A Comparative Study of “Anthropomorphism” and “Transcendentalism” as Viewed by Muslims and Wahhabism

One of the most important but controversial issues between Muslims and Wahhabism is the belief in divine unity or oneness of Allah. Keeping in view the assertions made by Wahhabism regarding the oneness of divine attributes, as well as the sayings of Sunni scholars, Wahhabis' belief in anthropomorphism is proved and established. Challenging Wahhabis to defend their thoughts would also expose the truth concerning their belief in anthropomorphism. That is because they have endeavored to purge themselves of this accusation through misleading words and phrases. The fact that the Wahhabis believe in anthropomorphism originates in their dogmas and fundamentals such as the negation of figurative verses and words in the Quran, considering khabari (informative) attributes as a part of the explicit verses, and validity of and adherence to the understanding of the predecessors. In view of these principles being opposed to solid and authentic evidence, Wahhabis maintain that this belief in the oneness of divine attributes and names are different from the belief of Ash'arites and Maturidis (who constitute the bulk of Sunni Muslims), Mu'tazilites, Shia, etc. Thus, they considered only themselves to be monotheists and true Ahl al-Sunnah.