# What does the Mufti think of Ibn Taymiyya and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab?

*Assessing the scholars who erred: Ibn Taymiyya and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/t0phqrnjjby/s/19/
- Date: 2022-08-19 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Salman Rushdie & The Satanic Verses | Mufti Abu Layth (1:42:10–1:47:24)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0pHQRNJjBY&t=6130s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/t0phqrnjjby/

**Topics:** Salafism and Wahhabism; Scholars and imams of the past

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says Ibn Taymiyya's contribution is mainly to the Salafis and that Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's misplaced zeal did great harm, while stressing that all scholars are human and make mistakes.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says Ibn Hajar and al-Suyuti contributed greatly to Islam and Ibn Taymiyya to a lesser degree, while Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, in his view not a scholar of depth, had a misplaced zeal that did great harm to Muslims.

**Evidence, his words at 1:44:46:** “misplaced passion like his passion was very passionate about islam wanted to do something but ended up doing a lot of harm” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0pHQRNJjBY&t=6286s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth calls the story utterly absurd and says some people made a huge mistake in accepting it, among them Ibn Hajar, Ibn Taymiyya, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and al-Suyuti. He says Ibn Hajar and al-Suyuti contributed enormously to the legacy of Islam and Ibn Taymiyya a certain amount, though far more to the Salafis, some of whose scholars, he says, have claimed Ibn Taymiyya excels certain companions, which he calls absurd. He says Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab had a great but misplaced passion for Islam and was, in his view, not a scholar of real depth, and describes him as fighting the Ottomans and killing and raiding Sunni Muslims, Sufis and pilgrims whom he declared mushriks, calling this the source of the ISIS image. He says that to him these are facts, that people admire him without knowing these details, and that there is no point in being obsessed with people since, as the Quran says, those were nations that have passed; all scholars are human and make mistakes, some grave, and he is not there to judge them.

## Sources and names cited

- Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
- Ibn Taymiyya
- Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
- al-Suyuti
- the Ottoman Empire
- ISIS
- Salafi
- mushrik (pl. mushrikin)

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:42:10–1:47:24)

[1:41:35] people who weren't happy with islam just kind of built on that story that was about all the people prostrating and people said why would you believe it because the prophet actually compromised for a few days and or the shaitaan deceived the prophet and then the prophet later on re learned oh oh my god this wasn't the jibril this was the the prophet the angel sorry this was the devil that told me this or the prophet went quiet and the devil spoke impersonated the prophet's voice and read utterly just ridiculously absurd and totally

[1:42:14] stupid but then you had some people that made a huge mistake and look amongst them is ibn hajjal it's even a team here it's people like muhammad ibn abdullah it's yoti and these okay especially and hypnotamia that in their own way they done a lot for islam as well like they've done a lot for islam most of what they've done has been has been a huge effort in the legacy of islam

[1:42:53] okay at least definitely these two i would say samia has done a certain amount as well certain amount i don't but a huge amount of legacy i know to the salafia he's done a huge amount to the rest of the muslims he's he's he's kind of he's done a certain amount but he's not to the other muslims he's not as huge as he is to the salafis to the salafis he is their go-to imam that's it there is nothing other than greater than hypnotamia to the extent that certain scholars of the salafi have said that if it wasn't for sahaba the companionship of the prophet he excels

[1:43:30] above certain companions of the prophet that's as absurd as you can imagine as the statement gets but that's for their blind following and blind love of ibn samia sure and he has done certain things for islam unquestionably you know not knocking he has done certain things for islam and he'd obviously dedicated his life these three they've definitely contributed to the contributed to the legacy of islam they have muhammad not so much but the the if anything the

[1:44:09] detriment of islam is probably harmed islam and the people but the and he was not really a scholar of any caliber writer muhammad i know the uh wahhabi and the salafi obviously rate him but there's nothing really to demonstrate his his kind of core understanding or i don't know i understand but his um his kind of like depth of grasping because ultimately he was just a bedouin he was just a bedouin who was very zealous about islam he had a great passion for islam that's unquestionable he had you know a great but he had a

[1:44:46] misplaced passion like his passion was very passionate about islam wanted to do something but ended up doing a lot of harm just kind of fought against the ottomans murdered genocide of normal regular sunni muslims who declared mushriks because they they were sufis and he killed people that came to the hajj uh declared them kuffar raided them took their women raped them that kind of stuff said it's halal because they're mushriks and a lot of really that that you know the the kind of isis image

[1:45:24] that's that's where it's stemming from muhammad but if you want to learn more about him i know um maybe excessively uh bro has got a lot of a long series of videos about muhammad abdul wahab on youtube personally i don't know why he's got that many videos dedicated to muhammad look to me these are just facts of how he was sure people admire him and i think maybe many people don't know about the things he he did in their depth so that's why they

[1:46:02] they just hear of him as a great person so because of that they think oh he's a great person so that's fine and to me it's there's no point in being obsessed about people because as the quran says these are nations that have gone they have you know they whatever they put forward they received whatever you put forward you will receive like don't be listen this so this is not about me trying to attack

[1:46:45] [Music] most scholars in islam have contributed to the legacy of islam but some of them many of them okay let's back that up they're all humans so they've all made mistakes you're making mistake i'm making mistakes we're all making mistakes some more than others and some more grave than others and it may be that their mistakes were their grave mistakes were just one-offs tk we're not here to judge them i'm not here to say

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment T0pHQRNJjBY/s/19. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/t0phqrnjjby/s/19/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.