al-Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab fi Madinat al-Mawsil (Matbu within Buhuth Nadwat Dawat al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, al-Juz al-Awwal)
- Author died
- 1419 AH
- Editions
- Deanship of Scientific Research at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University
al-Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab fi Madinat al-Mawsil (Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in the City of Mosul) is a historical research paper by the Iraqi military historian and scholar Mahmud Sheet Khattab (1338–1419 AH / 1919–1998 CE) investigating the scholarly journey and studies of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in Mosul .
Background and Context
The study was originally presented as a research paper for the scholarly symposium "Week of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab" hosted by Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in 1400 AH and published within the first volume of its proceedings . Khattab aimed to establish the historical reality of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's study trip to Mosul, a journey largely overlooked by standard biographers who focused almost exclusively on his travels to Basra or vaguely mentioned regions such as Baghdad and northern Iraq (historically referred to as Kurdistan) . Khattab attributes this historiographical omission to the fact that the primary local source documenting the visit—Ghara'ib al-Athar fi Hawadith Rub' al-Qarn al-Thalith 'Ashar by the Mosul historian Yasin ibn Khayr Allah al-Umari—was published late (1359 AH / 1940 CE in Mosul) and remained largely unknown to contemporary scholars outside and inside Iraq .
Method and Chronological Analysis
Khattab relies on the testimony recorded by al-Umari under the events of the year 1208 AH, which states that Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab came to Mosul and studied extensively under the scholar Mulla Hamad al-Jumayli . Khattab defends the reliability of this report on multiple grounds:
- Al-Umari (1157–d. after 1232 AH / 1744–1816 CE) was an eyewitness contemporary renowned for his scrupulous accuracy in recording the local history of Mosul .
- Although al-Umari mistakenly placed Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's death in 1208 AH instead of 1206 AH—a discrepancy Khattab attributes to slow postal and travel communication between Najd and Mosul—al-Umari had no sectarian motive to fabricate the visit, as he was an ardent Sufi who opposed Salafi theology .
- Al-Umari was closely acquainted with al-Jumayli and his circle of students, writing a biographical entry for him in his manuscript al-Sayf al-Muhannad fi Man Ismuhu Ahmad .
By correlating al-Umari's account with orientalist and modern biographical references, Khattab deduces the timeline of the journey: after leaving Najd in 1136 AH (1724 CE) and spending three years in Baghdad until 1139 AH (1727 CE), Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab toured northern Iraqi learning centers and spent the bulk of the academic year 1140 AH (1728 CE) residing in Mosul as a twenty-five-year-old student . Khattab notes that Mosul at the time possessed forty-four active madrasas and was the preeminent Arab scholarly metropolis in northern Iraq .
Teachers and Intellectual Influences
The paper details two major influences during Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's stay in Mosul:
- Mulla Hamad al-Jumayli (d. 1170 AH / 1756 CE): A prominent Mosul scholar of Bedouin origin who taught rational and traditional disciplines and was later chosen by Governor Muhammad Amin Pasha al-Jalili in 1169 AH to be the first teacher at the Pasha Mosque school . Al-Jumayli maintained financial independence from ruling authorities by earning his livelihood as a cloth merchant and bathhouse operator, and local biographers did not record any affiliation with Sufi orders for him, which Khattab suggests resonated with the young student .
- The Controversy of Ahmad ibn al-Kuwala: During his residence in Mosul, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab witnessed a religious dispute sparked by Shaykh Ahmad ibn al-Kuwala (d. 1173 AH / 1759 CE), who rejected the prophethood of Jirjis (venerated at a shrine in Mosul) and led a campaign against shrines and the invocation of deceased saints . This led to intense opposition from Sufi orders and a written refutation from Aleppo by Ali ibn al-Dabbagh al-Halabi entitled Ithaf al-Anam bi-Akhbar Sayyidina Jirjis . Khattab concludes that witnessing this debate and encountering Mosul's nascent reformist circles played a formative role in shaping Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's later doctrine on grave visitation and religious innovations .
Answer updated