Wahhabi movement

A strict, fundamentalist reform movement within Sunni Islam founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in the 18th century, strongly influenced by Ibn Taymiyya’s doctrines. It promotes a literalist reinterpretation of Islam, rejects what it sees as heretical innovations, and in its classical stance labels those not adhering to its particular interpretation as unbelievers and supports universal jihad against states governed contrary to its Islamic principles.

Claims that use this term

• The modern period also brought about a new ‘fundamentalist’ movement, which came with a reinterpretation of Islam and its own stance on jihad. The fundamentalists tended to focus less on legal arguments and more on the moral justifications and the underlying ethical values of the rules of jihad. Unlike modernist scholars, fundamentalists do not believe that jihad can be divided into ‘offensive’ and ‘defensive’ jihad. In their view, jihad is universal revolutionary struggle and that the modernists’ search for moral justifications for jihad is senseless because jihad is prescribed by the Qur’an. At the same time, fundamentalists say that there are offensive and defensive aspects of jihad. According to fundamentalists, the offensive aspect is to resist all states and governments that govern according to principles contradictory to those of Islam, especially if the principles on which they govern are founded on the sovereignty of people. Fundamentalists define the defensive aspect of jihad as: first, the importance of protecting Islamic-owned territory with the intent of expansion and second, the fact that Islam protects people from anything that hinders their freedom and emancipation. Many contemporary fundamentalists were influenced by Ibn Taymiyya and Sayyid Qutb’s perspectives on jihad. This is evident in the Wahhabi movement, founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in the 18th century, who was greatly influenced by Ibn Taymiyya. The Wahhabi movement accepted Ibn Taymiyya’s doctrines regarding jihad, such as labeling anyone not adhering to one’s (i.e., the Wahhabis’) particular interpretation of Islam an unbeliever. Ibn Taymiyya’s doctrines about jihad are also accepted by ISIS, who strongly believe in the armed struggle aspect of jihad against non-Muslims and even Muslims who do not adhere to their interpretation of Islam.
• The Wahhabi revolt in Asir prompted Mehmed Ali’s first deployment of untrained conscript troops