Rendering Muḥammad Human Again: The Prophetology of Muḥammad b.

ʿAbd al-
Wahhāb (1703–1792)
Author(s): Martin Riexinger
Source: Numen , 2013, Vol. 60, No. 1, Special Issue: The Gods as Role Models in Western
Traditions (2013), pp. 103-118
Published by: Brill
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24644809

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 NVMEN
BRILL Numen 60 (2013) 103-118 brill.com/nu

Rendering Muhammad Human Again: Th

of Muhammad b. cAbd al-Wahhâb (17

Martin Riexinger
University ofAarhus
Institute for Culture and Society
Jens Chr. Skous Vej γ
8ooo Aarhus C, Denmark
mri@teo.au.dk

Abstract

Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb (1703-1792), the founder of the

ment in Islam, has written a biography of the prophet that diffe
later works of this genre. He passes over many episodes that are
status of Muhammad beyond that of an ordinary human, where
that show him as human, or even fallible, such as the controvers
purpose of this selection is to demonstrate that apart from even
revelation, Muhammad was a human being whose actions can
the scope of Muhammad's actions is reduced to the eradication
try. This is supposed to suggest that Muhammad b. "Abd al-Wah
ing what Muhammad has begun and to legitimize the warfare o
"idolaters."

Keywords
Muhammad (the prophet), veneration of Muhammad; Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb,
Wahhabism, slra literature, prophets (in Islam)

Given some commonplace notions about Islam it might seem nonsen

sical to address an Islamic subject within the context of "the Gods as
role models": since everything created is incomparable to God, the cre
ator, he can obviously not serve as a role model for humans. Instead,
the role model Muslims should emulate — either directly as males or
as females via the commands he gave to his wives and daughters — is

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2013 DOI: 10.1163/15685276-12341254

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104 M. Riexinger / Numen 60 (2013) 103-118

Muhammad the Prophet. Although he is God's messenger, he is, like the

other prophets, indisputably human.
However, this understanding of Muhammad's personality reflects a
reformist interpretation of Islam, which has gained ground since the
late nineteenth century but which has developed in conscious opposi
tion to religious concepts and forms of piety that had developed since
the tenth century and become dominant from the thirteenth century
onwards. One of these concepts is a form of veneration of Muhammad
that implies the attribution of qualities that elevate him beyond the
status of an ordinary human. The main aspects of this veneration of
Muhammad were the concepts of his 'isma, infallibility, or better pro
tection from sin of error, and the idea that his creation preceded that
of everything else (pre-existence) (Rubin 1975; Nagel 2008:153-180,
351-352). What these interpretations imply in detail will be explained
later with reference to examples in the source I present. These prophe
tological concepts became central elements of Muslim devotion since
they featured in popular poetry to be recited especially on the occasion
of Muhammad's birthday, a holiday that was not celebrated by Sunni
Muslims before the twelfth century (Fuchs and de Jong îgSgf.; Holmes
Katz 2007; Nagel 2008:303-325). But it would be wrong to dismiss them
as "popular piety" since eminent scholars like Ibn al-Jawzï (1116-1201,
Baghdad), al-Maqrizî (1364-1442, Cairo), and al-Qastallànï (1448-1517,
Cairo) penned down voluminous works on all aspects of Muhammad's
personality (Nagel 2008:199-228,238-245).
However, the development and spread of these concepts and the
related practices did not go unopposed. The attacks came from scholars
who were generally critical of Sufism, like Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328) and
his disciple Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (1292-1350), both from Damascus
(Ahmad 1998; Memon 1976; Laoust 1939,1968a, 1968b, 1969; Bori 2003;
Schôller 2008).
Those who subscribe to their position attack the veneration of the
prophet on basically three grounds. The first one is theological: they
claim that venerating someone else than God infringes on God's exclu
sive right to be adored. Hence those who indulge into an excessive ven
eration of Muhammad repeat the mistake of the Christians who had
elevated Jesus from the status of a messenger of God to that of the Son
of God by ascribing divine attributes to him. The second is based on the

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 M. Riexinger / Numen 60 (2013) 103-118 105

fact that many of these practices find no justification in the Qur'àn and
authentic sayings of the Prophet (ahâdlth, sg. hadlth), hence they are to
be considered as innovations (bida', sg. bid'a). This is not an unfounded
allegation since many ahâdïth that have not found entry in the six
canonical collections are frequently used in the literature dedicated to
the veneration of Muhammad. The third argument is, however, based on
considerations regarding the influence of these beliefs and practices on
Muslim individuals and Muslim societies as a whole. Those who bring
forth this point claim that the veneration of the messenger has super
seded obedience to the message and that the exaltation of Muhammad
has undermined his function as role model.
A hitherto unexamined source is an impressive example of the effort
to reinstate Muhammad as a role model by demonstrating that he is
human: Mukhtasar sïrat al-rasûl ("A short version of the biography of
the Messenger") by Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb.

Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb: Background, Teachings,

and Influence

Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb is the founder of one of the most impor

tant Islamic religious cum political movements in the Islamic World
during the last 300 years. He was born in al-'Uyayna, an oasis town in
the central Arabian region Najd, as the son of a religious scholar ( 'âlim,
pl. 'ulamâ'). He belonged like the majority of scholars in this area to
the Hanbalï school of law (madhhab, pl. madhàhib), which is the one
of the four schools of law in Sunni Islam which gives the most empha
sis to the Qur'àn and the Hadith at the expense of ijmâ' (consensus of
scholars) and qiyâs (analogy), the other two generally acknowledged
sources of law (Commins 2006:7-30; Laoust 1966; Melchert 1997:137-155;
Hurvitz 2002).
Because there were no institutions of higher religious studies in that
remote and economically backward area, young aspiring scholars from
Najd used to travel to centers of learning like Damascus, Cairo, or the two
"Holy Places" (haramayn) in the Hijâz, Mecca and Medina. Muhammad
b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb's choice to leave for the Hijâz became decisive for
his later intellectual development, because at the Holy Places a group
of scholars had established itself whose teachings ran counter to the

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lo6 M. Riexinger / Numen 60 (2013) 103-118

dominating trends in the Islamic World in that period. Beginning with

Ibrahim al-Kùrànï (d. 1690), a Kurdish scholar from Western Iran, a
number of scholars adopted many ideas of Ibn Hazm (al-Andalus, 994
1064), Ibn Taymiyya, and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya that had been mar
ginalized elsewhere. This included a critical stance towards, if not the
rejection of the schools of law, the opposition against many sufi rituals
(though not necessarily sufi teachings), and the denunciation of many
forms of the veneration of Muhammad as excessive or even as shirk
(idolatry, "syntheism").1
After having studied in particular with the Indian scholar Muhammad
Hayyàt al-Sindï (d. 1750), Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb did not return
to Najd immediately. He first spent some time in Basra from where he
was expelled under unknown circumstances and for unknown reasons.
After he had traveled back to his home region in the mid-i740s he began
to propagate the doctrines that he had developed under the influence
of his puritan teachers in the Hijàz and looked for political support. His
preaching activities brought him into trouble because he did not only
attack many popular rituals like the veneration of graves and trees ver
bally but because he also denounced those who indulge into them as
infidels (kuffar, sg. kâfir) and hence called for the prohibition of these
practices by force. In order to justify this he divided the concept of
monotheism, or better uniqueness of God (tawhïd), up into two forms:
God's uniqueness as Lord (tawhïd al-rubûbiyya) and the uniqueness of
divinity (tawhïd al-ulûhiyya). He argued that although hardly anybody
would deny tawhid al-rubûbiyya by denying that God has created the

" The idea that the upsurge of puritan movements in the Islamic World since the
eighteenth century could be traced back to a group of scholars in the Hijâz was first
formulated by: Voll 1975,1987; however, because he concentrated on teacher-pupil
relations Voll's argumentation was easily assailable. Dallai (1993) pointed out that
there were enormous differences in the teachings of several of the scholars Voll tied
to this network. The extensive analysis of the writings of Ibrahim al-Kûrânî (d. 1690)
and Muhammad Hayât al-Sindi do, however, show that many common elements can
be traced back to these two scholars: see Nafi 2002: Nafi 2006; Riexinger 2004:65-121;
furthermore the common elements were the basis for the cooperation between some
of these movements since the late nineteenth century: see Riexinger 2004:523-537;
Preckel 2008:104-137,327-370.

