From Layman’s Desk-14
Part 4: Continued….
The Second Major Fitna against Visiting the Grave of Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) and the Sunni Aqeedah: (Very Briefly):
Before we proceed further it becomes imperative to point out the second Fitna that occurred in the Najd province of Arabia in the shape of Muhammad Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab an-Najdi(1111-1207 AH/1699-1792 CE). As is stated in al-Fajr al-Sadiq:
Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab habitually ordered anyone who had already made the obligatory Pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca prior joining him to remake it since Allah had not accepted it the first time they performed because they had done so as unbelievers. He was also given to telling people wishing to enter his religion: "You must bear witness against yourself that you were a disbeliever and you must bear witness against your parents that they were disbelievers and died as such." His practice was to declare a group of famous scholars of the past unbelievers. If a potential recruit to his movement agreed and testified to the truth of that declaration, he was accepted; if not, an order was given and he was summarily put to death. Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab made no secret of his view that the Muslim community had existed for the last six hundred years in a state of unbelief (kufr) and he said the same of whoever did not follow him. Even if a person was the most pious and Allah-fearing of Muslims, he would denounce them as idolaters (mushrikun), thus making the shedding of their blood and confiscation of their wealth licit (halal).
According to a prophetic tradition, narrated Ibn 'Umar: (The Prophet) said, "O Allah! Bless our Sham and our Yemen." People said, "Our Najd as well." The Prophet again said, "O Allah! Bless our Sham and yemen." They said again, "Our Najd as well." On that the Prophet said, "There will appear earthquakes and afflictions, and from there will come out the side of the head of Satan." (Book #17, Hadith #147, Bukhari).
There are many such prophetic traditions all of which cannot be quoted here since this is not our subject in particular. According to Islamic scholars, it can be deduced from the above Hadith that Najd is neither blessed nor a good place but one of Fitna and Evil. Najd has been deprived of the prayers of the Holy Prophet (Sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) and therefore Najd has the seal of misery and misfortune and hoping for any good from there is going against the Will of Allah. By no stretch of imagination can the hadith be imputed to the country of Iraq which is mostly marshland whereas Najd which etymologically means “high ground,” is a highland – mostly plateau! According to authentic ahadith, these are the people who will recite the Quran but it will not go beyond their throats, with all these apparent virtues they will leave the fold of Deen just like the arrow leaves the bow.
According to the author of Al-Fajr as-Sadiq, among the hideous abominations of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was his prohibiting people from visiting the tomb of the Prophet, on him be Allah's blessing and peace. After his prohibition, a group went out from Ahsa to visit the Prophet. When they returned, they passed by Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab in the district and he commanded that their beards be shaved and they be saddled on their mounts backwards to return in this fashion to Ahsa. He would prohibit blessings on the Prophet from being recited on the eve of Friday prayer and their public utterance from the minbar, and punish harshly anyone who pronounced such blessings. He even went so far as to kill a blind mu'adhdhin (caller to prayer) who did not cease and desist when he commanded him to abandon praying for the Prophet in the conclusion to his call to prayer. He deceived his followers by saying that all that was done to keep monotheism pure.
According to him, the Hajj of the previous Hajis was unacceptable to Allah because they had performed the Hajj as unbelievers. Therefore, those Hajis who joined him were ordered to redo the Hajj. He was also given to telling people wishing to enter his religion: "You must bear witness against yourself that you were a disbeliever and you must bear witness against your parents that they were disbelievers and died as such." In fact he declared that all present-day Muslims are disbelievers and have been so for the last six hundred years. He applied the verses in the Qur'an, meant to refer to disbelievers among the tribe of the Quraysh to most Allah-fearing and pious individuals of the Muslim community. There are lots of other historical events such as the massacres of Muslims at the hands of the Wahhabis in thousands along the tradition of the Kharjis, but this is no place to discuss all of them. So let’s rest content with this slight introduction to the second Fitna so that the reader is able to evaluate the things for oneself.
