Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab" in English language version.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab included in the category of such acts popular religious practices that made holy men into intercessors with God. That was the core of the controversy between him and his adversaries, including his brother.
Ibn Taymiyya spent a large portion of his life in prison for his teachings; his last imprisonment was caused by his issuance of a legal opinion reportedly denouncing the visitation of the Prophet's grave... He was arrested, imprisoned without trial, and by a decree of the sultan, which was read out in the Umayyad Mosque, deprived of the right to issue legal opinions (ifta'). The reason for this was the discovery of Ibn Taymiyya's fatwa on grave visitation, authored by him seventeen years earlier and exploited by Ibn Taymiyya's adversaries. This event was connected with yet another incident. After Ibn al-Qayyim, in full accordance with his master's teaching, had preached in Jerusalem about the intercession of the prophets and denied that one could set out to visit the Prophet's grave without first going to the Prophet's mosque, a group of Ibn Taymiyya's sympathizers was arrested. Ibn al Qayyim, after he had been beaten and paraded on a donkey, was imprisoned along with Ibn Taymiyya.. Ibn Taymiyya prohibits traveling exclusively for the purpose of visiting the Prophet's grave, but it is customary (sunna) to visit it after praying in his mosque, because it was the way of the sahaba... Ibn Taymiyya criticizes hadiths encouraging visitation of the Prophet's grave, pronouncing them all forgeries (mawdu') and lies (kidhb)...
Question: What kind of a person was (Muhammad ibn) Abd al-Wahhab al-Najdi?" "Answer: People call Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab a Wahhabi. He was a good person, and I have heard that he was a follower of the Hanbali School of Islamic law and acted upon the Hadith. He used to prevent people from Shirk and innovation (bid'a), but he was harsh (shadid) in his attitude." Question: Who are the Wahhabis and what was the belief of Abd al-Wahhab al-Najdi? What was his Madhhab and what type of person was he? What is the difference in belief between the people of Najd and Sunni Hanafis?" "Answer: The followers of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab are called Wahhabis. They had good (umdah) beliefs and their school of thought was Hanbali. However, they were very stringent in their attitude but he and his followers were good people. But, yes, those who exceeded the limits were overcome by wrongness (fasad). And basic beliefs of everyone are united. The difference they have in actions is (like that) of Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali." (Fatawa Rashidiyya, pp. 241–42) ...
From among the wonders is to find a Sufi who is a faqih and a scholar who is an ascetic (zahid).
Muhammad ibn ῾Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792), was a scholar and Hanbali jurist who called for a return to the fundamental sources of Islamic revelation, the Qur᾽an and sunna (example of Muhammad) for direct interpretation, resulting in decreased attention to and reliance upon medieval interpretations of these sources
(his criticism)... was also directed against the blind acceptance of religious authority (taqlid ) and by implication the 'ulama for confining independent reasoning (ijtihad ) and for their uncritical acceptance of medieval Islamic sources as the final authority on these questions. Instead, he maintained that final authoritative sources are those of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet along with the precedents of the early Companions, who considered ijtihad as necessary for the continuous interpretation of Islamic law" ... "By upholding the absolute supremacy of the Qur'an and the early Sunnah, his intention was to undercut the authority of ijma, the consensus arrived at by the established 'ulama and extend the practice of independent reasoning [as against taqlid (traditionalism) ].
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb came to Madina as a relatively young scholar and studied under Muhammad Hayyā al-Sindi.... Scholars have described Muhammad Hayyā as having an impor- tant influence on Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb, encouraging him in his developing determination to denounce rigid imitation of medieval commentaries and to utilize informed individual analysis (ijtihād). Muhammad Hayyà also taught Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb a rejection of popular religious practices associated with saints and their tombs that is similar to later Wahhābi teachings.
In the Arabian Peninsula and especially in Saudi Arabia, Salafism can be traced to the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792). This version of Salafism was and is primarily reformist. It is not revolutionary. Usually, the term "Wahhabism" is used to characterize Salafism in Saudi Arabia. Saudis consider this term pejorative because it makes mainstream religion of Saudi Arabia sound like a cult centered on one man... His reformist approach, however, like Ibn Taymiyya's, was meant to be a rational enterprise that opposed superstition as well as innovation in religion.. his focus was the chaotic eighteenth century tribal rivalry within the Arabian Peninsula, not the world. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's theology thus does not support al-Qaeda's ideology of global jihad. His heirs today are the religious scholars who are the pillars of the modern Saudi state and al-Qaeda's enemies. The Saudi population overwhelmingly prefers its religious institutions and scholars to the revolutionary Salafism of Bin Laden. Al-Qaeda attacks these mainstream Saudi clerics with the vitriol they usually reserve for the United States.
