Wahhabism

Lore & Background

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, a Hanbali scholar, inspired a movement that staunchly denounced rituals related to the veneration of Muslim saints and pilgrimages to their tombs and shrines, which were widespread among the people of Najd. He and his followers were highly inspired by the Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyya, who advocated a return to the purity of the first three generations (salaf) to rid Muslims of bid'a (innovation). While influenced by the Hanbali school, the movement repudiated taqlid to legal authorities, including oft-cited scholars such as Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim.

Reader's Guide

The movement gradually rose to prominence as an influential anti-colonial reform trend in the Islamic world, advocating the re-generation of social and political prowess of Muslims. Its revolutionary themes inspired several Islamic revivalists, scholars, pan-Islamist ideologues, and anti-colonial activists as far as West Africa. The movement has also been labeled by opponents as fostering intolerance and simplistic theology, and a 2013 European Parliament study identified it as the main source of global terrorism.

Did You Know?

• The term 'Wahhabi' was likely first used by Sulayman ibn Abd al-Wahhab, an ardent critic of his brother's views.
• Followers of the movement traditionally called themselves Muwahhidun ('the Monotheists'), not Wahhabis.
• The movement repudiated taqlid (legal imitation) even of its own key influences, Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim.