DEOBANDIS AND WAHABIS : PART 5

VIEW OF SHAYKH RASHID GANGOHEE ON IBN ABDUL WAHAB NAJDI AND DEOBANDI JUSTIFICATION

Shaykh Rashid Gangohee was asked


Question: What kind of a person was (Muhammad ibn) Abd al-Wahhab al-Najdi?”

“Answer: People call Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab a Wahhabi. He was a good person, and I have heard that he was a follower of the Hanbali School of Islamic law and acted upon the Hadith. He used to prevent people from Shirk and innovation (bid’a), but he was harsh (shadid) in his attitude.”

Please Note: I have heard

THE DEOBANDI JUSTIFICTAION

Read this Justification by a Deobandi where in he is trying to prove that , Shaykh Gangohee had this view because it was based on information which he got ( I HAVE HEARD). Later in this justification it has been tried to prove that Shaykh Gangohee would have chnaged his view , had he known the fact!

Read carefully

The Deobandi Justification says


" Mufti Mahmud al-Hasan al-Gangohi (Allah have mercy on him) states in his Fatawa that, Shaykh Rashid Ahmad (Allah have mercy on him) was initially unaware of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab al-Najdi’s position, because al-Najdi was initially known in the Subcontinent as a reformer of Sunnah, and the one who strived greatly in rejecting Bid’a and establishing the Sunnah. As such, the respected Shaykh also said what he had heard, for a Muslim should always hold good opinions about other Muslims until it is proven otherwise. "

The Deobandi Justification continues

"

Thereafter, the respected Shaykh’s mentor and teacher sent him the copy of Radd al-Muhtar wherein Allama Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) clearly refuted Muhammad ibn Abd al- Wahhab. Allama Ibn Abidin states:

“…As it has occurred in our times with the followers of Abd al-Wahhab al-Najdi, who appeared from Najd and imposed their control over the two sacred Harams. They used to attribute themselves to the Hanbali School but they believed that only they were Muslims and that who ever opposed their beliefs were polytheists (mushrik), thus theyconsidered the killing of those who were from the Ahl al-Sunnah and their scholars to be legitimate, until Allah Most High destroyed their might and power.”

(Radd al-Muhtar, 3/339-340, chapter regarding the followers of Abd al-Wahhab, the Khawarij of our times)


And also

"had Shaykh Rashid Ahmad read what Allama Ibn Abidin stated in his Radd al-Muhtar regarding the Wahhabis, he would surely not have stated what he had in his Fatawa"

. Allama Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) was geographically closer to Najd, thus he was aware at first hand of what Shaykh Rashid Ahmad, who was living in India, was unaware of. (See: Fatawa Mahmudiyya, 13/411-412)
ANALYSIS


As per this Deobandi Justification, "IF" shaykh Gangohee would have had acess to the Book Durrul Mukhtar ( shami) then he might have not had this GOOD VIEW about Ibn Abdul Wahab!

How ever , this justification also mentions that later Haji Imdadullah (rh ) sent this book to Shaykh Gangohee! So when shaykh Gnagohee got this book , why did he not change his views about Ibn Abdul Wahab?

And the deobandi books are a witness to this fact that Shaykh Gnagohee became an expert in this book Raddul Muhtar! This has been stated in manu deobandi books that shaykh Gnagohee was an expert on Raddul Muhtar and used to issue Fatwa based on this book!

Read this incidence which is mentioned in both Tazkiratur Rashid and Arwahe Salasa !

" It states
" Hazrat Gangohi ( Rashid ahmed) asked his student Mawlana Mohammed Yahya sahib Kandhalvee to look for some ruling in the book Shami . Mawlana Yahya replied that the particular ruling is not present in the book". Hazrat Ganho said how can this be possible? Bring the book to me. The book was brought infront of Hazrat (Rashid Ahmed gangohi).

At that time hazrat ( Rashid ahmed) had already lost his eye sight. He took the book and turned two-third of the pages to the right and one third to the left and opened a page and said " look on the bottom side of left page" . It was found that the ruling was very much present there. Every one was amazed. Hazrat ( Rashid ahmed ) said " Allah has promised me that he will not let anything wrong come come out of my tongue"

( Arwahe salasa, page 292)


Can we see? Even when Shaykh Gnagohee was Blind he could locate a particukar matter mentioned in that book! It means he must have read that book so many times !

But Shaykh Gnagohee did not chnage his view about Ibn Abdul Wahab najdi al Tamimi