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Muqbil al-Wadi'i

(Redirected from Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadi'i)

Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadi'i[a] (c. 1933 – 21 July 2001) was a Yemeni-born Islamic scholar. He was the founder of the Dar al-Hadith al-Khayriyya, a madrasa in the northern town of Dammaj which became one of the main centres for the Salafi ideology in the country.

Imam
Muqbil al-Wadi'i
مقبل الوادعي
Personal life
Born1933
Northern Yemen
Died21 July 2001 (aged 67-68)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Resting placeMecca, Saudi Arabia
NationalityYemeni
Main interest(s)
Alma materUniversity of Medina
Religious life
ReligionIslam
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceAhl al-Hadith
CreedAthari
Movement
[1]
Muslim leader
Influenced by
Influenced

Born in northern Yemen to a Zaydi Shia family, al-Wadi'i converted to Sunni Islam in his young age. He travelled to Saudi Arabia where he studied Islam under renowned Salafi scholars such as Ibn Baz, Ibn Humayd, Hammad al-Ansari, Muhammad al-Sumali, Abd al-Aziz al-Najdi and several others. In December 1979, al-Wadi'i was arrested by Saudi authorities after having been falsely accused of involvement in the seizure of the Grand Mosque by Juhayman al-Utaybi and his supporters. Upon the insistence of Ibn Baz, al-Wadi'i was released a few months and deported to Yemen where he began propagating Wahhabism and laid foundation to the Dar al-Hadith al-Khayriyya in 1980.

Biography

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Al-Wadi'i was born in c. 1933 near the city of Sa'adah in northern Yemen. He beloneged to the al-Wadi'i tribe and was initially a Zaydi Shia.[2] He left Yemen as a young man and travelled to Saudi Arabia to work and became acquainted with Sunni works of Islamic scholarship, specifically Wahhabism.[3][page needed]

Education

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After finishing his primary education in Yemen, al-Wadi'i spent roughly two decades studying Islam in Saudi Arabia. In 1963 he began by studying[3] at the Salafi teaching centre developed by Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen in Najran before then being accepted to study at the Islamic University of Madinah where he attended Halaqas led by Hadith scholar Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani and Abdul-Ghaffar Hasan Al-Hindi as well as former Grand Mufti Abd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn Baz while also studying under Muhammad al-Sumali.[4][5] Al-Wadi'i is said to have graduated from the Islamic University of Madinah with a master's degree in the science of hadith.[3][page needed]

Return to Yemen

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In 1979, his stay in Saudi ended abruptly when he was indicted on suspected involvement in the Grand Mosque Seizure.[1] After spending a few months in prison, Grand Mufti ibn Baz negotiated his release, though al-Wadi'i was forced to return to his home country where he would eventually become known as the father of the modern Salafi movement within Yemen.[3] It was there that he began to spread the Salafi Da'wah in Yemen, with much initial opposition from the local Shafi`is, Ismailis and Zaidis.[5]

Al-Wadi'i went on, soon after his return to his native region, to found and establish an institute that he named Dar al-Hadith al-Khayriyya in Dammaj. It would become one of the most important and influential educational institutions for Salafism in the world, teaching tens of thousands of students ranging from the Arab world to Africa to Southeast Asia and the Western world.[6][3] It was during this time that Wadi'i, along with Ja'far Umar Thalib, established close ties between Yemeni and Indonesian Salafis.[7]

In the 1980s, al-Wadi'i accepted grants from various sources such as Ibn Baz and the Saudi government of 15,000 Saudi Riyals every two months. However, his continued critique of the Saudi monarch, due to his believed wrongful imprisonment, led him to be more independent in the financing of the institute's operations. He stated that managing the mosque and institute in Dammaj required little funding and was easily covered by local donations and zakat.[6][3] Al-Wadi'i was opposed to the rapid expansion of the Muslim Brotherhood movement across Yemeni schools in the 1980s. He conceived the Dar al-Hadith as part of an offensive to rebut such Islamist movements.[8]

