Problem of Historical Distortion – Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab

THE PROBLEM OF diachronic DISTORTION A Survey of Literature on imaum Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab as witnessed through the western slant of history By Kazi Zulkader Siddiqui The problem of historic torturingOf the past fourteen centuries of the Islamic civilization, its thought, its institutions and the personalities who baffle contrisolelyed to its development and glory, stagnation and disintegration, the diachronic perspective painted by the Judaeo-Christian West has been markedly distinctive from the video presented by the Muslim scholars, varying from outright hostile and distorted versions to the new-fashioned sympathetic (and sometimes empathetic) count ons. narration is one of those branches of knowledge that can be use nigh effectively for the glorification and upliftment of ones confess race at the disbursal of the traditions of former(a)s, leading eventu aloney to a subversive imposition of ones let norms, stack and way of look as the standard for other( a)s. Most, if non any of the people emanating from the Judaeo-Christian tradition who throw off penned their understanding of the Islamic civilization, choose been prey to such underlying motives.This is not unique though since the subjective bias and assumptions of the historiographer in chaseion be an integral pause of the writing of history. What becomes note notable in this case is the effective use of the diachronic perspective of other people for the exploitation of the same. This becomes manifest then, for example, in the notorious Divide and Rule policy of the post-renaissance British Empire. The former(a) volition Hebraic heritage has a megabucks to offer in comprehending this situation and mentality of the western sandwich writer.The Old Testament (in the Bible) was written primarily to identify the ancestry and heritage of the Jews and t hereby reserve their superiority over tout ensemble other nations. The other nations get uped in the Old Testament ar gon merely for the stake of justification of the crimes of the Children of Israel. Likewise, the modern western sandwich writer is not concerned approximately the absolute and relative truths. He is more than concerned about justifying or explaining away the phenomena of other civilizations. by means of this he either hopes to dominate over the other civilizations, or to transpose them to his own ways.We are well aware that our foregoing remarks are intemperately loaded with our own assumptions exclusively in that location are certain assumptions, which are gaind through the cognitive and perceptive processes using the facts of history as the outset smear. thereof, in this case, the assumptions are elevated to the level of derived facts and axioms. To prove our point, we adopt chosen for this paper a tirevey of the lit in English produced by the West during the ordinal and nineteenth centuries on the famous and controversial imaum Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1789 ).As a prominent figure in Islamic history, loved by many and hated by many others of the Muslims, he has managed to attract the wariness of the Western colonialists, missionaries, and historians who were neither, right from his own smelltime to the present. Far prominenter than the Imam himself is the impact of his followers the Muwa idun or the so-c on the wholeed Wahhabis on the Western literature about Islam. The schismatic element in the nature of the controversy amidst the followers of the Imam and other Muslims has held great interest for the very reasons we feature outlined above.The analysis will become far more monotonic as we proceed with the survey itself. Besidiethylstilbesterol, this analysis can be do much more precise, accurate and to the point if one were to attempt a similar exercise on the survey of the Western literature about the followers of the Imam. In this paper we sh whole limit ourselves to the Imam only. To begin with, it would be appropriate to narrate the salient features of the Imams life briefly. summon 2 The business of diachronic Distortion Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab A Brief Biography Coming from a learned family, 1 Mu? mmad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was born in 1115/1703 at Uyaynah, a menial town roughly 30 Km northwest of capital of Saudi Arabia in Saudi Arabia. His ancestors had been steeped in the ? anbali tradition, and so was young Mu? ammads education. As a young man, he remaining Uyaynah for further studies. His search for learning took him to Makkah, Madinah and Damascus. He acquired great admiration for Ibn Taymiyah (d. 728/1328) through