Section Four: Distinctive Features of the Shaykh’s Works
[Distinctive Features of the Shaykh’s Works]

A survey of the Shaykh’s writings—may Allah have mercy on him—reveals a number of clear hallmarks, some more conspicuous than others. The most prominent are the following:

(1) His espousal of the Salafi creed and his vigorous defense of it.

The Shaykh produced several works that attest to this, among them:

(a) His meticulous care for al-ʿAqīdah al-Ṭaḥāwiyyah: he authored both an explanation and marginal notes on it.

This treatise embodies the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah, except for a handful of points in which Imam al-Ṭaḥāwī—may Allah have mercy on him—independently exercised judgment; scholars later highlighted and critiqued these issues.

Shaykh al-Islām ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Bāz—may Allah have mercy on him—also compiled remarks on those specific passages, now available in print.

Further evidence of the Shaykh’s creed and of his stance toward grave-worshippers appears in his two books:

(b) Warning the Worshipper against Taking Graves as Mosques.

(c) Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings.

He likewise rendered valuable service to several classical works on the creed of the predecessors by verifying their hadiths. Among these are:

(d-e-f) the various versions of Kitāb al-Īmān authored by:
• Ibn Abī Shaybah,
• Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim b. Sallām,
• and Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah sanctify his soul.

(g) Kitāb al-Sunnah by Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim.

(h) Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Ṭaḥāwiyyah by Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz al-Ḥanafī.

One of the earliest indications of the Shaykh’s Salafism is the label his detractors attached to him: “Wahhābī”—the stock accusation hurled at anyone who follows the method of the predecessors, urges strict adherence, and rejects blind imitation.

(2) His relentless opposition to religious innovations.

The Shaykh’s campaign against bidʿah—prohibiting it after clarifying its ruling in his books—brought him a great deal of harm. I know of no other cause that hurt him more. Yet it is Allah’s way that everyone who walks the path of reform is subjected to harm and persecution.

Among the reformers who were persecuted are the two shaykhs of Islam: Ibn Taymiyyah al-Ḥarrānī and Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Tamīmī—may Allah have mercy on them both.

It is remarkable that the reformers who suffered oppression and imprisonment die, their enemies die with them, and nothing endures but the truth, whereas the froth