Page 9 - Pakistan Link - April 26, 2019

OPINION APRIL 26, 2019 – PAKISTAN LINK – P9

Signs from Allah: History, Science and Faith in Islam

95. Resistance and Reform -Shaykh ibn Abdul Wahhab of Arabia- Part 1

dan a thousand years earlier. The
n By Prof. Dr Nazeer Ahmed Muslims, reeling under European
Concord, CA colonialism and the dissolution
of the Caliphate (1923), were only
haykh ibn Abdul Wahhab too eager to look to their pristine
was one of those rare schol- past for salvation and the puri-
Sars whose ideas have contin- tanical Wahhabi ideas seem to
ued to influence the Muslims for provide the answers. The Wahha-
more than 200 years. Represent- bi movement took root in India,
ing the puritanical Indonesia, Africa and the Middle
stream in Islam, East, often at the expense of the
in the tradition of inclusive Islam that had grown
Imam Ahmed ibn out of Sufi movements.
Hanbal (d. 855) The restless Bedouins, im-
and Shaykh Ibn pelled by puritanical faith, were
Taimiyah (d. 1328), not content with the establish-
his followers continue to infuse a ment of the Saudi Kingdom. They
certain tension among Muslims, felt it was their duty to continue
pulling them in the direction of a a jihad on neighboring territo-
spartan faith, shorn of embellish- ries to spread their ideas. But the
ments. Like the ideas of al Ashari world had changed since the hal-
(d. 935) in the 10th century, Wah- cyon days when Shaykh ibn Ab-
habi ideas have been amalgamated dul Wahhab had taught in Dari-
into modern Islamic thinking so yah. The British were now firmly
much so that most living Muslims able friendship between Shaykh control. During 1812-1813, Muhammed in control of Iraq and would not
have consciously or unconsciously ibn Abdul Wahhab and Emir It was not long before the Ot- Ali recaptured Mecca from the tolerate raids into their territo-
absorbed them as part of their her- Muhammed bin Saud that was to tomans responded. Not only was Saudis. Resistance to further Ot- ries. Emir Abdul Aziz tried to
itage. Even those who do not agree have a profound impact on his- a loss of territory unacceptable to toman advances to the interior, settle the restless Bedouins on
with the positions taken by the tory. The Emir became a student the Porte in Istanbul but also the however, was fierce. It was not agricultural land, but when that
Shaykh are forced into a continu- and patron of the shaykh and the puritanical Wahhabi vision ran until 1818 that an Egyptian-Turk- failed, he felt compelled to engage
ing dialogue with his ideas. Mod- friendship was cemented with counter to the Sufic Islam, which ish force under Ibrahim Pasha, them in an armed struggle. In
ern Islam would not be the same the marriage of a daughter of the had taken root in the Empire. An son of Khedive Muhammed Ali 1929, in a pitched battle at Sibilla,
without this scholar. Emir to the young shaykh. expedition to Arabia was orga- Pasha, succeeded in laying siege the Bedouins were defeated and
Shaykh ibn Abdul Wahhab The shaykh considered all to Dariyah, the Saudi capital. The the Wahhabi movement came
was a contemporary of Shah Wa- practices which were not in strict Wandering from town town was bombarded with can- under political control.
liullah (d. 1763) of Delhi and She- conformance with a literal in- to town in Najd, Shaykh non transported across the des- (The author is Director,
hu Uthman dan Fuduye (d. 1817) terpretation of the Qur’an and ibn Abdul Wahhab found ert. Dariyah fell after a bitter fight. World Organization for Re-
of West Africa. He was born in the Sunnah to be bida’a (innova- The principal towns in Ara- source Development and Educa-
the year1703 into the Banu Sinan tion), and he considered it his refuge in Uyainah whose bia were back in Ottoman hands, tion, Washington, DC; Director,
tribe of Najd in Uiynah, located duty to eradicate such practices Emir, Uthman bin Hamd, but the power of ideas cannot American Institute of Islamic
approximately 50 miles from Ri- with force, if necessary. The re- was receptive to his ideas. be stopped on the battlefield. History and Culture, CA; Mem-
yadh, capital of modern Saudi ligious charisma of the learned The Shaykh made many The Wahhabi movement with- ber, State Knowledge Commis-
Arabia. He received his early edu- shaykh and the military-political drew into the interior of Hejaz. sion, Bangalore; and Chairman,
cation from his father Shaykh Ab- acumen of the Emir were a pow- followers in Uyainah, but The Saudis soon regrouped and Delixus Group)
dul Wahhab bin Sulaiman, which erful combination. A jihad was his growing popularity founded a new capital in Riyadh.
included memorization of the declared against the neighboring attracted the suspicion With increasing military pressure TERROR FROM P4
Qur’an and a study of Sunnah and emirs who would not subscribe to from the European powers, the against another Shiite mosque in
Fiqh. As a teenager, he performed the strict interpretations of reli- of neighboring emirs. Ottomans were content to main- southeastern Iran.
the Hajj and stayed on in Mecca gion offered by the Shaykh. Thus, Pressure was brought tain the status quo, with the towns Aug. 5, 2012: Six members of
and Madina to study under re- started the Wahhabi movement, upon Emir Uthman to under their military control while the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, in
puted scholars of the age, Shaykh which in time was to propel itself assassinate the Shaykh the Saudis controlled the hinter- Oak Creek, were fatally shot by a
Abdulla bin Ibrahim of Najd and to Mecca and Madina, and spread land. However, not everyone in white supremacist, Wade Michael