the shaykh Abd Allah ibn Ibrahim al-Najdi at Madinah. Madinah to a fault offered him a chance to lead slightons for quite some time. Subsequently, he act this occupation at the Umayyad mosque of Damascus.His journeys took him eastern United States to Basrah as well, where, besi diethylstilboestrol acquiring further knowledge of the traditional sciences, he got the chance of getting acquainted with Shii and Sufi circles, their ways and ideas. This period ascertained for him the formulation of a mission in his mind. According to the get off al-Shihab, 2 he stayed in Basrah for four years and then travel to Baghdad. There he married a wealthy lady and remained for louver years. He next went to Hamadan and then to Isfahan in 1148/1736 to study philosophy and Sufism. His quest for knowledge led him to Cairo and Damascus as well.Upon the settlement of his sustain in Huraymilah near Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab joined him, and it was here that the Imam composed his archetypal turn on taw? id, and overly gathered disciples. After the death of his father in 1153/1740, he left Huraymilah for Uyaynah where he spent four years. During his stay there, the governor Uthman ibn Bishr of the Banu Muammar became his follower. This became a take a leak for consternation among the powerful Banu Khalid. His preaching against shirk (asso ciating break upners with Allah) that was devoted by the masses, and against their example laxity shook the roots of the society.As a prove, the Imam was forced to discontinue Uyaynah and memorizek refuge in Diriyah (which is around 10-15 Km from Uyaynah in the counsellor of Riyadh), where he found followers among the amir Mu? ammad ibn Sauds brothers and son. Eventually the Amir a alike supported him. The Amir and the Imam took a requestah (an oath of usual loyalty), to strive, by force if necessary, to make the kingdom of Gods word prevail. 3 This was the beginning of the religio- semipolitical reality that was to engulf the whole of Najd and its neighbouring territories during the decades to come, foremost under the amir Mu? mmad ibn Saud (d. 1178/1765), then under his son Abd al-Aziz (d. 1218/1803) and his grandson Saud (d. 1229/1814). We leave the story of the Al Saud for other historians to narrate, and return to the man who called for the return to taw? id (Gods uni ty) and a honest perform of Islam. Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab continued his role as teacher in the mosque of Diriyah, as political counselor of the Amir, and as a preacher writing theological plant life and extending his dawah to the neighbouring areas until his death in 1204/1789. 4 Bearing this brief demo of the Imam in mind, we ow turn to his Western biographers and their accounts. His grandfather Sulayman b. Mu? ammad had been mufti of the Nadjd. His father Abd al-Wahhab was kadi at Uyayna during the emirate of Abd Allah b. Mu? ammad b. Muammar he taught ? adith and fikh in the mosques of the town and left several works of ? anbali inspiration, which in part survive. Laoust, EI2, III677, col. 2. 2 Abu Hakima, Ahmad A. , ed. , Lam al-Shihab fi tarikh Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Beirut, 1967 3 Laoust, EI2, III678, col. 2. Most of the facts flip been taken from this same reference. Most historians ante up the year of death as 1206/1792. See Muinuddin A? mad Khan, A Diploma ts Report on Wahhabism of Arabia, Islamic Studies 7 (1968), p. 38, for the argument in prefer of 1204/1789 as the correct date. Page 3 1 The job of Historical Distortion WESTERN ACCOUNTS ABOUT THE IM M M. Carsten Niebuhr (1733-1815) The first European to mention the Imam in his literature was M. Carsten Niebuhr who visited the peninsula in 1761-1764, that is at bottom four years of the mouthah taken between the Imam and ibn Saud. He create his root words in German in 1772 and 1778.An abridged English version of his writings appeared first in 1792 entitled Travels Through Arabia and Other Countries in the East. 5 Niebuhr and his companions had embarked upon an ecclesiastical mission to gather some learning about this ancient enter of Arabia, which had been the cradle of Christianity just as it had been for Judaism and Islam. Many people have storied the false and misleading remarks of Niebuhr with regards to the Imam. In the drama depicted by Niebuhr, there are two importan t theatrical roles in the founding of the New holiness of a Part of Nedsjed, 6 namely one Abd ul Wahheb and his son Mahomet. His verbal description of ibn Abd al-Wahhabs youth seems to tally with the facts of the Imams life. Now this Abd ul Wahheb, having founded his righteousness, converts several Schiechs (i. e. shaykhs) to his faith, and virtually becomes their ruler. He reduces a great part of El Ared, thus plainly in like manner playacting the role of ibn Saud. After the fathers death, the son Mahomet takes over the small empire create by his father, sustaining the supreme ecclesiastical character in El Ared. Among his beliefs cited are that he considered Mahomet, Jesus Christ, Moses, and many others, respected by the Sunnites in the character of prophets, as merely great men, whose history might be shoot with improvement denying that any halt had ever been written by providential inspiration, or brought down from the enlightenment by the angel Gabriel. 