The term Wahhabi, the reasons for its spread by the Turkish Ottoman state, and some of the history of the First and Third Saudi States, and the Shaykh’s praise of them
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Al-Halabi: I said, O my Shaykh, regarding the Wahhabis...
The Shaykh : Ah, by Allah, you reminded me. I was about to pray. The word "Wahhabi" is truly a Turkish political term. It was spread during the time
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And peace be upon you. During the time of the Turks’ deviation from ruling by Islam, when the man from our country in Egypt—what was his name? Muhammad Ali Pasha, who was of Albanian origin—was the ruler of Egypt in his time and, naturally, claimed to be living under the sultanate of the Ottoman state. A man of knowledge named Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab—not 'Abd al-Wahhab, but Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab—emerged in the lands of Najd. He traveled through the Islamic lands known for knowledge at that time, such as Egypt, Cairo, and the Levant. He traveled through the lands and gained knowledge. He returned to his homeland, which was called al-Dari'iyah. Naturally, when the man had learned, he found his people in a state of profound ignorance, worshipping graves, as is still the case now in many Levantine and Egyptian lands, the lands of our brothers, without blame. The calamity was widespread and engulfed all the lands. So the man began what? He began to teach people and warn them against shirk (associating partners with Allah) and idolatry. His call benefited and strengthened due to the Sultan, King Saud at the time, his great-grandfather. May Allah guide him, and he followed this Shaykh. So the sword and what? Knowledge were joined together. When these two are joined, they are beneficial, as it is narrated from 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "Indeed, Allah restrains by the authority what He does not restrain by the Qur'an". The movement grew and grew due to the strength of the authority, and the call spread. The group began to form an Islamic army for the first time and began to call the surrounding villages to worship Allah alone, having no partner. Those who responded responded, and their call reached Iraq. There, you know the Shi'ah, and what do you know about the Shi'ah? Their shirk and their misguidance, and so on. The people of the Sunnah were affected by some of these shirk practices. Fierce battles took place, unfortunately. Who moved? Muhammad Ali Pasha from Egypt. Who moved him? The Turks, because the Turks held the caliphate and were ruling all the Islamic lands. When they saw an Arab movement arising in the Arabian Peninsula, they feared its outcome. They feared that these people would destroy the Ottoman or Turkish rule, in the most accurate sense. So they instructed Muhammad Ali to send an army to fight these Najdis, and I do not say Wahhabis, as will be explained later. Muhammad Ali Pasha sent his son Ibrahim Pasha with a massive, large army from Egypt to the Najdi lands, and blood flowed there in rivers. In the end, the oppressive force overcame the true call, and those who were killed were killed. And among the means of the Turks, as is exactly the case today, was propaganda. They knew its influence, perhaps more than weapons. So they spread propaganda against this group in the Islamic world, so that the Islamic world would be with the Turks, not with this new, young call, because it calls to "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." So they broadcast among the Muslims that these people have no madhhab (school of jurisprudence); their madhhab is the fifth one. One of them says, "My stick is more noble than the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)." It is all disbelief, falsehood, and slander. The Muslim groups in all lands of the world were affected. And so, in the completeness of the effect and the error in it, they named this group what? Wahhabis. This is one of the arguments of Allah against His servants who have reason. "Wahhabi" is a reference to Wahabi. And "Wahabi," if we study it in relation to the Arabic language, is a reference to what? A reference to al-Wahhab. Who is al-Wahhab? It is Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is a reference that is an honor, not one that belittles the one who claims it. But the oppressive Turkish policy, especially since most of those who belong under the banner of the Turks are non-Arabs and do not have this understanding of the Arabic language, "Wahabi, Wahabi" became a word in that time that equated to a heretic. A long time passed, unfortunately, and the Islamic world was misled by this word, until, may Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) will it, King 'Abd al-'Aziz entered in a way that we do not have now, entered Riyadh, and took control of it. He expelled the people of al-Rashid from it, and so on, and began to apply the Sharia rulings, meaning to a very, very great extent. Security was established in the Najdi lands, which had been plagued by theft, looting, and killing. This was followed by the Hijaz lands, which, as we all know from Turkish history, did