Salafus-Saaliheen سلف صالحين

A response to the Soofee lies claiming that Shaykhul-Islaam Muhammad Ibn ’Abdul-Wahhaab (d.1206H) had a connection to the British and that he was responsible for the downfall of the Ottoman Khilaafah.

And I believe in the obligation of submitting and being obedient to the Imaams of Muslims, the dutiful of them as well as the wrong-doers of them, as long as they don't order a disobedience of Allaah, and the person who is responsible for Khilaafah; he whom the people have gathered around and accepted, and he who has forced his way to become Caliph as well, his obedience is obligatory and revolting against him is unlawful (haraam).


Some of the enemies of the Salafee Da‘wah have claimed that Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab broke away from the Ottoman Caliphate, and thus departed from majority in disobedience.


Ibn Afaaliq describes the tawheed of the followers of the Salafee Da‘wah as such:


"As for their tawheed, then it includes going against Muslims…and this is disbelief and not tawheed ."

Addressing them, ‘Umar al-Mahjoob said:


"…and you have fallen into disobedience."


Ibn ‘Aabideen in his commentary described the followers of this da‘wah as Khawaarij, and that was under the chapter of " The wrong-doers (al-Bughaat)", and they are the ones who go against the obedience of the Imaam without a true (proof). [1]

Dahlaan claims that the followers of Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab:

"…have departed the majority." [2]


Az-Zahaawee as well, claims that they are notorious for:

"…deserting the obedience of Ameerul-Mu’mineen".


Many of the enemies of the da‘wah described the Shaykh and his followers as Khawaarij, because one of the attributes of Khawaarij is that they go against the Imaam of Muslims, and they become disobedient as soon as they observe some sins of this Imaam that are far below Major Disbelief.


And this is illustrated with what al-Amlee claims. He says:


"The Khawaarij have made the fighting of the Kings of Muslims and going against them permissible… So did the Wahhaabiyyah."

The author of the book "A summary of the History of Arabs" includes a chapter in his book titled "The Uprising of the Wahhaabiyyah against the obedience".


‘Abdul-Qadeem claim that the upcoming of Wahhaabism was one of the reasons behind the fall of the Caliphate, he says:

"The Wahhaabiyyah founded a state within the Islaamic State under the leadership if Muhammad Ibn Sa‘ood and then his son ‘Abdul-‘Azeez. England supported them with weapons and money, and based on ideology they have thrust forward to conquer Islaamic lands that were under the control of the Sultaan, in other words they have raised the sword in the face of the Caliph and killed the Islaamic Army, the army of Ameerul-Mu’mineen (Leader of the Faithful) by means of instigation and support from the English."


And before starting to answer the claim of Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab’s revolt against the Caliph, it is appropriate to mention what the Shaykh believed of the creed that necessitates the obedience to the Imaam of Muslims, regardless of whether they are dutiful or wrong-doers, unless they order a disobedience of Allaah, for obedience (to them) is only for things that are good.


The Shaykh says in his letter to the people of Qaseem:

"And I believe in the obligation of submitting and being obedient to the Imaams of Muslims, the dutiful of them as well as the wrong-doers of them, as long as they don't order a disobedience of Allaah, and the person who is responsible for Khilaafah; he whom the people have gathered around and accepted, and he who has forced his way to become Caliph as well, his obedience is obligatory and revolting against him is unlawful (haraam)."


He also says:

"The third source: To make our gathering complete we have to listen to and obey those who rule us, even if it was an Abyssinian slave, and Allaah has explained this to us fully in various forms of explanations, legislative and destined, and then this foundation became to be unknown to a lot of those who claim to have knowledge, never mind practicing it."

In answering such claims, an integral question needs to be answered: Was Najd, the home of this movement, under the control of the Ottoman Khilaafah?