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 Ai. Riexinger/ Numen 60 (2013) 103-118 107

universe and keeps it up, many call beings inferior for God for help
(istighatha) or intercession (shafâ'a). Thus they attribute the power to
change events to someone other than God and hence they infringe on
tawhld al-uluhiyya. Therefore his followers call themselves muwahhidun,
"those who confess God's uniqueness," a term derived from tawhld (Pes
kes 2000:40; Commins 2006:24-25). However, a derogatory term coined
by Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb's opponents became the one of
which his teachings are commonly referred to: al-wahhabiyya or Wah
habism (Peskes 2000:39).
In 1744 Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb succeeded in finding political
support He forged an alliance with the À1 Su'ûd, a clan that ruled over
the oasis town of al-Dir'iyya. For them Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb's
call to clean Islam from unlawful accretions provided a justification to
expand their realm because according to him it was imperative to wage
jihad against their "unbelieving" neighbors who practiced unlawful rituals.
The forces of the Â1 Su'ûd established Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb's
teachings as the official religion in every place they conquered. Finally
they occupied Mecca and Medina in 1803 and "cleansed" the Holy Places
by destroying all tombs (Peskes 2002; Commins 2006:31).
The first Saudi state was finally destroyed by Muhammad 'All, the
ruler of Egypt (1805-1848), at the behest of the Ottomans, who were for
mally still his overlords in 1818 (Commins 2006:31-33, 37-38). The sec
ond Saudi state (1823/5-1891) never challenged the Ottoman Empire or
Egypt, but it was defeated by a neighboring tribal group the À1 Rashld
(Ibid.:40-7o). The third Saudi state that emerged in 1903 conquered the
Holy Places under the leadership of'Abd al-'AzIz Ibn Su'ud (1876-1953).
From the 1920s onwards Saudi Arabia, as the state was officially called
since 1928, began to claim leadership in the Islamic World. In order to
support this claim, connections with similar-minded movements and
individuals — nowadays often referred to as salafis (followers of the
pious ancestors) — were established systematically. After the produc
tion of oil had begun in the 1930s, Saudi Arabia also disposed of a mate
rial basis, which enabled her to give financial assistance to movements
with a similar outlook worldwide. Thus the once marginal Wahhabi
movement became one of the most influential religious currents in the
Islamic World (Boberg 1991; Commins 2006:71-129; Schulze 1990; Stein
berg 2002; Riexinger 2004:523-537; Meijer 2009).

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lo8 M. Riexinger /Numen 60 (2013) 103-118

Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb, however, did not play any role in

the expansion of the Saudi realm. After he had forged the alliance with
the À1 Su'ud, he led a secluded life in Dir'iyya. Presumably he wrote the
Mukhtasar slrat al-rasul in this period. The writings, which have hith
erto been used as the main sources for the analysis of his ideas, like the
Kitâb al-tawhïd (The Book on God's Uniqueness) and Kashf al-shubûhât
(The Uncovering of what is Doubtful) contain mostly quotations to the
Qudân and the Hadlth and only very few references to scholarly works.
This is responsible for the image of Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb as
a rather unsophisticated person, which is common among his Muslim
opponents and in much of the Western scholarship (Commins 2006:21).
In fact, this reflects that these works were presumably written a short
time before or after Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb's return to the Hijàz,
hence in a rather unstable phase of his life when he did not have a library
at his disposal. For the Mukhtasarhe made use of numerous biographies
of Muhammad and general historical works. Moreover he refers to con
troversies in the 1740s, and some aspects of his geschichtsbild appear
more consistent in this text. This is a hint that the text was written after

he had settled down and had a reasonable library at his hand.

The Mukhatasar Sirat al-Rasùl: Structure and Subjects

The one aspect of the Mukhtasar that catches the eye first is that
although it is called the short version of the biography of the Prophet it
deals with much more than the life of Muhammad. The second major
aspect is that Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb has left out many select
episodes with the purpose to show Muhammad and other prophets are
human and to a certain degree fallible.
The biography itself is preceded by an exposition presenting the his
tory of the World from the creation of Àdam to the resistance of schol
ars against the Mongols who claimed to be Muslims but stuck to their
pagan traditions (i.e., Ibn Taymiyya, whose name he does, however, not
mention). Some major events in Muhammad's life are already referred
to in the exposition. In the biography of Muhammad there is in return a
reference to the establishment of paganism in Mecca, which has already
been dealt with in the exposition. In addition the biography does not
end with Muhammad's death. Instead several decisive events under

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 M. Riexinger /Numen 60 (2013) 103-118 109

the rule of his successors, the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, are exten
sively referred to. The account ends with the rule of the Abbasid caliph
al-Màmùn.

