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Destroying the False Claim of the Tablīghī: Shaykh al-Islām Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb Harmed Ahl al-Sunnah and Killed “The Martyrs”

Al-ʿAllāmah Ḥammūd al-Tuwayjirī

Scholarly commentary on a wide swath of lies aimed at the noble Imām, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb.

Al-ʿAllāmah Ḥammūd al-Tuwayjirī [d. 1413 AH] said:

This is the wording of the statement of Ḥusayn Aḥmad [one of the tablīghī leaders] maligning Shaykh al-Islām Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb (may Allāh, the Most High, have mercy on him):

‘Know that the matter of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb only became apparent in the beginning of the thirteenth century in Najd [Saudi Arabia]. His creed was corrupt and his views false. Hence, he fell into fighting and killing Ahl al-Sunnah. Thus, he forced them to defame and refute others using his creed and views. He even declared lawful the seizing of their assets, and held the view that in killing them there existed a great reward, save for the people of Ḥijāz [Western Arabia] whom he harmed greatly. He used to revile and insult the pious predecessors and display the most detestable of manners with regards to them. Many of his opponents gained martyrdom on his hands. In reality, he was an oppressive tyrant, war criminal, perpetually engaging in sin. This is the reason why the Arabs reviled him more than the Jews and the Christians.’

Al-ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Taqī al-Dīn al-Hilālī responded:

These are the words of a spurned devil, rejector of the truth, champion of falsehood. Allāh has made apparent his lies and clarified to mankind its scandalous nature. For He has blessed the call of Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb until it spread, circulating and gaining victory in all places. It is completely consistent with the Book [of Allāh] and the Sunnah of His Messenger (ﷺ).’

His claim that his call was the cause of harm for the people of Ḥijāz is a blasphemous lie. As the people of Ḥijāz were the ones who prevented those from Najd from performing Ḥajj for twelve years until the victory of Allāh arrived. A war was fought between the people of truth and falsehood. The people of falsehood were defeated in a very short period of time and the country was returned to the people of tawḥīd. This is an incident that I have seen myself.

So, if the eradication of the domes [erect over the surfaces of graves] and the destruction of idols [worshipped besides Allāh] is a means of harm for the polytheists, then they continue to be in a state of harm. Indeed, the destruction of such domed structures and the culling of worship [next to it] is the unadulterated truth brought by the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ).’

[Shaykh Ḥammūd said:] Then Shaykh Hilālī mentioned the ḥadīth of Abū al-Hayyāj al-Asadī who said: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allāh be pleased with him) said to me: ‘Shall I not raise you upon the mission that the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) raised me? That I do not leave any raised grave except that it is levelled, and that I leave no likeness [portraying the companion of a grave] except that I have destroyed it.’

Then Shaykh Hilālī said: ‘Thus, if the followers of Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb fought the polytheists, destroying their idols, then the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) did likewise: [Allāh said]:

وَقُلْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ ۚ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا
‘And say, “Truth has come, and falsehood has departed. Indeed is falsehood, [by nature], ever bound to depart.’1
[Al-Isrāʾ, 17:81]’

‘For it is sufficient shame that such an insult is recorded from [Ḥusayn Aḥmad] against the people of knowledge and īmān, [Allāh said:]

وَسَيَعْلَمُ الْكُفَّارُ لِمَنْ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ
‘And the disbelievers will know for whom is the final home.’
[Al-Raʿd, 13:42]’

Endnotes:

1. Here, reference is made to the recitation of this verse by the Prophet (ﷺ) at the conquest of Makkah during the removal of the idols that used to be housed within the Kaʿbah.

Source: Al-Qawl al-Balīgh 76-7
Translated by: Riyāḍ al-Kanadī

Published: January 23, 2023
Edited: January 23, 2023