.  Indeed, Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab sat among his folk like a prophet in the midst of his community.  His people did not forsake one jot or little of what he told them to do and acted only as he commanded, magnifying him to the highest degree and honoring him in every conceivable way.  The clans and tribes of the Arabs continued to magnify him in this manner until, by that means, the dominion of Ibn Sa`ud increased far and wide as well as that of his sons after him.

 

            The Sharif of Mecca, Ghalib, waged war against Ibn Sa`ud for fifteen years  until he grew too old and weak to fight.  No one remained if his supporters except they joined the side of his foe.  It was then that Ibn Sa`ud entered Mecca in a negotiated peace settlement in the year 1220 (1805 CE). There he abided for some seven years until the Sublime Porte (i.e. the Ottoman government) raised a military force  addressing command to its minister, the honorable Muhammad `Ali Pasha, ruler of Egypt. His intrepid army advanced against Ibn Sa`ud and cleared the land of him and his followers.  Then, he summoned his son Ibrahim Pasha who arrived in the district in the year 1233 (1818 CE). He finished off what remained of them.           

 

            Among the hideous abominations of Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab was his prohibiting people from visiting the tomb of the Prophet, on him be Allah's blessing and peace. After his prohibition, a group went out from Ahsa to visit the Prophet.  When they returned, they passed by Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab in the district and he commanded that their beards be shaved and they be saddled on their mounts backwards to return in this fashion to Ahsa.  The Prophet, on him be peace, related information about those Khawarij preserved in numerous hadiths.  Indeed, these sayings constitute one of the signs of his prophethood; for they convey knowledge of the unseen.  Among them are his statements in Bukhari and Muslim: "Discord there; discord there!" pointing to the East; and "A people will come out of the East who will read Qur'an with it not getting past their throats.  They will pass through the religion like an arrow when it passes clean through the flesh of its quarry and comes back pristine and prepared to be shot once again from the bow. They will bear a sign in the shaving of their heads." Another narration of the hadith adds: "They are calamity for the whole of Allah's creation; Blessed is he who kills them" or "Slay them! For though they appeal to Allah's Book, they have no share therein." He said: O Allah! bless us in our Syria and bless us in our Yemen!" They said: O Messenger of Allah! And in our Najd? but he replied: In Najd will occur earthquakes and discords; in it will dawn the epoch [or horn] of Shaytan." Again he said: "A people will come out of the East, reading the Qur'an and yet it will not get past their throats. Whenever one generation is cut off, another arises until the last dawns with the coming of Antichrist.  They will bear a sign in the shaving of their heads."

 

            Now the Prophet's words explicitly specify in text his reference to those people coming out of the East, following Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab in the innovations he made in Islam. For they were in the habit of ordering those who followed them to shave their heads and once they began to follow them, they did not abandon this practice. In none of the sects of the past prior to that of Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab did the likes of this practice occur.[10] He even ordered the women who followed him to shave their heads. Once he ordered a woman who entered his new religion to shave her head.  She replied: " If you ordered men to shave off their beards, then it would be permissible for you to order a woman to shave her head.  But the hair on a woman's head has the same sacred status as a man's beard."  Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab was unable to answer her.

 

            Found among the narrations transmitted from the Prophet, on him be peace, is his statement: "At the end of time, a man will rise up in the same region from which once rose Musaylima.  He would change the religion of Islam."  Another saying has it: "From Najd a Shaytan will appear on the scene causing the Arab peninsula to erupt in earthquake from discord and strife."

 

            One of the abominations of Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab was his burning of books containing works of Islamic science and his slaughter of the scholars of our faith and people both of the top classes and common people.  He made the shedding of their blood and confiscation of their property and wealth licit well as digging up graves of awliya (saints).  In Ahsa, for example, he ordered that some of the graves of awliya be used by people to relieve the wants of nature.  He forbade people to read Imam Jazuli's Dala'il al-Khayrat, to perform supererogatory acts of devotion, to utter the names of Allah in His remembrance, to read the mawlid celebrating the Prophet's birth, or to evoke blessings and prayers on the Prophet from the Minaret after the call to prayer.  What's more, he killed whoever dared to do any of those things.  He forbade any kind of act of worship after the canonical prayers.  He would publicly declare a Muslim a disbeliever for requesting a prophet, angel or individual of saintly life to join his or her prayers to that person's own prayer expressing some intention whose fulfillment might be asked of Allah as, for example, when one supplicates the Creator for the sake of Muhammad, on him be peace, to accomplish such-and-such  a need.  He also said anyone who addressed a person as lord or master (sayyid) was a disbeliever.

