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Wahhabism
The term "wahhabism" is an outsider's designation for the religious
reformist movement within Islam founded by Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab (1
703-1 792). This term is given to them by their opponents and is now used
by both European scholars and most Arabs. Members of the movement describe
themselves as muwwahhidun, the term is an Arabic word which means
‘Unitarians’. The movement calls for renewal of Muslim spirit, the return
to the original sources of Islam, namely the Qur’aan and the authentic
teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
and the refutation of all innovations in religion.
Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab: An Intellectual Biography
Two hundred years ago, Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab led a religious
reformist movement in Central Arabia. The main principles of the movement
focused on fighting innovations and deviations in religion, which
prevailed in Arabia in particular and in the Muslim world in general.
Interview
Musaid Al-Tayyar
The efforts of this blessed scholar met great success. He was able to
promote religious awareness among Muslims and to educate them in the true
principles of Islam. The Islamic movement of Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul
Wahhab represented a real model for several scholars in Muslim world to
follow in their call to the restoration of original fundamentals of Islam
and reviva1 of the true Islamic faith.
Regrettably enough, this reformist movement encountered fierce attacks
from opponents who fabricated many fallacies against it, especially as
related to the methods of legislation it adopted and the means of action
it followed. The most terrible accusation ascribed to the movement was
that it adopted violence as a course of action.
Truth, however, is crystal clear for those who look for it. Several
dissertations and studies have been penned at different universities and
research institutes about Ibn Abdul Wahhab's call and movement. All these
studies stressed the positive influence of the movement at both local and
international levels.
One of the most recent studies completed in this field was the valuable
dissertation under which Mrs. Natana DeLong Bas obtained a Ph.D. in
history from Georgetown University seven months ago. The title of the
dissertation was "Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab: An Intellectual Biography".
In this regard, we feel obliged to thank Dr. Abdullah Al-Askar for
introducing the author to our readers.
In order to have an in-depth analysis of the dissertation and the main
themes discussed by the author, we had the following interview with Dr.
DeLong Bas:
Q1. Could you please give the reader a summary of your dissertation on the
call of Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Wabhab?
A: The dissertation is an analysis of the written works of Sheikh
Muhammad. I begin with a biography of the sheikh and place him at the
center of 18th century Islamic intellectual history. Many of the themes he
discussed in his writings are hallmarks of the 18th century Islamic
thought These include his emphasis on a return to the Qur'aan and hadeeth,
the eradication of erroneous popular religious practices, like tomb and
saint veneration, rejection of taqleed (blind following) in favor of
ijtihaad (independent reasoning), authentication of hadeeth (prophetic
traditions) on the basis of their content, rather than their isnaad
(chains of transmission), focus on the intent behind actions, rather than
ritual perfection.
Consequently, I argue that, rather than being the heretical innovator he
is often accused of being, Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab was actually very
mainstream for an 18th century scholar. I then present a detailed
discussion of his major theological themes tawhieed and shirk (monotheism
and polytheism) - and an analysis of his methodology for interpreting
Islamic law, highlighting his attention to concepts like maslahah (public
interest) in order to interpret law for the benefit of society. I have
devoted two chapters to the most controversial issues of his writings for
Westerners - his treatment of women and gender and an analysis of his
treatise on jihad.
Q2: What made you decide to write on this subject?
A: My interest in Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab began in 1991 when I entered
the Master's Degree program at Georgetown University Center for
Contemporary Arab Studies. I heard a lot of negative things about "Muslim
fundamentalists" and became curious as to what they believed and why they
were so "bad." As I started to read about "Islamic fundamentalism," I
noticed that there were many references to "Wahhabis" and Muhammad Ibn
Abdul-Wahhab, but I didn't understand what the term meant and I couldn't
find any books or even articles about the Sheikh and his movement. What
really intrigued me was the claim that Sheikh Muhammad, was the Martin
Luther of Islam. My father is a Lutheran pastor, so I understood this
analogy to be a compliment, rather than an insult!
I became very interested in understanding why Sheikh Muhammad was referred
to in this way. When I took a course on modern Islamic movements in 1993,
the first thing we read was an English translation of his book "Kitab
al-Tawhid." This was my first contact with Sheikh Muhammad's writings. I
didn't see anything violent or horrible about this treatise. In fact, it
seemed to me to be a very straightforward and logical discussion and
explanation of the Qur'aan and hadeeth. The reforms he supported had clear
scriptural support and seemed obvious. I was very disappointed to find
that it was the only one of his works that had been translated into
English. I even had to order it through a bookstore in Cairo! I spent the
next six months collecting every Arabic work written by the Sheikh that I
could find and decided to pursue the topic for a future dissertation.
