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Is Wahhabism a fifth madhhab or does it follow some of the four madhhabs
Original (Arabic): https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/26/هل-الوهابية-مذهب-خامس-ام-تتبع-بعض-المذاهب-الاربعة
Question: Written questions were directed to me by one of the shaykhs from outside the Kingdom, and I answered them, saying:
From Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah bin Baz to the honorable brother, the esteemed, may Allah grant him beneficial knowledge and enable him to act upon it, amin. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings: To proceed, your letter dated 2/3/1394 AH has reached me, may Allah keep you bound to the rope of guidance and success, and I have understood what it contained of the three questions about the Wahhabiyyah, and here is the answer to them:
Question: What is Wahhabism, and is it a fifth madhhab, or does it follow one of the four madhhabs?
From Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah bin Baz to the honorable brother, the esteemed, may Allah grant him beneficial knowledge and enable him to act upon it, amin. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings: To proceed, your letter dated 2/3/1394 AH has reached me, may Allah keep you bound to the rope of guidance and success, and I have understood what it contained of the three questions about the Wahhabiyyah, and here is the answer to them:
Question: What is Wahhabism, and is it a fifth madhhab, or does it follow one of the four madhhabs?
Answer: This term is used by many people to refer to the call of the Sheikh, the Imam Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab ibn Sulayman al-Tamimi al-Hanbali, may Allah have mercy on him, and they call him and his followers "Wahhabis." Anyone with the slightest insight knows about the movement of Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab, may Allah have mercy on him, and his call, that he undertook to spread the call to pure tawhid, and to warn against shirk of all its types, such as attachment to the dead and others, and to trees and stones and the like. He, may Allah have mercy on him, followed in aqidah the madhhab of the righteous predecessors (the Salaf), and in matters of jurisprudence the madhhab of the Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Shaybani, may Allah have mercy on him, as is shown by his books and his fatwas and the books of his followers among his sons and grandsons and others, all of which have been printed and circulated among the people.
Imam Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, arose at a time when the estrangement of Islam had become entrenched, and clouds of ignorance had settled over the Arabian Peninsula and elsewhere, save what Allah willed otherwise, and the worship of rivals and idols had spread there. So the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, did nothing but roll up his sleeves in earnest, striving and struggling, and devoting his efforts to putting an end to the paths of misguidance, employing in that every means leading to the spread of tawhid purified of superstitions among the people. It was among the blessings of Allah, glorified be He, that He enabled Imam Muhammad ibn Saud, the ruler of Diriyah at that time, to accept this call, and so he rose in this path together with his sons, those under his command, and those who followed him in this good — may Allah reward them all with every good, forgive them, and grant success to all their descendants in all that pleases Him and brings about the welfare of His servants.
And the regions of the Arabian Peninsula continue to live under the shade of this good call to this day, and his call, may Allah have mercy on him, was in accordance with the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ, and Wahhabism is not a fifth madhhab as the ignorant and the malicious claim, but rather it is a call to the Salafi aqidah and a renewal of what had faded of the landmarks of Islam and tawhid in the Arabian Peninsula, as previously stated.[1].
Imam Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, arose at a time when the estrangement of Islam had become entrenched, and clouds of ignorance had settled over the Arabian Peninsula and elsewhere, save what Allah willed otherwise, and the worship of rivals and idols had spread there. So the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, did nothing but roll up his sleeves in earnest, striving and struggling, and devoting his efforts to putting an end to the paths of misguidance, employing in that every means leading to the spread of tawhid purified of superstitions among the people. It was among the blessings of Allah, glorified be He, that He enabled Imam Muhammad ibn Saud, the ruler of Diriyah at that time, to accept this call, and so he rose in this path together with his sons, those under his command, and those who followed him in this good — may Allah reward them all with every good, forgive them, and grant success to all their descendants in all that pleases Him and brings about the welfare of His servants.
And the regions of the Arabian Peninsula continue to live under the shade of this good call to this day, and his call, may Allah have mercy on him, was in accordance with the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ, and Wahhabism is not a fifth madhhab as the ignorant and the malicious claim, but rather it is a call to the Salafi aqidah and a renewal of what had faded of the landmarks of Islam and tawhid in the Arabian Peninsula, as previously stated.[1].
- Majmu' Fatawa wa Maqalat Mutanawwi'ah li al-Shaykh Ibn Baz (1/374).