Wahhābism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement

by Cole M. Bunzel

As Ibn Bishr has it, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb and his father had a tense relationship in Ḥuraymilāʾ. When Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb criticized the religious innovations and polytheism (al-bidaʿ waʾl-shirk) in the area, there followed an exchange of words between the two men (waqaʿa baynahu wa-bayna abīhi kalām), meaning a serious confrontation.51 The story finds corroboration in the anti-Wahhābī refutation of Ibn Dāwūd al-Zubayrī, who states that Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb’s father and brother were the first to censure him for his doctrinal views (awwal man ankara ʿalayhi). Ibn Dāwūd further notes that Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb did not speak openly about takfīr before his father’s death (qabl mawt wālidihi).