9 Against the beliefs of Abd ul Wahheb, he contrasts the Sunnites as a superstitious junto whose opinions are false, depending on their own whimsies to explain the Alcoran, acknowledging saints to whom many absurd miracles are ascribed, etc. 0 Finally, he concludes that The new religion of Abd ul Wahheb deserves therefore to be regarded as a rehabilitation of Mahometism, reducing it back to its original simplicity. 11 The inaccuracies of Niebuhrs reporting continued in the Western understanding for many decades as we shall see. Sir Harford Jones Brydges Far more accurate in his reporting was the civil servant of the colonialist British, Sir Harford Jones Brydges, who sent his first report on the Wahhabis from Baghdad to the British Foreign Office in C. M. Niebuhr, Travels Through Arabia and Other Countries in the East, trans. nto English by Robert Heron, vol. 2, Edinburgh, R. Morrison & tidings, 1792. Cf. also Muinuddin A? mad Khan, op. cit. , p. 33 and a review of Niebuhrs life in Islamic Cu lture 7 (1933), pp. 502-505 by V. B. Mehta. 6 Niebuhr, II130. rase that Nedsjed is Najd. 7 ib. , II131-3. 8 Ibid. , II133. 9 Ibid. , II134. 10 Ibid. , II135. 11 Ibid. , II135. Page 4 5 The enigma of Historical Distortion 1799, that is within a decade of the death of the Imam. 12 The weakest part of his report is the following anecdote Shaik Ibn Mahamer 13 proud of possessing this new Sectuary gave scrawl Mohammed 14 his own Sister inMarriage and Moolah Mohammed sometime aft(prenominal), under pretense, that his associate in Law Mahamer perverted Justice and oppressed the Tribe, murdered him with his own stacks in the Mosque as he was at prayers meaning thereby, as he declared, to give to the People of Ayenah 15 a proof that his love for Justice was so great, that neither the obligations which he had to, nor alliance he had with Shaik Mahamer could point him from punishing even in him that he conceived to be a diversion from it. The People of Ayenah however appear to have h ad too much soundly Sense, to esteem as meritorious, so horrible a Transaction, and they obliged Moolah Mohammed, to abandon Ayenah, and he fled to Dereah 16 where he found an Asylum and defender in Shaik Ibn Soud, the Governor of that place, who also embraced his Doctrines. 17 Historically we know that Uthman ibn Muammar died a natural death after the Imam had left for Diriyah, and that his expulsion from Uyaynah was payable to the pressures from various parts of that area against his teachings.Other than this error, Brydges report to his masters in capital of the United Kingdom faithfully depicted the doctrines taught by the Imam. He says, The Religion they possess is Muhammadan according to the literal meaning of the Koran, following the Interpretations of Hambelly. 18 Thirty-five years later, in 1834, Sir Harford Jones Brydges produced a far greater authoritative account of the Muwa idun in his A Brief History of the Wahauby. 19 We shall return to this document after lookin g at other developments during these thirty-five years. e Sacy In 1805, we pass off the Frenchman de Sacy writing in his paper Observations sur les Wahhabites that the Muwa idun are enemies of Islam. He considered them to be an offshoot of the Qarmatians. 20 Rousseau Four years later in 1809, another(prenominal) Frenchman by the name of Rousseau produced two short treatises 21 in which it was positively asserted, that the Wahabys have a new religion, and that Muinuddin A? mad Khan, op. cit. , pp. 33-46. i. e. Uthman ibn Muammar, the governor of Uyaynah. 14 i. e. Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab 15 i. e. Uyaynah. 16 i. e.Diriyah, the first Saudi capital in the eighteenth century. It is now a ruin, lying on the outskirts of present day Riyadh 17 Muinuddin A? mad Khan, op. cit. , p. 41. 18 Ibid. , p. 42. By Hambelly he means the ? anbali School of Fiqh. 19 Harford Jones Brydges, An Account of the Transactions of His Majestys Mission to the judicial system of Persia in the years 1807-11, t o which is appended A Brief History of the Wahauby London, James Bohn, 1834. 