A Brief History of How the Saudi State Rebranded Wahhabism

Prior to the mid-20th century, Wahhabis used to call themselves Wahhabis.

For example, the leading Wahhabi scholar Sulayman ibn Sihman (1850-1930) (sometimes written Sahman) wrote a work titled:

"The Divine Gifts in the Defense of the Muhammadan Wahhabi Sect"

"Al-Mawāhib ar-Rabbāniyyah fī al-Intiṣār liṭ-Ṭā'ifah al-Muḥammadiyyah al-Wahhābiyyah"

Now, from the time of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab until the early 20th century, Wahhabis were known as khariji deviants at war with Ahl al-Sunna.

Things changed during the reign of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (1875- 1953). Widely known as "Ibn Saud," he is the founder of the modern state of Saudi Arabia.

In 1925, Ibn Saud conquered the Hijaz, which caused widespread opposition from the world's Muslims. They did not want to see Makka and Madina overrun by kharijis.

Ibn Saud responded by denying that the Saudi state was a deviant khariji government.

Ibn Saud wanted to integrate with the rest of the Sunni world. So he had to eliminate many of the khariji teachings of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab.

However, he was opposed by those Wahhabis who closely followed the teachings of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. So they rebelled against him and he crushed them in the Ikhwan revolt (1927-1930).

This is where Rashid Rida (1865-1935), the famous student of Muhammad Abduh, comes in.

Rida was the most important figure in Islamic publishing in the early 20th century. He published the reformist journal al-Manar. He also printed off many key Islamic texts.

Rida formed a partnership with Ibn Saud to reform Wahhabi religious teachings.

Such reform meant that Wahhabis would start adopting certain ideas from Abduh and Rida (e.g., opposition to non-scientific "superstitions").

Such reform also meant deleting, or concealing the most extreme elements of Wahhabi teachings - which included mass takfir of other Muslims on the grounds that they were mushriks or jahmis.

In order to better conceal Wahhabi teachings, Wahhabis started calling themselves "Salafis."

The term "Salafi" actually came from Rida, who used it to refer to his teachings and those of Abduh.

This fact is repressed because Abduh is famous for embracing liberal modern reform and for arguing in favor of "Jahmi" Mutazili views like the createdness of the Quran.

In order to further repress actual Wahhabi religious teachings, the Saudi state began promoting scholars like Ibn Baz, al-Albani, and Ibn Uthaymin.

These figures distanced themselves from the khariji teachings of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. However, they continued to say some nice things about him.

This has led to a situation where there are many "Salafi" followers of Ibn Baz, al-Albani, and Ibn Uthaymin.

These "Salafis" also see themselves as loyal to teachings of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. But in reality they know nothing of his teachings. Indeed, they are not even aware that the Saudi state forcefully reformed Wahhabism into "Salafism" as a way of repudiating the figure of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab.

But then again, matters are not so simple. To this day, within the Salafi movement, there are sub-groups who still are influenced by Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and read his works.

Among them are ISIS, the Madkhalis, and the Haddadis.

The mark of all these groups is hatred of all other Muslims and calls to kill them as kafirs and deviants.

At any rate, all of this offers an important lesson in religious history. Many people imagine that their religious beliefs have simply been preserved from the past or come from objective academic research. But this is not true.

What we today call Wahhabi and Salafi beliefs have been shaped to a great extent by political power - or more specifically - the politics of the Saudi state.

This, alone, does not necessarily mean that Salafi (or even Wahhabi) ideas are wrong. But it is naive in the extreme to pretend that such ideas have simply been taken from the ninth century Ahl al-Hadith or the writings of Ibn Taymiyya.

Since they can't respond to the arguments, Wahhabis are replying to me with:

- Cursing, Foul Language
- Takfir
- Death Threats
- Doxxing
- Attacking Family Members

Clear sign that we're winning and they're shook alhamdulillah.

And we haven't even released the MIAW documentary 🤣

People think I'm joking when I say Wahhabis practice taqiyya.

In reality, taqiyya is a central doctrine of Wahhabis that they inherited from the Kharijites.