Industry for Tampering the books of Salaf and Khalaf Scholars:
A fair warning is also in order, namely, that Wahhabi scholars have been working overtime to change the Classic works of the Salaf and the Khalaf and the ahadith shareef by expunging, interpolating, adding and deleting them and bringing out truncated publications which they call “Abridged” every time in order to mislead Muslims. As such, there is a conspiracy to delude innocent Muslims whom they want to convert to their brand of Islam. Millions of dollars are pumped into publication houses to bring out cheap, but butchered, books which are also distributed freely. So beware of such publications which may have beautiful covers and fonts, but are the abridged or truncated and interpolated versions of the original work and thus intended to deceive an innocent Muslim by brainwashing him with the wahhabi doctrine!
I could not help quoting a concerned Sunni Muslim's guidelines for spotting a “Salafi” book:
"1. really attractive cover.
2. phonetic spelling throughout ie. Aboo Haneefah, Allaah, Salaam etc.
3. normally written by either someone who lives in Saudi or someone who grew up on the streets in the West but became practicing and now uses a kunya to come across as more respectable ie. Aboo Daawood Al-Kanadee, Umm Ibraaheem AlAmreekee, Ibn Ghulam Muhammad Al-Punjabee, etc.
4. normally refers to Shaykh Al-Albaanee as the Muhadith of the century.
5. makes sure it can get a few digs in on sufis, asharis, maturidis, etc.
6. contains a chapter on the THREE different types of TAWHEED even if the book is on something like 'how to make wudhu'.
7. u can TELL that it's been translated from arabic into english! the syntax gives it away.
8. every statement in the book will have a reference attached to it. the reference will blow u away with its detail but it may not necessarily be authentic...oh well.
9. it will most probably have a whole load of appendices, glossaries, bibliographies and list of creedal issues at the back.
10. it will be available virtually everywhere.
11. it will make u wanna disown ur whole community as innovators.
12. it will have a high proportion of the following words in it: innovation, shirk, bida, tawwassul, wahdatul wujood, saved sect, tawheed, sahih hadith, quran and sunnah yadda yadda yadda.
13. feel free to add more....”.
Now we will mention a few blatant falsification and tampering by the Wahhabis
/Salafis as an indication of evil that exists today in the Muslim world. These are just indicative and not exhaustive since it is not our main topic here:
We have quoted before a portion from Imam Nawawi’s al-Adhkar. Just note certain samples of their tampering:
Just in one passage alone, the words “Visit the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam)whether the visit is on his way or not,” have been changed into “visit the mosque”. The words, “ziyarah of him” (i.e Allah’s Apostle) have been changed into “ziyarah of the mosque”. The words, “the ziyarah of the grave of Your Prophet,” have been changed into “the ziyarah of the mosque of Your Prophet.” They have attributed the above words to Imam Nawawi without mentioning that it has been altered in any way. There are deletions in the section of tawassul, including the account of al-`Utbiyy when visiting the Prophet’s tomb—apparently to promote the Wahhabi doctrine that this is shirk or "assigning co-sharers to Allah." Many other words and passages, , have also been deleted or interpolated which requires a topic by itself. Not just the “Adhkar” but many other books of Imam Nawawi have been attacked and these books speak about seeking Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam]’s intercession upon visiting his Rawdha in Madinah Munawarra.
As Islamic scholars inform us, a team of unprincipled editors and translators out of a Riyad publishing house by the name of Darussalam was commissioned to produce a glossy 2-volume English edition of Imam al-Nawawi's Riyad al-Salihin - being distributed for free to Islamic schools around the world - designed to propagate "Salafi" ideology to the unwary English-speaking Muslim students of Islamic knowledge. All sincere Muslims should consider themselves warned and warn others that the translation of another of Imam Nawawi’s classic, Riyad as-Salihin is NOT a Sunni translation but an innovative, deviant, and inauthentic translation which should never have been allowed. There are two other English translations of Riyad al-Salihin available in print, any one of which would be preferable to this one. And from Allah comes all success.The height of Wahhabi lies goes to the extent of even imputing quotes or books such as Juz’un fi-Dhikri I‘tiqād as-Salaf fi-l-Huruf wa-l-Aswat" to Imam al-Nawawi when there was none. A single point will suffice: The author of this book says: Allah Speaks with letters and voice, which are beginningless. Meaning that the letters are beginningless (i.e. Qadeem or Eternal). Even Ibn Taymiyya distances himselffrom this erroneous belief.