20 M. A. Bari, The early Wahhabis, some contemporary assessments. minutes of the 27th International coition of Orientalists Ann Arbor, Mich. , 1967.It may be recalled here that the Qarmatians were a 9th 12th century Ismaili sect that sprang up in southern Iraq and al-Hasa. 21 J. B. L. J. Rousseau, Descriptions du pashalic de Baghdad suivie dune notice historique sur les Wahabis, et de quelques autres pieces relatives lhistoire et la litterature de lOrient, Paris, Trouttel et Wurtz, 1809, pp. 125-182. Idem. , Notice sur la secte des Wahabis, Fundgruben des Orients, Vol. I, Wien, 1809, pp. 191-198. 13 12 Page 5 The Problem of Historical Distortion although they adjudge the Koran, yet they have entirely abolished the pilgrimage to Mekka. 2 He claimed to derive part of his information from le Chapelain de Saoud. 23 Burckhardt, Brydges, 24 and other later Western writers reprimanded Rousseau for his obvious misinformation, the indignation a emanation over his claim to an authentic source of information. Corancez The following year, i. e. in 1810, Corancez published his work in French. 25 Nashshabah says that after Burckhardt, the next best Western account of the early history of the Wahhabis is Corancezs Histoire des Wahhabis, depuis leur origine jusqua la fin de 1809.Corancez, who was the French consul in Aleppo from 1800 to 1808, carefully checked the information he had been able to gather, and his informants were often first-hand observers but his account of the life of the go bad of the Wahhabi movement is inadequate. He ascribes Wahhabi expansion solely to the weakness and misrule of the Ottomans (whose authorisation in most of Arabia was at times merely nominal) and ignores the fervour wound up up by (ibn) Abd al-Wahhab which, combine with the leadership of Mu? ammad ibn Saud, must surely have been the main reason for their astonishing victories. 6 Vincenzo Maurizi During the following years, we find the writings of another Niebuhrian, 27 an Italian by the name of Vincenzo Maurizi alias Shaik Mansur. He amused his European audience with his History of Seyd Said, Sultan of Muscat in 1819, which also devoted a considerable section to the Muwa idun. Maurizi, in his earnestness to discredit the movement, overstepped even the limits of Niebuhr and painted a completely erroneous picture. To give a full flavour of his deliberate misreporting, we quote part of his taradiddle below. About the middle of the last century (i. e. ighteenth century), a man named Abdulwahab, or Abdulvaab, a native of Hellah, or Ellaa, 28 on the banks of the Euphrates, pretended to have a vision, in which a flame appeared to issue from his body and force out to ashes all the neighbouring country he confided the extraordinary circumstances which had befallen him to a Mullah, or Mulla, and the interpreter of the will of heaven declared that this sign portended the birth of a son, who should become the founder of a new religion, and perform extraordinary actions. briefly afterwards the wife of Abdulvaab really became pregnant, and bore him a son, who was named Maam? . 29 footnote in the text reads This happened about the year 1757. . The tribe of Neshdee, or Nescede, 30 to which the family belonged, before long imbibed the doctrines which appeared to be sanctioned by predict authority, and Abdulvaab, as general of J. L. Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys, vol. 2 London, Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1831, p. II103. 23 Ibid. , p. 103. 24 cf. ibid. , and Brydges, The Wahauby, p. 109,112. 25 L. A. O. de Corancez, Histoire des Wahhabis, depuis leur origine jusqu la fin de 1809, Paris, Grapelet, 1810. 26 Hisham A.Nashshabah, Islam and patriotism in the Arab World A Selected and Annotated Bibliography Montreal, Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, 1955. Unpublished M. A. thesis. p. 11. 27 About Niebuhr, Maurizi remarks where the accurate an d indefatigable Niebuhr could afford me any assistance, I have not hesitated to avail myself of it, and on the other hand I have occasionally remarked any alterations which have taken place since his days. seventeenth page of his Preface to the History of Seyd Said, Sultan of Muscat, 1819. 