The state of the people in the Arabian Peninsula before the call of Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab

Question:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: Our ancestors in the Arabian Peninsula before the call of Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) were not reached by the proof, so what is their ruling?

Answer:
The people in the Arabian Peninsula before the call of the Shaykh included the upright, the monotheists, and the knowledgeable, pious ones, but they did not carry out the call; they fell short in not carrying out the call and left the people around them on their customs and on shirk (associating partners with Allah). They did not call them to the truth and did not forbid them from what is wrong, so they abandoned a great obligation and confined themselves to their own affairs.
And among them were those who agreed with the people and encouraged the people in shirk and in the customs for motives in their own hearts. It is these whom the Shaykh condemned and refuted: those who opposed the call of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) are the ones the Shaykh refuted and condemned. And those who prevented the call, the Shaykh fought them and waged war against them until he spread this call in the Peninsula.
And it extended outside the Peninsula, so he would stand in the face of the call and fight, even if he was a scholar, even if he was, even if he claimed Islam, he would fight until the call took its path to the people. So this is the call of the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him): he showed the people the path of the truth and followed the truth, so he is upon good, and the Shaykh encourages him and prays for him. And whoever opposed the truth, the Shaykh takes with him whatever deterrent measures he is able to take.