In the exposition, Muhammad b. 'Abdalwahhâb calls the "stories

of those before and after Muhammad" (qisas al-awwalln wal-âkhirïn)
"powerful armies of God" because they provide examples for the vic
tory of the believers over unbelief. Here he also introduces the hadlth
which serves as the slogan of the Wahhabis: "Islam began as a stranger
and as stranger it will return as it began" (bada'a l-Islàmu gharïban wa
sa-ya'ûdu gharïban ka-mâ bada'a), which implies the exhortation to
restore it.2 His treatment of Âdam, a prophet according to the Islamic
tradition, is based on Quriàn 7:172: "And when thy Lord took from the
children of Adam, from their loins, their seed." He thus stresses that
Adam was the first human. Furthermore Âdam sees the individual life
times of all humans represented by candles of a different length. When
he is told that a rather short candle represents the sixty years granted to
Dâ'ûd (David) he sacrifices forty years of his own lifespan and donates
them to Dà'ûd. But when his time had come Âdam disavowed his
beneficence (MSR:w).
The second figure Muhammad b. cAbd al-Wahhàb deals with is Nùh
(Noah). As in the Quriân he is presented as the archetypical prophet who
warns a contumacious environment of a punishment that will inevita
bly annihilate them if they do not forsake shirk. Notably, Muhammad
b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb explains the emergence of shirk in the last of the ten
centuries / generations (qarn) between Nuh from Âdam as an effect of
misled piety which can also be observed at present: due to the excessive
veneration of pious people (sulahà sg. sdlih) and the lack of true schol
ars, Nùh's descendants began to pray at their graves and to erect idols
(MSR:io-i2). The account then continues with a hadith that relates how
Ibrahim (Abraham) established the Ka'ba together with his two sons.
Moreover Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb emphasizes that Ibrahim

2) MSR:g; in this hadlth the verb 'âda / ya'ûdu can be understood both in its basic
sense as to return and in its function as auxiliary "to become again." In the context
of Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb's ideas, however, the first interpretation makes
more sense.

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110 M. Riexinger / Numen 60 (2013) 103-118

three times made factually incorrect statements.3 Musa (Moses) is

remarkably passed over in the introduction; presumably God forgave
the Israelites for venerating the "Cow" (i.e., the golden calf) accord
ing to the Quftàn (2:122-123; 20:85-98). Instead Muhammad b. 'Abd
al-Wahhàb continues with the establishment of pagan rituals by 'Amr
b. Luhayy who had imported idols from Syria, and a description of the
religious environment into which Muhammad was born (MSR: 16-24).
One of the aspects of Muhammad's life to which Muhammad b. 'Abd
al-Wahhàb refers already in the exposition is the fact that the first rev
elation Muhammad received was the necessity to accept tawhld and not
the duty to pray. This is supposed to refute the view of Muhammad b.
'Abd al Wahhâb's opponents that no one who prays may be declared an
unbeliever ( takfir). Furthermore he affirms already here "the story of the
cranes" (qissat al-gharànïq) commonly known as the "Satanic verses" in
the West (MSR:25-27). He continues with a presentation of the justifi
cation for the war against the apostasy (ridda) of many tribes after the
death of Muhammad and an explanation of their heresies (MSRizysi).
Thereafter follows the account of three heresies, which were annihi
lated during the first decades of Islam (MSR:34-35). Muhammad b. 'Abd
al-Wahhàb finishes the exposition by singling out Fatimid rule in Egypt
which was ended by Salàh al-Dïn Ayyub (Saladin) and the aforemen
tioned incursion of the pseudo-Muslim Mongols as two examples for
the extermination of dangers to Islam by the combined efforts of schol
ars and military leaders (MSR:35-37).
The biography of the Prophet proper begins according to conven
tion, with his genealogy and an account of the defeat of the Ethiopian
army, which had attacked Mecca a short time before. Muhammad b.
'Abd al-Wahhàb presents a slightly shortened version of the accounts
by Ibn Hishàm (d. 833), the most common slra work (MSR:39-41; Ibn
Hishàm 1936:1 54-56). However, he passes over the auspicious events
accompanying Muhammad's siring, gestation, and birth, elements that
figure prominently in Ibn Hishàm's slra (MSR:42-48; cf. Ibn Hishàm

3) MSR:i2-iy He simulated an illness before his family (Qufàn 37:89), he accused the
biggest of the idols to have destroyed the other one although he did it (21:63), and he
passed off Sara (Sarah) as his sister to a tyrant who wanted to rape her (hadith).