28 He in all probability means al-? illah in Iraq. 29 i. e. Muhammad 30 i. e.Najdi. Page 6 22 The Problem of Historical Distortion an army and prophet of a rising sect, had an opportunity of spreading his political power, and the opinions of the new faith, which he considered himself commissioned to announce while his son accompanied him, and was shown to all as the precious bargain of Almighty approbation towards the Vaabi religion. After Abdulvaabs death Maam? t succeeded in his command, but universe blind, was obliged to employ, as his deputy, in all affairs of submit except those relating to religion, a person named Abdullazis, 31 an adopted brother of his fathers. This take care followe d up the victories of the deceased prophet with the greatest facility. As the first barriers of opponent had been already overthrown, it would be very difficult, and perhaps useless to name all the Seek 32 who resisted in arms the aggrandisement of the Vaabi, or the incident periods of their several conquests but at the death of the chief last mentioned, 33 almost all the interior of the Arabian peninsula acknowledged their political and ghostly sway.Abdullazis succeeded to the supreme authority, and greatly extended the limits of their power, having sacked Mecca and Medina and destroyed the tomb of Mahomet, whom he declared to be a deceiver, and not a messenger of heaven he also penetrated to the gates of Aleppo and Baghdad, massacred a caravan of Persian pilgrims on their route to visit the burial place of Alle, or Eli, 34 at Ellaa, 35 and plundered that depository of the accumulated wealth of ages. 36 The historical errors are far too many to note on in circumstance but we s hall make observations on some salient twists.The dichotomy between Abd al-Wahhab and Mu? ammad ibn Abd alWahhab is carried on from Niebuhr, but Maurizi goes a step further in proclaiming Abd al-Wahhab to be a prophet, and giving Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab almost the position of a demi-god. Besides, he transfers the hometown of the family to al-? illah in Iraq and moves the year of birth of Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab to 1757, the year when he contracted the bayah with ibn Saud. The fallacy of a tribe called Najdi, of the existence of Alis tomb at al-? illah, of Abd al-Aziz macrocosm the adopted brother of the Imams father, etc. eed hardly be commented upon. But the raise development that must be noted is the so-called declaration by Abd al-Aziz of the Prophet Mu? ammad (p) being an impostor. Maurizi elaborates on this and other supposed beliefs of the Vaabi by quoting an dish which he claims to have been given to him by an envoy of Saud ibn Abd al-Aziz. It reads We do not di ffer from other Musaleems, or Muselims (Musselmen) 37 except in thought process that Mahomet arrogated to himself too much authority and, that the Koran was sent to the earth by the hands of angels, nd not of that man, who has even dared to falsify many of its doctrines we also consider that the prophets, and especially Maamet iben Abdulvaab were beings like ourselves and, therefore, not worthy of being turn to in prayer, although deserving of admiration and imitation for their piety and moral conduct 38 Obviously, Maurizi could not have known more than a some words or phrases in Arabic, or else he would have rendered the envoys dish truthfully. Instead, he has imposed hearsay and his own 31 32 presumptively Abd al-Aziz ibn Mu? ammad ibn Saud. . e. shaykhs. 33 i. e. Maamet, the son of Abdulva b. 34 i. e. Ali ibn Abi Talib. 35 i. e. al-? illah in Iraq. 36 Maurizi, , op. cit. , pp. 36-38. 37 i. e. Muslims. 38 Maurizi, op. cit. , p. 40. Page 7 The Problem of Historical Distortion assumptions into the give tongue to of the envoy. His lack of knowledge of Arabic is ricocheted also in the fact that he miscons avowedlys Abd Allah ibn Saud, the Saudi amir after Saud ibn Abd al-Aziz as Abdullahazis (Abd al-Aziz). Similarly, in the last passage cited, the envoy must have said the prophets, and especially Mu? mmad ibn Abd Allah were beings like ourselves which Maurizi took to mean Maamet iben Abdulvaab. Maurizis account even disgraces fiction. J. L. Burckhardt John Lewis Burckhardt was the first to bring a balanced view of the movement to the European audience. The epistle of Brydges in 1799 was not a public document. Thus Burckhardts Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys published in 1831 was a turning point in the Western understanding of the Imam and his followers. This work goes into fair amount of detail about the movement.Burckhardt dispelled many of the misunderstandings that had been current in the West as a result of the earlier writings. The very first th ing he set out to correct was that The doctrines of Abd el Wahab were not those of a new religion his efforts were directed only to reform abuses in the followers of Islam, and to disseminate the arrant(a) faith among Bedouins who although Muselmans, were equally ignorant of religion, as indifferent about all the duties which it prescribed. 