Following practices may lead the believer to shirk according to the Wahhabis:
To visit the tombs of saints to gain God's favour.
To introduce a name of a prophet, of a saint or of an angel into prayer.
Seeking intercession from any being but God.
Interpretation of the Qur'an by ta'wil.
According to Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhab's system, attendance at public prayer is obligatory, smoking of tobacco is forbidden and subject to punishment, shaving the beard and the use of abusive language are also to be punished.
With regard to fundamental basis of Islam, Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhab places a great emphasis on the Qur'an and the Sunnah. He attacks the blind acceptance of authority in religious matters in general, thus comes to oppose the earlier 'uluma' who lack independent thinking. He finds it essential to go beyond the medieval authorities to the Sunnah of early generations. Rejecting qiyas, he recognizes only two major authorities: the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) along with the precedents and the ijma' of the Companions. In Wahhabi mentality, a number of concepts were given a prior importance such as tawhid, shirk and bid'at (innovation) mentioned above.
Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhab distinguishes between dar al-Islam and dar al-harb extending the scope of dar al-harb to some other Muslim countries which he regards as having 'unlawful' societies. Therefore those who live in dar al-harb where there is no freedom have to perform hijrah, emigrating from every country in which shirk and kufr are apparent. Another usage of hijrah appears in Wahhabi texts as a spiritual understanding which necessitates keeping away from all sinful things, forbidden by God and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) (Helm, p. 87).
Any kind of political division of the ummah and civil war were regarded as fitnah, social disturbance. The first fitnah appeared under 'Ali's Caliphate when the Kharijites left him. Wherever a fitnah occurs, it must be abolished by declaring a jehad, holy war. The followers of Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhab had been indoctrinated to believe that the opponents of the Wahhabi cause were enemies of Islam who should be fought against (Yessini, p. 64).
COURTESY: ISLAMIC ENCYCLOPEDIA.
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