Certain themes that Hayat al-Sindl discussed in his writings, such as his opposition to erecting tombs and drawing human images, would soon resurface in the teachings of Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhab.
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb came to Madina as a relatively young scholar and studied under Muhammad Hayyā al-Sindi.... Scholars have described Muhammad Hayyā as having an impor- tant influence on Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb, encouraging him in his developing determination to denounce rigid imitation of medieval commentaries and to utilize informed individual analysis (ijtihād). Muhammad Hayyà also taught Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb a rejection of popular religious practices associated with saints and their tombs that is similar to later Wahhābi teachings.
4) The Prophet (May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) forbade visiting his grave in a certain manner, though visiting his grave is among the best of deeds. 5) The Prophet (May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) forbade us making excessive visits to his grave
the Taliban ... movement emerged more from the Deobandi School and not Wahhabism ... the Saudi government cooperated fully, ..., with U.S. operations in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) by allowing U.S. forces to use Saudi air bases to control U.S. aircraft ... the ideology of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda is not Wahhabi. ... The ideology of al-Qaeda is not a simple affair, and it is a serious mistake to reduce it to Wahhabism. To do so is to ignore the extent to which al-Qaeda broke with the traditional geo-political outlook of Wahhabism, which had never entered into politico-military opposition to the West and was indeed in alliance with the U.S. from 1945 onwards. ...
.. Saudi Arabia is serious about fighting Al-Qaeda
Muhammad ibn ῾Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792), was a scholar and Hanbali jurist who called for a return to the fundamental sources of Islamic revelation, the Qur᾽an and sunna (example of Muhammad) for direct interpretation, resulting in decreased attention to and reliance upon medieval interpretations of these sources
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb came to Madina as a relatively young scholar and studied under Muhammad Hayyā al-Sindi.... Scholars have described Muhammad Hayyā as having an impor- tant influence on Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb, encouraging him in his developing determination to denounce rigid imitation of medieval commentaries and to utilize informed individual analysis (ijtihād). Muhammad Hayyà also taught Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb a rejection of popular religious practices associated with saints and their tombs that is similar to later Wahhābi teachings.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab included in the category of such acts popular religious practices that made holy men into intercessors with God. That was the core of the controversy between him and his adversaries, including his brother.
From among the wonders is to find a Sufi who is a faqih and a scholar who is an ascetic (zahid).
Question: What kind of a person was (Muhammad ibn) Abd al-Wahhab al-Najdi?" "Answer: People call Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab a Wahhabi. He was a good person, and I have heard that he was a follower of the Hanbali School of Islamic law and acted upon the Hadith. He used to prevent people from Shirk and innovation (bid'a), but he was harsh (shadid) in his attitude." Question: Who are the Wahhabis and what was the belief of Abd al-Wahhab al-Najdi? What was his Madhhab and what type of person was he? What is the difference in belief between the people of Najd and Sunni Hanafis?" "Answer: The followers of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab are called Wahhabis. They had good (umdah) beliefs and their school of thought was Hanbali. However, they were very stringent in their attitude but he and his followers were good people. But, yes, those who exceeded the limits were overcome by wrongness (fasad). And basic beliefs of everyone are united. The difference they have in actions is (like that) of Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali." (Fatawa Rashidiyya, pp. 241–42) ...
In the Arabian Peninsula and especially in Saudi Arabia, Salafism can be traced to the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792). This version of Salafism was and is primarily reformist. It is not revolutionary. Usually, the term "Wahhabism" is used to characterize Salafism in Saudi Arabia. Saudis consider this term pejorative because it makes mainstream religion of Saudi Arabia sound like a cult centered on one man... His reformist approach, however, like Ibn Taymiyya's, was meant to be a rational enterprise that opposed superstition as well as innovation in religion.. his focus was the chaotic eighteenth century tribal rivalry within the Arabian Peninsula, not the world. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's theology thus does not support al-Qaeda's ideology of global jihad. His heirs today are the religious scholars who are the pillars of the modern Saudi state and al-Qaeda's enemies. The Saudi population overwhelmingly prefers its religious institutions and scholars to the revolutionary Salafism of Bin Laden. Al-Qaeda attacks these mainstream Saudi clerics with the vitriol they usually reserve for the United States.
(his criticism)... was also directed against the blind acceptance of religious authority (taqlid ) and by implication the 'ulama for confining independent reasoning (ijtihad ) and for their uncritical acceptance of medieval Islamic sources as the final authority on these questions. Instead, he maintained that final authoritative sources are those of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet along with the precedents of the early Companions, who considered ijtihad as necessary for the continuous interpretation of Islamic law" ... "By upholding the absolute supremacy of the Qur'an and the early Sunnah, his intention was to undercut the authority of ijma, the consensus arrived at by the established 'ulama and extend the practice of independent reasoning [as against taqlid (traditionalism) ].