The Salafis who studied in Dammaj reportedly pursued an aggressive "policy of provocation" towards the Zaydis who inhabited the surrounding area, often accusing them of apostasy and sometimes even destroying their cemeteries.[1] Despite this, the school enjoyed the support of both the Saudi and North Yemeni regimes. This situation helped sow the seeds for mounting discontent among the Zaydi population and ultimately Zaydi revivalist movements such as the Houthis.[1]

In 2014, the Dar al-Hadith would be shut down after a long Siege of Dammaj by Houthi rebels. The manager of the institute, Yahya al-Hajuri, as well as thousands of foreign students were forced to relocate to Al Hudaydah Governorate.[9]

Death

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After a prolonged illness, and hospital treatment in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, al-Wadi'i died on July 21, 2001, from either cirrhosis or liver cancer. His funeral prayer was performed in the Masjid al-Haram in Makkah and he was laid to rest in the Al-'Adl cemetery close to the graves of Ibn Baz and Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen.[3][10]

Views

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On terrorism

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Al-Wadi'i made a number of statements against terrorism[6][11][12][13] and attempted to advise Osama bin Laden against it, whom he blames - along with older movements like the Muslim Brotherhood - for many of the problems Muslims face today; he further commented in an interview:[14]

I did in fact send my advice and warning (to bin Laden) but only Allah knows if it actually arrived or not. However, some of those people did come to us, offering their help and assistance in preaching and calling to Allah. Afterwards, we found them sending money, requesting that we distribute it among the leaders of various tribes; they were trying to buy rocket-launchers and machine guns. But I refused them and told them to never come to my house again. I made it clear to them that what we do is preach only and we don’t allow our students to do anything but that.

Al-Wadi'i had earlier authored a book as well, referring to bin Laden as the head of all "sectarianism," "partisanship," "division," and "religious ignorance," and accusing him putting money into weapons while ignoring his religion.[15] Additionally he was a huge supporter of the controversial Saudi preacher Rabi'i ibn Hadi al-Madkhali.[16] Feircly critiquing the Muslim Brothers, Wadi'i states:

"They [the Muslim Brotherhood] are bankrupt as it relates to knowledge and bankrupt as it relates to Daʿwah... The founder of this group – which is Ḥasan al-Bannā – used to make Ṭawāf around the graves...They [the Muslim Brotherhood] are prepared to cooperate with the Devil against Ahl al-Sunnah.”[17]

Al-Wadi'i was also a staunch critic of the scholar Muhammad ibn Salih al-Munajjid, said that he's a misguided "Sururi".[18] His Dar ul-Hadith seminary and institute of Dammaj was known to oppose al-Qaeda and other radical extremist organisations, as Wadi'i himself stated in an interview with Hassan al-Zayidi of the Yemen Times in 2000.[citation needed]

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Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts prepared Summary of Evidence memos offering justifications for continuing to hold them in extrajudicial detention.[19][20][21] Several of the captives had their detention justified, in part, through their association with al-Wadi'i.[22][23]

His Fiqh

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In terms of Islamic jurisprudence, al-Wādi'i did not follow any madhhab in Islam and opposed the practice of taqlid (conformity to legal precedence).[24] His views on the principles of Islamic jurisprudence were similar to those of the Zahiri school; he rejected the usage of Qiyas, or analogical reasoning, in deriving rulings in Islamic jurisprudence entirely, recommending the books of Zahiri scholar Ibn Hazm in the principles of jurisprudence for details on the topic.[25] al-Wādi'i was fond of the works of Ibn Hazm, to the point that, when asked about Ibn Hazm's Zahirism, he supposedly advised every Muslim "to be a Zahiri."[26] However, al-Wadi'i declared following a madhhab a bid'ah (religious innovation) within Islam.[27]

