رِسَالَةٌ إِلَى أَهْلِ الْمَغْرِبِ فِي بَيَانِ التَّوْحِيدِ وَالشِّرْكِ
A Letter to the People of Maghreb Concerning the Clarification of Tawhîd and Shirk1
Shaykh'ul Islâm Muhammad bin Abd'il Wahhâb Rahimahullâh
May Allâh sanctify his soul and illuminate his grave, the Shaykh has a letter to the people of Maghreb. Its text is as follows:
In the name of Allâh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,
All praise is due to Allâh. We praise Him, seek His help, seek His forgiveness, and repent to Him. We seek refuge in Allâh from the evil within ourselves and our evil deeds. Whoever Allâh guides, there is no one who can lead him astray, and whoever Allâh leads astray, then there is no one who can guide him.
I bear witness there is no -true- deity -worthy of worship- except Allâh, He is One and He has no partners, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger.
Whoever obeys Allâh and His Messenger is guided, and whoever disobeys Allâh and His Messenger is misguided, he will only harm himself and he cannot harm Allâh in anyway. May Allâh send abundant peace and blessings upon Muhammad, his family, and his companions.
To proceed:
Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"Say: This is my way; I invite to Allâh with insight, I and those who follow me. And exalted is Allâh; and I am not of those who associate others with Him." (Yûsuf, 12/108)
And Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"Say: If you love Allâh then follow me, Allâh will love you and forgive you of your sins." (Âl-i Imrân, 3/31)
And Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"And whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it)." (al-Hashr, 59/7)
And Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islâm as religion." (al-Mâ'idah, 5/3)
Allâh Subhânahu informed that He perfected His religion and completed it on the tongue of His Messenger Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam.
We were commanded to abide by what was revealed to us from our Lord, and to abandon innovation, separation, and disagreement; thus, Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"Follow, (o mankind), what has been revealed to you from your Lord and do not follow other than Him any allies. Little do you remember." (al-A'râf, 7/3)
And Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"And, (moreover), this is My path, which is straight, so follow it; and do not follow (other) ways, for you will be separated from His way. This has He instructed you that you may become righteous." (al-An'âm, 6/153)
The Messenger Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam informed that his nation will follow the path of the previous generations span by span and cubit by cubit.2
It is established in the two Sahîhs and in other books that Rasûlullâh Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam said,
"Surely, you will follow the ways of those nations who were before you in an exact identical manner, so much so that even if they entered a lizard's hole, you would enter it! They said: O Rasulullâh! Do you mean the Jews and the Christians?" He said, "Who else could it be?"3
In another Hadîth Rasûlullâh Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam informed that his nation will split into seventy-three sects and that all of them are in the Hellfire except for one sect. They said, "Who are they O Rasûlullâh?" He Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam said, "Those who follow what I and my Companions are upon today."4
When this is recognized, the calamities consisting of the newly innovated matters which have become wide-spread will be known. The paramount of the calamities is associating partners to Allâh, turning to the dead, and requesting help from them against enemies, fulfilling the needs, and resolving hardships, which none other than the Lord of the worlds and heavens is capable of doing. Seeking nearness to them through vowing and slaughtering offerings, seeking aid from them to eliminate distress and to bring benefits, and directing other types of worship which cannot be directed to anyone other than Allâh is akin to this.
Directing anything from the types of worship to other than Allâh is the same as directing all types of worship to other than Allâh. This is because among those unto whom partners are associated, Allâh Subhânahu is the most unneedy of partners being associated to Him. Allâh does not accept deeds unless they are done with sincerity. As Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"So worship Allâh making your submission exclusive for Him. Surely, for Allâh is the pure religion. And those who take saints besides Him (say): We only worship them that they may bring us near to Allâh! Verily, Allâh will judge between them concerning that wherein they differ. Truly, Allâh does not guide he who is a disbelieving liar." (az-Zumar, 39/2-3)
Allâh Subhânahu informed that He is only pleased with the religion that is sincerely for His Face. He informed that the polytheists supplicate to the angels, prophets, and righteous so that they may bring them nearer to Allâh and become intercessors for them in His presence. In addition, He informed that He will not guide the disbelieving liars. Allâh belied their claim and their Kufr and said,
"Truly, Allâh does not guide he who is a disbelieving liar." (az-Zumar, 39/3)
And Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"And they worship other than Allâh that which neither harms them nor benefits them, and they say: These are our intercessors with Allâh! Say: Do you inform Allâh of something He does not know in the heavens or on the earth? Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him." (Yûnus, 10/18)
Allâh thus informed that whoever takes intermediaries between himself and Allâh requesting intercession from them, has worshipped them and associated them as partners unto Allâh. This is because intercession in its entirety belongs exclusively to Allâh. As Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"Say: To Allâh belongs (the right to allow) intercession entirely." (az-Zumar, 39/44)
No one can intercede in His presence without His permit. As Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?" (al-Baqarah, 2/255)
Allâhu Taâlâ also said,
"That Day, no intercession will benefit except (that of) one to whom ar-Rahmân (the Most Gracious) has given permission and has accepted his word." (Tâ-Hâ, 20/109)
Allâh Subhânahu is not pleased with anything other than Tawhîd. As Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"And they cannot intercede except for him with whom He is pleased." (al-Anbiyâ, 21/28)
Allâhu Taâlâ also said,
"Say: Call upon those whom you claim (to be your gods) beside Allâh. They do not possess (anything) even to the measure of a particle, neither in the heavens nor in the earth. They have no contribution at all in either of the two, nor is any of them a helper for Allâh. And intercession does not benefit with Him except for one whom He permits." (Saba, 34/22-23)
Intercession is true however; it cannot be requested from anyone other than Allâhu Taâlâ in this world. As Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"And the Masâjid (pl. Masjid; places of worship) are only for Allâh, so pray (invoke/worship) not unto anyone along with Allâh." (al-Jinn, 72/18)
Allâhu Taâlâ also said,
"And do not invoke besides Allâh that which neither benefits you nor harms you, for if you did, then indeed you would be of the wrongdoers." (Yûnus, 10/106)
When the Messenger Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam is the master of the intercessors and the owner of al-Maqâm'ul Mahmûd (magnanimous position), and while Âdam Alayh'is Salâm and others under him in rank are under his banner, and even Rasûlullâh cannot intercede without the permit of Allâh, and he will not intercede in the beginning rather "he will come and fall in prostration, then he will praise Allâh in a manner that Allâh will teach him and he will be told: (O Muhammad!) Raise your head. Say, and you will be heard; ask, and your request will be granted; intercede, and your intercession will be granted! Then he will be assigned a degree and thereupon they will be entered into Jannah."5 (If this is the state of our Prophet), what would be the condition of the other prophets and saints?