Dr. Saalih al-‘Ubood answers:

" In general, Najd did not witness the sovereignty of the Ottomans, for their power did not reach it, nor their governors, nor at any time preceding the lifetime of Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab did a Turkish flag rise in it. What proves this reality is reading through the managerial divisions of the Ottomans. A treatise by Yameen ‘Alee Afandee (who was the treasurer of the Haqqaanee book in the year (1018H), corresponding to 1609) titled "The laws of the Ottoman/ the contents of the book of Deewaan", reveals that starting with the eleventh Hijree century, the Ottoman Khilaafah split into thirty two distinct divisions (iyala), fourteen of each are Arabic, and Najd is not included in those, except for al-Ihsaa, if we were to consider it to be part of Najd.."


Dr. ‘Abdullaah al-‘Uthaymeen says:

"Prior to the upcoming of the call of Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab, Najd was not under the direct dominion of Ottomans, nor did it witness any sovereignty from within. Banee Jabr, Banee Khaalid, and the Shareefs were not sovereign, and civil strife between the tribes of Najd was the norm."


Dr. Aajil al-Nashmee says:

"The Khilaafah did not pay attention to Najd and the neighbouring territories. This policy may be attributed to the vastness of Najd, on one side, and on the other side the presence of the tribal fragmentation."


What proves that the position of the Shaykh was fine, and that the Shaykh did not hesitate as to the fact that his movement is not related to the Khilaafah is the letter sent to Faadil al-Mazeed, the ruler of the Syrian desert:


" This thing that they have disapproved of me, that they hated me for and created enmity between me and them for; if they ask any scholar in Syria or Yemen and others, they will say this is the truth and it is the religion of Allaah and His Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). However, I cannot make it public in my area because the state does not approve of it, and Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab managed to because the ruler in his area did not disapprove of it, rather when he knew the truth he followed it."


As for "Zuloom's" claim that the movement of the Shaykh was one of the reasons behind the fall of the Khilaafah, and that the English helped the Wahhaabees to achieve this cause, then Muhammad Mahdee al-Istanboolee answers this flat allegation:


"It was incumbent on this author to support his view with proofs, and in the past the poet said: If the allegations were not based on their proofs/with texts, then it is a proof of foolishness.


To the contrary, History reveals that those English were opposed to this movement from the beginning, fearing a re-awakening of the Islaamic World."


Al-Istanboolee also says:

"It is strange, both amusing and saddening, that this author accuses the movement of the Shaykh of being one of the causes behind the fall of the Ottoman Khilaafah. It is needless to say that this movement was founded in the year 1811, and the Khilaafah was destroyed in the year 1922."

And what proves that the English were against the Wahhaabee movement is that they have sent Captain Forster Saddler to congratulate Ibraaheem Pasha on the victory he gained over the Wahhaabiyyah- referring to the war in Dar‘iyyah-, and to confirm also how inclined he is to cooperate with the British Act against the Wahhaabee piracy in the Arabian Gulf (The most aggressive attacks/ kidnapping of the Royal British vessels that roamed in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean carrying the treasures of India to the empress was carried by well known Wahhaabee centres on the Gulf coast- which until as recent as the fifties was referred to on international maps as the pirates coast- such as Sharjah and Raasul-Khaymah.)


Moreover this letter stated clearly the intention of the British government to create an agreement with Ibraaheem Pasha with the goal of annihilating the Wahhaabee control.


Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Mandthoor an-Nawmaanee says:

"The English have used the position in India that opposed Shaykh Muhammd Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab in order to throw anybody who opposed them with the label "Wahhaabee" And as such the English called the scholars of Deoband, India - Wahhaabiyyah due to their open opposition to the English"


Rather the priest Zuimer mentioned that the Wahhaabiyyah in India do not expose their beliefs because call for Jihaad against the English was ascribed to them.


Footnotes:

[1] Haashiyah Ibn-‘Aabideen (4/262).

[2] ad-Durarus-Sunniyyah fir-Radd ‘alal-Wahhaabiyyah (pg. 23)