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 M. Riexinger / Numen 60 (2013) 103-118 111

1936:1 56-58). The text continues with an account of Muhammad's

encounter with the eremite Bahlra on a trip to Syria, which he under
took together with his uncle Abu Tàlib as a boy. Here again, Muhammad
b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb follows Ibn Hishàm, however, he does not mention
that trees prostrated before Muhammad on that occasion (MSR:48).
One event before the beginning of revelation to which Muhammad
b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb devotes much attention is the restoration of the
KaTia after it had been destroyed by a landslide. He chose an account
according to which Muhammad did — like others who participated
in the rebuilding — take off his loincloth in order to bolster his shoul
der while carrying stones. Thus his private parts became visible so that
Muhammad was admonished by an unnamed person to cover them.
Thereafter no one else should ever see his genitals again (MSR:49-51).
Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb then proceeds to the beginning of
revelation. He emphasizes that Muhammad addressed first his fam
ily and closest friends, then his tribe, then the Arabs, then mankind
as a whole. Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb also mentions the split
ting of the Moon, the miracle supposed to invalidate the objections of
his opponents (mu'jiza) and adds a digression on the importance and
functions of wonders, which will be discussed later (MSR:77-82). Then
he mentions again an event to which Ibn Hishàm does not refer: The
"story of the cranes." At the time some of Muhammad's followers had
migrated to Ethiopia due to the persecution by his tribe, the Quraysh,
Muhammad, and his followers in Mecca gathered to pray in public. On
this occasion Muhammad recited sura 53, but after mentioning the
three goddesses in the verses 19-20, "a-fa-ra'aytumu l-Làta wal-'Uzzâ /
wal-Manâta l-thâlithata l-ukhrâ" (have you considered al-Lât and
al-'Uzzà I and Manàt, the third, the other), Satan laid the words "hiya
l-gharânïqu l-u'là shajà'atuhunna la-turtajâ" (they are the high flying
[or exalted] cranes whose intercession is to be asked for) on his tongue
(alqâ 'alâ lisânihi). After the recital of the sura, also the pagans of Mecca
prostrated themselves because they thought that Muhammad had now
accepted the pagan goddesses (MSR:63).
With another event that plays an important role in the veneration
of Muhammad he deals quite briefly: the mi'raj, Muhammad's voy
age through the heavens. Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb tightens the

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112 M. Riexinger / Numen 60 (2013) 103-118

already succinct account from Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's Zàd al-Ma'âd

even further and mentions only briefly what he saw in each of the heav
ens (Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya 1379 a.h.:i 20).4
In the account of Muhammad's flight to Yathrib (later madinat
al-nabï [city of the prophet], Medina) a miracle is mentioned which is
directly related to the success of his message: when he asked some des
perate Bedouins for food, the udder of an almost starved ewe filled with
milk after Muhammad had stroked it. Thereafter a voice reciting a poem
praising Muhammad was heard over Mecca (MSR:94-95).
The presentation of Muhammad's life in his Medinan phase con
centrates very much on military and legal aspects. Muhammad b. 'Abd
al-Wahhàb does however include a chapter on Muhammad's charac
teristics (khasâ'ïs Muhammad) but under this rubric he primarily treats
Muhammad's military abilities and his bravery in battle. His marriage to
Â'isha is the only one which Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb mentions.
This contrasts with the literature on the veneration of Muhammad
where many details of Muhammad's life are presented meticulously
(MSR: 104-105).
In the account of the battle of Badr, the major victory of the nascent
Muslim community over the Meccans, Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb
refers to a miracle again. An angel strews sand into the eyes of the ene
mies and thus helps the Muslims to win (MSR: 108-113.). The destruction
of the idols in the Ka'ba after the conquest of Mecca is the highlight of
the Mukhtasar (M&R:i40-i48). Muhammad's refusal to allow the inhab
itants of the Hijâzï city al-Tà'if to venerate their idols for a transition
period is used by Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb to demonstrate that
the idolaters of his time deserved no mercy (MSR:i^S-i<sd).
Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb shortly describes the death of
Muhammad. Thereafter he justifies that Abu Bakr took over the leader
ship of the Muslims as caliph with reference to his abilities and moral
qualities and not with reference to the designation by Muhammad. This

