Pillar of Wahhabism: Hating Other Muslims

Throughout history, Muslims have believed that the core doctrine of Islam is the five pillars:

(1) Shahada (declaration of faith)
(2) Salah (prayer)
(3) Zakat (almsgiving)
(4) Sawm (fasting)
(5) Hajj (pilgrimage)

The first pillar of Shahada was understood to be a commitment to Tawhid and Following the Prophet ﷺ as Allah’s messenger. And here Tawhid was understood as a simple concept that the most uneducated person could grasp. It was simply rejecting the existence of other gods, and worshipping Allah alone. Because it was so simple, it could be explained to an individual in a minute, and he could assent to it verbally by pronouncing the shahada.

The other four pillars were about how to worship Allah with love, fear, humility, and gratitude – constantly remembering Him in daily prayer, giving charity to the poor, distancing oneself from worldly desires through fasting, and visiting God’s house through pilgrimage.

The eighteenth century Najdi arch-heretic Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab changed all of this.

He claimed that Tawhid was actually an extremely difficult concept that no Muslim in his era understood.

Indeed, he literally claimed to have discovered the meaning himself.

Ibn Abd al-Wahhab says:

I will tell you about myself – I swear by Allah, the One besides whom there is no deity worthy of worship – I sought knowledge, and those who knew me thought that I had understanding. But at that time, I did not know the meaning of “La ilaha illa Allah”, nor did I know the religion of Islam before this blessing that Allah bestowed on me. Likewise, none of my teachers [in Makka and Madina] knew it.

 

Whoever among the scholars of Al-‘Arid claims that they knew the meaning of “La ilaha illa Allah” or understood the meaning of Islam before this time, or whoever claims that one of their teachers knew it, has lied, fabricated, deceived the people, and praised themselves for something they do not possess.

 

وأنا أخبركم عن نفسي والله الذي لا إله إلا هو، لقد طلبت العلم، واعتقد من عرفني أن لي معرفة، وأنا ذلك الوقت، لا أعرف معنى لا إله إلا الله، ولا أعرف دين الإسلام، قبل هذا الخير الذي من الله به؛ وكذلك مشايخي، ما منهم رجل عرف ذلك.

فمن زعم من علماء العارض: أنه عرف معنى لا إله إلا الله، أو عرف معنى الإسلام قبل هذا الوقت، أو زعم من مشايخه أن أحدا عرف ذلك، فقد كذب وافترى، ولبس على الناس، ومدح نفسه بما ليس فيه

 

Al-Durar al-Saniyya (vol. 10, p.71)

Since the time of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, a mark of Wahhabi though is that it revolves around the false claim that Tawhid is an extremely complex doctrine which is almost impossible to understand – and that it has different branches like Tawhid al-Uluhiyya, Tawhid al-Rububiyya, Tawhid al-Asma wa-l-Sifat, and Tawhid al-Hakimiyya.

Wahhabis claim that all Muslims must accept these complicated doctrines on Tawhid despite the fact that they were not taught by the Prophet ﷺ, are not found in the Quran and hadith, and were unknown to the Salaf.

But Ibn Abd al-Wahhab went beyond this.

He claimed that the true meaning of Islam and Tawhid is:

(1) hating and killing mushrik kafirs

(2) believing that all Muslims (outside Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s followers) are mushrik kafirs

(3) that these Muslims should be killed and treated as mushrik kafirs despite the fact that they explicitly say the shahada, explicitly reject shirk, and practice the five pillars

(4) that whoever does not consider the general body of Muslims to be mushrik kafirs becomes a mushrik kafir and must be killed.

If you think this is an exaggeration read Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s works. Read Kitab al-Tawhid, Kashf al-Shubuhat, and Mufid al-Mustafid.

RELATED: Important Academic Resources on the Madkhali Movement

These books are not about love, gratitude, and fear directed towards Allah, or about love and obedience to the Prophet ﷺ, or about prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and the like. They are all about how Tawhid requires hatred, killing, and takfir/excommunication.

