Following Current Paths of Destruction: ISIS and Beyond

This chapter outlines the context within which various iconoclastic incidents have taken place in various parts of the Islamic world in recent years. After focusing on ISIS and the massive destruction of funerary monuments for which they have been responsible in Iraq and Syria, with a particular emphasis on Mosul, we deal with similar incidents, especially in the Arabian Peninsula, parts of Africa and central and south Asia.

Saudi Arabia between pan-Islamism, Iconoclasm and Political Legitimacy

This chapter explains the process of Wahhabism institutionalisation that occurred during the period of the third Saudi state, as well as the proselytic mechanism that has been part of Saudi-led pan-Islamism since the 1960s. It focuses mostly on the opinions of Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al al-Shaykh, Ibn Baz and Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, especially with regard to funeral architecture and the legality of visits to graves by women. In the case of al-Albani, the chapter looks at the methodology he advocated in relation to the fulfilment of Salafi goals. It also identifies some of the patterns regarding opposition to the Saudi regime, such as those associated with Juhayman al-ʿUtaybi and Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, both of whom were influenced by the Saudi propagation of tawhīd and iconoclasm. This chapter also describes the internal mechanisms and structures of the official Saudi religious establishment, especially its fatwā institutions.

Conclusion

Protect your Islam by removing yourself from any involvement in any Salafi group. The worst threat that the Muslim umma is faced with today is the Salafis … causing fitna, disunity, problems, conflicts in masjids [mosques]. Shaykh Faisal Abdul Razak, President of the Islamic Forum of Canada...

Graves and Shrines in Medieval Islam: From Pre-Islamic Times to Ibn Taymiyya’s Legacy

This chapter provides an overview of the broader context within which debates regarding graves, funeral architecture and ziyāra have taken place. The early Islamic interdictions against certain funerary structures and grave-related rites did not arise in a vacuum. Therefore, the chapter contextualises these debates and the gap that began to emerge between the traditionalists’ (Ahl al-hadith) vision of ideal Islam and the reality of popular Islam. The chapter also offers a detailed focus on the teachings of Ibn Taymiyya, as it was his narrative of Islamic history and the ideal Islamic community that inspired later Sunni reformists, among them the Salafis, who sought to defend Islamic identity against the incursion of foreign influences and impurities, be they elements of Christianity, Judaism, syncretism or modernity.

Early Wahhabism and the Beginnings of Modern Salafism

This chapter focuses on Wahhabism during the period of the first Saudi state, as this period provides us with the most influential sources of iconoclastic ideas. The teachings of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab and his disciples constitute the core part of current Salafi thought, appearing in a variety of mutated forms. The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, it expounds on classical Wahhabi doctrine, as excerpted from early texts. Second, as Wahhabism, or indeed Hanbalism, were not the only strongly iconoclastic trends, this chapter also focuses on other influential movements, especially those of Yemeni, Syrian, Iraqi and Indian traditionalists, with Muhammad al-Shawkani, Ibn al-Amir al-San‘ani, Mahmud Shukri al-Alusi and Siddiq Hasan Khan in the forefront of developments. Finally, the chapter also provides a description of the two waves of destruction committed by Wahhabis after their conquest of the Hijaz, first in the early nineteenth century and then again in the first quarter of the twentieth century.

Introduction

In various parts of the Islamic world over the past years and decades virulent attacks have targeted Islamic funeral and sacral architecture. These attacks, which have destroyed graves and other artefacts in the Islamic world should not be viewed as random acts of vandalism, but as acts associated with ‘performing one’s religious duty’. The requirement to level graves (...