The ruling on the statement that Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab is a Salafi in creed but not in jurisprudence
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Question:
The questioner says: What is your opinion of the one who says that Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) is a Salafi in creed but not a Salafi in jurisprudence? Is this statement correct? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. It is well known that in our time there are those who belittle the knowledge of the Salaf and diminish their status, and who encourage turning to what they call contemporary thinkers. Among these things is this false claim about which you are asking: that the renewer, Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him), is a Salafi in creed but not a Salafi in jurisprudence. I do not know what the basis for this division is. How can a person be a Salafi and not a Salafi? No one says this.
Rather, the renewer, Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him), is a Salafi in creed and in jurisprudence. Because in creed he follows the methodology of the righteous Salaf, from the Companions and the Tabi'un, and those who followed them from the Imams. And in jurisprudence he follows the school of Imam Ahmad, who is one of the Imams of the Salaf. And he does not take the statements of Imam Ahmad as mere taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence).
Rather, he takes what is stronger in the school of Imam Ahmad based on evidence. So he is not a follower who does not choose what is supported by evidence. Rather, he is considered one of the mujtahids (scholars qualified to derive rulings) in the Hanbali school, in the manner of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, and the meticulous scholars of the school of Imam Ahmad. May Allah have mercy on them all.
So Imam Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab is a Salafi in creed and a Salafi in jurisprudence, because he takes the jurisprudence of the Salaf, and he takes from the jurisprudence of the Salaf what is supported by evidence from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
I do not say this from my own opinion. Whoever wants to look at the truth of this, let him refer to the fatwas of this Imam or his writings in jurisprudence. He will find that (may Allah have mercy on him) chose the statement that is supported by evidence, even if sometimes it was from other than the school of Imam Ahmad. Because he is a man who seeks evidence and acts upon it, and does not take the statements of jurists as mere taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence) without knowing their evidence. So he is considered a renewer in creed, a renewer in jurisprudence, and a renewer in fatwa as well. Yes.
The questioner says: What is your opinion of the one who says that Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) is a Salafi in creed but not a Salafi in jurisprudence? Is this statement correct? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. It is well known that in our time there are those who belittle the knowledge of the Salaf and diminish their status, and who encourage turning to what they call contemporary thinkers. Among these things is this false claim about which you are asking: that the renewer, Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him), is a Salafi in creed but not a Salafi in jurisprudence. I do not know what the basis for this division is. How can a person be a Salafi and not a Salafi? No one says this.
Rather, the renewer, Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him), is a Salafi in creed and in jurisprudence. Because in creed he follows the methodology of the righteous Salaf, from the Companions and the Tabi'un, and those who followed them from the Imams. And in jurisprudence he follows the school of Imam Ahmad, who is one of the Imams of the Salaf. And he does not take the statements of Imam Ahmad as mere taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence).
Rather, he takes what is stronger in the school of Imam Ahmad based on evidence. So he is not a follower who does not choose what is supported by evidence. Rather, he is considered one of the mujtahids (scholars qualified to derive rulings) in the Hanbali school, in the manner of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, and the meticulous scholars of the school of Imam Ahmad. May Allah have mercy on them all.
So Imam Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab is a Salafi in creed and a Salafi in jurisprudence, because he takes the jurisprudence of the Salaf, and he takes from the jurisprudence of the Salaf what is supported by evidence from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
I do not say this from my own opinion. Whoever wants to look at the truth of this, let him refer to the fatwas of this Imam or his writings in jurisprudence. He will find that (may Allah have mercy on him) chose the statement that is supported by evidence, even if sometimes it was from other than the school of Imam Ahmad. Because he is a man who seeks evidence and acts upon it, and does not take the statements of jurists as mere taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence) without knowing their evidence. So he is considered a renewer in creed, a renewer in jurisprudence, and a renewer in fatwa as well. Yes.
Source
الفوزان - الإجابات العلمية والتوجيهات المنهجية — archive.org (35:10)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.