"Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abd-al-Wahhab was a great scholar. you can find about him on
wikipedia here"
thanks for that link bro - i read about that great man - he is a true revolutionary - and a sincere fundamentalist - both at the same time!!! even now, his truth lives on, this is what made me an immediate fan - an then i found out that i've read one of his books - abridged biography of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and have even recommended it on this forum - didn't know it was him, the man doesn't mince words:
Like most scholars in
Najd at the time, Ibn Abd-al-Wahhab was a follower of
Ibn Hanbal's school of
jurisprudence but
"was opposed to any of the schools (
Madh'hab) being taken as an absolute and unquestioned authority," and condemned
taqlid.
[17]
(i agree with that somewhat - as you are no longer on the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh) if you take one scholar's opinions as gospel while rejecting the valid opinions of other scholars,
and today - we have more hadith at our fingertips than all those scholars put together - though their ijtihad on what they had available was great and worthy of recognition.
that's what the jews did and then they ended up rejecting some parts of the Torah revealed to Moses (pbuh) while clinging to the traditions of the scribes and elders.
11. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed,
which
men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it
is sealed:
12And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying,
Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
Arabic:
Gabriel "Iqra"
Muhammad (pbuh) "ma - ana bi qarin"
English:
- Read
i am not learned
13Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near
me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me,
and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people,
even a marvellous work and a wonder:
for the wisdom of their wise
men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent
men shall be hid.
15Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay:
for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not?
or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
Isaiah 29
After his return to
'Uyayna, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab began to attract followers there, including the ruler of the town, Uthman ibn Mu'ammar. With Ibn Mu'ammar's support, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab began to implement some of his ideas for reform. First, he persuaded ibn Mu'ammar to level the grave of
Zayd ibn al-Khattab, a companion of the Muslim prophet
Muhammad whose grave was revered by locals, citing
Islamicteachings that forbid grave worship. Secondly, he ordered that all adulterors and adultresses be stoned to death, a practice that had become uncommon in the area. These actions gained the attention of Sulaiman ibn Muhammad ibn Ghurayr of the tribe of
Bani Khalid, the chief of
Al-Hasa and
Qatif, who held substantial influence in Najd. Ibn Ghurayr threatened Ibn Mu'ammar that he would not allow him to collect a land tax for some properties that he owned in al-Hasa if he did not kill ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab. Ibn Mu'ammar declined to do this, but ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab was forced to leave.
[18] Foremost among his detractors were his own father and brother.