39 Comparing the Muwa idun to the Ottoman Turks, he says Not a single new precept was to be found in the Wahaby ode. Abd el Wahab took as his sole guide the Koran and the Sunne (or the laws formed upon the traditions of Mohammed) and the only deflection between this sect and the orthodox Turks, however improperly so termed, is, that the Wahabys bang follow the same laws which the others neglect, or have ceased altogether to observe. To describe, therefore, the Wahaby religion, would be to echo the Muselman faith and to show in what points this sect differs from the Turks, would be to give a list of all the abuses of which the latter are guilt y. 0 unmatched can quote Burckhardt at length to show his positive attitude which led him to a fairly objective analysis of the creed and practice of the Muwa idun, and the reasons why Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was misunderstood both by his friends and his enemies. 41 The former took shame at his seeming attacks on the Prophet (p) and the latter saw a political threat in his preaching thus leading to an wise(p) distortion of the facts. Despite this objectivity in Burckhardt, one cannot but comment on the Western slant of his perception.The usage of words often has a psychological effect on the reader. For instance, Burckhardt, writing about the Imam says that being convinced by what he observed during his (b. Abd al-Wahhabs) travels, that the primitive (emphasis ours) faith of Islam, or Mohammedanism, had become totally corrupted and obscured by abuses, . 42 The value discretion involved in his use of the word primitive is apparent. The Western image that the progression of t hought and ideas essentially leads to the advancement of civilization is a result of their philosophical heritage.The Islamic notion, that the absolute is derived solely through the process of divine revelation in history and not through cognitive, intuitive or perceptive processes which are bound by the limitations of the human mind, stands markedly in contradistinction to the Western assumptions. Thus, while the 39 40 Burckhardt, op. cit. , II99. Ibid. , II112 41 Ibid. , II99. 42 Ibid. , II96. Page 8 The Problem of Historical Distortion Muslim (including Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab) would view the life of theProphet as a supreme achievement in the history of man, the Western thinker would regard it as a primitive period in the life of man. However, it is remarkable that if one is to compare Burckhardt with the later Orientalists, he was far earlier of his own time in this respect. His value judgements are very limited. Hitti, a century later, echoes the same words that he (b. Ab d al-Wahhab) himself determined to purge it (Islam) and fixate it to its primitive strictness. 43 Hitti goes further though in regarding the bayah of 1757 as another case of marriage between religion and the brand name. 4 The subtle intrusion of value judgements are scattered extravagantly end-to-end the writings even of the socalled sympathetic Western Orientalists like Nicholson, 45 Wilfrid Cantwell metalworker (d. 2000), 46 von Grunebaum (1909-1972), 47 and H. A. R. Gibb (d. 1971) 48 not to speak of the others. Andrew Crichton The next stage in the history of the Western biographies of the Imam was set by Andrew Crichton with his issuing of History of Arabia quaint and Modern in 1833. This is the first time that we see a Western writer composing a secondary work on the Muwa dun based solely on other Western writings. Having noted Burckhardts caution against the misconceptions floating around, Crichton relied primarily on Burckhardt, Corancez and Mengin in particular. 49 Sinc e he has nothing original to offer, we turn to his usage of some of the hooey at hand. For example, after outlining the beliefs and practices of the Muwa idun, he states They did not, however, so far outstrip themselves of all superstition as to abolish the ceremonies of ablution and the Meccan pilgrimage, or even those of kissing the somber stone and throwing stones at the devil. 0 To start with, this reveals the authors ignorance about Islam, its beliefs, practices and rituals. Secondly, it is strike that the author cannot even conceive of non-Christian rituals that reflect and lead to cleanliness, unity of man, and forbearance and commitment to God. By calling these rituals superstition, the author has obviously passed a normative judgment that is reflective of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Sir Harford Jones Brydges re-visited Chronologically, this brings us once again to Sir Harford Jones Brydges.This worthy civil servant of the colonialist British Empire had little that wa s new to check to the known facts of the Imams life as described by Burckhardt. He published his Brief History of the Wahauby, in 1834 after perusal of Burckhardts work. The only point on which the two disagreed was whether Mu? ammad ibn alWahhab was the father-in-law or the son-in-law of Mu? ammad ibn Saud. Regardless of this dispute, what Brydges has to offer as an meter reading of this relationship between the two is as follows P. K. Hitti, History of the Arabs Edinburgh, 1939, 1972, p. 40. Ibid. 45 R. A. Nicholson, Literary History of the Arabs, Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1907, 1969, p. 466. 