Wahhabism: A Critical Essay

Sedikit sedutan sinopsis buku Dr. Hamid Algar berjodol "Wahhabism: A Critical Essay":-

• Wahhabism, a peculiar interpretation of Islamic doctrine and practice that first arose in mid-18th century Arabia, is sometimes regarded as simply an extreme or uncompromising form of Sunni Islam. This is incorrect, for at the very outset the movement was stigmatized as aberrant by the leading Sunni scholars of the day, because it rejected many of the traditional beliefs and practices of Sunni Islam and declared permissible warfare against all Muslims that disputed Wahhabi teaching.

Pada mukasurat 3, tertulis:-

• It has, however, been observed by knowledgeable Sunnis since the earliest times that the Wahhabis do not count as part of the Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama`a, for almost all the practices, traditions and beliefs denounced by Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhab have been historically integral to Sunni Islam, enshrined in a vast body of literature and accepted by the great majority of Muslims. Precisely for that reason, many of the 'ulama contemporary with the first emergence of Wahhabism denounced its followers as standing outside the pale of Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama`a. That Wahhabis are now counted as Sunni is one indication that the term "Sunni" has come to acquire an extraordinarily loose meaning, not extending much beyond recognition of the legitimacy of the first four caliphs (regarded by Sunnis as the Khulafa al-Rashidun ["the Rightly Guided Caliphs"]; in fact, it signifies little more than "non-Shi`i". Our characterization of Wahhabis as non-Sunni is therefore above all a historical clarification; it has in itself no polemical purpose, if only because for the present writer Sunnism is but one representation and interpretation of Islam.

Adakah Wahhabi tergolong dalam kumpulan majoriti Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama`ah mazhab 4 ? Sila dapatkan buku tersebut dan baca kandungannya dengan teliti. Dr. Hamid Algar seorang berbangsa Inggeris yang lahir di England pada tahun 1940 dan memeluk agama Islam. Lulusan doktor falsafah dalam pengajian Islam daripada Universiti Cambridge dan menguasai bahasa-bahasa 'Arab, Parsi dan Turki. Kini menjadi pensyarah di Universiti California, Berkeley. Antara karangannya:-

• Surat al-Fatihah: Foundation of the Qur`an;
• Sufism: Principles and Practice;
• Jesus in The Qur`an: His Reality Expounded in the Qur`an;
• Imam Abu Hamid Ghazali: An Exponent of Islam in Its Totality;
• Hasan al-Banna: Founder of the First Modern Islamic Movement;
• Imam Khomeini: A Brief Biography & Two Other Essays.