Editing Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (section)

===Early preaching===
His leave from [[Basra]] marked the end of his education and by the time of his return to [['Uyayna]], Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab had mastered various religious disciplines such as Islamic ''[[Fiqh]]'' (jurisprudence), [[Aqidah|theology]], [[Hadith studies|hadith sciences]] and ''[[Sufism|Tasawwuf]]''. His exposure to various practices centered around the cult of saints and grave veneration would eventually propel Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab to grow critical of Sufi superstitious accretions and practices.<ref name="Haj 338">{{Cite journal|last=Haj|first=Samira|date=April 1997|title=Reordering Islamic Orthodoxy: Muhammad ibn 'Abdul Wahhab|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1478-1913.2002.tb03747.x|journal=The Muslim World|volume=92|issue=3–4|page=338|doi=10.1111/j.1478-1913.2002.tb03747.x |via=Wiley Online Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |editor=Schacht, J |editor2=Lewis, B |editor3=Pellat, C |editor4=Ménage, V.L. |encyclopedia=The Encyclopaedia of Islam: New Edition |volume=III |year=1986|isbn=90-04-08118-6 |publisher=E. J. Brill |location=Leiden, Netherlands|page=678|title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam }}</ref> Rather than targeting "Sufism" as a phenomenon or a group, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab denounced particular practices which he considered sinful.<ref>{{Cite book|last=J. Delong-Bas|first=Natana|title=Wahhabi Islam:From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-19-516991-3|location=New York|page=84}}</ref> He fashioned his reformist campaign in a manner that appealed to the socio-cultural dynamics of 18th century Arabia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nakissa |first=Aria |date=29 June 2022 |title=Reconceptualizing the Global Transformation of Islam in the Colonial Period: Early Islamic Reform in British-Ruled India and Egypt |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/arab/69/1-2/article-p146_9.xml |journal=Arabica |publisher=Brill |volume=69 |issue=1–2 |page=216 |doi=10.1163/15700585-12341630 |s2cid=251145936 |via=Brill.com}}</ref> Many of Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's scholarly treatises, pamphlets and speeches appropriated idioms of local Arab dialects, monologues of vernacular poetry and catchphrases of folk culture into his religious discourse.<ref name="Samin 1–26"/>

[[File:Al-Usul al-Thalatha.jpg|thumb|right| ''Usul al-Thalatha'' (Three Fundamental Principles), a pamphlet by Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab]]
As a gifted communicator with a talent for breaking down his ideas into shorter units, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab entitled his treatises with terms such as ''qawāʿid'' ("principles"), ''masāʾil'' ("matters"), ''kalimāt'' ("phrases"), or ''uṣūl'' ("foundations"), simplifying his texts point by point for mass reading.<ref>{{Cite book|last=M. Bunzel|first=Cole|title=Manifest Enmity: The Origins, Development, and Persistence of Classical Wahhabism (1153-1351/1741-1932)|publisher=Princeton University|year=2018|location=Princeton, New Jersey, USA|page=177}}</ref> Calling upon the people to follow his call for religious revival (''[[tajdid]]'' ) based on following the founding texts and the authoritative practices of the first generations of [[Muslims]], Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab declared: <blockquote>"I do not - God be blessed - conform to any particular sufi [[Tariqa|order]] or ''[[Faqīh|faqih]]'', nor follow the course of any speculative theologian (''mutakalim'') or any other Imam for that matter, not even such dignitaries as [[Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya|ibn al-Qayyim]], [[al-Dhahabi]], or [[ibn Kathir]], I summon you only to God, and Only Him as well as observe the path laid by His [[Muhammad in Islam|Prophet]], God's messenger."<ref name="Haj 338"/><ref>{{Cite book|editor-last1=De Jong |editor-last2=Radtke|editor-first1=Frederick |editor-first2=Bernd|title=Islamic Mysticism Contested: Thirteen Centuries of Controversied and Polemics |last=Peskes |first=Esther |publisher=Brill |year=1999 |isbn=90-04-11300-2 |location=The Netherlands |page=147 |chapter=The Wahhabiyya and Sufism in the Eighteenth Century}}</ref></blockquote>

Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's call gradually began to attract followers, including the ruler of 'Uyayna, Uthman ibn Mu'ammar. Upon returning to [[Huraymila]], where his father had settled, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab wrote his first work on the Unity of God.<ref name="ReferenceB" /> With Ibn Mu'ammar, Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab agreed to support Ibn Mu'ammar's political ambitions to expand his rule "over Najd and possibly beyond", in exchange for the ruler's support for Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab's religious teachings. During the early years of preaching, he criticised various folk practices and [[Superstitions in Muslim societies|superstitions]] peacefully through sermons. Starting from 1742, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab would shift towards an activist stance; and began to implement his reformist ideas.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mouline|first=Nabil|title=The Clerics of Islam: Religious Authority and Political Power in Saudi Arabia|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-300-17890-6|location=London|page=57}}</ref> First, he persuaded Ibn Mu'ammar to help him level the tomb of [[Zayd ibn al-Khattab]], a [[Sahabah|companion of Muhammad]], whose shrine was revered by locals. Secondly, he ordered the cutting down of trees considered sacred by locals, cutting down "the most glorified of all of the trees" himself. Third, he organized the [[Rajm|stoning]] of a woman who confessed to having committed adultery.<ref name="Lacey 1983: 56">[[#Lac83|Lacey 1983]]: 56.</ref>{{sfn|Delong-Bas|2004|page=24}}

These actions gained the attention of Sulaiman ibn Muhammad ibn Ghurayr of the tribe of [[Bani Khalid]], the chief of [[Al-Ahsa Oasis|Al-Hasa]] and [[Qatif]], who held substantial influence in [[Najd]]. Ibn Ghurayr threatened Ibn Mu'ammar by denying him the ability to collect a land tax for some properties that Ibn Mu'ammar owned in Al-Hasa if he did not kill or drive away from Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab. Consequently, Ibn Mu'ammar forced Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab to leave.{{sfn|Delong-Bas|2004|page=24}}<ref>[[#Haj|ibn 'Hajar]]: 28.</ref>

The early Wahhabis had been protected by Ibn Mu'ammar in 'Uyayna, despite being persecuted in other settlements. As soon as Ibn Mu'ammar disowned them, Wahhabis were subject to excommunication (''[[Takfir]]''); exposing themselves to loss of lives and property. This experience of suffering reminded them of the ''[[Mihna]]'' against [[Ahmad ibn Hanbal|Ahmad Ibn Hanbal]] and his followers, and shaped the collective Wahhabi memory. As late as 1749, the [[sharif of Mecca]] imprisoned those Wahhabis who went to Mecca to perform the ''[[Hajj]]'' (annual pilgrimage).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Crawford|first=Michael|title=Makers of the Muslim World: Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab|publisher=One World Publications|year=2014|isbn=978-1-78074-589-3|location=London|page=43|chapter=3: Guide of the Community}}</ref>