Question:
Our brother also asks His Eminence the Sheikh, saying: There is a group of people who, when we call them to Allah the Glorified and Exalted and to abandoning associating partners with Him (Shirk), accuse us of being “Wahhabis.” How should we respond to them, if you would be so kind?
Answer:
They should be taught. There is no independent “Wahhabi” madhhab (school of thought) here; rather, it is simply obedience to Allah and His Messenger. Wahhabism calls to what Allah and His Messenger said. Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him), to whom Wahhabism is attributed, was a man who arose in the second half of the twelfth century calling people to what Allah and His Messenger said. He called people to the creed of the righteous predecessors (al-salaf al-salih), to following the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and to treading the path of his Companions in word and deed.
He followed the Hanbali school of jurisprudence, but Allah granted him success in calling people to reform their creed, abandon associating partners with Allah the Glorified and Exalted, and leave behind the “innovations” (bida’) and superstitions adopted or practiced by some Sufis or proponents of speculative theology (kalam). Thus, he called to the creed of the righteous predecessors in action and belief, and he prohibited the innovations of the people of kalam and those Sufis who deviated from the right path into innovation. Therefore, he did not have a school of thought that contradicted the school of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah; rather, he called exclusively to the methodology of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah.
So if you call someone to monotheism (Tawhid) and forbid him from polytheism (Shirk), and they say, “Wahhabi,” then say: “Yes, I am a Wahhabi, and I am a Muhammadi; I am calling you to the obedience of Allah and His legislation, and I am calling you to the monotheism of Allah.”
If the one who calls to the monotheism of Allah is a Wahhabi, then I am a Wahhabi. If the one who calls to the monotheism of Allah is a Nasibi, then I am a Nasibi. If the one who calls to the monotheism of Allah is a Shiite, then I am a Shiite. What matters is calling to what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions were upon. Labeling people with titles meant to alienate them from the call has no value.
The obligation upon a believer is to fear Allah, to remain steadfast upon the command of Allah—even if people say whatever they say, whether they call him a hypocrite, a Wahhabi, a Shiite, or anything else. Once he knows that he is calling to the monotheism of Allah and to the obedience of Allah and His Messenger as stated by Allah and His Messenger, the troublemakers and detractors with their invented labels will not harm him. Just as the disbelievers said to the Prophet ﷺ: “Sabian,” and they called him a madman, a poet, a fortuneteller, and a sorcerer—yet that did not harm him; he continued his call to Allah, taught the people the monotheism of Allah, and paid no heed to their calling him a sorcerer, fortuneteller, or anything similar.
Thus it is with the followers of the truth: it does not harm them if they are called “Wahhabi,” or labeled with this or that, or called “harsh,” “alienating,” “extremist,” “fanatical,” or whatever other titles people use to drive others away from them. This does not harm them in the least. What is required of them is to be patient, to clarify the truth to the people, and to show that they have nothing that contradicts the purified legislation of Allah brought by Muhammad (upon him be peace and blessings).
Wahhabism is precisely this: the Wahhabis are callers to the monotheism of Allah and to the obedience of Allah and His Messenger. They do not have a new school of thought; rather, they are callers to the monotheism of Allah and to following His Messenger Muhammad ﷺ. In jurisprudence (Fiqh), they are predominantly of the Hanbali school, except when they find something in the Hanbali school that contradicts the weightier opinion among scholars due to the presence of evidence supporting the view of others—in which case, they follow the evidence. Yes.