Praise be to Allah.
It is obligatory upon the Muslim to follow the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), according to the way of the righteous salaf who followed the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the Sahaabah and those who followed them – may Allah be pleased with them all. These people are called Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah (the People of the Sunnah and the Community). Everyone who follows the way brought by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is one of them. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) brought the message of Tawheed (absolute Oneness of Allah) and rejection of shirk (polytheism, or association of others with Allah); he called people to worship Allah alone and none other. With regard to the word “Wahhaabis”, some people use this word to refer to the message of Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab ibn Sulaymaan al-Tameemi al-Hanbali (may Allah have mercy on him), and they call him and his followers Wahhaabis. Everyone who has any knowledge of the movement of Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab (may Allah have mercy on him) and his message knows that he sought to spread the message of pure Tawheed and to warn against shirk in all its forms, such as attachment to the dead, or to trees and rocks, etc. In his ‘aqeedah (belief), he was following the way of the righteous Salaf and the Taabi’een [i.e., the earliest generations of Islam], as is indicated by his books and fatwas, and the books of his followers among his sons and grandsons and others. All of these books are in print and are in circulation among the people. His message was in accordance with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Wahhaabism is not a new way or a new school of thought; rather it is a call to Tawheed and the revival of aspects of the religion that had been forgotten. What you have to do is to beware of those who warn you against the Wahhaabis, because they are warning you against following the truth and the early generation of this ummah. Applying the word “Wahhaabis” to those who adhere to correct belief and warning people against them is the way of the ignorant and biased. We ask Allah to keep you safe and sound.
See Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him), 3/1206; see also Question # 12203. And Allah knows best/
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