Note: These arguments were mostly incorporated from Shaykh Faisal al-Jasim’s book, Ḥaqiqat aṣ-Ṣirā‘ fī Tārīkh Da‘wat ash-Shaykh Muḥammad bin ‘Abdul Wahhāb, pp. 107-110.
Some have alleged that Shaykh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhāb (MIAW) conjured a baseless lie out of thin air by accusing Muslims of denying the Resurrection.
They base it on this remark of MIAW:
ومعلوم أن أهل أرضنا وأرض الحجاز الذي ينكر البعث منهم أكثر ممن يقر به
“And it is known that the people of our land and the land of Hijaz who deny the Resurrection are greater in number than those who affirm it.”[1]
Many people struggle with this statement because it is difficult to conceive how a person who claims to be Muslim could deny the Resurrection.
When we look at MIAW’s other statements, we realize that he spoke specifically about the Bedouins.
He said in his letter to Muḥammad b. ‘Īd:
من المعلوم عند الخاص والعام ما عليه البوادي أو أكثرهم، فإن كابر معاند لم يقدر على إن عنزة وآل ظفير وأمثالهم كلهم مشاهيرهم والأتباع إنهم مقرون بالبعث ولا يشكون فيه
What the Bedouins, or most of them, believe is known by all and sundry. Even one who arrogantly denies this will be unable to establish that ‘Anzah and Āl Ẓufayr and others like them, whether elites or commoners, believe in the Resurrection without having any doubts [about it].[2]
He also said in his letter to the scholars of Makkah:
وإني أفتيت بكفر البوادي الذي ينكرون البعث والجنة والنار، وينكرون ميراث النساء… فلما أفتيت بكفرهم مع أنهم أكثر الناس في أرضنا استنكر العوام ذلك، وخاصتهم الأعداء ممن يدعي العلم، وقالوا: من قال لا إله إلا الله لا يكفر ولو أنكروا البعث وأنكروا الشرائع كلها)
I gave the fatwá that the Bedouins who deny the Resurrection, Paradise, and Hell are kuffār. They also deny the inheritance portion of the female... When I opined that they are kuffār, despite them being the majority in our lands, not only did the laity condemn it, but so did the learned who did so because of their enmity toward us. They contended that whosoever says Lā ilāha illā Allah does not become an apostate even if he denies the Resurrection and denies the Sharī’ah in its entirety. [3]
MIAW restricted this to the Bedouins he was familiar with, particularly in Najd and Ḥijāz. He never intended the entirety of Bedouins, which is why he said in a letter to Sulaymān b. Suḥaym:
يا ويلك، كيف تأمر بعد هذا باتباع أكثر الناس؟ ومعلوم أن أهل أرضنا وأرض الحجاز الذي ينكر البعث منهم أكثر ممن يُقرّ به
Woe unto you! How would you argue after this that the majority ought to be followed? This is when it is known that most of those in our land and the land Ḥijāz deny the Resurrection?![4]
It is also important to note that he did not even intend the entirety of the Bedouins in these areas. Rather, he intended to point out the preponderant unbelief found amidst the majority of them.
His contemporary opponents did not deny his claim that most of the Bedouins in his land and Ḥijāz held these kufri beliefs. There is no traceable evidence that any of them gave a different account to what MIAW described. What they had problems with was his takfīr of them. They argued that the denial of Resurrection and rejection of divine ordinances does not necessitate takfīr because these individuals still utter “lā ilāha illā Allah.” As far as they were concerned, it is impossible to declare anyone a kāfir who utters this statement; even if said individual denies the fundamentals of the Dīn.
MIAW said:
من المعلوم عند الخاص والعام ما عليه البوادي أو أكثرهم… قال علماؤكم: معلوم أن هذا حال البوادي لا ننكره، ولكن يقولون: لا إله إلا الله، وهي تحميهم من الكفر ولو فعلوا كل ذلك
Everyone knows what the Bedouins or most of them are upon … but your scholars say: we know and do not deny it, but they still say: lā ilāha illā Allah, and this suffices to shelter them from Kufr. This is even if they do all of what has been attributed to them. [5]
Moreover, MIAW was not alone in ascribing this to those claiming to be Muslims; rather, other scholars, preceding, succeeding, or contemporary to MIAW made similar ascriptions.
