پژوهشنامه مذاهب کلامی
پیاپی 1 (زمستان 1399)

The verse 18 of chapter 72 of the Quran says, "And that the mosques are Allah's, therefore call not upon any one with Allah". Wahhabis insist that this verse alludes to prohibition of appealing to anyone other than Allah. They believe appealing to someone other than Allah amounts to worshiping someone other than Him and it is an act of shirk (polytheism). They maintain  that such calls are in explicit contravention of the verses of the Quran, sunnah of the Prophet (S) and normative conduct of the predecessors. In this article, the opinion of Wahabism is challenged with arguments put forth to prove that such appeals in general is not worship of a being other than Allah. The prohibition denoted in the verse (call not upon anyone) forbids worshipping anyone other than Allah.  In fact, the appeal (du'a) that has been forbidden in the said verse is one that is combined with one's belief in divinity of another entity. Just as Wahabis say, God has forbidden us to call upon anyone other than him, we must note that that another being who must not be called upon is another god, not anyone other than Allah. If appealing to someone other than Allah was forbidden in a general way, then the question arises as to why Prophet Solomon appealed to the chiefs, and Moses' tribe appealed to him and Prophet Moses appealed to Prophet Khidr. Why didn't they ask Allah to fulfill their wish? That is because if an appeal is made to someone other than Allah with belief in lordship and divinity of that thing, it is then considered shirk and worshipping someone other than Allah. However, if there is no such belief, it is a kind of seeking help and cooperation, and there would be no objection to someone doing this. In this study, the differences between 'worship' and 'dua' (supplication), the objective manifestations of appeals made to someone other Allah in the Quran, Sunnah and normative conduct of predecessors have been discussed. As well, the affirmation of this trend by textual proofs has been dealt with.

There is a difference of opinion among Sunni Muslims with regards to the definition of "Salaf" but it can be said that in the point of view of the Salafists, the "Salaf's understanding" (understanding of predecessors) refers to something the companions of the Prophet and their successors have inferred and deduced from explicit texts and religious issues. The "authority of predecessors' understanding" is one of the issues which Salafists especially the Wahabis rely upon considering it as one of their intellectual foundations. They associate their thoughts and beliefs with verses, narrations and consensus. In fact, it must be said that what they consider as the foundation and basis of their thoughts do not support or corroborate their claims and their beliefs. Moreover, there are objections raised against their beliefs, objections which hold good such as the fact that the predecessors were not all good; they had differences among themselves over different issues and that the very claim is opposed to the conduct of the predecessors, not to mention the fact that all the Salafists do not stick to this principles in every point.

Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi is a scholar who advocates proximity among Islamic denominations. He is affiliated to a moderate group within Muslim Brotherhood. Perhaps, it is a speculative and groundless claim to consider him as one of Salafi Sunni scholars; if we look at his views in ideological and theological areas, we can find certain constituents signifying his tendency to Salafism. When it comes to exegesis of the divine attributes, he considers somehow the school of Salafism as acceptable. He affirms Hasan al-Banna's opinion in introducing the school of delegation as a Salafist thought allowing effortless and wholesome interpretations in this area, something facing extensive criticism from the Salafists. While explaining al-Tawhid al-Rububi (or tawhid of lordship) he accepts somehow the Salafists' explanation of the same concept but contrary to Salafists, he does not consider tawassul (seeking means of nearness to Allah) a belief-related matter. Of course, because of sadd al-zaray'e (blocking the means), he does not term it as shirk (polytheistic). The important point is that because of some social observations, Islamic societies and proximity-seeking thought or owing to his Salafist theoretical foundation in explaining monotheism, al-Qaradawi refrains from excommunicating Muslims who adhere to certain rituals such as istighatha (beseeching others for help). This is something that can be traced back to how al-Qaradawi has been implementing the requirements of tawhid of sovereignty. Like Muhammad Qutb, he has, albeit more softly, refrained from explicating the requirements of tawhid of sovereignty which, at times, can lead to excommunicating a ruler who has been designated by someone than Allah. When it comes to innovation (bid'ah) and its manifestations, al-Qaradawi has been too much strict, though Salafists have not reconciled themselves with some of his beliefs such as the permissibility of moderate Sufism, tendency to Ash'arite School, praising democracy and tolerance in rebelling against a ruler. He has, therefore, been accused of compromising on religious beliefs.  On the other hand, al-Qaradawi's staunch belief in the openness of the gate of ijtihad and his strong defense of Banu Umayyah are considered to be some of the manifestations of his Salafist approach. Finally, it can be said that al-Qaradawi has relatively  accepted the theological foundations of contemporary Salafism though the contemporary Salafi dogmatism makes it difficult to include him among the full-fledged Salafists.