Imam al-Kawthari al-Hanafi (1879-1951 c.e.) long ago revealed that the printed version of Imam Mahmud ibn `Abd Allah al-Husayni al-Alusi al-Baghdadi's (1217-1270) tafsir entitled Ruh al-Ma`ani published by his "Salafi" son Nu`man al-Alusi in Bulaq (Egypt) in 1301 (then again twice by the Damascene "Salafi" Munir `Abduh Agha at his Muniriyya Press in Egypt) contained alterations and accretions from foreign hands, responsibility for which al-Kawthari laid squarely at the feet of Nu`man: "He cannot be trusted over the publication of his father's commentary, and if someone were to compare it [the latter edition] with the [autograph] manuscript kept today at the Raghib Basha library in Istanbul, which is the manuscript gifted by the author to the Sultan `Abd al-Majid Khan, one would certainly find in it what will make him certain of that." Later on again it was confirmed that the printed ones in circulation were full of alterations, gaps, suppressions and tamperings.
Imam al-Kawthari also refuted the claim that Imam Abu Hanifa was of the opinion that Prophet's (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) parents died in "Kufr". According to him, there are still two manuscripts available in Dar al-Kutab al-Misriyya to show that the parents of Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) did not die in "Kufr", as he has seen the copy that contains ‘ma mata’ . Therefore, it is highly probable that the copy with "died on the innate nature" was changed to "died on disbelief". Hinting at the tampering in unreliable copies, he says that it is easy to change the word "Fitra" into "Kufr" in Kuffic calligraphy of Arabic language.
Pseudo-Salafis have tampered even Ghunya At-Talibeen, changing the Tarawih prayer Rak’ahs from 20 to 11 Rak’ahs and so on. Today, the Ghunya is not an integrally preserved text and the copies we have today are corrupt.
Regarding the Holy Qur’an and/or their Tafseer (exegies):
Famous Maliki Scholar Ahmad Sawi (d.1241 AH/1845 c.e) wrote a commentary ( hashiya) called Hashiya al-Sawi ‘ ala al-Jalalayn on the famous Tafseer al-Jalalyn which was first composed by Jalaludin al-Mahalli (d.1459 c.e./864 AH) and later by his pupil, Imam Jalaludin al-Suyuti (1445-1505 c.e.). Let’s see an example of Salafi tampering:
Verse 6 of sura Fatir of the Noble Qur’an states: Lo! the devil is an enemy for you, so treat him as an enemy. He only summoneth his faction to be owners of the flaming Fire. (35:6)
In explaining this verse, the great scholar Ahmad sawi writes in his commentary: “It is said this verse was revealed about the Kharijites [foretelling their appearance], who altered the interpretation of the Qur’an and sunna, on the strength of which they declared it lawful to kill and take the property of Muslims—as may now be seen in their modern counterparts; namely, a sect in the Hijaz called “Wahhabis,” who “think they are on something, truly they are the liars. Satan has gained mastery over them and made them forget Allah’s remembrance. Those are Satan’s party, truly Satan’s party, they are the losers” (Qur’an 58:18–19) We ask Allah Most Generous to extirpate them completely”
The Wahhabis published a new edition of the above work [Dar al-Fikr in Beirut , offset of the same old printing], but with a surreptitious change. In the third volume, part of the bottom line of page 307 and the top line of 308 have been whited out, eliminating the words “namely, a sect in the Hijaz called ‘Wahhabis,” venally bowdlerizing the whole point of what the author is trying to say about the modern counterparts of the Kharijites in order to sell it to them (Both the scans are available on the websites).
Even the Tafseer of Hafidh Ibn Kathir has not been spared. Under the supervision of Shaykh Saifur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri and his group of scholars, Darus-Salam have an 'Abridged' version of the tafsir of Ibn Kathir. The Wahhabis scissors are too happy to indulge in abridgement, truncation and deletion of all the Classic books of great scholars of Islam.
