All Praise is due to Allaah  who sent his Messenger  with guidance and the true religion so that it may become manifest over all other religions. May the Salaat and Salaam of Allaah be upon the last and noblest of All the Prophets, Muhammad , on the family of the Prophet  and upon the noble companions  and on all those who follow the path of righteousness until the last day.

It is the habit of the people of today that they label as anyone who calls to Tawheed and warns against all forms of shirk a Wahabbi. So since this has become prominent amongst some of the Muslims, who call themselves Sunnis then we should refer back to the Qur'aan and the Sunnah upon the understanding of the first three generations in order to ascertain what is the truth.

Firstly Al-Wahabb is one of the beautiful names of Allaah  meaning the all-giver and so how can anyone twist this beautiful name, Aoudhoubillah.

The usage of 'Wahabbi' comes from a scholar who lived some time ago by the name of Muhammad Bin Abdul-Wahaab, who called to Tawheed and defended it and warned against Shirk and fought its people. So if these people were truthful they would use the term 'Muhammadi' since Abdul-Wahaab was the name of his father.

Allaah  has prohibited us from insulting using nicknames as He  says (which means):

"And do not insult by nicknames" [Surah Al-Hujurat (The Dwellings) Verse 11]

The people of the past accused Imaam Shafiee of being a Rafidee and he replied with:

If Rafd is loving the Family of Muhammad 

Then the humans and Jinns witness that I am a Rafidee.

So we refute with what a poet said:

If the follower of the Prophet  is a Wahabbi
Then I affirm that I am a Wahabbi.

It is the duty of the Muslims to call to Tawheed and warn against Shirk:

Allaah  says (which means): "And we have sent to every nation a Messenger saying Worship Allaah alone and avoid the Taghoot " [Surah An-Nahl (The Bee) Verse 36]

The Taghoot is anything that is worshipped besides Allaah .

The call to Tawheed is the call of all the Messengers:

Allaah  says (which means): "To Aad (We sent) their brother Hud. He said: 'Oh my people, worship Allaah, you have no other Illah except Him, will you not fear (Allaah) " [Surah Al-A'raf (The Heights) Verse 65].

And He  says: "To Thamud we sent their brother Salih. He said: O my people worship Allaah You have no other Illah except Him " [Surah Hud (Prophet Hud) Verse 61].

So see how the dawah to Tawheed is the dawah of all the Prophets and the battle between Tawheed and Shirk is long standing.

But today if you make this call you are labelled a Wahabbi. But this call existed long before Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahabb was born. The evidences of Tawheed existed long before the birth of Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahabb. The collection of hadeeth like Bukhari and Muslim existed hundreds of years before even the great great grandfather of Muhammad bin Abdul Wahaab was born. So if we quote hadeeth from Bukhari and Muslim as evidences for Tawheed and we are Wahaabis then was Imaam Bukhari a Wahaabi or Imaam Muslim.

(1) If you read the ayat in the Qur'aan:

"You alone do we Worship and you alone do we seek help from " [Surah Al-Fatihah (The Opening) Verse 4]

Then are you a Wahabbi?

(2) If you mention the hadeeth narrated by Ibn Abbas  found in An-Nawawis Fourty Hadeeth:

The Prophet  said (which Means): "When you ask, then ask Allaah, and when you seek help seek help from Allaah alone" Are you a Wahabbi?

(3) Or maybe if you mention the hadeeth of the Prophet :

"Whoever dies while calling upon other than Allaah shall enter the Hell fire " [Bukhari]

(4) Or maybe you are a Wahabbi if when told that the Awliyah know the unseen you say But Allaah  says (which means):

"With him are the keys of the unseen, none knows them but He" [Surah Al-An'am (The Cattle) Verse 59].

(5) And perhaps you are a Wahabbi if you expose Ibn Arabi for his kufr statements such as:

"The Lord is the Slave and the Slave is the Lord
Oh I wish I knew who was the one in authority"

(6) Or maybe you are a Wahabbi if you deny that the Prophet  was made from light and that he had and still has the power to bring good to us:

Allaah  says (which means):

"Say O Muhammad  I poses no power to benefit or hurt myself except as Allaah wills. If I had Knowledge of the unseen , I should have secured for myself an abundance of wealth, and no evil should have touched me. I am but a warner , and a bringer of glad tidings unto people who believe " [Surah Al-A'raf (The Heights) Verse 188].

(7) Or maybe you're a Wahabbi if you don't celebrate the birthday of the Prophet  or Praise him  highly elevating him  above his  being a Prophet:

The Prophet  said (which means): "Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising the Son of Maryam (Eesaa) (alaihis-salaam), for verily I am only a slave, so say slave of Allaah and His Messenger " [Bukhari].

(8) Maybe you are a Wahaabi if you don't call upon Abdul Qaadir al-Jeelaanee to remove some harm from you and you mention the ayah:

"If Allaah touches you with harm, none can remove it except He " [Surah Al-An'am (The Cattle) Verse 17].

Was the Scholar who said the following a Wahabbi ?

"Ask Allaah and do not ask other than Him,. Seek help from Allaah and do not seek help from other then Him. Woe to you, with which face will you meet Him tomorrow? You contend with Him in the world, turning away from Him, and approaching His creation thus associating partners with Him. You submit your needs to them and rely on them in your important matters. Increase the ways and means between yourself and Allaah, for verily, if you stop that, then it is foolishness. There is no king, or authority, no self-sufficiency and no might except with Allaah, The Mighty, The Majestic, turn towards Allaah without the creation"

He seems to meet the criterion, who was he, he was none other than the one some people call upon, Abdul Qaadir al-Jeelaanee, he said this in Fath ur Rabaanee.

Or maybe the one who said the following was a Wahabbi:

" I hate to ask Allaah, by other than Allaah"

This man was Imaam Abu Haneefah, reported in Daar ul Mukhtaar.

They (the so called 'Sunnis') say the Wahabbis don't love the Prophet  since we don't call upon him or make intercession through him, they claim that they are lovers of the Prophet , and we reply with the saying of a poet:

"If your love was true you would have obeyed him,
Verily the lover is to the beloved obedient"

In Conclusion:

It seems that they call people a Wahabbi who

(1) Worship Allaah alone, love Tawheed and hate Shirk
(2) Make duaa to Allaah alone
(3) Rely in Allaah alone
(4) Follow the Sunnah of the Prophet , and hate and avoid innovations.
(5) Adhere to the path of the companions 
(6) Read the books of the Imaams and take from them.

And our final call is to Allaah Lord of all the Creation.

Taken From: The Clear Path