Q3: Did you face any problems in registering this dissertation at
Georgetown University?
A: When I was finishing my Master's Degree in 1993 and started talking to
various professors in the History Department about my idea, I met with
little enthusiasm for the topic. In fact, several professors discouraged
me from pursuing this topic because it was a religious topic and they felt
that it would not be "relevant." In fact, even after the 9/11 incidents,
one of these professors was still telling me that she did not understand
the relevance of the topic or why it was important in today’s world! It
was only after the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding opened at
Georgetown University that I found support for my research topic. I was
very fortunate to have John Esposito on my committee and John Voll as my
mentor. They were instrumental not only in providing academic and
financial support for my research, but also in putting me into contact
with a variety of people who provided invaluable research support.
Q4: Did you find sufficient sources and references on the subject?
A: Yes. Thanks to Faisal bin Salman and Dr. Fahd Al-Semmari at the King
Abd al-Aziz Institute for Research and Archives, I gained access to the
complete works of Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab. I had also collected a
lot of material on my own, including Western travel accounts and other
Arabic writings on the topic. In fact, I had so much material that I had
to select only a few themes.
QS: Have you visited Saudi Arabia or any other Arab countries in order to
closely understand the social and religious fabric of these countries?
A: I have not yet had the opportunity to visit Saudi Arabia. I had planned
a trip while I was working on my dissertation, but was not able to make it
as I had a baby during the research phase. My familiarity with the
country, its customs, and social and religious fabric comes mostly through
personal contacts with Saudis, as well as through reading. I plan to visit
Saudi Arabia soon, inshallah.
Q6: Steven Schwartz mentioned that he did not need to visit Riyadh to find
out more about Wahhabism and that he managed to know about it in Sarajevo.
What do you think of that?
A: Steven Schwartz also apparently felt that he did not need to read
anything that Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab wrote in order to form an
opinion about him, his teachings or the movement he inspired. There is not
a single reference to any of Sheikh Muhammad's writings or to any other
Arabic work in his bibliography.
This is not surprising as Mr. Schwartz neither reads nor speaks Arabic.
His information about Wahhabis and Wahhabism comes from a combination of
Western travel accounts and from his own personal experiences in Bosnia.
If you read his book it becomes clear to you that he believes that Sufism
is the only interpretation of Islam that should be tolerated because, in
his opinion, it is only Sufism that has never been associated with
violence, while he believes that "Wahhabism" is synonymous with violence.
In making this claim, he has the very important fact that, in the 19th
Century, it was the Sufi leaders and movements who led the wars of
independence in North Africa and Southeast Asia! I do not consider his
book to be a serious work of scholarship. It is more an expression of his
own opinions than it is a serious piece of research.
Unfortunately, this and Hamid Algar's highly critical essay on Wahhabism
have been the only full-length written works devoted to Wahhabism up until
now and Mr. Schwartz has become the new media darling in this country
because he has spoken out against Saudi Arabia and has stirred up fears
that all Saudis hate Americans because 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were
Saudi.
Q7: Are there any aspects that the study has not covered or have not been
given due attention?
A: Yes. Sheikh Muhammad was a prolific writer and I had to be very
selective about the themes I covered. I did not cover any topics related
to finance, banking or business. I chose the themes that I felt were most
relevant to helping Westerners in general and Americans in particular
understand what Sheikh Muhammad wrote and to dispel the most important
Western myths about Wahhabism.
Q8: What was your conception of the Call of Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul
Wahhab before you embarked on this study, and what is your present
position in this regard? In other words, has this study changed your
preconceived ideas about the movement?
A: Before I undertook this study, my understanding of Sheikh Muhammad's
teachings was fairly superficial. I expected to find a lot of material
addressing his call to tawhid (monotheism) and prohibition of shirk
(polytheism), which I did. Having read the Western travel accounts, I
expected to find a lot of material promoting violence, calling for jihad,
and labeling all non-Wahhabis as kaafirs (disbelivers), which I did not.
Once I read Kitab al-Tawhid, my expectations changed. I realized that most
people had misread this treatise as a manifesto for action. As a matter of
fact, Kitab al-Tawhid is just a detailed discussion of the implications of
tawhid. It is not a call to war. When read in the context of all of Sheikh
Muhammad's writings, it clearly serves as a theological treatise
addressing the responsibilities of the faithful. I also had not expected
to find such rich source materials for understanding his interpretation of
Islamic law. The day I found the treatises on jihad and marriage was one
of the most exciting days in the research process because the contents
were not at all what one would expect given current stereotypes of
Wahhabis.
