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Modern Wahhābī Jurisprudence

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Modern Wahhābī Jurisprudence CHAPTER FOUR MODERN WAHHĀBĪ JURISPRUDENCE Salafīsm as the Spirit of Wahhābī Legal Thought Wahhābīs believe that genuine Islam is exemplified by the lives of the early Muslims, those Righteous Predecessors (al-Salaf al-Ṣāliḥ) who lived during the first three centuries after the Hijra and set the foun- dations of Islam. Wahhābīs seek a return to this earlier era, its reli- gious thought, practices and teachings, as indicated in their fatwās and contemporary writings.1 For instance, a CRLO fatwā describes the following: Salafiyya refers to the Salaf, who were the Companions of the Prophet, and to the imāms from the first three centuries, who were named in the ḥadīth: ‘The best of the people are those who belong to my century, then those who follow them [the second century], then those who follow them [the third century]’ . Salafīs are those who follow in the footsteps of the Salaf who, in turn, followed the Book [Qurʾān] and the Sunna and called for others to follow them [the Book and the Sunna] and to act according to their directions . .2 For the Wahhābīs, being a Salafī is the only way in which a Mus- lim can assure his membership in the ‘saved sect’ (al-firqa al-nājiya), mentioned in the ḥadīth: “Indeed, before you, the People of the Book split into seventy-two sects. And this community [the Muslims] will split into seventy-three sects, all of them destined for Hellfire except one.” When asked: Who is that one? Muḥammad replied: “That which follows myself and my companions.”3 The Wahhābīs often stress the superiority of the Wahhābiyya as a Salafī movement when comparing 1 Al-Dawīsh, Fatāwā al-lajna, 2:165–166; Bin Qāsim, al-Durar, 7:48; Dekmejian, “Rise,” 635–638. On the Salafī trend in the modern Islamic world see Kerr, Islamic reform, 103–153, 187–208; Commins, Islamic reform, 70–78. 2 Fatwā No. 1361 in al-Dawīsh, Fatāwā al-lajna, 2:165. More on Salafism in Ch. 2, ff. 4. 3 Al-Tirmidhī, Ṣaḥīḥ, 4:381. 56 chapter four it to other Islamic groups. For instance, Shaykh Sāliḥ ̣ al-Fawzān, a BSU and CRLO member, states: To say that the Salafī [Wahhābī] movement resembles any other Islamic movements is wrong. The Salafī movement is the only one that must be followed by adopting its approach, joining it and doing jihād with it. Therefore, Muslims may not follow any other movement, since all the others are straying . .4 For Shaykh al-Fawzān, the Salafiyya is an embodiment of the Prophet’s legacy to his community. According to al-Fawzān, the Prophet’s instructions in the above ḥadīth, in which Muslims must follow the Prophet and his Companions’ steps in all their thoughts and deeds, are unequivocal. Therefore, anyone who departs from this path will cause separatism, sects and the threat of damnation.5 Most importantly, for contemporary Wahhābīs, Salafism constitutes the spirit of their legal philosophy and theology. They remain faithful to the jurisprudence of their predecessors, such as Muḥammad Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhāb, stressing that people must obey the Book, the tra- dition and the Righteous Predecessors.6 In other words, contempo- rary Wahhabīs continue to restrict the thought, will and action of the Muslim Community to the Qurʾān, the Sunna and the opinions and deeds of the Salaf. Theologically, they oppose the infiltration of for- eign influences coming from conquered cultures into Islamic thought. Thus, they condemn the Mu‘tazilite School (of speculative theology), accusing them of corrupting true Islam by adopting Greek philoso- phy. They also reject kalām (Islamic dogmatic theology, including Ash‘arism) and insist that innovations, such as mysticism, asceticism, philosophy and polemic theology, are all foreign to the Qurʾān.7 4 Al-Frīdān, Muntaqā, 1:361. See also a relevant interview with Shaykh Ibn Bāz in al-Muslimūn, July 28, 1996. 5 Al-Frīdān, Muntaqā, 1:361. See other relevant CRLO fatwās in al-Dawīsh, Fatāwā al-lajna, 2:143–181; 12:241–242. The Wahhābī perception of Salafīsm was rejected by many modern movements and scholars who claimed that this trend is nothing but an independent school of legal thought. Shaykh Saʿīd Ramaḍān al-Būtī,̣ for example, argues that Salafīsm is no more than a marḥala zamaniyya mubāraka (a blessed his- torical period), that resembles others in Islamic history. However, al-Būtī’ṣ criticism was rejected by BSU. See al-Būtī,̣ Salafiyya, 132–144; MBI 26:182–184. 6 Al-Shuway‘ir, Majmūʿ fatāwā, 1:72–81, 211–222, 231–243; al-Frīdān, Muntaqā 5:96. 7 Al-Dawīsh, Fatāwā al-lajna, 2:181–211; 3:152–153, 162–163, 177–178; al-Shuwayʿir, Majmūʿ fatāwā, 426. On Muḥammad Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb’s attitude see Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Muʾallafāt, 1:225–227..
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