Muhammad Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab - Background

Background

Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab is generally acknowledged to have been born in 1703 into the Arab tribe of Banu Tamim in 'Uyayna, a village in the Najd region of the modern Saudi Arabia.

He was thought to have started studying Islam at an early age, primarily with his father, ʿAbd al-Wahhab as his family was from a line of scholars of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence.

Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab spent some time studying with Muslim scholars in Basra (in southern Iraq) and it is reported that he traveled to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina to perform Hajj and study with the scholars there.

In Mecca, the Hanbali mufti, Ibn Humaydi, perceived Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab to be a poor student, and arrogant and defiant with his teachers, which upset his father. Consequently, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab did not complete his studies, but whether he was expelled or dropped out is unknown.

In Medina, he studied under Muhammad Hayyat Al-Sindhi, to whom he was introduced by an earlier tutor. According to Voll, it was Muhammad Hayyat who taught Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab to reject the popular veneration of saints and their tombs. Nonetheless, almost all sources agree that his reformist ideas were formulated while living in Basra. He returned to 'Uyayna in 1740.

Following his early education in Medina, Abdul Wahhab traveled outside of the peninsula, venturing first to Basra. He then went to Baghdad, where he married a wealthy bride and settled down for five years.

After his return home, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab began to attract followers, including the ruler of 'Uyayna, Uthman ibn Mu'ammar. With Ibn Mu'ammar's support, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab began to implement some of his ideas for reform. First, citing Islamic teachings forbidding grave worship, he persuaded Ibn Mu'ammar to level the grave of Zayd ibn al-Khattab, a companion of Muhammad, whose grave was revered by locals. Secondly, he ordered that all adulterors be stoned to death, a practice that had become uncommon in the area. Indeed, he personally organised the stoning of a woman who confessed that she had committed adultery.

These actions gained the attention of Sulaiman ibn Muhammad ibn Ghurayr of the tribe of Bani Khalid, the chief of Al-Hasa and Qatif, who held substantial influence in Najd. Ibn Ghurayr threatened Ibn Mu'ammar that he would not allow him to collect a land tax for some properties that he owned in Al-Hasa if he did not kill Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab. Although Ibn Mu'ammar declined to do so, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab was still forced to leave.