 

            Undoubtedly, one of the worst abominations perpetrated by the Wahhabis under the leadership of Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab was the massacre of the people of Ta'if. upon entering that town.  They killed everyone in sight, slaughtering both child and adult, the ruler and the ruled, the lowly and well-born.  They began with a suckling child nursing at his mother's breast and moved on to a group studying Qur'an, slaying them, down to the last man.  And when they wiped out the people they found in the houses, they went out into the streets, the shops and the mosques, killing whoever happened to be there.  They killed even men bowed in prayer until they had annihilated every Muslim who dwelt in Ta'if and only a remnant, some twenty or more, remained. 

 

            These were holed up in Beit al-Fitni with ammunition, inaccessible to their approach.  There was another group at Beit al-Far to the number of two-hundred and seventy who fought them that day, then the second and third until the Wahhabis sent them a guarantee of clemency; only they tendered this proposal as a trick.  For when they entered, they seized their weapons and slew them to a man.  Others, they also brought out with a guarantee of clemency and a pact to the valley of Waj where they abandoned them in the cold and snow, barefoot, naked exposed in shame with their women, accustomed to the privacy afforded them by common decency and religious morality.  They, then, plundered their possessions: wealth of any kind, household furnishings and cash. 

 

            They cast books into the streets alleys and byways to be blown to and fro by the wind  among which could be found copies of the Qur'an, volumes of Bukhari, Muslim, other canonical collections of hadith and books of fiqh, all  mounting to the thousands. These books remained there for several days, trampled upon by the Wahhabis. What's more, no one among them made the slightest attempt to remove even one page of Qur'an from under foot to preserve it from the ignominy of this display of disrespect.  Then, they raised the houses and made what was once a town a barren waste land.  That was in the year 1217 (1802 CE).

 

 

2:  The Wahhabis and their

   Recent Rebellion (1905)

 

The leader of the Wahhabis at the time of the present account is `Abd al-Rahman Ibn Faysal, one of the sons of Muhammad Ibn Sa`ud, the Rebel who turned his face in disobedience to the greater Islamic Caliphate in the year 1205 (1790 CE). The incidents he occasioned with the Sharif of Mecca, Ghalib continued up to 1220 (1805 CE). Then, when the Sharif's power to do battle with him waned, the Sublime Porte raised a military force against him, charging its minister the late Muhammad `Ali Pasha, ruler of Egypt, and his son, the late lbrahim Pasha, with its command as we pointed out in the preceding chapter just as books of history have written it down.

 

            Now this `Abd al-Rahman was for almost thirty years governor of Riyadh.  Then, Muhammad Ibn al-Rashid, took over Najd as its governor and Ibn Sa`ud fled to the remote areas by the sea coast.  He ultimately ended up in Kuwait where he remained in humiliating poverty.  Nor did anyone feel sorry for him until the Sublime Porte looked on him with favor and afforded him a remittance. Thereupon, he began to live a more comfortable life, though in a state of exile, due to the largesse of the Ottoman government.     

 

            When Muhammad Ibn al Rashid died, May Allah have mercy on his soul, his nephew came to power, `Abd al-Aziz Ibn Mut'ab Ibn al-Rashid, who is governor of Najd at the time of writing this.  It fell out that an incident took place between the `Abd al-Aziz just mentioned and the Shaykh of Kuwait, Mubarak Ibn Sabah.  Behind it was Mubarak Ibn Sabah's murder of his brother, Muhammad Ibn Sabah who was, at that time, locum tenens or temporary substitute of the Sublime Porte in Kuwait.  The same individual also murdered his other brother and robbed his children of an immense inheritance. The latter heirs, thereupon, fled the fratricide's further pursuit.  Faced with this state affairs, the uncle of the murdered children, Yusuf Ibn Ibrahim, took refuge with `Abd al-Aziz Ibn al-Rashid, the Governor of Najd, taking sides in his presence against his own brother Mubarak Ibn Sabah, the aforementioned fratricide, in an attempt get back the wealth the latter had robbed from his nephews.

