al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab al-Mujaddid al-Muftara Alayh
- Author died
- 1423 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Fath
al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab al-Mujaddid al-Muftara Alayh (Arabic: الشيخ محمد بن عبد الوهاب المجدد المفترى عليه, lit. 'Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab: The Slandered Reviver') is an apologetic and theological treatise by the Qatari jurist and judge Ahmad ibn Hajar Al Butami (d. 1423 AH / 2002 CE) defending the 12th-century AH reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab against anti-Wahhabi polemics and historical allegations.
Background and Purpose
Al Butami had previously authored a broader biographical and doctrinal study titled al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab: Aqidatuhu al-Salafiyya wa-Da'watuhu al-Islahiyya wa-Thana' al-Ulama' Alayh. Noting that his earlier treatise did not extensively dismantle polemical doubts and false claims, he compiled this dedicated work under the full title al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Mujaddid al-Qarn al-Thani Ashar al-Muftara Alayh wa-Dahd Tilka al-Muftariyat to systematically refute accusations circulated by adversaries.
Al Butami attributes the widespread acceptance of anti-Wahhabi narratives across Muslim lands to political opposition from Ottoman authorities and the Sharifs of Mecca, alongside polemical tracts composed by sectarian writers whose claims were accepted without investigating Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s actual writings.
Structure and Core Themes
The work opens with an introductory overview of the political and religious conditions of Najd and neighboring regions, followed by a concise biography of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab covering his early upbringing in al-Uyayna, studies under his father, and educational travels across Medina, Basra, al-Ahsa, and Mosul.
The author categorizes the central objections and controversies surrounding Ibn Abd al-Wahhab into three overarching areas:
- Doubts concerning Tawhid al-Uluhiyya (the oneness of worship): Addressing contentions over supplication, seeking intercession (istighatha), making vows (nadhr), ritual slaughtering (dhabh), and swearing oaths by other than God.
- Doubts concerning Tawhid al-Asma wa-l-Sifat (the divine names and attributes): Clarifying the theological approach of the movement in affirming divine attributes in accordance with traditional Sunni creed.
- Opposition to religious innovations (bida'): Defending Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's prohibition of tomb structures and domes over graves, his condemnation of certain Sufi practices, and his stance against invented rituals and seasonal celebrations.
Throughout the text, Al Butami argues that critics rely heavily on unverified hearsay or weak and fabricated narrations in matters of intercession and supplication, while failing to provide valid proof from the Quran or sound Prophetic traditions.
Publication History
The book was first printed in Ramadan 1407 AH. A first edition was also issued by Dar al-Fath in Sharjah (1410 AH), and a second revised printing was completed with an updated preface signed by the author in Doha in Shawwal 1412 AH / April 1992 CE.
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