Of those who preceded him is Muḥammad As-Sanūsī (d. 895 A.H), who said:
Of MIAW’s contemporaries, Muḥammad Al-Khalīlī Ash-Shāfi‘ī (d. 1147 A.H), in his compilation of fatwás mentioned that the Bedouin Arabs of As-Sa‘ādinah, Banī ‘Aṭiyyah and others from the Bedouins of Shām, Egypt, and the Ḥijāz, affirm the Prophethood of Muḥammad (peace be upon him) but reject faith in the Resurrection.[7]
And of those who came after him, Ibrāhim Al-Bayjūrī Al-Azharī (d. 1276 A.H), he said:
ومثل ذلك كثير في الناس، فمنهم من يعتقد أن الصحابة أنبياء وهذا كفر، ومنهم من يُنكر البعث ويقول: من مات ثم جاء وأخبر بذلك؟ إلى غير ذلك من الكفر الصريح.
And there are many such people; among them are those who think the companions are Prophets, and this is kufr. And among them are those who deny the Resurrection and say: “Who died and then came back [to life] to tell us about it?” And other such matters that are explicitly kufr.[8]
Thus, we see that MIAW openly and confidently ascribed this belief to certain Bedouins in certain locations. There was no motive for him to lie and situate himself to get exposed so easily by uttering such a radical and easily falsifiable lie openly. Secondly, his opponents did not dispute his ascriptions but only disagreed with his takfīr. Thirdly, other scholars have described the phenomenon of there being people who claim to be Muslims yet deny the Resurrection; this undermines the allegation that MIAW’s ascriptions are highly unplausible.
[5] Ibn Abdul Wahhāb, Mu’allafāt Ash-Shaykh Al-Imam Muḥammad b. Abdul Wahhāb, pp. 25-26
[6] As-Sanūsī, Sharḥ Aqīdat at-Tawḥīd Al-Kubrá, p. 62
[7] Al-Khalīlī, Fatāwá Muḥammad Al-Khalīlī, vol. 2, p. 281. He said:
غير ذلك من الضلالات التي لا تخفى وقد سئل ابن عبد العال الحنفي بما صورته في عرب البوادي نحو عرب السعادنة وبني عطية إذا طلق أحدهم امرأته، أو مات زوجها تزوجها آخر بعده بنحو جمعة أو أقل من ذلك لا يعتدون مطلقا ويستحلون ذلك، وإذا توفي أحدهم عن عشر بنات مثلا وله ابن عم أو نحو ذلك لم يورثوا البنات مطلقا، ويرثه ذلك الرجل ويستحلون ذلك ويقولون بالجهة، وهو أن أحدهم إذا حلف قال: وحياة ربنا هذا الأخضر ويشيرون إلى السماء ويعتقدون ذلك، وإذا قيل لأحدهم: بعث في هذا الزمان نبي صدق ولم يتوقف ولا يؤمنون بالبعث والنشور، وإذا قيل لأحدهم أيضا: إن ربنا يحيي الخلق بعد موتهم ويحاسبهم على الصلاة وغيرها فيقولون: لا ندري ولا يقيمون الصلاة ولا يؤتون الزكاة ودأبهم الفساد في الأرض وقطع الطريق فما حكم الله تعالى فيهم؟ وما يجب عن الإمام في حقهم شرعا؟
[8] Al-Bayjūrī, Ḥāshiyat al-Bayjūrī ‘alá Jawharat at-Tawḥīd, p. 78
I really can't fathom how those who deny the Resurrection are not excommunicated simply because of their testimony of faith. Weren't the Jews guilty of the same as described in the Qur'an? Were they excused for this?
I really can't fathom how those who deny the Resurrection are not excommunicated simply because of their testimony of faith. Weren't the Jews guilty of the same as described in the Qur'an? Were they excused for this?