Imam Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhāb

He is the Allamah, Shaikh ul-Islam Imām Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhāb bin Sulaymān bin ‘Alī bin Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Rāshid bin Burayd bin Muhammad bin Mushrif bin ‘Umar bin Wahb bin Tamīm. He was born in 1115H (1703CE) in the city ‘Uyaynah, approximately 40 miles northwest of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He was born into a knowledgeable family, as his father and grandfather were both respected scholars. He acquired his primary education from his father, who was also a judge. He memorized the Qur’an by the age of ten and showed great interest in studying the works of the early scholars of the Salaf and began memorizing books on Tafsir, Fiqh and Hadith.

He travelled in the pursuit of knowledge to Makkah, al-Madinah and Iraq to learn from the scholars there. Thus he had many teachers, most notably Shaikh Abdullah bin Ibrahim bin Sa’id and Shaikh Muhammad Hayāt as-Sindhī. رحمهما الله

To understand the significance of this Imām and his da’wah once must understand the condition of the Muslim Ummah during his era, particularly the areas of the Hijāz, Najd and Yemen. Polytheistic practices such as idol worship, superstition and supplication to the dead had become commonplace to such a degree that the people took it as the Sunnah. The da’wah of the Imām was one of calling the people to tawheed and singling out Allah with all forms of worship. He called the principles laid down in the Qur’an and the Sunnah as it was brought by the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم and understood by his Noble companions صلى الله عليه و سلم.

The Imām was a man of knowledge and of courage and took every effort to fight and warn against the shirk, innovation and blind-following the area was steeped in during his lifetime. As a result his prestige grew and his enemies grew as well. His call to Tawheed enraged many who claimed to have knowledge and alienated many powerful people who benefitted from these misguided practices. So they embarked on a campaign to destroy him and his reputation.

The Imām journeyed to different places conveying his da’wah and a number of scholars accepted his call and supported it as he travelled through Zabir, Ahsā and then in 1143 to Huraymalā where his father lived. But he didn’t stay long because after his father died, a plot against his life was discovered so he moved backed to ‘Uyaynah.

The ruler of ‘Uyaynah ‘Uthmān bin Hamd bin Ma’mar supported the call to Tawheed and aided the Imām in leveling graves, tombs and trees that the people worshipped as idols. When an adulteress voluntarily surrendered herself for atonement, the Imām ordered her to be stoned in accordance with Islamic law. This caused his reputation to spread and people migrated to ‘Uyaynah to seek guidance from him, however others became afraid of the growing strength of the Imām and sought to harm him. This included Sulaymān bin Urai’ar, the ruler of Ahsā, who pressured ‘Uthmān bin Hamd and fearing reprisals he banished the Imām from ‘Uyaynah.

So the Imām migrated to Dir’iyyah, where they knew his da’wah well and when the ruler of Dir’iyyah Amir Muhammad bin Sa’ud رحمه الله heard of his arrival, he was pleased and agreed to protect the Imām and support the da’wah. He, his son ‘Abdul-Aziz رحمه الله and his grandson Sa’ud رحمه الله continued to help the Imām establish the Qur’an and the Sunnah for the rest of his life.

He died on the last day of Dhul-Qa’dah, 1206H (1792CE) and there are many points of benefit to be gained by looking at the life of the Imām and the immense impact his efforts had and continues to have on spreading the Orthodox Sunni creed as it was taught by the Salaf us-Sālih

There are many biographies of the Imām’s life in English but the best historical account is titled “The First Saudi State & The Story of Ad-Dir’iyyah: A Historical Analysis of the Reform Movement in Arabia Between the Years 1157-1233H (1744-1818CE)” [Salafipublications ©August 2016] compiled by Abu Hatim Muhammad Farooq.

Books by the Imām available in English:

• Abridged Biography of the Prophet Muhammad

• Teaching Children Tawheed

• Kitab ut-Tawhīd

• Commentary on Kitab ut-Tawhīd by Shaikh al-‘Uthaymeen

• Interpretation of Kitab ut-Tawhīd by Shaikh Sālih Aal ush-Shaikh

• Purity of Faith: A Textbook on Islamic Monotheism

• Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles by Shaikh al-‘Uthaymeen

• Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles by Shaikh al-Fawzān

• Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles by Shaikh Bin Bāz

• Gift for the Intellects in Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles by Shaikh Ubaid al-Jābirī

• Explanation of the Treatise The Four Principles of Shirk Principles by Shaikh Bin Bāz