The Wahhābī view The Wahhabi sect maintains that repairing graves, constructing buildings and domes on them, and plastering them is prohibited. They also label such acts, polytheism and blasphemy. Moreover they hold that, destroying the graves, the domes on top of graves and buildings situated around them, is obligatory. The following are examples of their rulings: 1. San’ānī states: “The hall of audience (haram) is the same as an idol. This is because the quburīyun[1] carry out the same acts that the people during the Age of Ignorance (Jahilliyah period) carried out for their idols. They (quburīyun) carry out these acts for places they have named grave or the mashhad[2] of a walī[3]. In any case they are the same acts that the people of the Age of Ignorance used to carry out but with a different name. However, it does not stop becoming an idol if the term changes!”[4] 2. Ibn Qayyim (Ibn Taymiyyah’s student) asserts: “Buildings on graves are taken to be idols and are worshipped. Destroying them is obligatory. In addition, if one has the power to destroy them, then allowing them to stay in the same form - for even one day - is not permissible. ...

In the book, al-Jawhar al-Munddam, Qastalānī1 and Ibn Hajar state that: “Ibn Taymiyyah forbids visiting the Prophet’s (s) grave, and further declares that whether one is travelling or not, Zīyārah (visiting) of the Messenger’s grave is prohibited.” Thus, if visiting the Prophet’s (s) grave is prohibited, then, a fortiori, so is visiting any other grave. Ibn Taymiyyah assumes that the prohibition of travelling for the sole reason of visiting the Prophet’s (s) grave is unanimously prohibited and prayers are not shortened on such a trip.

Visiting the Prophet’s (s) grave In the book, al-Jawhar al-Munddam, Qastalānī[1] and Ibn Hajar state that: “Ibn Taymiyyah forbids visiting the Prophet’s (s) grave, and further declares that whether one is travelling or not, Zīyārah (visiting) of the Messenger’s grave is prohibited.” Thus, if visiting the Prophet’s (s) grave is prohibited, then, a fortiori, so is visiting any other grave. Ibn Taymiyyah assumes that the prohibition of travelling for the sole reason of visiting the Prophet’s (s) grave is unanimously prohibited and prayers are not shortened on such a trip. Rejection of Ibn Taymiyyah’s views Zīyārah is lawful due to four reasons: The Qur’ān: God, glory be to His Greatness, states the following in the holy Qur’ān: “…And if, when they had wronged themselves, they had but come unto thee and asked forgiveness of Allah, and asked forgiveness of the messenger, they would have found Allah Forgiving, Merciful.”[2] Whether one’s aim is to ask for forgiveness or any other reason, Zīyārah is a way of being present beside the deceased. When the excellence of such an act is proven during the life of the Prophet (s) then it is also established after his passing. This is because the holy Messenger (s) lives in barzakh and can hear the Salams of his visitor and is aware of his acts. ...

A text that examines fundamental Wahhabi beliefs in comparison to those of the Ahlus Sunnah and the Shi`ah. Topics discussed within include a summarized account of the life of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, one of the prominent figures of this movement, and some of the major ideological issues in which Wahhabis deviate from mainstream Muslims (like Tawassul, Ziyarah, Ta'wil of the Qur'an, etc.).

This volume provides an objective analysis of current trends and developments in the beliefs and practices of Sufis in Britain. Sufism is a dynamic and substantial presence within British Muslim communities and is influencing both religious and political discourses concerning the formation of Islam in Britain. In the 21st century Sufis have re-positioned themselves to represent the views of a 'Traditional Islam', a non-violent 'other Islam', able to combat the discourses of radical movements. Major transformations have taken place in Sufism that illuminate debates over authenticity, legitimacy, and authority within Islam, and religion more generally. Through examining the theory and history involved, as well as a series of case studies, Sufism in Britain charts the processes of change and offers a significant contribution to the political and religious re-organisation of the Muslim presence in Britain, and the West.

Some Islamic scholars hold that Salafism is an innovative and rationalist effort at Islamic reform that emerged in the late nineteenth century but gradually disappeared in the mid twentieth. Others argue Salafism is an anti-innovative and antirationalist movement of Islamic purism that dates back to the medieval period yet persists today. Though they contradict each other, both narratives are considered authoritative, making it hard for outsiders to grasp the history of the ideology and its core beliefs. Introducing a third, empirically based genealogy, The Making of Salafism understands the concept as a recent phenomenon projected back onto the past, and it sees its purist evolution as a direct result of decolonization. Henri Lauzière builds his history on the transnational networks of Taqi al-Din al-Hilali (1894–1987), a Moroccan Salafi who, with his associates, participated in the development of Salafism as both a term and a movement. Traveling from Rabat to Mecca, from Calcutta to Berlin, al-Hilali interacted with high-profile Salafi scholars and activists who eventually abandoned Islamic modernism in favor of a more purist approach to Islam. Today, Salafis tend to claim a monopoly on religious truth and freely confront other Muslims on theological and legal issues. Lauzière's pathbreaking history recognizes the social forces behind this purist turn, uncovering the popular origins of what has become a global phenomenon.