not allow pilgrims to perform Hajj unless they had an army, an army of Turks to protect them from what? From thieves and bandits, and so on. The situation became, in the time of 'Abd al-'Aziz, yes, the pilgrims found all comfort and ease, and news was passed from mouth to mouth to all lands of the world that, by Allah, we do not see that this group does not believe in the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), does not believe in anything other than Allah, and they say such and such about the Messenger. And as they also tell a joke, which may be a true incident or an expression of the reality that people were talking about, which contradicts the reality of this group. This story claimed that two people entered into a discussion about this topic, that these Wahhabis do not believe in the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), such a discussion. And soon a car of the Saudi ambassador passed by, with the flag fluttering on it, and written on it what? "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." Look, O man, fear Allah. You say these people do not believe in the Messenger of Allah. Their knowledge is unique in the whole world. You do not find a flag in the entire Islamic world, whether Arab or Turkish, that has "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" written on it, except the flag of this group whom you accuse of not believing in Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. And after that, have you not heard the adhan (call to prayer) in Makkah? Have you not heard the adhan in al-Madinah? The adhan that we recite, and better than it, is that they do not add to the Prophetic adhan. We add an introduction and a conclusion, but they say, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," and so on. As time passed, it became clear to people that this is a wicked, false accusation with no truth to it. Whether from the realistic side, they are a Muslim group, and their madhhab is also Hanbali, for your sake, not as we call to the Book and the Sunnah, except some individuals among the Shaykhs there who call to the Book and the Sunnah exactly as we do, and praise be to Allah. And in addition to this, they send blessings upon the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And you must have many who have performed Hajj to the House of Allah, visited the Mosque of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and heard their sermons. And whenever the Messenger is mentioned, they send blessings upon him. So the dust was cleared from the Islamic world due to the abundance of what? The connection of Muslims to the Islamic world with these lands. They realized that they had been living in deceptions. These deceptions arose from what? Turkish propaganda, to destroy the true Islamic movement that arose from Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, and was supported by King Saud at the time, or Prince Saud, because he was not a king at the time. So now it is a grave error to call this group Wahhabi. Why? Because originally, this is a repulsive word. And in truth, from the Arabic side, it is an honor for them, and it is a reference to al-Wahhab, which is Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). And so one of the Shaykhs said, when they were responding to the misleaders of the general Muslims, Imam al-Shafi'i in his time was accused of an accusation similar to the accusation of these people. He was accused of being a Rafidi (Shi'ite), because of how much he used to speak of what? The Family of the Messenger and his love for them. So he was called a Rafidi. So he said: "If it is rejection to love the Family of Muhammad *** Let the two weighty ones bear witness that I am a Rafidi".
A questioner said: These people who are called by the name Wahhabi:
"If following Ahmad means being Wahhabi — that is, Wahhabi — *** then I affirm that I am a Wahhabi."
Because I follow none other than the Messenger (peace be upon him).
"If following Ahmad means being Wahhabi *** then I affirm that I am a Wahhabi."
I advise, finally, every Muslim who fears Allah and is mindful of Him to remove from his mind the notion that there is a group called Wahhabis. There is a group called Zaydis, a group called Shi'ah, and a group called Ibadi. None of them deny these designations because they are factual. However, there is no group on the face of the earth that says, "We are Wahhabis." Rather, they either say, "We are the people of the Sunnah, the people of the Book and the Sunnah," or they are Hanafis, Shafi'is, Malikis, or Hanbalis. The Najdis, as a people, are Hanbali in their school of jurisprudence. In Syria, we have many villages that all worship Allah according to the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, such as the villages of al-Damir, Rahibah, and al-Nabaq, and so on. In the eastern region near Damascus, most of the people are Hanbalis. We used to gather with them, and we saw no deviation whatsoever from them. They follow one of these four schools of jurisprudence. So I advise that no one should assume that there is a Wahhabi school of jurisprudence on the face of the earth... The Ibadis and Zaydis do not deny Zayd... [UNTRANSLATED: fi mahlada]...
