The Roots of Wahhabism

"You keep what you kill. It's the Necromonger way."--- Lord Marshal

The 18th century was a time of great renewal and reform in Islam. In 1000 years of almost uninterrupted expansion, Islam had developed practices and customs native to their converts but not to their Prophet. These foreign practices, combined with the ebb of Islamic expansion inspired a generation of reformers. Many of these reformers believed that Islam had deteriorated from the faith that the prophet Muhammad had founded in the seventh century. One of these movements, known as Wahhabism, was largely influenced by an earlier fundamentalist school of thought known as Hanbalism. The respective movements were distinct from each in many ways, yet, the two schools have much in common. Not only are the primary tenets of Wahhabism are deeply rooted in Hanbali theology, but the reason in which Wahhabism emerged were the same that had concerned Hanbali theorists 400 years before.
Wahhabism was founded in the 18th century in the province of Najd in what is now Saudi Arabia. The fundamentalist Sunni movement originated in the teachings of its’ founder Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1791). Like many of his Hanbali predecessors, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab called for a renewal of Islamic society through greater adherence to monotheism (tawhid), and stressed the importance of the Qur’an and hadith as guides in Islamic practice. Although it was a fundamentalist movement, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab rejected past interpretations of scripture and Islamic law in favor of ijtihad (the individual interpretation of Islamic law). The continuance of ijtihad was also central to Hanbali jurisprudence. Like Wahhabism, Hanbalism combined great rigidity in principle (source of law) with great flexibility of application (interpretation).
Wahhabi theology (and much of Hanbali theology as well) was largely a response to the adoption of newer Islamic customs and beliefs. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab believed that Islam as it was practiced in the Ottoman Empire and by the Bedouin tribes of Arabia had been corrupted by these practices. The worship of saints, the divinity of Muhammad, and a great deal of Sufi mysticism was considered by Ibn Abd al-Wahhab to be idolatry. The true Islam, according to Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was that which was practiced by first generation of believers (al-salaf). By adopting these practices, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab felt that Muslims were returning to jahilyah (the state of ignorance prior to Islam). Similarly, the prominent Hanbali jurist, Ibn Taymiyyia (1263-1328), wrote extensively of the insidious foreign influences that had defiled Islam after the Mongol invasions of the Middle East. He denounced Muslims who had adopted Christian ways and decried the veneration of Jerusalem due to its’ Judaic roots.
The primary focus of Wahhabi theology was the principle of tawhid or “the oneness of God.” During 18th century, the veneration of saints, including pilgrimage and prayer rites at their tombs had become widespread. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab taught that these practices constituted shirk (polytheism), and that all polytheists were kufir (unbelievers). In his famous treatise, “Kitab al-Tawhid”, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab wrote, “We must find out what true Islam is: it is above all a rejection of all gods except God, a refusal to allow others to share in that worship which is due to God alone. Shirk is evil, no matter what the object, whether it be ‘king of prophet, or saint or tree or tomb.” Yet according to this strict definition of polytheism many Muslims were considered unbelievers by Wahhabists. Yet this narrow approach in defining who is actually Muslim is rooted in Hanbali theology. Like Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Ibn Taymiyya argued that any ruler who does not apply Islamic law in its’ entirety is an apostate. Indeed, much of Ibn Taymiyya’s writing attempts to justify holy war against the Mongol state despite the fact that they were nominally Islamic.
Hanbali theology also influenced Wahhabism in it’s denunciation of Sufi mysticism. The opposition of the Hanbali school to certain Sufi practices developed as Sufism’s geographical spread led to the adoption of un-Islamic practices into the devotional practices of certain orders.
In addition to a strict interpretation of monotheism, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab taught that the Qur’an and hadith were the only infallible and authoritative sources of scripture. In fact, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab based all of his teachings on these two sources. The importance of this tenet is such that famed Islamic scholar Hamid Algar noted, “the whole purpose of Wahhabism [is] to dismantle the complex and intricate structures of law, theology and mysticism, not to mention religious practice, that had grown up since the completion of Qur’anic revelation, and to find a way back to the twin sources of Islam, to the Qur’an and the Sunna.” In this respect Wahhabism was quite rigid. Only these two sources were considered authoritative.
This belief is entirely consistent with the Hanbali school of Islamic law. Hanbali tradition considered the Qur’an and the Sunna to be the first and primary sources of law, followed by legal opinions of Muhhamad’s Companions, so long as they did not contradict the Qur’an or the Sunna.
Although both Hanbali and Wahhabi theology take a fundamental stance on what is Islamic law, both movements allowed great flexibility in how to interpret those laws. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab challenged the idea of taqlid, in which ijtihad (individual interpretation) was no longer permitted. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab wrote that, “at the day of Judgment, it will not be enough to plead, ‘I heard people saying something, and I said it too’.” Ibn Abd al-Wahhab believed that knowledge of the truth could only be determined through ijtihad. Only by continual analysis of holy scripture could muslim jurists find truth. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab believed that taqlid served to prevent the pursuit of knowledge, writing “the key of knowledge is questions.” Hanbali jurists consistently taught that although Shari’a was divinely inspired it was not a fixed, rigid code. Hanbali jurist Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya stated that whatever interpretation from which the greatest good would flow was in accordance with the law, even if it had not been indicated by the prophet (maslahah). Islamic scholar Marshall Hogdson notes that, “ijtihad inquiry remained alive among the Hanbalis; each major teacher felt free to start afresh, according to the needs of his own time for reform in a puritan direction.” According to Hanbali jurisprudence, “the task of ijtihad, of deciding what conduced to human welfare, could never cease.”
Although the Wahhabi reform movement was distinctive from Hanbali theology and jurisprudence in many ways, it is clear that Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s teachings were based largely on Hanbali traditions. The two fundamentalist schools of Islamic theology both sought to cleanse Islam of the impurities which had infected it since the time of the Salafis. With a rigid conception of tawhid, both movements continue to influence how Sunni Muslims see differing sects of Islam today. The Wahhabi and Hanbali adherence to the Qu’ran and hadith likewise have influenced the significance of shari’a in the daily life of Muslims. Lastly the respective movement’s support of ijtihad continues to affect how Shar’ia is interpreted and reinterpreted by Sunni scholars. Wahhabism was a distinct movement which was influenced by many schools of Islamic thought. But no school played a larger role in the foundation of Wahhabism then that of the Hanbalis.