Countering Wahabism – Part III
By Izeth Hussain –February 20, 2016
Izeth Hussain
An effective strategy in countering Wahabism and other forms of Islamic fundamentalism would be to get the Muslim mind to focus on the question of what would happen if fundamentalism comes to prevail as the norm in the greater part of the Islamic world or in its entirety, displacing the current norm of orthodox Islam. Stoning to death for adultery would become a frequent widespread occurrence. A series of Rizana Nafeeks will be beheaded every Friday all over the Islamic world. Rape will flourish because hardly any female will dare to allege rape: according to hudud ordinances, which apply to offences against God and not just man, a female who alleges rape is thereby confessing that she has committed adultery and will have to suffer the consequences, which could include being stoned to death. Thieves, even petty thieves, will have their hands cut off. Instrumental music, films and television will all be banned. All females will be attired in black burqas. I won’t add to that list of horrors because two conclusions are already clear enough: conversions to Islam will sink almost to zero and wherever possible some or many Muslims will become atheists or convert to other religions. The moral to be drawn is also clear enough: Islam has to be saved from Wahabism and its clones.
In the first part of this article I argued that the most important reason why Wahabism should be countered is that it is unIslamic. That argument is fully consistent with the position of orthodox Islam. Muslims in general accept that the most authoritative voice of orthodox Islam is that of Al Azhar in Cairo. All Muslims should take a look at that brief video in which a top Al Azhar cleric states the essentials against Wahabism. Different names are used but the underlying reality is Wahabism. It is a slander to say that orthodox Muslims engage in saint worship. Those who unreasonably accuse others of polytheism will themselves be adjudged polytheists in the next world and they will suffer the consequences. The cleric referred to the famous hadith according to which the Prophet showed a stunning prescience in predicting that the Horn of the Devil would be manifested in the Najd. Sheikh Abdul Wahab came from the Najd. So in my advocacy that Wahabism be countered I have behind me the might and majesty of orthodox Islam. Read More