Lots of tampering and interpolations have been done in the works of the Imams of the Four Madhhabs and the Asharis also, so as to create misunderstanding and ill-will and thus make them fall in line with the Wahhabi “School” – which in fact is not a school at all – for there can never be a Fifth Madhhab according to the Ahle Sunnah. What these tampering are, we cannot discuss them here for that requires an independent discussion. But please take a hint.
Sadly, it seems that the Deoband School which follows the Hanafi school of thought, are rapidly towing the Wahhabis’ creeds – a far cry from the Imam Imdadullah Muhajir al-Makki (d.1377 AH/1899 c.e.)who was a thorough Sunni. The Mutazilites followed Hanafi school of Fiqh and merely following one of the 4 schools of fiqh, does not make a person part of the Ahlus Sunnah. Also, if a person accepts just one or two views of a sect and reject the other views, that person is not said to belong to that sect. But what if we find a "sect" which claims to be from Ahlus Sunnah but their "akabir" followed, accepted and propagated the ideas of Wahabis? That’s what is happening with the Deobandi School! Only one example is given here: “The Najdis believed, and his followers still believe, that the lives of Prophets (Alihumus Salaam) were limited to the times during which they lived upon this earth. Thereafter, in death, they and other faithfuls are equal.” (Shaykh Hussein Tandvi al Deobandi , Shihabus Thaqib,Page 45)
Regarding the verses of Holy Qur’an, an Islamic scholar informs us that the verses which instructs man not to ask for help or benefit from idols has been used out of context by the Wahabbi/Deobandi Ulema to be referring to Aulia Allah. Wherever the word(mindunillah ) meaning idols is used, they translate it as ‘other than Allah”. E.g.: Sura an-Nahl 16: Verse 20. On the basis of these verses, quoted out of context, they try to justify their claim that Aulia cannot benefit or harm us, so we should ask directly from Allah without inter-mediation. Is the use of verses revealed regarding(mindunillah) or idols, against Allah’s Friends (Aulia Allah) being just or unjust to the Muslim faith or aqidah? Is this not casting doubt on an important avenue of Divine help? They show these ayah to the common man and tell him that asking the Aulia is invoking ‘other than Allah’ and hence saying Ya Rasulullah, Ya Ghous and Ya Khwaja are acts of Shirk. Those that are fooled by them their aqidah are destroyed. Most definitely Prophets and Aulia are not Allah but they are not included in (mindunillah) or idols either. What is our proof of this? Let us read the Qur’aan. Sura al-Ambiya 21: Verse 98 says: Verily ye, (Unbelievers), and the (false) gods that ye worship besides Allah, are (but) fuel for Hell! To it will ye (surely) come! Here Allah says(mindunillah ) or idols will be put into hellfire.If Prophets and Aulia are included in(mindunillah) or idols then according to the interpretation of the Wahabbi/ Deobandi Ulema, astagfirullah, Prophets and Aulia will be in hellfire. In fact the learned author has given many examples but for our purpose just one would suffice. In short, the word Mindu’nillah is always used for objects which are set as gods, and worshipped as gods, set against Allah as rivals, and these objects could be Sun, Idols such as Al’lat, Al Uz’zat and Al Manat; Moon, Stones, Elephant, Monkeys etc. The verses that have been used in the Holy Qur’an in connection with idols and Kuffar is being used by the opponents of Ahle Sunnah Wal Jamah to insult Anbiya alayhis salaa and Muqaaribeen (those who are drawn near) of Allah Subhana Wa Taala. In the narration by the route of Ibn 'Umar, reported in Bukhari, the Prophet said:"What I fear most for my nation is a man who mis-explains the Qur'an and takes it out of context.
