The
negation of reasoning {ta‘aqqul} in the Wahhabi school and its consequence
A kind of
intellectual negation can be observed in the school of Wahhabism. Although
Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab regarded himself an enlightened person,
criticizing the four Suuni schools of thought, some Shi`ah beliefs, and
reproaching them for speculatively interpreting the verses of the Qur'an, he
used to resort to secondary issues concerning the teachings about God, the
Exalted. He believed in a sort of anthropomorphism for God and in this regard
he used to content himself with the outward purport of the verses.
His
supporters also reject reflection and reasoning about the verses of the Qur'an
and the Prophetic traditions, negating the rational sciences, philosophy and
mysticism {'irfan}. They are afflicted with a close-mindedness and
intellectual frigidity to the extent that they are incapable of applying the
precepts of the school {madrasah}, the Qur'anic verses and the
traditions to the demands of time. It was for this reason that they initially
declared the telephone, mass communication devices and others as religiously
unlawful, and strongly resisted them, but later they finally relented.
Since they
are incapable of applying the concepts such as intercession {shafa'ah},
tawassul and infallibility {'ismah} of the Prophet (s) in the
light of contemporary thinking their viewpoint concerning the prophets, the
Holy Prophet (s) in particular, and the saints is narrow. They treat the
spiritual station of the prophets and the saints as identical with the rest of
people, thinking them as being annihilated and nonexistent after death, while
the Shi`ah and other Islamic schools of thought consider them to be present and
watching over us. In a result, the Wahhabis consider tawassul to the
prophets and awliya', entreating them and asking for their shafa'ah
an innovation in religion {bid'ah} and polytheism.
A few words from Martyr Professor Murtada Mutahhari
Martyr
Professor Murtada Mutahhari says:
The
Wahhabis believe that God has two realms. One is related to His Essence and no
one has the right to enter into this realm. Worship {'ibadah} and tawassul
pertain to God and are exclusive to this axis. The other realm is related to
the natural affairs of the world in which the will and discretion of man have a
role and it has nothing to do with God.[15]
He also
says:
According
to us, however, conceiving of two realms for the creation; thinking of God as
belonging to one realm and the creatures, man in particular, to be in the other
realm; and considering these two as distinctly separated is unacceptable and
itself as a kind of polytheism. We should not separate God from His acts and
His creatures; for, we believe that:
﴿أَنَّ
الْقُوَّةَ
لِلَّهِ
جَمِيعًا.﴾
That power, altogether, belongs to Allah,[16]
And:
لاَ
حَوْلَ وَلاَ
قُوَّةَ
إلاَّ
بِاللهِ العَلِيِّ
العَظِيمِ.
“There is
no might and power except from Allah, the Exalted and Great.”[17]
Then, he
says:
Contrary
to common notions, Wahhabism is not only an anti-Imamate theory but rather,
before being anti-Imamate, it is anti-tawhid and anti-human. It is
anti-tawhid because it advocates the division of work between the
Creator {khaliq} and the creature {makhluq}. In addition, it
upholds a sort of hidden polytheism in Essence {shirk-e dhati}. It is
anti-human because it fails to comprehend the talent of man that makes him
superior to the angels, and according to the text of the Qur'an, elevates him
to the status of vicegerency of Allah {khilafat Allah} who ordered the
angels to prostrate before him. It reduces him into a mere natural animal.”[18]
Tawhid according to the Shi`ah philosophers and
scholastic theologians {mutakallimun}
In the
light of the blessed Surah at-Tawhid (or al-Ikhlas), the
following headings about the cognition of the Essence and Attributes of God can
be deduced:
Tawhid of Essence {Tawhid-e dhati}
God has a
Perfect Essence and the Attributes of Perfection and Beauty. Thus, this Essence
must be regarded as One and Unique. That is, whatever we say concerning His
Oneness and Unity, we have to believe also with respect to His Essence. Those
who acknowledge such Essence also believe in the Tawhid of Essence.
Shirk {polytheism} in Essence
This means
that we believe in two or more essences for God, the Exalted. This type of
polytheism is called “polytheism in Essence”. God is One in Essence and has no
partner. So, those who maintain that God has a son or equal, or that He has
been begotten profess polytheism in Essence. The Holy Qur'an strongly condemns
this type of belief.
Tawhid in Attributes
The
Essence of God has Attributes which we can understand through Their effects,
such as the Knowledgeable {al-'Alim}, the Living {al-Hayy},
the Wise {al-Hakim}, and the Ever-Living {al-Qayyum}. We
relate these Attributes to the Essence, saying that God, the Blessed and
Exalted, is One in Essence and Attributes. Since all these Attributes relate
back to the Essence, there is no multiplicity in the Attributes and all
Attributes are one. Every Attribute is identical with the other Attribute. For
example, His Knowledge {'Ilm} is His Power {Qudrah}.
Therefore, the plurality of Attributes according to our understanding is
related to the effects of the Single Essence. As such, His Attributes and
Essence are One and not that He has One Essence and many Attributes.
Tawhid in Actions
Tawhid
in Actions is also like Tawhid in Essence in the sense that the origin
of every action in the world of being is the Divine Sacred Essence, and will
finally relate to Him. We should know that every Action that we ascribe to Him
will be the same as His other Action, and there is no difference and
distinction among the Actions of God, and the apparent duplicity in the Actions
of God is caused by our perception:
﴿وَلاَ
تَقُولَنَّ
لِشَيْءٍ
إِنِّي
فَاعِلٌ
ذَلِكَ غَدًا
إِلاَّ أَنْ
يَشَاءَ
اللَّهُ
وَاذْكُرْ
رَبَّكَ
إِذَا
نَسِيتَ.﴾
Do not say about anything, 'I will indeed
do it tomorrow,' without {adding}, 'if Allah wishes.' And when you forget,
remember your Lord.[19]
So, all
our wishes are within the domain of His will and all the actions of God are
one:
لاَ
حَوْلَ وَلاَ
قُوَّةَ
إلاَّ
بِاللهِ العَلِيِّ
العَظِيمِ.
“There is
no might and power except from Allah, the Exalted and Great.”
Those who
have such belief, attributing all actions to God have the belief in Tawhid
in Action.
(Tawhid in actions) and the
group of ‘Asharites differ in 
(Tawhid in attributes),
still all the Islamic sects have had one opinion in this respect and no Muslim
can deny this principle. And if there is any differences, they are all related
to 
(its
applicability); that is to say some of the Muslims imagine some of the actions
to be ‘ibadat (worship) whereas others consider that to be honour and
respect. Whatever dispute which exists is in
(minor type) i.e.
whether so and so act is ‘ibadat or not and not in 
(of major type)
i.e. ‘ibadat other than Allah amounts to polytheism and is forbidden. It
is here that we should properly clarify the meaning of ‘ibadat from the
viewpoint of dialect and the Qur’an and then the relevant duties and 
(applicability)
of the matters under discussion will automatically become clear. 
) and Submissiveness
(
) 
) and manifestation of meekness
or submissiveness (4) (
) Such an interpretation cannot give
a precise,correct and perfect meaning of the word of ‘ibada because: 
) then we
cannot issue an identity card of tawhid for anybody in this world and
cannot call anyone as a monotheist because man, by nature, is humble and meek
in front of the spiritual and material perfections of those who are above him
and better than him, like a student in front of his teacher, a child in front
of his teacher, a child in front of his father and mother, a lover in front of
his beloved one and so on. 
