Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab

Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Sulaymān al-Tamīmī (Arabic: ‎مُحَمَّد بْن عَبْد ٱلْوَهَّاب بْن سُلَيْمَان ٱلتَّمِيمِيّ, romanized: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb [mʊħamːad bɪn ʕabd‿alˈwah(h)aːb] ^ⓘ; 1703–1792) was a Sunni Muslim scholar, theologian, preacher, activist,^[12] religious leader,^[9] jurist,^[13] and reformer^[14] from Najd in central Arabia, considered as the eponymous founder of the so-called Wahhabi movement.^[15] His prominent students included his sons Ḥusayn, Abdullāh, ʿAlī, and Ibrāhīm, his grandson ʿAbdur-Raḥman ibn Ḥasan, his son-in-law ʿAbdul-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd, Ḥamād ibn Nāṣir ibn Muʿammar, and Ḥusayn āl-Ghannām.

The label "Wahhabi" is not claimed by his followers but rather employed by Western scholars as well as his critics.^[16] Born to a family of jurists,^[17] Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's early education consisted of learning a fairly standard curriculum of orthodox jurisprudence according to the Hanbali school of Islamic law, which was the school most prevalent in his area of birth.^[17] He promoted strict adherence to traditional Islamic law, proclaiming the necessity of returning directly to the Quran and ḥadīth literature rather than relying on medieval interpretations, and insisted that every Muslim – male and female – personally read and study the Quran.^[18] He opposed taqlid (blind following) and called for the use of ijtihad (independent legal reasoning through research of scripture).^[19][20]

Being given religious training under various Sunni Muslim scholars during his travels to Hejaz and Basra, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab gradually became opposed to certain rituals and practices such as the visitation to and veneration of the shrines and tombs of Muslim saints,^[21][17][22] which he condemned as heretical religious innovation or even idolatry.^{[17][22][23][24]} While being known as a Hanbali jurist, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab minimized reliance on medieval legal manuals, instead engaging in direct interpretation of religious scriptures, based on the principles of Hanbali jurisprudence.^[25] His call for social reforms was based on the key doctrine of tawhid (oneness of God), and was greatly inspired by the treatises of classical scholars Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 A.H/ 1328 C.E) and Ibn Qayyim (d. 751 A.H/ 1350 C.E).^[26][27]

Despite being opposed or rejected by some of his contemporary critics amongst the religious clergy,^{[7][17][24][28]} Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab charted a religio-political pact with Muhammad bin Saud to help him to establish the Emirate of Diriyah, the first Saudi state,^[21][29] and began a dynastic alliance and power-sharing arrangement between their families which continues to the present day in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.^[21][9][30] The Al ash-Sheikh, Saudi Arabia's leading religious family, are the descendants of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab,^[9][31][30] and have historically led the ulama in the Saudi state,^[30][32] dominating the state's clerical institutions.^[30][33]