46 W. C. Smith, Islam in Modern History N. Y. , Mentor, 1957, pp. 48-51. 47 G. von Grunebaum, Attempts at Self-Interpretation in Contemporary Islam, Islam Essays in the nature and growth of a ethnic tradition, London, 1955, pp. 185-236. 48 H. A. R. Gibb, Modern Trends in Islam, Chicago, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1947, 1972, pp. 26-32. 49 Andrew Crichton, History of Arabia Ancient and Modern, vol. 2 Edinburgh, Oliver & Boyd, 1833, p. II190.See footnote. 50 Ibid. , II290. 44 43 Page 9 The Problem of Historical Distortion and that in consequence of this connexion, though Abdulwahaub remained the book, Mahommed Ibn Saoud became the sword of the sect. 51 This is the prelude to what we have been hearing from Orientalists like Hitti and others mentioned earlier. The only difference is that while Brydges was a part of the colonialist establishment and had a political axe to grind, the Orientalists are a part of the neo-colonialist imperialism that breeds Orientalist research. In other respects, i. . those that cover other aspects of the history of the Muwa idun, their administration, etc. , Brydges book complements the work of Burckhardt. W. G. Palgrave Moving beyond the middle of the nineteenth century, we come to William Gifford Palgrave, a servant of the British crown in India, steeped in the Christian tradition. By his time, the facts of the movement were well kno wn it was now the time for the growth of variant of these facts. Palgrave published two works, namely easterly and Central Arabia (1866) and Essays on Eastern Questions (1872).Wahhabism had by this time become a great threat to the British Empire in India and elsewhere, and the crown was out to discredit the movement not only in the British public eye, but also among the Muslims residing in the British colonies. The latter purpose was not difficult to achieve delinquent to the existing propaganda against the Muwa idun by the Ottoman Turks. Thus, in true service of British colonialism and displaying his loyalty to the missionary cause, Palgrave tried to paint the movement as a reaction to the pressure of the Christian West.He says The great reactionary movement, the Revival, originated where scarce a spark of life had been left, by the too-famous Abd-el-Wahhab, in the land of Nejd, has gradually but surely extended itself over the entire surface and through all the length and depth of Islam while the ever increasing pressures of the Christian, or, at least, non-Mahometan, West, has increase the fanatical tendency, even where it has modified its special direction.For Islam is a political not less than a religious whole 52 This was a rejoinder to the solicitude sounded by W. W. Hunter (who was in Her Majestys Bengal Civil Service) in his book The Indian Musalmans. 53 By this time, the British had already successfully faced Sayyid A? mad Shahid (d. 1831), Titu Mir and the War of 1857. With these major setbacks, a wave of strong Wahhabi feelings had sweep the Muslims of Bengal and Northern India, hoping to regain their lost position.Therefore, it was essential for the British cause to upset this obvious threat. Apart from the political motivations for his analysis, his Christian missionary zeal and crime for Islam drove Palgrave to write as follows The Wahhabee reformer formed the design of pose back the hour-hand of Islam to its starting-point and so far he did well, for that hand was from the first meant to be fixed. Islam is in its essence stationary, and was framed thus to remain.Sterile like its God, lifeless like its first Principle and supreme Original in all that constitutes true life for life is love, participation, and progress, and of these the Coranic Deity has none it justly repudiates all change, all advance, all developement. To borrow the forcible words of Lord Houghton, the 51 52 Brydges, The Wahauby, p. 107. W. G. Palgrave, Essays on Eastern Questions London, MacMillan & Co. , 1872, p. 115. 