al-Shaykh al-Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab wa Manhajuhu fi Mabahith al-Aqida
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- Dar al-Shorouk
al-Shaykh al-Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab wa Manhajuhu fi Mabahith al-Aqida (Shaykh and Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and His Methodology in Matters of Creed) is a scholarly treatise by the Egyptian academic Amina Muhammad Nasir, examining the theological thought, sources, and doctrinal methodology of the Najdi reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1115–1206 AH / 1703–1792 CE).
Background and Composition
The work originated as a doctoral dissertation in Islamic philosophy at Cairo University. Nasir had previously completed her master's thesis on the Hanbali scholar and preacher Abu al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzi under the guidance of Muhammad Rashad Salim and initially considered studying Ibn Aqil for her doctorate. While seconded to teach Islamic subjects at the College of Education in Riyadh, she observed the practical impact of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's reform movement and chose to focus her research on his theological method. She subsequently returned to Cairo to dedicate three years to the study, which was supervised by Muhammad Atif al-Iraqi and encouraged by Abu al-Wafa al-Taftazani, Abd al-Aziz al-Sayyid, and her husband al-Demerdash al-Oqali, who assisted in gathering source material from libraries in Riyadh.
Nasir noted that while many researchers had addressed Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's movement from historical, political, and governance perspectives, few had systematically evaluated its foundational theological dimensions. Her stated aim was to provide an objective academic analysis detached from both partisan exaggeration and polemical hostility.
Structure and Scope
The book is organized into an introduction, six thematic parts (abwab), and a conclusion:
- Part One (al-Bab al-Awwal): Examines the foundational components of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's thought through his life, writings, historical era, and social environment. It contains two chapters: the first covers his lineage in the Banu Tamim tribe, his birth in al-Uyayna in 1115 AH, his upbringing, education, travels to Mecca, Medina, al-Ahsa, Basra, and al-Zubayr, his teachers, and an analysis of his writings; the second surveys the intellectual, religious, and political conditions of the Muslim world and the Arabian Peninsula in the twelfth century AH (eighteenth century CE).
- Part Two (al-Bab al-Thani): Analyzes the principal features of his methodology, focusing in its first chapter on his stance regarding independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) and blind following (taqlid), where he affirmed ijtihad as an ongoing communal obligation and restricted taqlid to cases of extreme necessity.
- Part Three (al-Bab al-Thalith): Investigates his approach to transcendental matters and the unseen (al-ghaybiyyat).
- Part Four (al-Bab al-Rabi'): Addresses the relationship between Sufism (tasawwuf) and creed, clarifying his position on key issues such as saintly miracles (karamat) and supplication through intermediaries (tawassul).
- Part Five (al-Bab al-Khamis): Explores his conception of the role of creed in shaping the individual within the collective community.
- Part Six (al-Bab al-Sadis): Assesses his broader theological and reformist impact (atharuhu).
Methodology and Findings
In her biographical analysis, the author critically evaluates accounts claiming that Ibn Abd al-Wahhab traveled widely across diverse lands of the Islamic world or learned esoteric crafts, determining that his journeys were confined to the Hijaz, al-Ahsa, Basra, and al-Zubayr. She identifies his primary intellectual formation as resting upon the Quran, the Sunnah, the legacy of the early generations (salaf), and the writings of classical scholars, particularly Ibn Taymiyya and his student Ibn al-Qayyim.
Nasir characterizes Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's corpus as relatively concise, noting that it consists primarily of treatises and instructional books prompted by the practical demands of his reform movement. She describes his orientation as pioneering a model of "knowledge for life" (al-ilm li-l-hayat), wherein theological principles were directed toward active societal reform rather than abstract scholastic debate.
Publication
The book was published in Arabic by Dar al-Shuruq in Cairo and Beirut, with its first edition appearing in 1403 AH / 1983 CE.
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