Now, in the light of the above chicanery, jugglery and manipulations of translations of the Holy Qur’an, would you like to follow such a creed? Do so at your own risk! Remember that ibn Wahhab's own father rejected his heresies. His teachers rejected him and he for his part claimed all his Shaykhs were Kuffar. His own brother,
Sulayman Ibn ‘Abdi-l-Wahhab (rah.), studied his works and tried his best to invite him to tawbah. At least, when he realized verbal admonitions had no effect on his heretic brother, he decided to write a book called "As-Sawa’iqu-l-Ilahiyyah fi-r-Raddi ‘ala-l-Wahhabiyyah". It contains a detailed refutation of his brother’s heresies, and states: One of the legal proofs showing that your path is heretic is the hadith sharif narrated by ‘Uqbah Ibn Amir and collected in the Sahihayn [Bukhari and Muslim]: ‘Rasul-Ullah, sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam, ascended the minbar, and it was the last time I saw him on the minbar. He said: ‘I do not fear that you will become mushrikun after me, but I fear that, because of worldly interests, you will fight each others, and thus be destroyed like the peoples of old.’ The Messenger of Allah, sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam, foretold all that would happen to his Ummah until the end of the world. This hadith sharif shows that he was certain of the fact that this Ummah will never return to worship idols. By saying so, he destroys Wahhabism from its roots, since Wahhabi books say that Ummah al-Muhammadiyyah is involved in polytheism, that Muslim countries are full of idols, and that Muslim graves are houses of shirk. They also claim that someone who does not accept to consider mushrikun those who ask for intercession by the graves is himself a kafir. On the contrary, Muslims have been visiting graves and asking for the inter-cession of awliya' for centuries. No Islamic scholar has even called such Muslims mushrikun.
Even the ahadith were not spared by the Salafi scholars: To give just an example:
Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri (May Allah protect him and prolong his life) speaks of his experience how he purchased Adab al-Mufrad from an Arab market in good faith and was surprised by the missing contents therein. This had the stamp of al-Albani. He found Hadith No.972 in Chapter 4 on Kissing the Hands of Prophet was missing. Hadith No.974 Tabii kissing the hands of Anas ® was also deleted. The entire chapter on Kissing of the Feet and the two hadiths had been deleted,i.e. Hadith No.975 and 976 were thus deleted. Thus whatever went against the Aqeedah of the Wahhabis, they were deleted. Chapter No.399 about kissing the daughter was retained. The last Chapter was No.561. In fact, 83 Chapters, not just a hadith or two, were deleted by al-Albani. So only 747 hadiths remained. 226 ahadith were removed from the Book of Imam Bukhari’s Adab Al-Mufrad. The real one has 644 Chapters. The last hadith is numbered 1322. The one bearing the stamp of al-Albani has hadith No.993. Thus about 330 hadiths of Imam Bukhari were removed by al-Albani. So where’s the respect for Imam Bukhari? Where’s the respect for Sahaba’s Sunna as a Hadith tells us that Imam Ali ® kissed the hands and feet of his uncle Abbas ®! Imam Bukhari has created Chapters are in favour of kissing the hands, kissing the feet, and standing in respect thus evincing the Madhab of Imam Bukhari. Details are available on the Utube. Strange that the Wahhabis choose to kiss the cheeks of one another though there is nothing as such mentioned in the Shariat.
The hadith translations given to the new reverts of America have specially been taken for a ride since the translations of, say Imam Bukhari, have been done not in the letter and spirit but with a view to advancing salafi doctrines when "Tabarruk" of Holy Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) have been denied by giving it a passive sense of "It is thought blessed, etc."
Many hadiths about Tawassul, Intercession and the Holy Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) being alive in the grave as well as on Tawheed, have also been tampered by the unrepentant Salafi scholars for which the readers are urged to look for the specialized topics.
Dear reader! Just ponder in all honesty: What’s this? The dwarf “petro-dollar scholars” correcting the texts of Giant Islamic Scholars of the Salaf and the Khalaf! If they say they are the followers of Salaf as-Saliheen, then why change their books, including the ahadith shareef? Does it require great intelligence to understand that evidently they are coming out with something that is not only new and divisive and thus detrimental to the unity of Islam, but their drift is such that it is leading to a new creed where anthropomorphism will become rampant unless the drift is checked. The fact is that the Salafis who are hardcore Wahabis find inspiration from the anthropomorphism of Ibn Taimiyya (661-728 A.H.) and his ilk who impute movements to Allah among other creaturely things and prohibit travelling to visit Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam). All this means that no reliance can be placed on their beliefs, faith and practice especially when it comes to the questions of Ziyarah, Tawassul and Intercession of Rasool-Allah (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam). To put it in a nutshell: Wahhabism differs from the Traditional Islam by three main principles: Anthropomorphism of the Deity, Disrespect of Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wasallam) and his progeny; and disregard for the Hanafi, Shafii, Hanbali and Maliki schools of thought and methods of the Sunni Imams.
