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1281 Do Wahabbis and Deobandis originate from a Sunni sect?
Muhammed Bin Abdul Wahab is the founder of the Wahabi Sect which came into being in the year 1209 AH. Some Wahhabi biographers of Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab claim he was a follower of the Hanbali School. However, the reality is that true Wahabites are Ghair Meqallideen. To deceive Sunni Muslims, some Wahabis disguise themselves as Sunnis and claim to be the followers of the four established Shools of Shariah Law.

Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahabs ancestors , his father, uncles and his broth (Suleiman) were all respected and renowned Ahle Sunnah wal Jammah Scholars of Hanbalite law.
In his early life, Abdul Wahab was a Muqallid of Imam Ahmed Ibn Hambal (R.A), he studied religious knowledge from some misquided scholars of his time who tauight him Ibn Taymiyya erroneous doctorines.

Ibn Taymiyyas doctorines made a great impression on him so much so that he left the Hanbali School od Sharia Law. This gave rise to the Ghair Muqallideen offshoot of the
Wahabi Movement, commonly known as Ahle Hadith and Al Salafiyyah Movement.

In the early 19th Century CE(13th Century AH), thw Wahabi sect gained foothold in the Indian subcontinent, through the efforts of its convert Muhammad Ismaeel Delvi (Died im 1246 AH). He translated Kitaab at Tawheed into Urdu, explaining the finer points of Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahabs wrong and corrupt beliefs in a book that he called “Taqwia tul Imaan (ie The strengthening of Faith)”.

With the assistance of the colonial British government, Mohammad Qassim Nabautwi (Died 1297 AH) founded a college at “Deoband”, a town in Sahaaranpoor district of India. Together with Rashid Ahmad Gangohi (Died 1323 AH), Mohammad Qassim Naanautwis fellow student and Qahabi convert, he taught and spread Muhammad Ismaeel Delhvis Wahabi doctorinenes and teachings to the students at his college in Deoband. Deoband thus became the centre for the spread of the Wahabi Movement in the Indian subcontinent. Because of their link to the college at Deoband, Wahabis whose origins are from the Indian subcontinent are commonly known as “Deobandi’s”.

Muhammed Qassim Naanautwi and Rashid Ahmed Gangohi’s mission was later progressed by Ashraf Ali Thanwi (Died 1362 AH).

To further research the origins of such groups along with their corrupt beliefs, we recommend you read “The Ahlus Sunnah versus The Wahabi Doctorines” by Muhammad Afaq Kayani, as well as “Sirat ul Ahl us Sunnah” published by Sirat ul Muslimin.

(Answered by: Hafiz Mohammed Akhtar)
Category (Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat)
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