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On Taqlid

Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab was highly critical of the practice of Taqlid (blind-following), which in his view, deviated people away from Qur'an and Sunnah. He also advocated for Ijtihad of qualified scholars in accordance with the teachings of Qur'an and Hadith. In his legal writings, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab referred to a number of sources- Qur'an, hadith, opinions of companions, Salaf as well as the treatises of the 4 schools of thought. Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab argued that Qur'an condemned blind emulation of forefathers and nowhere did it stipulate scholarly credentials for a person to refer to it directly. His advocacy of Ijtihad and harsh denunciation of Taqlid arose widespread condemnation from Sufi orthodoxy in Najd and beyond, compelling him to express many of his legal verdicts (fatwas) discreetly, using convincing juristic terms. He differed from Hanbali school in various points of law and in some cases, also departed from the positions of the 4 schools. In his treatise Usul al-Sittah (Six Foundations), Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab vehemently rebuked his detractors for raising the description of Mujtahids to what he viewed as humanely unattainable levels. He condemned the establishment clergy as a class of oppressors who ran a "tyranny of wordly possessions" by exploiting the masses to make money out of their religious activities. The teachings of Medinan hadith scholar Muhammad Hayat as Sindi highly influenced the anti-taqlid views of Ibn 'Abd al Wahhab.

Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab opposed partisanship to madhabs (legal schools) and didn't consider it obligatory to follow a particular madhab. Rather, in his view, the obligation is to follow Qur'an and the Sunnah. Referring to the classical scholars Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim, ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab condemned the popular practice prevalent amongst his contemporary scholars to blindfollow latter-day legal works and urged Muslims to take directly from Qur'an and Sunnah. He viewed it as a duty upon every Muslim, laymen and scholar, male & female, to seek knowledge directly from the sources. Radically departing from both Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab viewed the entirety of the prevalent mad'hab system of jurisprudence (Fiqh) as a fundamentally corrupt institution, seeking a radical reform of scholarly institutions and preached the obligation of all Muslims to directly refer to the foundational texts of revelation. He advocated a form of scholarly authority based upon the revival of the practice of ittiba, i.e., laymen following the scholars only after seeking evidences. The prevalent legal system was, in his view, a "factory for the production of slavish emulators" symbolic of Muslim decline.