One of the key issues concerning devotional unity (al-tawhid al-'ibadi) is the definition of 'worship' ('ibadah). Wahabis have taken the literal meaning of 'ibadah into consideration while defining it. They have defined 'ibadah briefly as such: 'Ibadah means humility, humbleness and expression of abasement (tazallul). They have described the pagans in the early period of Islam as monotheists in terms of unity of lordship but since they sanctified and revered entities other than Allah, they were corrupted by their actions. Thus, Wahabis conclude that if a person appeals to someone other than Allah in the form of dua, invocation, beseeching, intercessions, etc. or respects someone other than Him, he becomes a polytheist and goes out of the pale of Islam. On the contrary, Sunni scholars rejecting this opinion has criticized the idea of the pagans of the early period of Islam being monotheists in terms of the tawhid of lordship. They consider the pagans to be corrupted with polytheism in both areas of worship and lordship due, mainly, to the verses of the Quran as well as historical reports and the concomitance between tawhid of lordship and tawhid of worship.As well, prominent Sunni scholars have a different definition of 'Ibadah as compared to the one offered by Wahabism. They have said that worship is a combination of humbleness and humility in the form of prostration, bowing (ruku') and any other form of respect in addition to belief in God being the lord, creator, provider and having other attributes of perfection. In fact, it must be said that 'Ibadah in real sense is an apparent action together with belief in divinity and lordship of the 'worshipped'.

The Jihadi Salafism is an extremist group that believes in Jihad as the only means by which Islam can be spread. To promote their agenda, they fight all hurdles on their way. One of the hurdles are the rulers of Islamic countries who, in their opinion, should be fought against. According to Jihadi Salafism there are two reasons why the rulers of Muslim countries are unbelievers (kafir): First, they do not enjoin what Allah has sent down, second, they act upon self-made (statutory) laws. According to them, any ruler who does not command to what Allah has sent down is a kafir, though he may believe in divine laws in general. As well, according to them any ruler who acts upon statutory (man-made) laws is a kafir and there is no difference between him and a Jew or a Christian. Therefore, Jihad is obligatory against them. They take recourse to the verses 44 to 47 of Chapter al-Maedah to justify their beliefs. They insist on their beliefs when in fact the occasion in which the holy verses were revealed is different from the way Salafi scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim interpret. In the viewpoint of Jihadi Salafism, kufr in these verses refers to greater infidelity whereas early predecessors and prominent Salafists consider the disbelief in these verses as the minor infidelity or something near to disbelief. This research proves through an analytical descriptive method that disbelief in the verse which is used by Takfiris is something close to infidelity, and that acting upon statutory laws is in no way in opposition to monotheism.

The seventh century AH is one of the turning points for Salafi thought in the Islamic world, in this century we see that Ibn Taymiyyah made from extreme ideas of Hanbalis and Ahl al-Hadith, an intellectual current. Ibn Taymiyyah's special readings of the Islamic concepts and his views towards the followers of other Islamic sects, made him classifying them as innovators. This led to disagreement of scholars of Islamic schools with him and criticism of his extreme ideas. This article reviews the attitudes of the scholars and intellectuals of the Hanafi School, especially in the face of Ibn Taymiyyah's intellectual deviations.