Musa, Shahajada Md (2022) The Emergence of a Scholar from a Garrison Society: A contextual analysis of Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhāb's doctrine in the light of the Qur’ān and Hadīth. Masters thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
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Musa, Shahajada Md (2022) MRes The emergence of a scholar from a Garrison Society.pdf - Accepted Version Available under License CC-BY-NC-ND Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Many scholars have contributed to the Islamic theological discourse. Amongst them was Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhāb (1703-1792), a Sunni scholar, who still influences Muslims today, encouraging them to ‘revert’ to his view of ‘orthodox’ Islam and to follow the original practices of the Prophet Muhammad. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS),among others, claimed to follow his teachings. The re-establishment of what Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhāb argued to be ‘monotheism’ in the worship of God was pivotal to his mission in the 18th century, opposing traditions which he considered to be contradictory to the practices of the Qur’ān and the Prophetic tradition. He therefore engaged in eradicating the veneration of saints and what he perceived to be ‘idolatrous’ ceremonies at their tombs, which in his view attributed divinity to individual humans. He urged all Muslims to adhere to what he proclaimed to be the correct interpretation of the Qur’ān and Hadīth, advocating the return to the early Islamic theological teachings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions while rejecting, what he believed to be innovation (bid’ah) within the Islamic religion. His doctrine is claimed to be justified by a conception of a ‘puritan’ traditionalist theology, entirely based on Islamic scriptures and his monolithic and literal understanding of the first three generations of Islam. Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhāb’s ideas were not met with approval, his own father disagreed with him, while he was challenged and denounced by his older brother, the Islamic theologian and jurist Sulaymān Ibn Abd al-Wahhāb (1699–1793/94) who wrote a deprecating refutation against him and his doctrine. Apart from intra-Muslim theological disputes amongst his contemporaries, his doctrine – and his interpretation of the scriptures – still have repercussions for modern Muslim theological discourses who use traditionalist scholars to engage in critical dialogue with other theologians and philosophers. This research analyses the approach, understanding and reasoning of Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhāb’s doctrine and to critically examine his interpretation of the Qur’ān and Hadīth. In order to discern his methodology and his usage of these primary Islamic texts, this research engages with the Qur’ān, Hadīth, exegetical commentaries, historical and contemporary work as well as epistles from Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhāb’s opposing contemporaries. The findings of this research provide a critical re-assessment of Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhāb and his theological understanding of Islamic doctrine with the aim to aid dialogue amongst contemporary Muslims in order to prevent the misinterpretation of his theology for advocacy of extreme ideology in Islam.
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