None of the scholars of the Muslims disagreed on what we mentioned. Rather, the righteous predecessors consisting of the companions, the Tâbi'ûn, the four Imâms, and others who followed their path and proceeded along the lines of their Manhaj have made consensus regarding this.
When it comes to what has occurred of requesting intercession from the prophets and saints after they have died, revering their graves by building domes and lighting lamps, performing the prayer near their graves, making their graves places of festivities, appointing custodians and offering vows to their graves; all of these are from the newly innovated matters which the Nabî Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam informed that they would occur and cautioned from. As it is narrated in the Hadîth that he Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam stated,
"The Hour will not be established until a tribe from my Ummah joins the polytheists and until groups from my Ummah worship idols."6
Rasûlullâh Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam is the one who safeguarded Tawhîd in the best matter and blocked all paths leading to Shirk and prohibited the plastering of the graves and constructing/building upon it. As this is established in Sahîh Muslim in the Hadîth of Jâbir Radiyallâhu Anh.
It is also established in Sahîh Muslim that Rasûlullâh Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam delegated Alî bin Abî Tâlib Radiyallâhu Anh and commanded him that he should not leave a high grave without leveling it and a sculptured image without obliterating it.7
For this reason, several scholars said it is obligatory to demolish the domes that were built upon the graves, since they were constructed upon disobeying the Rasûl Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam.
Therefore, this per se necessitated disagreement between us and the people. This issue came to the point where they declared Takfîr upon us, fought us, and claimed our blood permissible to shed and our wealth permissible to take. This continued until Allâh helped us over them and gave us victory over them.
This is what we call people to and what we fight them for after we establish the Hujjah (evidence) to them from the Book of Allâh, the Sunnah of His Rasûl, and the Ijmâ of the righteous Salaf from amongst the Imâms, following the statement by Allâh Subhânahu wa Taâlâ,
"And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (polytheism) and until all of the religion will be for Allâh Alone." (al-Anfâl, 8/39)
Whoever does not accept the call with the Hujjah and clarification, we fight against them by sword and spear. As Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"We have already sent Our messengers with clear evidences and sent down with them the scripture and the balance that the people may maintain (their affairs) in justice. And We sent down iron, wherein is great military might and benefits for the people, and so that Allâh may make evident those who support Him and His messengers unseen. Indeed, Allâh is Powerful and Exalted in Might." (Al-Hadîd, 57/25)
We call the people to establish the daily prayers with congregation in a prescribed fashion, give the Zakâh, fast during the month of Ramadhân, and pilgrimage to the Sacred House of Allâh. We also enjoin what is right and forbid from evil. As Allâhu Taâlâ said,
"(And they are) those who, if We give them authority in the land, establish prayer and give Zakâh and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. And to Allâh belongs the outcome of (all) matters." (al-Hajj, 22/41)
Therefore, this is what we believe in and what we obey Allâh with. So, whoever acts upon this is our Muslim brother. Whatever is in his favor is in ours, and whatever is against him, is against us.
We also believe that the Ummah who adhere to the Sunnah of Muhammad Sallallâhu Alayhi wa Sallam will not gather upon misguidance and there will never cease to exist a group from his Ummah upon the truth, aided, that is not harmed by those who forsake them nor those who oppose them, until the command of Allâh comes while they are upon this.
May Allâh send peace upon Muhammad.
1- Ar-Rasâ'il'ush Shakhsiyyah, 17th letter, p. 110-115; ad-Durar'us Saniyyah, 1/83-88.
2- Al-Bukhârî, Hadîth no. 7319.
3- Al-Bukhârî, Hadîth no. 3456; Muslim, Hadîth no. 2669.
4- At-Tirmidhî, Hadîth no. 2641.
5- Al-Bukhârî, Hadîth no. 4476; Muslim, Hadîth no. 193.
6- With similar wording in at-Tirmidhî, Hadîth no. 2219; Abû Dâwûd, Hadîth no. 4252; Ahmad, Hadîth no. 22395.
7- Muslim, Hadîth no. 969.