On Yemen

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Al-Wadi'i believed that even the sinful and corrupt leaders must be obeyed by the Muslims while advising the leader must be done by the learned scholar in private. Additionally, the Muslims are commanded to endure hardship and be patient until God removes the burden of an oppressive ruler for that of a better one.[3][page needed]

Al-Wadi'i thought that South Yemen's colonial rule by Britain was better than its independence in 1967, due to the fact that independence had allowed a socialist government to come to power and also resulted in the unnecessary death of Muslims. Although claiming to be neutral by assuming a neutral or apolitical stance, al-Wadi'i maintained excellent relations with the Yemeni government after unification. This was in fact done by his de facto support of the Yemeni government via his stances on issues such as not partaking or calling to elections and political parties or candidates as well as cooperating with the Yemeni government against common enemies such as extreme Zaydi militias and the Muslim Brotherhood's local chapter.[28][page needed]

On Saudi Arabia

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While critical of the Saudi government throughout the 1980s and 1990s, al-Wadi'i never compromised by siding with the Sahwa movement and its preachers. He vocally opposed them and their methods of overtly calling to politics and labeled them with hizbiyyah, or partisanship.[28] He harbored hard feelings against Saudi Arabia up until toward the end of his life, when he would ultimately recant his criticism, speaking highly of the country and its authorities.[3][page needed] As such, the Holy Mosque Establishment of Saudi authorities provided support to many seminaries affiliated with al-Wadi'i.[29]

Works

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  • al-Ilhad al-Khumayni fi Ard al-Haramayn or the Impudence of Khomeini on the Land of the Two Holy Sanctuaries (criticism of the Iranian Revolution)[30]