Q9: From your study, have you come to the conclusion that Sheikh Muhammad
Ibn Abdul Wahhab called to violence as has been claimed in the media and
by the opponents of Sheikh Ibn Abdul Wahhab?
A: Not at all. In fact, his treatise on jihad was specifically written to
place limitations on violence and destruction on the few occasions when
jihad was called for. I cannot emphasize enough that Sheikh Muhammad
legitimated jihad only when very specific criteria were met and then only
for defensive purposes. He never allowed for offensive jihad. Sheikh
Muhammad believed in the sanctity of human life and taught that the
preservation of human life is the most important obligation of the Muslim.
He went to great lengths to detail those who should not be killed during
jihad. He also believed in the need to uphold the family unit, even in the
case of prisoners taken during jihad. He did not allow for children to be
separated from their parents and he even required that families taken
prisoner be allowed to practice their own religion and provide their
children with appropriate religious instruction, provided that they were
not atheists.
Many in the media today believe that Wahhabism is really just a
continuation of the supposed radicalism of Ibn Taymiyya. I found it very
interesting that Sheikh Muhammad's works contain very few references to
Ibn Taymiyya's writings and that he did not always agree with Ibn Taymiyya
on those occasions where he did quote him. Sheikh Muhammad did not lead a
jihadi movement. Jihad was not one of his major themes. Much of the
negative imagery of the Wahhabis comes from Sheikh Muhammad's opponents
and from the practice of tomb destruction that was carried out by Sheikh
Muhammad and his early followers. One final point is that analysts have
not distinguished between military actions undertaken for the purpose of
state consolidation and jihad. Not all military actions undertaken by
Muhammad Ibn Saud could be termed as a form of jihad.
Q10: On the intellectual level, has the researcher discovered any similar
intellectual roots between the extremist Islamic movements, sometimes
dubbed fundamentalist movements, particularly between the Jihadi thought
and the call of Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab?
A: I would have to say no. The fatawa (religious verdicts) and other
statements and declarations issued by jihadi organizations that I have
read tend to quote Ibn Taymiyya more than Sheikh Muhammad. Sheikh
Muhammad's teachings are geared toward educating believers in proper
beliefs through direct study of the Qur’aan and hadeeth and encouraging
them to live up to the dictates of their faith in both private and public
life. He gives great attention to the issues of social, justice and social
welfare. Contemporary jihadi movements do not seek to educate people or to
encourage an in-depth study of the Qur’aan. They have been formed by
people who are frustrated and disgruntled with their different governments
and have turned to Islam to legitimate their attempts to overthrow the
current regimes by revolution. The truly violent movements have offered no
vision for society once they have come to power.
Sheikh Muhammad's approach was more evolutionary because his ultimate goal
was educating people, not overthrowing governments. Both his writings and
the historical record indicate that Islamic call, not military training,
was Sheikh Muhammad's main objective. In addition, I should note that
discussions of martyrdom are completely absent from Sheikh Muhammad's
writings on jihad. This absence is not an accident. He always emphasized
that the intent behind an action was more important than the action
itself. In the case of "self-designated martyrdom," as the so-called
suicide bombers refer to themselves, he would have noted that the intent
behind the action was the deliberate seeking of martyrdom in order to seek
Paradise.
He would not have approved of the goal or the method because suicide is
prohibited by the Qur’aan ("Do not kill the life that God has prohibited
to kill") and the Sunnah. Furthermore, the intent of the martyr should be
the service of God, not self-glorification. It would be more appropriate
to look at early 20th century reformist movements, particularly the
Salafiyya movement in Egypt led by Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida, for
Sheikh Muhammad's intellectual influence. Sheikh Muhammad's legal thought
is also apparent in many contemporary legal reforms, ironically those
pertaining to women and gender.
Q11: Some people accuse the Call of Sheikh Muhammad IbnAbdul Wabhab of
advocating terrorism. What do you think of that? Is the position of the
Western media with regard to the call of Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab
based on facts and figures and a good understanding of this movement or
not?
A: Sheikh Muhammad would have been appalled by the acts of terrorism some
have committed in the name of Islam and he would have certainly condemned
them. He condemned offensive and aggressive military actions, particularly
against fellow Muslims. He absolutely forbade the killing of civilians,
particularly women, children and the elderly. He also forbade the killing
of the handicapped, the blind and the deaf. He forbade the killing of
Christian priests and Jewish rabbis because he recognized them as servants
of God. He forbade the killing of slaves and servants because he
considered them to be innocent of whatever crimes their masters committed.
