Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Muslih Mazlum wa Muftara Alayh
- Author died
- 1373 AH
- Editions
- Idarat al-Thaqafah wa-al-Nashr bi-Jami'at al-Imam Muhammad ibn Sa'ud al-Islamiyyah
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Muslih Mazlum wa Muftara Alayh (Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab: A Wronged and Slandered Reformer) is a biographical and apologetic study authored in Urdu by the Indian scholar Masud al-Nadwi (d. 1373 AH / 1954 CE) to examine the life, theology, and reform movement of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1115–1206 AH) .
Background and Composition
The inception of the book dates back to 1935 at Dar al-Ulum Nadwat al-Ulama, where two students set out to document the historical legacy of the Indian reform movement led by Sayyid Ahmad Shahid (Ahmad al-Barilwi) and Ismail al-Dihlawi . While Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Nadwi undertook the biography of Sayyid Ahmad (published in 1939), Masud al-Nadwi's research led him to study the Arabian reform movement, culminating in a dedicated biographical defense of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab . Al-Nadwi wrote the book from India without regional or ancestral ties to Najd, aiming to offer an objective inquiry into the accusations surrounding the movement .
Content and Method
The work examines the life of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, his religious thought, and the history of the First Saudi State under the rulers of the House of Saud . Al-Nadwi underscores that Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab adhered to the theological doctrine of early Muslim scholars (madhhab al-salaf), affirming the divine attributes mentioned in the Quran and authentic hadiths upon their outward meaning without seeking the modality (kayfiyyah), interpretation (ta'wil), anthropomorphism (tashbih), or corporealism (tajsim), in keeping with the maxim of Imam Malik ibn Anas .
The book refutes numerous charges leveled by opponents, including claims that the movement introduced an un-Islamic sect, showed disrespect toward the Prophet, or rejected hadith literature . It also reviews historical and political dynamics, noting how external powers exploited opposition to the movement, including British diplomatic efforts such as Captain George Forster Sadleir's mission to Ibrahim Pasha following the fall of Diriyah .
In constructing his study, al-Nadwi consulted more than seventy works across multiple languages, drawing upon treatises by the movement’s proponents, polemical works by its critics, eyewitness accounts, and European orientalist writings (such as D. G. Hogarth) .
Translation and Publication
Originally written and published in Urdu, the book was translated into Arabic by Abd al-Alim ibn Abd al-Azim al-Bastawi . The Arabic translation was reviewed and prefaced by Muhammad Taqi al-Din al-Hilali, who had taught al-Nadwi at Nadwat al-Ulama between 1349 and 1352 AH, and who praised the author's thoroughness and ability to consolidate complex historical and theological matters into a concise volume of fewer than two hundred pages .
The translation was published under the sponsorship of Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University through its Culture and Publishing Directorate, with a first edition issued in 1397 AH (1977 CE) and a subsequent printing in 1404 AH (1984 CE), accompanied by an introduction by the university rector, Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Muhsin al-Turki . The work was also translated into other languages .
Answer updated