The doctrine (akida) of the Wahhabi school of thought (its second name – Salafism – is derived from the concept of as-Salaf-as-Salih, and refers to a group of righteous associates of the Prophet Muhammad whom the Wahhabis claim to follow) was established in the Muslim world by Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab on the basis of the writings of the fourteenth century theologian ibn Taymiya, who throughout his entire life was accused by his "professional colleagues" of anthropomorphism (tashbih) and, at the same time, of insisting on the absolute transcendence of the divine person. In the conception of ibn Taymiya and ibn Abd-al-Wahhab, God appears in relation to the world and his own creations as an indifferent being, an outside observer who lacks any personal presence not only in man (the “spark of God”, or fitra, emphasized by the followers of Muslim mysticism), but also in the world of creatures.
The call of Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab found wide acceptance among the leaders of the Arabian Peninsula’s disparate clans as a convenient ideology to unite the warring tribes against Turkish expansion, which had brought Sufi mysticism with it. The contrast-ridden imperatives of a world view lacking shades of grey and based on a division between black and white, on the separation of the forbidden (haram) and the permitted (halal), of Muslims and infidels (kafir), the “territory of Islam” (Dar al-Islam) and the “territory of war” (Dar al-Harb) served as a convenient cover for the robbery and looting to which neighbouring Muslim tribes and peoples – consanguineous Arabs, and also the Turks and Persians – were subjected.
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9:30 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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