– 𝐃𝐄𝐁𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐇𝐇𝐀𝐁𝐈 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐀𝐉𝐃 𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐐! (𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃)…

– 𝐃𝐄𝐁𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐇𝐇𝐀𝐁𝐈 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐀𝐉𝐃 𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐐! (𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃)

The Prophet ﷺ said: “O Allāh! Bless our Shām and our Yemen.” People said: “Our Najd as well.” The Prophet ﷺ again said: “O Allāh! Bless our Shām and Yemen.” They said again: “Our Najd as well.” On that the Prophet ﷺ said: “𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐧 (𝐐𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐥-𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐲𝐭𝐚̄𝐧).” [Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Book 15, Ḥadīth 32]

The followers of Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhāb (MIAW) claim that the Najd referred to by Rasūlullāh ﷺ in these aḥādīth is in ‘Irāq (note how the Saḥāba said “our Najd”, they wouldn’t say this and refer to the Persian’s Najd i.e. ‘Irāq which at that time was non-Muslim area). But how true is this? Let’s examine this claim.

𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝟏:
The Prophet ﷺ stood up beside the pulpit (and pointed with his finger towards the East) and said: “Afflictions are there! Afflictions are there, from where the side of the head of Satan (Qarn al-Shaytān) comes out,” or said, “..the side of the sun..” [Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Book 92, Ḥadīth 43]

When the Prophet ﷺ foretold the afflictions in Najd, 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 (𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐍𝐚𝐣𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐝ī𝐧𝐚𝐡). To further buttress this, other narrations have the wordings “or where the side where the sun rises from”. We all know the sun rises from the East. So what is to the East of Madīnah? Najd!

Madīna is located along latitude 24°28` and Riyādh is located along latitude 24°46` while ‘Irāq is on latitude 33°13`. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 ‘𝐈𝐫𝐚̄𝐪 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐝ī𝐧𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐣𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐑𝐚𝐬𝐮̄𝐥𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐚̄𝐡 ﷺ 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 ‘𝐈𝐫𝐚̄𝐪!

𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝟐:
The Prophet ﷺ pointed with his hand towards Yemen and said twice: “Faith is there,” and then pointed towards the East, and said: “𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐧 (𝐐𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐥-𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐲𝐭𝐚̄𝐧) 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫,” 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐚𝐛ī’𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐫. [Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Book 68, Ḥadīth 52]

In this ḥadīth the Prophet ﷺ mentioned the occupation & tribes of the people in this land of tribulations. The Prophet ﷺ described Najdīs as “stern & merciless camel herders”.

‘Irāq is widely flat with some high-lands. They possess vast agricultural land, which made them predominantly 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬. Najd, by contrast, is mostly plateau, culminating in peaks such as Jabal Tayyi’ in the Jabal Shammar range and they were 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬. So once again, the description matches Najd in Saudi.

The Prophet ﷺ also mentioned that the people of this land of tribulations were from the tribes of Rabī’a and Mudar. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐛ī’𝐚 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐚, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 – 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 – 𝐍𝐀𝐉𝐃!

Furthermore, MIAW belonged to the tribe of Banū Tamīm. This tribe links to Tamīm, the son of Murr, son of ‘Id, son of ‘Amr, son of Ilyās, 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐫, son of Nizār, son of Ma’ad, son of ‘Adnān.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭 ﷺ.

𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝟑:
Sayyidah ‘Ā’isha as-Siddīqah narrated: “The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ designated Dhul-Ḥulayfah as the Mīqāt for the people of Al-Madīnah, Al-Juḥfah for the people Ash-Shām and Egypt, 𝐃𝐡𝐚𝐭 ‘𝐈𝐫𝐪 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐥-‘𝐈𝐫𝐚̄𝐪, 𝐐𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐚𝐣𝐝 and Yalamlam for the people of Yemen.” [Sunan an-Nasā’ī, Book 24, Ḥadīth 38]

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡̣𝐚𝐝ī𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐰𝐚̄𝐪ī𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐚𝐣𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 ‘𝐈𝐫𝐚̄𝐪 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐐𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐡𝐚𝐭 ‘𝐈𝐫𝐪 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲. If Najd is in ‘Irāq, then why do they have different Mawāqīt? Rasūlullāh ﷺ made a very clear distinction between ‘Irāq and Najd in this particular authentic ḥadīth which leaves no room for doubt whatsoever!

Also, in Mu’jam al-Buldān (famous ancient work on geography) by Imām Shahābuddīn 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐚𝐣𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐚𝐭 ‘𝐈𝐫𝐚̄𝐪. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐣𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐪?! (check the scan in the comment section)

𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝟒:
Did major Wahhābī sources consider Najd to be ‘Irāq? The answer is Yes! To quote some of them:

► Ibn Taymiyyah writes in Talbīs Jahmiyyah 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐝ī𝐧𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 “𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐣𝐝”, then went on to cite a few examples of these tribulations. He also writes that the Prophet ﷺ mentioned that there were two horns of Shaytān from Najd and he (Ibn Taymiyyah) mentions Musaylimah al-Kadhāb was one of them. Musaylimah is of Banū Ḥanīfa, which is within the Rabī’a tribe, the second of the two tribes mentioned by Rasūlullāh ﷺ (check the scans in the comment section).

► Bin Bāz said the entire east is what was referred to as Najd, whether or not to accept his view, 𝐍𝐚𝐣𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 ‘𝐈𝐫𝐚̄𝐪 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞. He also cited examples that were limited to Najd in Ḥijāz to buttress his point (check the image from his website in the comment section).

► Abī ‘Abd al-Raḥmān was asked about Najd in his book ‘Maqt as-Shaykh Habīl’, in his response 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐍𝐚𝐣𝐝ī𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ‘𝐈𝐫𝐚̄𝐪ī𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 ‘𝐈𝐫𝐚̄𝐪. (check the scan in the comment section)

So Musaylimah from the tribe of Rabī’a is one of the two horns of Shaytān who was from Najd, the second horn being MIAW of the tribe of Mudar. Hence Rasūlullāh ﷺ said: “Imān is Yemenite, sternness & mercilessness are from the Faddādīn of Rabī’a & Mudar.”

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍:
The aḥādīth are clear. Deliberately twisting the words of the Prophet ﷺ to suit your needs & insisting on your unrealistic interpretation is a major sin which may not be worth the effort.

The Prophet ﷺ said tribulations are from Najd (the east) & MIAW is from Najd. And he has unanimously by Ahl al-Sunnah not only been declared as a heretical layman and a khārijī, but also the Qarn al-Shaytān emerging from Najd as foretold by Rasūlullāh ﷺ as well as confirmed by his own elder Sunnī brother, Shaykh al-Islām Sulaymān ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhāb, who said:

“The Horn of Satan which the Prophet ﷺ referred to is you.”

[Al-Sawā’iq al-Ilāhiyyah fī al-Radd ‘alā al-Wahhābiyyah]