Sheikh Muhammad taught that Allah is a god of mercy and compassion and
expects Muslims to be merciful and compassionate in their interactions
with other human beings. I believe that he would have strongly condemned
the terrorist attacks of 9/11 because they indiscriminately killed so many
people, including many of those listed above as forbidden to kill, namely
civilians, women, children, the elderly, the handicapped, and Muslims.
Osama bin Laden has claimed that these attacks were legitimate acts of
jihad because they targeted Americans and symbols of American power, which
he holds responsible for the humiliation and subjugation of Muslims from
Palestine to Saudi Arabia. I do not think that Sheikh Muhammad would have
supported this kind of collective punishment. He would also have been
appalled by the destruction of property that accompanied the horrific loss
of human life that day.
Q12: What's your opinion concerning what has been written about Sheikh
Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab, especially by Western travelers?
A: Although Western travel accounts provide some useful information and
impressions about the experiences that these people had, the bottom line
is that none of them ever met Sheikh Muhammad or any of his followers or
read anything that he wrote. Consequently, their opinions about him and
his movement are based on hearsay. They are not particularly useful source
materials unless you are looking for contemporary negative opinions about
Sheikh Muhammad.
Q13: Being a woman, do you think that Sheikh Muhaamad Ibn Abdul Wahhab
wronged women or did justice to them?
A: Overall, I believe that he did justice to them. Although, based upon
what the media tell us, one would expect to find rampant misogyny in
Sheikh Muhammad's works, the reality is that one of the most remarkable
aspects of his writings is his consistent respect for and protection of
women. The most important themes of Sheikh Muhammad's writings with
respect to women were those upholding their rights, providing justice for
them, and insisting upon a balance of rights and responsibilities between
men and women. Particularly where marriage and divorce - the most
important personal life issue for both men and women - were concerned, he
was very careful to assign women rights that balanced out the rights of
men.
For example, he insisted that women have access to and judicial support
for their right to khul' divorce because God granted this right to the
woman in order to allow her to depart from a marriage that she feels she
cannot fulfill. In his vision, the right of the woman to a khul' divorce
is absolute. The only issue open to negotiation is the amount of
compensation she owes to the husband and this could not be more than the
mahr. He did not allow the husband to deny her the right to a khul'
divorce any more than he would have allowed a woman the right to deny her
husband the right of a taalaq divorce.
His protection of women is also apparent in his giving women the right to
stipulate conditions in the marriage contract favorable to them, but
denying men the same right. Because the man does not have to give any
justification for ending a marriage, he felt that women have the right to
set up their own conditions for the marriage to survive, provided that
they do not contradict the Qur’aan or Sunnah or infringe upon the rights
of a co-wife. He also forbade the practice of child marriage and required
the woman's consent to the marriage in all cases, regardless of her age or
status as a virgin or non-virgin. These teachings are very important
because they redress some of the social practices that have arisen
historically and culturally that deny these rights to women even to this
day. Sheikh Muhammad's writings about women and gender provide some strong
historical precedents for serious and needed reforms in the contemporary
Muslim world.
Q14: What are the most important findings in the study? Have these
findings been announced in the media and in academic circles?
A: Without a doubt, the most important findings, particularly after the
9/11 incidents, are those pertaining to jihad, women and gender. Sheikh
Muhammad was neither a violent fanatic nor a misogynist. He was remarkably
balanced and logical in his discussions and was a great scholar. My
dissertation was only recently accepted by Georgetown University, namely
on December 31, 2002. I had offers for publication of the book from two
presses and one request for translation rights before the dissertation was
approved! Oxford University Press will be publishing the book form in
English later this year under the title "Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and
Reform to Global Jihad". I have received numerous requests for copies of
the dissertation, have been interviewed by the media to counter Stephen
Schwartz's book and have presented a paper on the jihad findings. So far,
the response to my work has been very positive. I expect the audience to
broaden once the book form is published. "
Q15: Finally, Is there a message you would like to convey to the readers
of this interview or to those who write or talk about the call of Sheikh
Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab, be they Westerners or opponents of Sheikh
Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab?
A: Yes. It is very important to make judgments about a person or a
movement based upon evidence, not hearsay. In the case of Sheikh Muhammad,
the evidence portrays a scholar whose goal in life was to educate Muslims
about their faith and to create a just society for both men and women, not
to engage the entire non-Wahhabi world in an endless jihad. Just as not
all "Wahhabis" represent a threat to the Western world, so not all Saudis
are to be feared as prototypes of Osama bin Laden.
From Al-Da’wah Monthly Islamic magazine – No. 21 Jumada I 1424 H. July
2003
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