During the first centuries after the death of the Prophet ﷺ, sects who believed in rebelling against the Sunni government adopted the practice of taqiyya. This was natural because if they didn't do taqiyya, they would face government repression.

There were two sects who believed in rebelling against the Sunni government: the Shia and the Kharijites.

It is well-known that Shia embraced taqiyya.

What is less well-known is that taqiyya also became a widespread practice among Kharijities.

It was not only their advocacy of rebellion that made Kharijites embrace taqiyya.

A key feature of Kharijite doctrine is hatred, killing, and mass takfir of all other Muslims.

For this reason, whenever a Kharijite is open about his views, he is not only attacked by the central government. He also faces extreme hostility from ordinary Muslims.

Hence, since the seventh century, Kharijites have always pretended to be Sunni Muslims using taqiyya.

During the seventh century, the central Arabian region of Najd became a homeland for the Kharijites. More specifically, it was the base of operations for a sub-group of Kharijites known as the Najdat.

One reason why the Kharijites liked Najd is that the region is filled with ignorant Bedouin tribes lacking in religious knowledge.

These Bedouins loved raiding others for wealth. The Kharijites appealed to the Bedouin by claiming that other Muslims were actually kafirs. This meant that the Bedouin were commanded by Allah to raid them and take their wealth in a jihad.

During the eighteenth century, there was a revival of kharijism in the Najd by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.

Ibn Abd al-Wahhab preached hatred, killing, and mass takfir of the world's Muslims. He also established a partnership with the Saud family to raid Muslim areas and take their wealth.

All of the Sunni scholars in Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's era condemned him as a deviant. Most of them also explicitly called his movement a kharijite movement. Examples are Ibn Abidin, al-Sawi, and al-San'ani.

But Ibn Abd al-Wahhab did not merely preach takfir. He also instituted a practice of taqiyya.

He told his followers to takfir and attack all the Muslims around him and not give them any excuse for ignorance (al-udhr bi-l-jahl). But he would also write letters to outsiders where he claimed that he did not believe in takfiring and attacking all the Muslims around him and that he granted them an excuse for their ignorance.

So with Ibn Abd al-Wahhab we have a very classical form of Nadji Kharijism centering on mass takfir as well as taqiyya.

Using taqiyya, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab pretended to be a Sunni. He also passed off his Wahhabi movement as a form of Sunni Islam.

The same teachings are retained by Wahhabis to this day. They secretly regard all non-Wahhabis as either mushriks or jahmis. Asharites fall into this category, as do Maturidis, and non-Wahhabi Hanbalis.

Wahhabi groups agree that all these groups are extreme deviants, who have fallen into kufr. However, they differ over whether it is appropriate to takfir them right now, or whether they have an excuse for ignorance - such that they can only be takfired after they have been presented evidence that their views are wrong.

Like past Kharijites, Wahhabis are afraid of any public debate or discussion where they will have to answer questions.

The reason is that debate or discussion will expose their ignorance, deviance, and taqiyya. For this reason, they usually claim that public debate and discussion are bid'a, so they are obliged to avoid them and hide their views.

Did you know that many of the entertainment producers working with the Saudi government to coordinate these shows are homosexual American Jews?

If pictures of an Israeli flag and women were projected onto the actual Kaaba, Madkhalis like Rabbi Faris, Shamsi, and Dollar Store Pitbull would say that criticizing this means one has exited Ahl al-Sunnah and become a Khariji terrorist who should be killed. 

For Madkhalis, proper aqida requires silent assent to the degradation and destruction of the Kaaba, al-Masjid al-Nabawi, and al-Masjid al-Aqsa.

This is what fake scholar like the Madkhalis Sulayman al-Ruhayli and Abd al-Salam al-Suhaymi teach at Madinah University and al-Masjid al-Nabawi.

Calling these dogs "scholars" is as misleading as calling Abdullah bin Ubayy a "Sahabi" or calling Musaylimah one of the "Salaf."

Top 20 Most Shocking Moral Teachings of the Talmud WITH EXAMPLES

https://x.com/Haqiqatjou/status/1826361266505744431