Tenth point: He writes, “It is evident that the Wahhabi scholars treat their own opinions as flawless, admitting no possibility of error, while they treat the opinions of others as wholly erroneous, admitting no possibility of correction.”
Our reply is that this is merely another baseless assault of the same sort we have already answered. The books of our scholars and their debates with their opponents contain nothing of what he alleges. On the contrary, they are full of clear exposition of the truth, encouragement of those who uphold it, refutation of falsehood with sound proof and reasoned argument, and an invitation to its adherents to return to the truth with wisdom and gracious admonition. They have never claimed infallibility for themselves, nor have they dismissed whatever right others may possess, as he charges. Here, for example, is their leader, the eminent Shaykh Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb (d. 1206 AH), who says in one of the letters he addressed to his opponents1:
“I pray that I never reject the truth when it reaches me. Indeed, I call Allah, His angels, and all of creation to witness that if a single word of truth should come to us from you, I will receive it with the highest esteem and will throw against the wall every statement of my own teachers that contradicts it—except for the Messenger of Allah, ﷺ, for he speaks nothing but the truth.” End quote. All of them, praise be to Allah, follow precisely the course the shaykh has described.
Eleventh point: He further claims that they regard the practices of others—erecting shrines over graves and circling around them—as bordering on idolatry.
We answer: His words merely betray his ignorance of what idolatry is. He does not realize that idolatry is embodied in venerating graves by building over them, circumambulating them, asking their occupants to fulfill needs, and calling upon them for aid. For that reason he is astonished that such practices are denounced and deemed idolatrous, as though he had never read what the Noble Qur’an and the prophetic Sunnah contain of censure for seeking intercession from the dead and taking them as patrons to bring one near