53 W. W. Hunter, The Indian Musalmans, 1871. Page 10 The Problem of Historical Distortion written book is there the dead mans hand, stiff and motionless whatever savours of vitality is by that alone convicted of unorthodoxy and defection. But Christianity with its living and loving God, Begetter and Begotten, Spirit and trend, nay more, a Creator do creature, the Maker and the made existing in One, a Divinity communicating i tself by uninterrupted gradation and degree from the most intimate union far off to the faintest irradiation, though all that It has made for love and governs in love 54 Mu? mmad ibn Abd al-Wahhab is the example for him par integrity of the true image of Islam, stagnant against a dynamic Christianity, backward looking against the advancing Christianity, lifeless against the living Christianity, and with a Sterile God against a living and loving Christian God who begets his only begotten Son becoming the Creator and creature, the Maker and the made all in One. Palgrave combined the missionary and the colonialist mentality in a perfect blend that was to reflect in the Orientalist attitude during the century to follow. He becomes the precursor to the likes of Samuel Zwemer, 55 E. Calverley, C. M.Doughty (1843-1926), 56 T. E. Lawrence (1888-1935), 57 and others. We end our analysis with Palgrave. Doubtless, the approach of the Orientalist has improved vastly during this century, as we see in the writings of George Rentz, for example. 58 However, the Orientalists of the latter portion of the nineteenth century, and until recently, those of the twentieth century have faithfully followed the tradition of the likes of Palgrave. CONCLUSION For the sake of betterment and advancement of the civilization of man, we go back to our opening remarks and interrogative sentence the Western Judaeo-Christian approach towards the civilizations of the East.Rejecting the self-centeredness and particularity practiced by the Judaeo-Christian West, and in order to approximate the Islamic universality, we must shed our feathers and appreciate the traditions and civilizations of others within their own framework and assumptions. The plurality of this small world, shrunk by the advance of technology, necessitates a renunciation of selfishness and oppression of the weak, at least in intellectual exercises. In the present context, that is of our approach towards history, we are now bound to accept the facts as such and interpret them for the betterment of mankind.It is obvious that personal biases cannot be eliminated in their totality. The basic assumptions must remain. Regardless, this should not lead us to a distortion of facts. Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab served an important purpose to a significant population of mankind, and has also caused unfairness to many. In light of this we cannot justify either veneration or blasphemy of this man, who devoted his life for a simple cause. W. G. Palgrave, Narrative of a Years pilgrimage Through Eastern and Central Arabia (1862-63), 2 Vols. London, MacMillan & Co. , 1866, p. I372. 5 Samuel M. Zwemer, Arabia the place of birth of Islam and The Mohammedan World of like a shot N. Y. , Fleming H. Revell Co. , 1906. 56 Charles Montagu Doughty, Travels in Arabia Deserta London, N. Y. , 1906. 57 T. E. Lawrence, septenary Pillars of Wisdom London, Jonathan Cape, 1926, 1935, 1940 Idem. , Revolt in the Desert N. Y. , George H. Doran Co. , 1927 58 George Rentz, Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and the Unitarian Movement in Arabia, Ph. D. Thesis, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Cf. also Idem. , Wahhabism and Saudi Arabia in The Arabian Peninsula auberge and Politics, ed. y Derek Hopwood London, George Allen Unwin, 1972, pp. 54-66. And Idem. , The Wahhabis in Religion in the Middle East ed. by A. J. Arberry Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1969, pp. 270- 284. Page 11 54 The Problem of Historical Distortion Instead, his persona to the development of civilization must be appreciated in its true perspective. The most important conclusion is the recognition of the distortion of facts, deliberate or otherwise, by the Western colonialists, their functionaries, their missionaries, and the Orientalists who were none of these.Their aims were multifarious. While the colonialists and their functionaries strove to maintain their political advantage and to keep the Muslim population subdued within the colonies, the missionaries tried their conclusion to distort Islam to the extent possible hoping to gain converts. It was often that the aims of the colonialists and the missionaries though seemingly different were in fact the same. Hence, they worked hand in glove throughout and distorted the facts of history to make their own ends meet. Page 12 The Problem of Historical DistortionBIBLIOGRAPHY Abu Hakima, Ahmad A. , ed. , Lam al-Shihab fi tarikh Mu? ammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Beirut, 1967 M. A. Bari, Harford Jones Brydges, The early Wahhabis, some contemporary assessments. 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