4) This work, which has not yet been the subject of a special study, seems to be a puritan
answer to the many works on the habits and characteristics of Muhammad. Muhammad
b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb has also written a short version of this book: Muhammad b. 'Abd
al-Wahhâb 1984; compare to this the space al-Qastallànï (1996:11339-398) dedicates to
this issue.

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 M. Riexinger /Numen 60 (2013) 103-118 113

is apparently supposed to bolster his own meritocratic concept of politi

cal rule (MSR: 182-183).
The subject to which Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb devotes the most
space in the Mukhtasar is the ridda, the "apostasy" of a number of Arab
tribes who refused to pay the alms tax, or to acknowledge Muhammad's
authority immediately after his death. Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb
narrates how these tribes were subjected, which in some cases implied
their extinction (M&R:i84-2o6).
The further events referred to serve to explain some of Muhammad
b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb's positions and are hence not relevant with regard to
prophetology.

The Prophetology of the Mukhtasar

By singling out several aspects, which Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb

uses to legitimize his positions in particular with regard to the status of
people he considers apostates, I have already demonstrated the didac
tic approach of this slra. Muhammad 'Abd al-Wahhâb follows the same
approach in order to exemplify his prophetological positions.
Seen from a perspective informed by recent conflicts the most remark
able aspect in the Mukhtasar is perhaps that he affirms the historicity of
the story of the cranes. In fact this is an embarrassment for many of his
followers: in a recent Saudi edition, his view is refuted with reference
to Naslr al-DIn al-Albânï (1914-1999). This Syrian Salafi scholar of Alba
nian origin, who is in generally held in high esteem by very rigid Wah
habi scholars in Saudi Arabia, had himself written a treatise in which
he sought to undermine the reliability of the reports on which this story
is based (al-Albànî 1952; Lacroix 2009). However, the denial of this epi
sode is not a recent phenomenon. As mentioned above Muhammad
b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb did not follow the most famous slra and his other
main source, Ibn al-jawzl's Muntazam, in which this event is not even
mentioned, and relied instead on the account of the biographer Ibn Sa'd
(784-845) (Ibn Sa'd 1905:137). In doing so Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb
had a purpose and he was following a certain tradition. Ibn Taymiyya
had affirmed the historicity of the story of the cranes in opposition to
the majority of the scholars of his time. As Shahab Ahmad has shown,
the reason for this is that Ibn Taymiyya opposed the idea that prophets

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114 M. Riexinger / Numen 60 (2013) 103-178

never speak untruth. According to his understanding of 'isma this term

only implies that false statements will be corrected and that the correct
statement will prevail, as in verses 22:50-52 of the Qufàn which are often
considered as an explanation for the renunciation of the verses.5
Further indications that Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb too did not
understand 'isma in the sense of total impeccability and infallibility of
prophets are Adam's disavowal of his beneficence to Dà'ud (David), the
fact that one of the aspects he highlights in his account of Ibrahim are the
three cases in which he said factually incorrect things, and the episode
where Muhammad exposed his private parts when he helped rebuild
the Ka'ba. The latter is apparently supposed to undermine the idea that
Muhammad was free from sin and error already before he received the
first revelation, a concept that had become widely accepted.
In addition to endorsing an understanding of 'isma that brings
Muhammad closer to ordinary humans in all matters not related to
revelation, Muhammad b. 'Abd al Wahhàb also seeks to undermine the
idea of Muhammad's pre-existence and his status as the purpose of cre
ation. In this context it is important to be aware of what Muhammad
b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb leaves out of his narration: the miraculous stories
related to Muhammad conception, gestation, and birth and one of them
is particularly relevant for this idea.
One of the best known stories in the slra of Ibn Hishàm is the report on
Muhammad's conception. On the day his father 'Abdallah should marry
and impregnate his mother Amlna, a light had appeared on his fore
front. When he passed a woman she called to him, urging him to have
intercourse with her, which he rejected. The day after he did again pass
the woman, who was, however, no longer interested in him, because
the light that had appeared on 'Abdallâh's forefront was the light of
prophecy (nûr al-nubuwwa), which now inhered in Muhammad in his
mother's womb. Originally the light of prophecy was conceived of as a
light that was passed down through the Islamic line of prophets. Later

