obedience to him then becomes obligatory; and it is forbidden to rise up against him. I hold that the people of innovation must be shunned and kept apart from until they repent, that they are to be judged by their outward deeds while their inner secrets are left to Allah. I believe that every religious novelty is an innovation. I believe that faith consists of speech with the tongue, deeds with the limbs, and conviction in the heart; it increases with obedience and diminishes with sin. It comprises more than seventy branches, the highest of which is the testimony that there is no god but Allah, and the lowest is removing something harmful from the road.

I consider enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong obligatory, in the manner required by the pure Muhammadan Law. This is a concise creed that I have penned while my mind is occupied, so that you may know what I hold; Allah is Witness to what we say… End.1

From this it is clear that his creed—may Allah have mercy on him—is the creed of the righteous forebears, and that he is innocent of the accusation leveled against him by the enemies of religion, namely, that he followed the doctrine of the Khawarij.

The Beginning of Shaykh Muhammad’s Call, may Allah have mercy on him:

Amidst the dark atmosphere already described, the call of Shaykh Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab burst forth. He raised his voice denouncing this polytheism and summoning the people to the monotheism with which Allah sent His Messenger Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him. He suffered from the people what others who invite to Allah customarily suffer, while those whom Allah guided to accept the truth obeyed him.

His grandson, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Hasan—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “He then returned to Najd, whose people were in a state that Allah does not love or approve of, practicing polytheism by worshipping the dead, trees, stones, and jinn. So he stood among them calling them to monotheism.”