Islamiyya la Wahhabiyya
- Author died
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- Editions
- Dar Kunuz Ishbiliya lil-Nashr
Islamiyya la Wahhabiyya (Islamic, Not Wahhabi) is an apologetic and doctrinal study by the Saudi theologian Nasir al-Aql, written to clarify the nature of the reformist movement of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1206 AH) and refute criticisms directed against it.
Background and Purpose
The book is an abridgment of a larger research project by al-Aql titled Da'wat al-Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab: Haqiqatuha wa-Radd al-Shubuhat Hawlaha (The Call of Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab: Its Reality and the Refutation of Misconceptions Around It), which was originally submitted to the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs at the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da'wah, and Guidance.
Al-Aql notes in the introduction that he prepared the work in response to a noticeable resurgence of allegations, polemics, and myths surrounding "Wahhabism" in contemporary political and media discourse, particularly in the wake of the Gulf War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the September 11 attacks in the United States, after which critics linked the movement to modern conflicts and extremism.
Core Arguments and Structure
The central thesis of the work is that the reform movement founded in mid-12th-century AH Najd through the alliance of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and the emir Muhammad ibn Saud (d. 1179 AH) is not a distinct sect, innovative doctrine, or "fifth madhhab." Instead, al-Aql argues that it represents orthodox Sunni Islam adhering to the creed of the righteous predecessors (al-salaf al-salih). He asserts that the designation "Wahhabi" was originally coined by detractors to alienate Muslims from the movement's message of reviving monotheism (tawhid) and combating innovated practices. He also observes that historical confusion exists with earlier, unrelated Kharijite groups that bore similar names, such as the Wahbiyya (named after Abd Allah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi) and the Rustamid Wahhabiyya (named after Abd al-Wahhab al-Rustami) in North Africa.
The author classifies the allegations leveled by opponents against the movement into three main categories:
- Pure fabrications and outright slanders.
- False extrapolations, obfuscations, and misinterpretations where truth is mixed with error, requiring evaluation against textual sources and rational scholarly principles.
- Actual mistakes, individual excesses, or flawed discretionary rulings (ijtihad) committed by individual scholars, rulers, or lay affiliates, which deviate from the core methodology of the movement.
In addressing political allegations, al-Aql argues that the first Saudi state arose to fill an administrative and security vacuum in Najd—where the Ottoman Empire exercised no direct authority—and that Muhammad ibn Saud did not initiate rebellion against the Ottoman state.
Publication
The work was published in a single volume comprising 466 pages by Dar Kunuz Ishbilya in Riyadh.
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