Wahhabism and Wahhabi Muslims
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Profile and History of Wahhabi Islam
Profile
Name: Wahhabism, Wahhabi Islam
Founder: Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792) could be considered the first modern Islamic fundamentalist. He made the central point of his reform movement the idea that absolutely every idea added to Islam after the third century of the Mulsim era (about 950 CE) was false and should be eliminated.
The reason for this extremist stance, and a primary focus of his efforts, was a number of common practices which he regarded as regressions to the days of pre-Islamic polytheism. These included praying to saints, making pilgrimages to tombs and special mosques, venerating trees, caves, and stones, and using votive and sacrificial offerings.
Wahhabi Doctrines
In contrast to such popular superstitions, al-Wahhab emphasized the unity of God (tawhid).
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This focus on absolute monotheism lead to him and his followers being referred to as muwahiddun, or “unitarians.” Everything else he denounced as heretical innovation, or bida.
Al-Wahhab was further dismayed at the widespread laxity in adhering to traditional Islamic laws: questionable practices like the ones above were allowed to continue, whereas the religious devotions which Islam did require were being ignored. This resulted in indifference to the plight of widows and orphans, adultery, lack of attention to obligatory prayers, and failure to allocate shares of inheritance fairly to women.
All of the above al-Wahhab characterized as being typical of jahiliyya, an important term in Islam which refers to the barbarism and state of ignorance which existed prior to the coming of Islam. By doing so, he identified himself with the Prophet Muhammad, and at the same time connected his contemporary society with the sort of thing Muhammad worked to overthrow.
Because so many Muslims really lived (so he claimed) in jahiliyya, al-Wahhab accused them of not really being Muslims after all. Only those who followed the teachings of al-Wahhab were still truly Muslims, because only they still followed the path laid out by Allah.
Obviously, Wahhabi religious leaders reject any reinterpretation of the Qur’an when it comes to issues settled by the earliest Muslims. In taking this position, they place themselves in opposition to a variety of Muslim reform movements which developed in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These movements worked to reinterpret aspects of Islamic law in order to bring it closer to standards set by the West, particularly with regards to topics like gender relations, family law, and participatory democracy.
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