Shaykh ibn Abdul Wahhab Hayat from there over the Islamic world. whose spartan vision the House of Saud subscribed to Page. Page was shot by a responding
of India. He studied the works of In the process it thrust Saudi Ara- of Islam was rapidly Wahhabi ideas. In 1891, Riyadh officer and later killed himself.
classical scholars and was influ- bia into modern history. gaining converts in all itself was wrested by a faction, Nov. 18, 2014: Two Palestinians
enced in particular by the writ- Consolidation of Wahhabi which was opposed to the teach- using axes, knives and a gun killed
ings of Ibn Taimiyah. After com- influence in the Najd continued areas of Najd. Shaykh ibn ings of Shaykh ibn Abdul Wah- four Jewish worshippers and an Is-
pleting his studies, he traveled throughout the 18th century. Abdul Wahhab escaped hab. The uprising was brief, and raeli police officer in an attack on a
through Persia and Iraq, visiting Shaykh ibn Abdul Wahhab wrote with his life and found in 1901, Emir Abdul Aziz al Saud Jerusalem synagogue.
Basra and Kufa. Returning home, to renowned scholars of the day recaptured Riyadh and estab- Jan. 30, 2015: Suicide bombing
he started teaching his austere vi- outlining his vision of Islam refuge in Dariyah where lished the modern Saudi dynasty. at a Shiite mosque in the Pakistani
sion of Islam. The hinterland of cleansed of the accretions that his teachings found a Global changes soon ap- town of Shikarpur killed 71. Jundul-
Arabia, inhabited mostly by Bed- had crept in over the centuries. It responsive chord in peared on the horizon. The First lah claimed responsibility.
ouins, had very little contact with was after the Shaykh passed away Emir Muhammed bin World War saw Britain, France March 20, 2015: Islamic State
the outside world. The Bedouins in 1787, however, that major op- and the United States arrayed suicide bombers attacked a pair of
who roamed the vast desert prac- portunities for expansion beyond Saud. There developed against Germany, Austria and mosques in Yemen’s capital, un-
ticed a folk Islam embellished the borders of Najd presented a remarkable friendship the Ottoman Empire. The Arabs leashing monstrous blasts that
with the talisman, tomb visitation themselves. In 1799, Napoleon between Shaykh ibn under Sharif Hussain of Mecca ripped through worshippers and
and astrology. Shaykh ibn Abdul landed his troops in Ottoman rebelled against Ottoman author- killed 137 people.
Wahhab found the atmosphere Egypt, quickly overran the Nile Abdul Wahhab and ity. By 1918 both Hejaz and Iraq June 17, 2015: Nine black wor-
hostile to his teachings and had Delta and advanced into Syria. Emir Muhammed bin were in British hands. After the shippers, including a pastor, were
to flee his hometown. The British defeated the French Saud that was to have War, internal warfare continued killed by Dylan Roof, a 21-year-old
Wandering from town to armies but the incursion of a Eu- between the Arab factions head- white supremacist after he prayed
town in Najd, Shaykh ibn Abdul ropean power into the heartland a profound impact on ed by Sharif Hussain of Mecca with them in Charleston, South
Wahhab found refuge in Uyainah of the Ottoman Empire required history. The Emir became and Emir Abdul Aziz of Najd Carolina. Roof was convicted of
whose Emir, Uthman bin Hamd, a partial withdrawal of garrisons a student and patron for the control of Hejaz. In 1923, federal hate-crime and obstruction-
was receptive to his ideas. The in the outlying provinces for the of the shaykh and the with British support, Emir Abdul of-religion charges and sentenced to
Shaykh made many followers in defense of Anatolia proper. Spe- Aziz succeeded in driving out the death.
Uyainah, but his growing popu- cifically, Ottoman garrisons in friendship was cemented Sharif and consolidated the King- Sept. 24, 2015: A suicide bomb-
larity attracted the suspicion of Jeddah and Mecca in Arabia as with the marriage of a dom of Saudi Arabia. er struck a mosque in Yemen’s rebel-
neighboring emirs. Pressure was well as in Kufa and Basra in Iraq daughter of the Emir to Control of Mecca and Madi- held capital, killing 25 worshippers
brought upon Emir Uthman to were depleted. Sensing a military the young shaykh na gave the Wahhabi movement a during prayers for the Muslim holi-
assassinate the Shaykh whose opportunity, Emir Abdul Aziz of global platform. No longer was it day of Eid al-Adha.
spartan vision of Islam was rap- Najd who had succeeded his fa- a movement confined to the des- Nov. 12, 2016: A suicide bomb-
idly gaining converts in all areas ther Emir Muhammed ibn Saud nized as soon as the threat from ert of Arabia. The Hajj provided er from ISIS killed over 50 at the
of Najd. Shaykh ibn Abdul Wah- captured Karbala in Iraq in 1802. Napoleonic France receded. Mu- a mechanism for the spread of shrine of Shah Noorani, in Pakistan’s
hab escaped with his life and He followed up this victory with hammed Ali Pasha (d. 1849), an Wahhabi ideas to the far corners Baluchistan province.
found refuge in Dariyah where the capture of Mecca in 1803, able Albanian soldier who had of the Islamic world much as it Dec. 11, 2016: Suicide bomber
his teachings found a responsive bringing a major portion of Ara- risen through the ranks in the Ot- had enabled the Maliki School struck inside a Cairo chapel adjacent
chord in Emir Muhammed bin bia, extending from the Red Sea toman armies during the Napole- of jurisprudence to spread across to St. Mark’s Cathedral, the seat
Saud. There developed a remark- to the Persian Gulf, under Saudi onic wars, now governed Egypt. North Africa, Spain and the Su- TERROR, P26
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