Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab instance of human
Modern reception
Muhammad Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab is often compared to the 15th-century German Christian pastor Martin Luther, for their efforts in launching religious movements that challenged the authority of the dominant clerical and political hierarchy of their societies. Despite being of different religious persuasions; both of them were inspired by an idealised vision of the past and shared similar themes such as the social and economic upliftment of their societies empowered through mass-education enabled by calls for open access to Scriptures. He is honoured by many scholars of the Salafi tradition as a juristic authority and source of reference. Salafi scholars Rashid Rida and 'Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz considered him a mujaddid. The Albanian Salafi revivalist Al-Albani (d. 1999) believed that Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was not a mujtahid in fiqh, as he 'blindlly' followed the Hanbali school. Al-Albani also questioned Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's knowledge of hadith.
According to the 20th-century Austro-Hungarian scholar Muhammad Asad, all modern Islamic Renaissance movements took inspiration from the spiritual impetus set in motion in the 18th century by Muhammad Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab. Crediting Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab for his contributions to Islamic Renaissance and spread of revolutionary ideals across the Muslim world, Tunisian Islamist intellectual Rached Gannouchi writes:"Just as in the West in the age of Renaissance, the Muslim world was stirred by a great awakening. Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahhab’s message of jihad and ijtihad inspired an unbroken movement... to push the umma towards jihad against its enemies, to abandon the guise of tradition (taqlid) and to unite its divisions around the mystical origins of Islam and Islamic thought."
Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, one of the founders of the Deobandi school praised Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab as a virtuous scholar who upheld the Sunnah and campaigned against polytheistic and superstitious beliefs and practices. Hence, the contemporary ulema of Deoband mostly respect him while being critical of the Salafi movement. Major scholars of Tabligh Jamaat -a Deobandi-inspired missionary movement- such as Muhammad Zakariya, Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi, Yusuf Kandhalawi, etc. were supportive of Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's ideals. Senior Deobandi scholar Manzur Numani penned the treatise "Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab ke Khilaf Propaganda" (The Propaganda against Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab) in defense of Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab. Thus, many activists of Deobandi persuasion view Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's movement as an example for establishing an Islamic state in contemporary Muslim societies.
Islamic scholar Yusuf Al-Qārādawī praised Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab as a Mujaddid (religious reviver) of the Arabian Peninsula who defended the purity of Tawhid from various superstitions and polytheistic beliefs. Praising Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's efforts, Muhammad Rashīd Ridá wrote:"Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahhab al-Najdi was one of those Mujaddids, [who] called for the upholding of Tawhid and the sincerity of worship to God alone with what He legislated in His Book and on the tongue of His Messenger, the Seal of the Prophets; ... abandoning heresies and sins, establishing the abandoned rituals of Islam, and venerating its violated sanctities."
In his book "Saviours of the Islamic Spirit", Islamic scholar Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (1913-1999 C.E) acclaimed Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab as a "great reformer" who called his people to Tawhid, revived injunctions based on Qur'an and Sunnah and eradicated superstitious rites prevalent amongst the illiterate masses of Central Arabia. Nadwi compared his movement to that of the contemporary South Asian Islamic revivalist Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (1703-1762 C.E/ 1114-1176 A.H) who had expounded similar ideas such as differentiating between Tawhid-i-Uluhiyyat (Oneness of Worship) and Tawhid-i-Rububiyat (Oneness of Lordship) and promotion of strict adherence to Qur'an and Hadith. In Nadwi's opinion, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab was able to make outstanding efforts with far-reaching impact compared to other contemporary reformers since he played the role of a revolutionary reformer whose initiatives were implemented through a newly established Islamic state and thus his movement was highly pertinent for the people of his time.
In 2010, Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, at the time serving as the governor of Riyadh, said that the doctrine of Muhammad Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab was pure Islam, and said regarding his works:"I dare anyone to bring a single alphabetical letter from the Sheikh's books that goes against the book of Allah and the teachings of his prophet, Muhammad."
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