Shihab al-Din al-Marjan i about Ibn ‘Abd-al-Wahhab and his preaching on the material of the book “Wafi yat al-aslaf”

Abstract

The article includes the translations of some fragments from the biographical work “Wafi yyat al-aslaf wa tahiyyat al-akhlaf” (“Devotion to the ancestors and greetings to descendants”) of the outstanding Tatar theologian Shihab al-Din al-Marjani (1818–1889), dedicated to the Arabian preacher Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792) and his religious teachings. The texts from the specifi ed source were compared with the other available sources in order to fi nd out which books and which authors Marjani relied on. The author of the article tried to fi nd out Marjani’s assessment of the teachings of Ibn ‘Abd-al-Wahhab and the actions of his followers. As a result, it was revealed that the Tatar scholar used such historical works as “al-Ta‘ribat al-shafi yya” (“Convincing translations into Arabic”) by Rifa‘a al-Tahtawi (1801-1873) and “al-Mir’a al-wadhiyya” (“The Clear Mirror”) by Van Dyck Cornelius (1818-1895), theological treatises such as “Sulh al-ikhwan” (“Reconciliation of the brothers”) by Ibn Jirjis (1816-1882) and “Fath al-mannan” (“Disclosure of the Giver”) by al-Hazimi (d. 1866). Presumably, he also relied on “Tarikh ‘ajaib al-athar” (“History of the amazing heritage”) by al-Jabarti (1754-1822) and “Radd al-mukhtar” (“The answer to the bewildered”) by Ibn ‘Abidin (1784-1836). Marjani, assessing the teachings and activities of Sheikh Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, kept himself rather restrained and cautious, though he admitted the negative consequences of Abd al-Wahhab preaching that came in the form of Muslims accused of disbelief (takfir) destruction.