Notes

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  1. ^ Full name Muqbil ibn Hadi ibn Muqbil al-Wadi'i (Arabic: مقبل بن هادي بن مقبل الوادعي)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Brandt, Marieke (2024). Tribes and Politics in Yemen: A History of the Houthi Conflict. London: Hurst. p. 106-112. ISBN 9781911723424.
  2. ^ François Burgat (2008). Islamism in the Shadow of Al-Qaeda. University of Texas Press. p. 22. ISBN 9780292718135.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bonnefoy, L. (2009) in Meijer, R. (ed.) Global Salafism
  4. ^ Zahab, M. (2009) Salafism in Pakistan in Meijer, R. )ed.) Global Salafism)
  5. ^ a b "Laskar Jihad : Islam, militancy and the quest for identity in post-New Order Indonesia" (PDF). p. 73. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
  6. ^ a b c "Laskar Jihad : Islam, militancy and the quest for identity in post-New Order Indonesia" (PDF). p. 74. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
  7. ^ "Laskar Jihad : Islam, militancy and the quest for identity in post-New Order Indonesia" (PDF). p. 76. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
  8. ^ Beránek, Ťupek; Ondřej, Pavel (2018). "Chapter 3: Saudi Arabia between pan-Islamism, Iconoclasm and Political Legitimacy". The Temptation of Graves in Salafi Islam: Iconoclasm, Destruction and Idolatry. The Tun – Holyrood Road, 12 (2f) Jackson's Entry, Edinburgh EH8 8PJ: Edinburgh University Press. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-4744-1757-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  9. ^ Nasser Al-Sakkaf (2014-01-14). "Non-local Salafis evicted from Dammaj". Yemen Times. Archived from the original on 2016-01-03. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  10. ^ Tarjamah Abee ‘Abdir-Rahmaan (1999) [2nd Ed.]
  11. ^ Abdul-Wahid, Abu Khadeejah (26 November 2013). "Testing A Person By His Love For The Salafis Or His Hatred Of Them Is From Manhaj". Abukhadeejah.com. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. If you find a person loving.. Rabee' ibn Haadee, Muhammad Amaan al-Jaamee (rahimahullaah), Muqbil bin Haadee (rahimahullaah), Zayd al-Madkhalee, Ubaid al-Jaabiree and their likes, then know he is a man of Sunnah, for loving them is a distinguishing sign of ahlus-Sunnah. And having hatred and enmity for them is a distinguishing sign of ahlul-bid'ah.
  12. ^ "Imaam Muqbil bin Haadee al-Waadi'ee: A Beginner Who Reads the Books of Qutb Will Not Perceive After Only a Few Days that He Has Become Amongst the Jamaa'at ut-Takfir". Themadkhalis.com. 12 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017.
  13. ^ Ansari, Abu Khuzaimah (10 October 2018). "Defending Shaykh Muqbil b. Hadi al-Wa'di (d.1422H) From The Reckless Lie of 'Jihadi-Salafi'". Salafi Research Institute. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020.
  14. ^ Interview with "Ar-Rayu Al-Aa’m" newspaper, issue #11503, 19 December 1998
  15. ^ Tuhfah Al-Mujeeb, from the chapter “Who’s Behind the Bombings in the Two Sanctuaries (Mecca & Medina)?”, 1996
  16. ^ Abdul-Wahid, Abu Khadeejah (5 February 2018). "Biography of Ash-Shaykh Al-Allāmah Rabī' Ibn Hādī Al-Madkhalī and the Praise of the Scholars for him". Abukhadeejah.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021.
  17. ^ "An Accurate Presentation of the Stance of Imām Muqbil b. Hādī Towards the Muslim Brotherhood and ʿAbd al-Majīd al-Zindānī". Germantown Masjid. 10 March 2021. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Regarding The IslamQA Website – Shaykh Muqbil Bin Hadi Al-Wadi'i, Shaykh Saleem Al-Hilaalee, And Shaykh Abu Abdir Rahmaan Yahyaa Bin Alee Al-Hajooree". Toronto Dawah. 28 October 2019. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021.
  19. ^ OARDEC (July 17, 2007). "Index for Combatant Status Review Board unclassified summaries of evidence" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  20. ^ OARDEC (August 9, 2007). "Index to Summaries of Detention-Release Factors for ARB Round One" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  21. ^ OARDEC (July 17, 2007). "Index of Summaries of Detention-Release Factors for ARB Round Two" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  22. ^ Though Shaykh Muqbil never supported terrorism or terrorists as can be seen in his harsh criticism of Usaamah ibn Laden OARDEC (19 May 2006). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Yafi, Al Khadr Abdallah Muhammed" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. 56–58. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
    *The detainee attended a mosque in Yemen and at various times listened to sermons urging Muslims to seek a better life for themselves. On one occasion the detainee listened to a sermon given by Sheikh Muqbil al Wadi.
    *The detainee studied for six months at the al Dimaj Institute in Sadah, Yemen under Sheik Muqbuil al Wadi.
  23. ^ OARDEC (25 October 2005). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Mudhaffari, Abdel Qader Hussein" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. 48–50. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-03. The detainee studied under Sheik Muqbil al Wadi.
  24. ^ al-Wādi'i, Muqbil, "Tuḥfat al-Mujīb ʻalā As`alah al-Hāḍir wa al-G͟harīb", Page #205, Question #157
  25. ^ al-Wādi'i, Muqbil, "Ijabat al-Sa`il fi Ahamm al-Masa`il," Question #157
  26. ^ al-Wādi'i, Muqbil, "Ijabat al-Sa`il fi Ahamm al-Masa`il," Question #320, pg.562
  27. ^ Abu Idris Al Sudani (2024-10-25). Following A Madhab is Bidah | Shaykh Muqbil. Retrieved 2025-09-23 – via YouTube.
  28. ^ a b Meijer (2009) Global Salafism
  29. ^ Hasan, Noorhaidi (2018-05-31). Laskar Jihad: Islam, Militancy, and the Quest for Identity in Post-New Order Indonesia. Cornell University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-5017-1922-6.
  30. ^ نور, مكتبة. "Khomeini's paganism in the land of the two holy sanctuaries. (Pdf)". www.noor-book.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2021-05-19.
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