 

            Negotiations of reconciliation broke down to the point that each of the two parties in the dispute fitted out an army, one against the other.  The two armies clashed at a place called Tarafiya.  Mubarak Ibn Sabah suffered defeat and some four thousands fighters from his army were killed, although he escaped unharmed.  He fled back to Kuwait vanquished and humiliated.  However, no time elapsed before Ibn Sabah sought foreign protection and rebelled again.  The foreigners supplied both money and arms.  Then, the power of `Abd al-Rahman ibn Faysal ibn Sa`ud began to wax strong against the Governor of Najd, al-Rashid.  It chanced that the latter was at that moment preoccupied by military expeditions in the remote districts of Riyadh.

 

            Mubarak Ibn Sabah seized his opportunity.  Helped by foreigners with money and weapons, he fitted out an army and placed it under the command of that `Abd al-Rahman mentioned earlier.  Ibn Sabah dispatched him to Riyadh to capture it, occupy it by force, fortify its barriers and entrench himself within.  When the news of what had happened reached the governor, Ibn al-Rashid, he returned and encircled it for a time with the intent of taking it back.  His encampment around Riyadh lasted for a year.  Then, something occurred in one of remote areas of the district that distracted him from the encirclement and he abandoned it.  This afforded Ibn Sa`ud an opportunity as well, for he came out with his army outfitted with foreign aid and seized `Unayza, Burayda, and the remainder of the regions of Qusaym.

 

             The Sublime Porte witnessed the hostile action of `Abd al-Rahman, his rebellion and insolence against its friend the faithful Governor of Najd, Ibn al-Rashid, as well as his  defection to the foreigner, it dispatched a squadron from its intrepid armies as a support for the Governor of Najd, Ibn al-Rashid to cut off the rear end of those renegades and crush their hostile activities. Ibn al-Rashid snuffed out the sparks of sedition.  The Ottoman forces clashed with the rebels, the party of Ibn Sa`ud near the town of Bahkrama in the region of Qusaym.  A fierce battle between the two forces ensued, issuing finally in the defeat of the rebellious party, the forces of Ibn Sa`ud.  The victorious army took possession of eleven standards of their defeated foe.  Ibn al-Rashid and his soldiers were extolled for their role in crushing the enemy in this battle and their bravery; the memory of it will last forever.  This praise has an undeniable base in fact, word and deed.  [At the time of writing this,] the vanquished are presently enclosed and surrounded with the intrepid forces of Ibrahim Pasha looking on and encompassing them round about, praised for their exemplary manner of containing the enemy and curbing his defiance.

 

 

When Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab saw that the inhabitants of the rural regions of Najd were different from the urbane world of its cities, he would extol the simplicity and innocence of human beings as they are found in the primordial state of the Arabs.  Ignorance, then, gained the upper hand among the city-dwellers so that sciences of an intellectual character lost status in their eyes.  Besides, there was no longer an appetite in their hearts for things sound and wholesome, once he had sewn in their hearts the seeds of corruption and vice.  For it was to vice and corruption that his own soul had become attuned since time immemorial nourished by his grab at  political leadership masked under the name of religion.  After all, he believed -- May Allah revile him -- that prophethood was only a matter of political leadership which the cleverest people attain when circumstances help them in the form of an ignorant and uninformed crowd.

 

 

In Madina, he studied with Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Sulayman al-Kurdi and Shaykh Muhammad Hayat al-Sindi (d. 1750).  These two shaykhs as well as others with whom he studied early on detected the heresy of Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab's creed.  They used to say: "Allah will allow him be led astray; but even unhappier will be the lot of those misled by him."