Shaykh Gibril F. Haddad (May Allah reward him abundantly and protect him), a modern Islamic scholar, and many others conscientious Sunni scholars are doing a very credible and commendable work by translating the Arabic works of the Sunni Ulama into English which is great help to the English-knowing people of the world who would have otherwise had to rely on fabricated books printed by the Salafis and landed themselves into the concocted Wahhabi creed. Thus those who have taken the cudgels of enlightening Muslims with the true works of their scholars are doing a very great service and saving many a soul from perdition. May Allah reward them all abundantly. Thus we are able to see how Islam is being destroyed insidiously within by those who claim to be Salafis! According to him: “Those who call themselves Salafiyyah do not mind lying about the Ulema they quote; make up their own definitions of tafwid and ta'wil; and generally have no idea of the accurate positions of the Salaf and the latter are innocent of them. Allah is our refuge from their bid`a and dalala.”
Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani and Shaykh Hisham Kabbani of the Naqshbandiya Silsila and their followers are also doing their best to stem the tide of Wahhabism, extremism and terrorism and taking on the Wahhabi imams individually across the USA to make them see reason and the light of Iman, all at a great risk to their own life. May Allah protect them, give them success, and raise their status higher in both the worlds!
Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadir (b.1951), the Founder of al-Minhaj al-Quran International has been doing yeoman service to the world Muslims by his scholarly works and speeches that are based on Ahle Sunnah Ulema’s original classic works that are being corrupted and tampered wholesale by the Wahhabis. His scholarly work on Sunni Aqida is a huge challenge to any Wahhabi scholar who base their work on tampered books of Sunni scholars of the past. Thus he is a boon for the Sunni Muslims all over the world, especially for the people of the Pakistan where the Wahhabis are trying to eliminate Sunni Ulema and for the people of India where knowledge of the Qur’an and Sunna is not much known among ordinary Muslims and who are thus exposed to the propaganda of the Wahhabist machinery and their agents. The Shaykh has been vociferous in his view that the slaughter of human beings in any religion or country and terrorism in all its forms are totally in contradiction with the teachings of Islam.
Lastly, the fact of the matter is that the rise of Wahhabism is the triumph of Zionism and the Western (chiefly British) imperialism. According to the Ulama of Daar al-Ahnaaf, the British-Zionist political strategy succeeded in replacing Husayn [of Hijaz] with a Saudî-Wahhâbî monarchy which effectively prevented the restoration of the Khalîfate. And the so-called Salafî Wahhâbîs and the Saudi kingdom abandoned the Khilafa! In doing so they committed an unprecedented act of treachery against Islam. If this Ummah is ever to succeed in restoring the supremacy of Islam over the ‘Nation State’ in the world of Islam, it is imperative that Muslims be taught the history of the collapse of the Caliphate and its replacement, in the heart-land of Islam, by the secular Saudi-Wahhâbî Nation-State. This was an act of supreme betrayal of Islam. This very illuminating article can be read on:
The diversion was important to give the mindset of the opponents. Having apprised the dear reader with the background of some Fitna, let’s go back to our subject! But before we do that let us see the following hadith:
The Beloved Prophet (Sal Allahu alaihi wasallam) said: " In the period prior to the Day of Judgement, false and deceitful groups will emerge. They will say things to you, which neither you nor your forefathers will have ever heard before. Stay away from these deceitful people and do not let them come near you! Do not be misguided by them and do not let them cause strife amongst you!" (Sahih Muslim)
To continue, Insha Allah.
NASIR.