The Shaykh : Ah, by Allah, you reminded me. I was about to pray. The word "Wahhabi" is truly a Turkish political term. It was spread during the time
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And peace be upon you. During the time of the Turks’ deviation from ruling by Islam, when the man from our country in Egypt—what was his name? Muhammad Ali Pasha, who was of Albanian origin—was the ruler of Egypt in his time and, naturally, claimed to be living under the sultanate of the Ottoman state. A man of knowledge named Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab—not 'Abd al-Wahhab, but Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab—emerged in the lands of Najd. He traveled through the Islamic lands known for knowledge at that time, such as Egypt, Cairo, and the Levant. He traveled through the lands and gained knowledge. He returned to his homeland, which was called al-Dari'iyah. Naturally, when the man had learned, he found his people in a state of profound ignorance, worshipping graves, as is still the case now in many Levantine and Egyptian lands, the lands of our brothers, without blame. The calamity was widespread and engulfed all the lands. So the man began what? He began to teach people and warn them against shirk (associating partners with Allah) and idolatry. His call benefited and strengthened due to the Sultan, King Saud at the time, his great-grandfather. May Allah guide him, and he followed this Shaykh. So the sword and what? Knowledge were joined together. When these two are joined, they are beneficial, as it is narrated from 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "Indeed, Allah restrains by the authority what He does not restrain by the Qur'an". The movement grew and grew due to the strength of the authority, and the call spread. The group began to form an Islamic army for the first time and began to call the surrounding villages to worship Allah alone, having no partner. Those who responded responded, and their call reached Iraq. There, you know the Shi'ah, and what do you know about the Shi'ah? Their shirk and their misguidance, and so on. The people of the Sunnah were affected by some of these shirk practices. Fierce battles took place, unfortunately. Who moved? Muhammad Ali Pasha from Egypt. Who moved him? The Turks, because the Turks held the caliphate and were ruling all the Islamic lands. When they saw an Arab movement arising in the Arabian Peninsula, they feared its outcome. They feared that these people would destroy the Ottoman or Turkish rule, in the most accurate sense. So they instructed Muhammad Ali to send an army to fight these Najdis, and I do not say Wahhabis, as will be explained later. Muhammad Ali Pasha sent his son Ibrahim Pasha with a massive, large army from Egypt to the Najdi lands, and blood flowed there in rivers. In the end, the oppressive force overcame the true call, and those who were killed were killed. And among the means of the Turks, as is exactly the case today, was propaganda. They knew its influence, perhaps more than weapons. So they spread propaganda against this group in the Islamic world, so that the Islamic world would be with the Turks, not with this new, young call, because it calls to "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." So they broadcast among the Muslims that these people have no madhhab (school of jurisprudence); their madhhab is the fifth one. One of them says, "My stick is more noble than the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)." It is all disbelief, falsehood, and slander. The Muslim groups in all lands of the world were affected. And so, in the completeness of the effect and the error in it, they named this group what? Wahhabis. This is one of the arguments of Allah against His servants who have reason. "Wahhabi" is a reference to Wahabi. And "Wahabi," if we study it in relation to the Arabic language, is a reference to what? A reference to al-Wahhab. Who is al-Wahhab? It is Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is a reference that is an honor, not one that belittles the one who claims it. But the oppressive Turkish policy, especially since most of those who belong under the banner of the Turks are non-Arabs and do not have this understanding of the Arabic language, "Wahabi, Wahabi" became a word in that time that equated to a heretic. A long time passed, unfortunately, and the Islamic world was misled by this word, until, may Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) will it, King 'Abd al-'Aziz entered in a way that we do not have now, entered Riyadh, and took control of it. He expelled the people of al-Rashid from it, and so on, and began to apply the Sharia rulings, meaning to a very, very great extent. Security was established in the Najdi lands, which had been plagued by theft, looting, and killing. This was followed by the Hijaz lands, which, as we all know from Turkish history, did not allow pilgrims to perform Hajj unless they had an army, an army of Turks to protect them from what? From thieves and bandits, and so