Margoliouth

We begin this discussion with writings from the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. This work is considered to be among the oldest and most exhaustive reference works to discuss religion in the English language.

William Margoliouth, author of the chapter on 'Wahhabism', writes that Wahhabis differ from Ahl us Sunnah wal Jama'ah in ten areas:

1. They attribute to Allah physical characteristics such as a Face and Hands

2. Reasoning has no place in religious questions, which must be settled solely on tradition

3. Consensus is rejected

4. Analogy is rejected

5. The Imam's of Madhahib have no authority and those who follow them are not Muslims

6. Those who do not join them (the 'Wahhabis' are also not Muslims

7. Neither the Prophet (SAS) nor a saint will be allowed to intercede

8. Visiting the graves is prohibited

9. To take an oath in the name of other than Allah (SWT) is prohibited

10. To offer an vow for other than Allah (SWT) and to slaughter besides the graves in the names of the saints are not allowed

However he acknowledges that there is a doubt concerning the authenticity of point no.5 which has been attributed to Wahhabism, as they are the followers of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, himself one of the four Imams. Morgoliouth ends his article with the observation that Imam Ahmad ash Shaheed (d. 1831) introduced Wahhabism to India following a pilgrimage to Makkah in 1824 ^[1] . What is strange is that an eminent orientalist like W. Morgoliouth finds plenty of quotations from the opponents of Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab, yet nothing to defend him except for point no. 5.

So let us remedy this by discussing the list and including our refutation where necessary.

1- The belief of Sheikh Ibn Al Wahhab regarding the Attributes of Allah is the same belief of the Salaf, our pious predecessors. They said that Allah Almighty has all the attributes which He has declared for Himself. These include Attributes related to his own self, such as the Face, Hands and Eye, and Attributes of action, such as His Pleasure, Anger, Being on. the Throne and Descending from it. They accept all such descriptions without Takyeeef (asking how they happen), Ta'teel (negating them altogether) or Tashbeeh (anthropomorphic analogy). The basis of this belief is the statement of Allah, 'Nothing is similar unto Him, and He Listens and Sees.' ^[2] Just as Allah's Attributes do not resemble in any way the attributes of human beings, so His Being does not resemble the being of humans.

2- The criticism that the followers of Sheikh Muhammad ibn al Wahhab have no regard for intellectual reasoning is a total fabrication. What we do say is that reason cannot be independent of revelation. If we take the analogy of the eye and light, we know that the eye needs light to function. This can be natural light from the sun, moon or stars, or artificial light. In the same way, the human intellect is enlightened by and functions within divine revelation, which makes it trustworthy. If it lacks divine revelation, it will go astray in the darkness of ignorance. Human intellect varies and differs; the reasoning of a thinker will be different from the reasoning of a philosopher; the reasoning of a historian will be different from the reasoning of a mathmetician.

3- They have claimed that the Wahhabis rejected the concept of Ijma' Consensus. This too is untrue. Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal considered the true Ijma' to be that of the Companions. The time of the Companions is a specific period, known for its beginning and end. The Companions witnessed revelation and accepted the message of the Messenger of Allah at first-hand.

Imam Muhammad Abu Zahra said in this issue that Ijma' is of two types: Ijma' on the basic obligatory actions, which is recognised by all. And Ijma' on other rulings of Shariah, such as fighting apostates. A difference of opinion regarding the second type has been attributed to Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal. Some scholars have reported the following from him:

'Any person who claims the existence of Ijma' is a liar.'

Imam Ibn al Qayyim has said,

'The person who claims Ijma' has lied,' and he did not like giving preference to Ijma' over an authentic Hadith..

Abdullah, son of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, said,

'I heard my father say, 'Whenever a man claims al Ijma', he is a liar. It may have been the case that difference of opinion occurred among the people, but he did not know about it. At the most he should say: We do not know anyone who opposed.'