They also provide long lists of reasons to takfir and kill other Muslims (e.g., making requests from angels, jinn, the dead; slaughtering animals for other than Allah, vowing to other than Allah, prostrating to other than Allah, etc.). Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s books also present extensive arguments against excusing Muslims who err in these matters due to ignorance (udhr bi-l-jahl) – insisting they must be killed.

Have you ever talked to a Wahhabi? Or looked at a Wahhabi social media account? You will find that these accounts focus on hatred for other Muslims, and calls for takfiring and/or killing them.

For Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the central message of Islam is simply hating and killing everyone in the world, with a special focus on hating and killing other Muslims. (Here he is like the Khawarij heretics).

This is a complete negation of the traditional understanding of Islam based on the five pillars, which are not concerned with hatred and killing.

And none of this contradicts the fact that traditional Islam does endorse imperial conquest (jihad) and severe punishments for heretics and apostates (including killing). These are necessary political mechanisms for defending and spreading Islam’s way of life in a world of competing states, cultures, and ideologies.

But this does not mean that the central message of Islam is hating and killing others. The message “Love, Fear, and Worship Allah” is not the same as “Hate and Kill the other Muslims who claim that they love, fear, and worship Allah.”

I genuinely used to think that descriptions of Islam as a religion centering on hatred and killing were simply Orientalist propaganda used to justify wars of conquest and colonialism against Muslim populations.

However, now I realize that they are – to a large extent – an accurate description of the Wahhabi heresy, which is simply a modern revival of Islam’s oldest heresy (i.e., Kharijism).

This is the khariji understanding of Islam that Ibn Abd al-Wahhab “discovered” in the eighteenth century, and it is a complete perversion of authentic Islamic doctrine.

RELATED: Will the Real Salafis Please Stand Up?

If you say to a Wahhabi – the core Islamic message is not about hatred and killing – rather it about having a heart filled with love, fear, gratitude, and humility towards Allah, while reverently worshipping Allah, and treating other Muslims, kin, and the poor with kindness – when the Wahhabi hears this he will say “You don’t understand tawhid! Study tawhid! You talk like a Sufi! You are a kafir mushrik!”

In fact I will go a step further.

I believe that one of the reasons why the West has protected Saudi Arabia and helped it spread the Wahhabi heresy, and Wahhabi terrorist groups, throughout the world is to make all societies (including Muslims societies) hate Islam. Global hatred of Islam, and belief that Islam’s central message is simply about hating and killing everyone in the world, operates to justify Western invasions of Muslim countries and authoritarian secular liberal regimes ruling over Muslim lands.

Reviving authentic Islam and creating a future for Muslim civilization requires eradicating the Wahhabi heresy from its roots.

One key quote to keep in mind comes from Husayn ibn Ghannam (1739-1810) – one of the most famous Wahhabi scholars. He was a direct student of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and wrote the earliest history of Wahhabism, which is known as “Tarikh Najd.” Although Ibn Ghannam is a strong supporter of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, he acknowledges that virtually all the scholars of the era declared Ibn Abd al-Wahhab to be a khariji and a deviant or kafir outside of Ahl al-Sunna.

In Tarikh Najd, Ibn Ghannam says:

Rather, the majority of scholars from various regions and eras asserted definitively that this individual [Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab], who clarifies the legacy of the righteous predecessors and who follows the guidance of the chosen Prophet, is among the most evil of the misguided, the impious, and the disbelievers—and one of the worst of kharijites and depraved people.

 

بل جزم أكثر علماء الأمصار في تلك الأزمان والأعصار بأن هذا المبين لآثار السلف الأخيار المتبع لهدي نبيه المختار من أقبح الضلال والفساق والكفار وأشر الخوارج والفجار،

Here Ibn Ghannam is talking about the various scholars who lived during the time of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. Perhaps the most important was the leading Hanafi authority Ibn Abidin. He claimed that Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s movement is Ahl al-Bid’a, resembles Kharijism and is not part of Sunnism. Ibn ‘Abidin notes that Ibn Abd al-Wahhab has declared a jihad on all the world’s Muslims, justifying killing Ahl al-Sunna and their religious scholars based on the false claim that they are mushriks.