on. The situation became, in the time of 'Abd al-'Aziz, yes, the pilgrims found all comfort and ease, and news was passed from mouth to mouth to all lands of the world that, by Allah, we do not see that this group does not believe in the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), does not believe in anything other than Allah, and they say such and such about the Messenger. And as they also tell a joke, which may be a true incident or an expression of the reality that people were talking about, which contradicts the reality of this group. This story claimed that two people entered into a discussion about this topic, that these Wahhabis do not believe in the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), such a discussion. And soon a car of the Saudi ambassador passed by, with the flag fluttering on it, and written on it what? "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." Look, O man, fear Allah. You say these people do not believe in the Messenger of Allah. Their knowledge is unique in the whole world. You do not find a flag in the entire Islamic world, whether Arab or Turkish, that has "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" written on it, except the flag of this group whom you accuse of not believing in Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. And after that, have you not heard the adhan (call to prayer) in Makkah? Have you not heard the adhan in al-Madinah? The adhan that we recite, and better than it, is that they do not add to the Prophetic adhan. We add an introduction and a conclusion, but they say, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," and so on. As time passed, it became clear to people that this is a wicked, false accusation with no truth to it. Whether from the realistic side, they are a Muslim group, and their madhhab is also Hanbali, for your sake, not as we call to the Book and the Sunnah, except some individuals among the Shaykhs there who call to the Book and the Sunnah exactly as we do, and praise be to Allah. And in addition to this, they send blessings upon the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And you must have many who have performed Hajj to the House of Allah, visited the Mosque of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and heard their sermons. And whenever the Messenger is mentioned, they send blessings upon him. So the dust was cleared from the Islamic world due to the abundance of what? The connection of Muslims to the Islamic world with these lands. They realized that they had been living in deceptions. These deceptions arose from what? Turkish propaganda, to destroy the true Islamic movement that arose from Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, and was supported by King Saud at the time, or Prince Saud, because he was not a king at the time. So now it is a grave error to call this group Wahhabi. Why? Because originally, this is a repulsive word. And in truth, from the Arabic side, it is an honor for them, and it is a reference to al-Wahhab, which is Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). And so one of the Shaykhs said, when they were responding to the misleaders of the general Muslims, Imam al-Shafi'i in his time was accused of an accusation similar to the accusation of these people. He was accused of being a Rafidi (Shi'ite), because of how much he used to speak of what? The Family of the Messenger and his love for them. So he was called a Rafidi. So he said: "If it is rejection to love the Family of Muhammad *** Let the two weighty ones bear witness that I am a Rafidi".
A questioner said: These people who are called by the name Wahhabi:
"If following Ahmad means being Wahhabi — that is, Wahhabi — *** then I affirm that I am a Wahhabi."
Because I follow none other than the Messenger (peace be upon him).
"If following Ahmad means being Wahhabi *** then I affirm that I am a Wahhabi."
I advise, finally, every Muslim who fears Allah and is mindful of Him to remove from his mind the notion that there is a group called Wahhabis. There is a group called Zaydis, a group called Shi'ah, and a group called Ibadi. None of them deny these designations because they are factual. However, there is no group on the face of the earth that says, "We are Wahhabis." Rather, they either say, "We are the people of the Sunnah, the people of the Book and the Sunnah," or they are Hanafis, Shafi'is, Malikis, or Hanbalis. The Najdis, as a people, are Hanbali in their school of jurisprudence. In Syria, we have many villages that all worship Allah according to the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, such as the villages of al-Damir, Rahibah, and al-Nabaq, and so on. In the eastern region near Damascus, most of the people are Hanbalis. We used to gather with them, and we saw no deviation whatsoever from them. They follow one of these four schools of jurisprudence. So I advise that no one should assume that there is a Wahhabi school of jurisprudence on the face of the earth... The Ibadis and Zaydis do not deny Zayd... [UNTRANSLATED: fi mahlada]...