5) "We sent not ever any messenger or Prophet before thee, but that Satan cast into
his fancy, when he was fancying; but God annuls what Satan casts, then God confirms
His signs — surely God is all-knowing, all-wise — that He may make what Satan casts a
trial for those in whose hearts is sickness, and those whose hearts are hard."

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 M. Riexinger/Numen 60 (2013) 103-118 115

however, it gave place to the concept of the Muhammadan light (nur

Muhammadi) which preceded all other creation, and hence belonged to
the idea of Muhammad as the purpose of creation which was expressed
in a famous but uncanonical hadîth: law tâ-ka mà khalaqtu l-aflâka (if
it was not for you, I would not have created the spheres, i.e., the cos
mos). Another famous but dubious hadîth related to this concept is the
one in which God tells Muhammad that he had already created him
when Àdam was still "between the spirit and water" or "between mud
and water." Presumably it motivated Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb's
to stress in the introduction that all mankind was created out of Âdam
(Holmes Katz 2007:12-13,20-21; Nagel 2008:313-314,327,354).
The idea of the nur al-nubwuwwa was, however, not rejected by
Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb and his followers. His son integrated
Ibn Hishàm's account into his own sira, but when we take into account
a decree which prohibits the public reading of exclusively those pas
sages of the sira related to Muhammad's birth we may conclude that
Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb decided to leave these aspects out in
order to avoid that the account might be misunderstood as an affirma
tion of the nur Muhammadi ('Abdallah b. Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb
1396 a.h.:2ig-239; 1344:47-48; Holmes Katz 2007:171).
Another remarkable aspect of Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb's
sira is the author's disregard for many of the miracles associated with
Muhammad. He mentions the splitting of the Moon as the central mira
cle of affirmation and the mi'râj as central element of his prophethood.
Furthermore he refers to two miracles that contributed to the success
of his mission. The voice that was heard over Mecca after his successful
flight is the only miracle of which the purpose is to exalt Muhammad.
However, all miracles implying the veneration of Muhammad by ani
mals, plants, or inanimate objects are omitted. Although reports of this
kind have emerged quite early, the exuberance of these reports and the
frequency with which they were included into works on Muhammad
increased during the centuries. Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb how
ever, also passes over even those that are mentioned by Ibn Hishâm,
such as his mother's ability to see the city Bosra in Southern Syria and
the trees prostrating before Muhammad when he visited the eremite
Bahlra (Andrae 1918:46-52,57-60,67; Gorke and Schoeler 2008:269).

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ll6 M. Riexinger / Numen 60 (2013) 103-118

But there is another reason why Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhàb

downplays the importance of miracles. He explains it in one of the two
digressions in the Mukhtasar, which provides a clue to his prophetology
as a whole.

According to him Muhammad's appearance marks a final shift in

human history in one respect. He has brought the final message, which
will not be superseded by another revelation. But in another aspect
the course of history has not been altered fundamentally: it remains
Unheilsgeschichte — a history of disasters instead of a history of
salvation — because the threat of a relapse into paganism, which before
had been corrected by prophets and miraculous punishments, remains.
However, the task to correct this has been delegated to the Muslims
who shall defeat the unbelievers by applying sharVa in their society
and by subjugating unbelievers outside by conductingyi/iad. Although
God did help Muhammad on occasion with miracles, it was primarily
due to warfare and the building of a community of believers that he
succeeded. If the Muslims follow him in this respect, they will be able
to correct those disturbances that were to appear after Muhammad's
death (MSR:77-82.). From this one can infer in connection with the
presentation of Muhammad as human that it is also possible to imitate
Muhammad in those respects not related to revelatory events because
he has no exalted status.

By reducing Muhammad from the "purpose of God's creative activity"

(Inbegriff von Allahs Schopfoingshandetn) with an "unearthly essence"
(unirdischer Wesenskern) (Nagel 2008:164-166) to an agent who fulfils a
function in and for creation, Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhâb reinforces
him as a role model.

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