This statement shows that Imam Ahmad did not deny the principle of Ijma', but denied knowledge of its occurrence after the period of the Sahabah. ^[3]

4- It is also claimed that Sheikh Muhammad ibn al Wahhab denied Qiyas (analogy). This is incorrect as the Sheikh held the same opinion about this subject as the Hanbali School in general. Imam Abu Zahra said,

'It is reported from Ahmad that one cannot be free of Qiyas as it was adopted by the Sahabah.'

Once Imam Ahmad had established this principle, the Hanbali school accepted it widely. Qiyas was used whenever a new situation arose for which they could not find a reference from the Hadith or sayings of the Sahabah. ^[4]

5- The allegation that leaders of other mazahib have no authority and their followers are not Muslims, and that'

6- 'anyone who does not join the Wahhabi movement is a Kafir.

'Our mazhab in the principle of the deen is the deen of Ahl ul Sunnah wal Jama'ah. Our way is the way of the Salaf, the pious predecessors. Our branch of mazhab is that of Ahmad bin Hanbal, but we do not reject anyone who follows any of the four Imams excluding other mazahib which are not fully regulated.'

He continues,

'Those people who invent lies against us to conceal the truth and deceive the people; they make the people believe we degrade the status of the Prophet (SAS), we teach he has no intercession and visiting him is not recommended; we do not depend on the sayings of the ulama, we declare the people in general to be kafirs, we stop people sending salutations on the Messenger of Allah (SAS), and we. do not recognise the rights of Ahl ul Bayt ' to all these allegations our answer is, 'May Allah be glorified, this is indeed a great lie.'

Therefore anyone who attributes any of these beliefs to us has attributed a lie. ^[5]

7-The claim that Sheikh ibn al Wahhab believed there is no intercession on the part of a prophet or saint. Our reply is that the author of the article was obviously ignorant of the difference between two types of Shafa'a (intercession). The first contains Shirk, and this was rejected by Sheikh ibn al Wahhab. The second which was approved by him, is the Intercession performed only with permission from Allah on the Day of Judgement, by a being chosen by Allah for this honour ^[6] . If the critics of Wahhabism mean by this that the Sheikh has forbidden Al Waseelah through prophets and saints, our reply is that most people do not understand the opinions of both Sheikh ibn al Wahhab and Imam ibn Hanbal on this issue and have levelled false charges against them. Imam ibn Taymiyyah said that Imam Ahmad has been reported in the 'Rituals of Al Marwazi' as to how to achieve Waseelah of the Prophet (SAS) through his du'a. But there are others who did not approve of it. Tawassul achieved through faith in the Prophet (SAS), through love for him, through following him and through obeying him is acceptable to both parties. But Tawassul through the person of the Prophet (SAS) is a contentious issue, and wherever a dispute arises, it should be referred back to Allah and His Messenger. ^[7]

8- The claim that Wahhabis declare the visiting of the graves and tombs to be haram will be discussed later, alongside the writings of Ignaz Goldziher.

9- They claim that Wahhabis declare haram the taking of oaths with anyone other than Allah. This is indeed true as it is proven by authentic ahadith. Umar bin al Khattab narrated that the Prophet (SAS) said,

'Anyone who swears by any other than Allah has committed Shirk.' This is reported by At Tirmidhi who declared it as hadith hasan. It was also declared Sahih by Al Hakim.

Ibn Mas'ud said,

'It is preferable to me to swear by Allah when lying than to swear by other than Allah when speaking the truth.' [8]

10- It is also claimed that Sheikh ibn al Wahhab believes that vows in the name of others than Allah is haram, and that meat slaughtered besides graves in the name of saints is also haram. This is perfectly true, as it is from the deen of Allah, and every Muslim should believe it as long as he believes in Allah and His Messenger. In his great book 'Kitab al Tawhid', Sheikh ibn al Wahhab includes a chapter under the title, 'No slaughtering should be offered for Allah in a place where slaughtering is offered for beings other than Allah.' His next chapter title is, 'To vow in the name of someone other than Allah is Shirk.' Both chapters contain extensive proofs from the Qur'an and Sunnah to support these statements.