In Radd al-Muhtar, Ibn ‘Abidin (1784-1836) says:

(His statement: “And they takfir the companions of our Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him”) – know that this is not a condition for calling [a group] “Kharijites” – rather it is a clarifications regarding those who rebelled against our master Ali – may Allah be pleased with him. It is sufficient [to call a group Kharijites when they rebel] with the belief that the ones they rebel against are kafirs.

 

This is similar to what occurred in our time with the followers of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, who emerged from Najd, took control of the Two Holy Sanctuaries [Makka and Madina], and claimed to follow the Hanbali school of thought. However, they believed that they alone were the true Muslims and that anyone who disagreed with their beliefs was a polytheist (mushrik).

 

Based on this belief, they deemed it permissible to kill the Ahl al-Sunna and their scholars until Allah Almighty broke their strength, destroyed their lands, and the Muslim armies defeated them in the year 1233 AH [1818 CE].

 

(قَوْلُهُ: وَيُكَفِّرُونَ أَصْحَابَ نَبِيِّنَا – صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ -) عَلِمْت أَنَّ هَذَا غَيْرُ شَرْطٍ فِي مُسَمَّى الْخَوَارِجِ، بَلْ هُوَ بَيَانٌ لِمَنْ خَرَجُوا عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا عَلِيٍّ – رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ -، وَإِلَّا فَيَكْفِي فِيهِمْ اعْتِقَادُهُمْ كُفْرَ مَنْ خَرَجُوا عَلَيْهِ، كَمَا وَقَعَ فِي زَمَانِنَا فِي أَتْبَاعِ عَبْدِ الْوَهَّابِ الَّذِينَ خَرَجُوا مِنْ نَجْدٍ وَتَغَلَّبُوا عَلَى الْحَرَمَيْنِ وَكَانُوا يَنْتَحِلُونَ مَذْهَبَ الْحَنَابِلَةِ، لَكِنَّهُمْ اعْتَقَدُوا أَنَّهُمْ هُمْ الْمُسْلِمُونَ وَأَنَّ مَنْ خَالَفَ اعْتِقَادَهُمْ مُشْرِكُونَ، وَاسْتَبَاحُوا بِذَلِكَ قَتْلَ أَهْلِ السُّنَّةِ وَقَتْلَ عُلَمَائِهِمْ حَتَّى كَسَرَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى شَوْكَتَهُمْ وَخَرَّبَ بِلَادَهُمْ وَظَفِرَ بِهِمْ عَسَاكِرُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ عَامَ ثَلَاثٍ وَثَلَاثِينَ وَمِائَتَيْنِ وَأَلْفٍ (قَوْلُهُ: كَمَا حَقَّقَهُ فِي الْفَتْحِ) حَيْثُ قَالَ: وَحُكْمُ الْخَوَارِجِ عِنْدَ جُمْهُورِ الْفُقَهَاءِ وَالْمُحَدِّثِينَ حُكْمُ الْبُغَاةِ. وَذَهَبَ بَعْضُ الْمُحَدِّثِينَ إلَى كُفْرِهِمْ. قَالَ ابْنُ الْمُنْذِرِ: وَلَا أَعْلَمُ أَحَدًا وَافَقَ أَهْلَ الْحَدِيثِ عَلَى تَكْفِيرِهِمْ، وَهَذَا يَقْتَضِي نَقْلَ إجْمَاعِ الْفُقَهَاءِ.

Muslims of the world must recognize that Wahhabism and its various branches (ISIS, Madkhalis, Haddadis) represent a fundamental distortion of Islam’s core teachings.