A Comparative Study of the Theological Approaches of Salafi Wahhabism and Jihadi Salafism in Interaction with Islamic Governance, with a Case Study of the Perspectives of Bin Baz and Bin Laden.

A comparative examination of the theological approach of Abd al-Aziz bin Baz as a former Wahhabi mufti and Osama bin Laden, an influential jihadi leader, provides a clear analysis of the foundations of Wahhabi and Jihadi Salafists regarding interactions with Islamic rulers. Deploying an analytic-descriptive method and collecting library data, this article aims to uncover the theological foundations of interactions with Islamic rulers according to Wahhabi and Jihadi Salafists. In interactions with Islamic rulers, Bin Baz makes recourse to Wahhabi principles to underscore the necessity of full-fledged obedience of the just ruler and forbiddance of disobedience to an unjust ruler. Moreover, he claims that rulers are most knowledgeable of public interests, and thus, politics is an autonomous territory of the ruler where laypeople are not allowed to inquire. However, Bin Laden relies on the Jihadi Salafist principles to show the forbiddance of obedience to unjust rulers and the necessity of armed uprising against them. He believes that the unsafety stemming from the uprising against unjust rulers is a divine punishment for a society that is pleased with the injustice of tyrants. Selective citation of Islamic sources, serious deficiencies in the Wahhabi and Jihadi Salafist intellectual systems regarding governmental affairs have all led to both of these extreme views, where Bin Baz legitimizes tyranny and exonerates unjust rulers, and Bin Laden permitted violence and bloodshed for ousting unjust rulers.