Wahhabism
The Active Reformer
Who was this man the danger of whose teachings the West has suddenly discovered three hundred years after his birth (in 1703)? He was born in the small village of Uyayna, in Najd, the eastern region of what is now Saudi Arabia. His biographers tell us that even as a child he was not only very religious but also very intelligent and eloquent. He memorized all of the Quran before he was ten. Even with the little knowledge that he had as a young man of twelve, he could see the great divergence between what he learnt and what was happening in his society. He did not like the passive attitude of the scholars of his village, and started advocating the true religion, which he came to know. Finding no good response in his village, he migrated to the Western part of Saudi Arabia, called Hijaz, to perform hajj and to acquire more knowledge. Having achieved what he had traveled for, he went back to his town to continue his studies under his father.
He felt that his thirst for knowledge was not quenched by what he had already acquired under his father and the learned men in Hijaz, and decided therefore to make a trip to Iraq to meet more learned people and benefit from them. He arrived in Basra in 1724 where he met a great learned man who had the same feeling towards the sorry state of Muslims, and who, like the Sheikh, believed that something had to be done. Thus, while in Basra, the Sheikh did not confine himself to studying, but took an active part in fighting the many deviant innovations which had become for many people part of the Islamic religion, like the veneration of saints and their tombs. He did win some supporters, but his enemies were greater. These included an extremist Shi'ah sect that was famous for those deviant practices, which he considered to be forms of worship that contradicted the basic Islamic doctrine that no one except the one true God should be worshipped. He was forced by these deviant groups, under threat of death, to leave Basra. After a very difficult journey he went back to join his father in his new town of Huraymila in Najd, in about 1727, to continue his program of studying, teaching and preaching for about fifteen years. News of the Sheikh and his activities started to spread, especially because of the many messages he was in the habit of sending to important personalities: learned people, rulers and anyone in a position of leadership. As a result, people started to flock to his town to express their approval and acceptance of his teachings, to know more about them, and to take part in the endeavor of spreading them. It was during this time that he wrote his most important and popular pamphlet, The Book of Tawheed (monotheism) That is Allahs Right Against His Servants. But again the Sheikh was met with very strong opposition, and again he had, under threat of death, to leave the town and go back to his home-town, al Uyayna. He was welcomed and encouraged by the Prince of this town, a certain Uthman ibn Maamar, who accepted his teachings and became a strong supporter. To strengthen his bond with the Sheikh he gave him his paternal aunt in marriage. As a ruler, and in consultation with the Sheikh, he started to promulgate the Shari'ah; he adhered very strongly to the Islamic principles of justice, and began to remove all remnants of injustices, and fight and punish criminals. News of all this spread in Arabia, as a result of which many rulers began to see in him a potential danger to their power. One of these was the ruler of Ahsa, Sulayman al Muhammad who wrote to Maamar telling him to either kill Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab or send him out of his city. Maamar could not afford to refuse because he used to depend economically on this Sulayman. So he told the Sheikh that there was no way for him to disobey Sulayman, and asked him in a polite way to leave. Thus after four years in his home-town he chose to go to the town of Diriya. It was natural for the Prince of Diriya, Muhammad Ibn Saud to hesitate in welcoming such a dangerous person in his land. But his wife, Moodhi, who had accepted the Sheikhs teachings, persuaded her husband not only to allow him to stay, but to show great respect for him by going and visiting him at the house where he was staying. He did so, and gave the Sheikh the good news that he was to be highly respected and defended in his new abode. The Sheikh thanked him and gave him a summary of what he was calling people to. The ruler accepted and gave him allegiance that he would defend the truth (monotheism) and work against polytheism, and that he would adhere to Allahs religion by enforcing the Shari'ah, inviting to what is good and prohibiting what is evil, and cooperate in defending it by the sword against those who waged war against it. Thus the pact was completed between the strong leader of a great movement, and the strong ruler of an important city in the region of Najd in Arabia. And it was as a result of this noble alliance that, in 1746, the modern state of Saudi Arabia was born, and its distinguishing characteristics defined.
Followers of the Sheikh in different parts of Arabia started to migrate to Diriya, which soon became like the religious, political and military capital of the region. Having settled peacefully in his new home, the Sheikh started to devote himself to his main vocation: teaching and writing. He offered regular courses for the inhabitants of his new town on the fundamentals of the religion, biography of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallah O Alaihe Wa Alaihi Wa Sallam), and his method of conveying his message.
Having accomplished all this in Diriya, he felt that it was his duty now to make efforts to spread the message among Muslims in other towns and cities. To that effect, he began to send messages to princes, judges, and taught people inviting them to come back to true Tawheed, to worship none but the One True Creator, Allah, answering questions about what he stood for, and denying what was falsely and maliciously attributed to him.
Seeing that his enemies did not confine themselves to passive opposition but engaged in propaganda warfare and were actually preparing to attack him and his followers militarily, he had no choice but to call his followers to jihad. These wars continued long after the Sheikhs death in 1792.
I tried to state that what is wahhabism and its connections with terrorism & short biography of Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abd Al-Wahhab. I hope visionary people must consider fairly on it.
