be associated with areas such as vi

be associated with areas such as visiting tombs of ‘saints’ and seeking their
help and even the celebration of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.
Wahhabis also believe that music is prohibited.
Echoing Ibn Taymiyya’s views, the Wahhabi movement highlighted a
‘return to pristine Islam’, calling for a strict observance of and adherence to
the teachings associated with the idea of unity of God. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab
also called for the strict observance of the shari‘a and did not hesitate to bypass
the formulations of the four schools of law (madhhab). Ijtihad, therefore,
was on the agenda of this movement and its founder, and with the same
vigour once displayed by Ibn Taymiyya. However, unlike Shah Wali Allah,
Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was less keen to consider the impact of time and space
and cultural specifics on formulating laws or assessing past ones. Ibn Abd
al-Wahhab was sceptical of philosophy and rational intellectualism and was
more comfortable in standing by the ‘letter’ of the texts rather than by their
‘spirit’. Furthermore, his insistence on the early generations’ formulation of
Islam as the sole criterion of authenticity, with no room for further interpretation,
suggests that for him Islamic reform meant a movement back in
time, returning from a desolate present situation to a better old one, in order
to re-experience Islam anew.
North Africa: The Sanusiyya
The Sanusiyya movement9 also emerged in the context of a regeneration
of the moral and social fibre of Muslim society, particularly in North Africa.
The Sanusiyya movement was founded by Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi
(d. 1276/1859). He was born in modern-day Algeria and studied Islamic
disciplines there with a number of local religious leaders. He then moved to
al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, which was well known for its teaching and to which
students from various parts of the Muslim world – in particular North Africa
– came to study. Later, he studied with scholars in Egypt and Hijaz. He not
only sought knowledge of the religious disciplines but also came under the
influence of Sufis from the Tijaniyya, Shadhliyya and Qadiriyya orders. He
did not belong to one particular order, just as he did not belong to one
particular school of law.
The more al-Sanusi looked into the Muslim societies around him, the more
he recognized their bad state, from religio-moral and socio-political points
of view. He saw Muslims as politically fragmented. The more he contemplated
and reflected upon this state of affairs, the more he realized how
important it was for Muslims to return to the purity of the Islam of the
Prophet and earliest Muslims (salaf).
Al-Sanusi was aware of the Ottoman administration and its unjust rule
in North Africa. This led to difficulties with the Ottoman administration.
He had to move frequently not just in search of knowledge but also because
of his political views. Thus, he moved from Fez to Algeria, Tunisia, Libya,