Brother against Brother: Early Refutation of Wahhabism by 18th-century Hanbalis Scholars

Abstract

Since its rise in the 18th century, Wahhabism has been a source of intergenerational controversies among sunnī madhabī scholars (Hanafi, Maliki, and Shafi’i schools) and even among respected Hanbali scholars themselves. Muḥammad bin ‘Abd al-Wahhāb’s fatwas have drawn sharp critiques and refutations by Hanbali scholars, particularly those regarding tawḥīd ulūhiyyah which justifies declaring others as infidel-apostates (kāfir murtad). Other contested fatwas include those on Muslim practices of seeking blessings (tabarruk), seeking intermediaries (tawaṣṣul), visiting graves (ziyārah), and seeking help (istighāthah). Muḥammad bin ‘Abd al-Wahhāb and his followers have theologically deemed these practices as shirk al-akbar (a major form of idolatry) and have proclaimed his early Wahhabism as the true successor to the manhaj of Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya. This article portrays the refutations and rebuttals by Hanbali scholars of Muḥammad bin ‘Abd al-Wahhāb and his early Wahhabism based on primary sources. Specifically, this article describes the theological examination of and challenges against Wahhabism by 18th-century Hanbali scholars such as Shaykh al-Qāḍī Sulaimān bin ‘Abd al-Wahhāb al-Najdī al-Ḥanbalī in Al-Ṣawā‘iq al-Ilāhiyyah fī al-Radd ‘alā al-Wahhābiyyah. The findings show that 18th-century Hanbali scholars urge a discontinuity of early Wahhabism's theological concepts from major Hanbali schools on the contested fatwas.