Muḥammad Ḥayyā al-Sindī and Muḥammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab: An Analysis of an Intellectual

Group in Eighteenth-Century Madīna

Author(s): John Voll
Source: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 38,
No. 1 (1975), pp. 32-39
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/614196
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 MUHAMMAD HAYYA AL-SINDI AND MUHAMMAD IBN
'ABD AL-WAHHAB: AN ANALYSIS OF AN INTELLECTUAL
GROUP IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURYMADINA1
By JOHN VOLL
A powerfulrevivalistimpulseemergedin the Islamicworldof the eighteenth
century. Some of the leaders,like Muhanlmadibn 'Abd al-Wahhabor Shah
WallAllih in India,arewellknown.However,the foundationsof this revivalism
remain relatively obscureand personalitieswho inspiredits leaders remain
shadowyfiguresin history. One such personis MuhammadHayya al-Sindi,
who was a teacherof the founderof the Wahhabimovement.A closerexamina-
tion of this Medinesescholarand the intellectualcommunityof whichhe was a
part canprovideinsightinto the conditionswhichhelpedto inspirea prominent
revivalist. Even moreimportant,however,such analysisprovidesa basis for
discerningsomeof the relationshipsamonga numberof the majoreighteenth-
centurymovements.
Muhammadibn 'Abd al-Wahhabcame to Madinaas a relatively young
scholarand studiedunderMuhammadHayya al-Sindi. He was introducedto
this teacherby 'Abdallahibn Ibrahimibn Sayf, anotherscholarwith whomhe
had studied. Scholarshave describedMuhammadHayya as havingan impor-
tant influenceon Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab,encouraginghim in his developing
determinationto denouncerigid imitation of medievalcommentariesand to
utilize informedindividualanalysis(ijtihdd).2MuhammadHayya also taught
Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhaba rejectionof popularreligiouspracticesassociatedwith
'saints' and their tombs that is similar to later Wahhabi teachings.3 It is
apparent,then, that Muhlammad Hayya, and his generalintellectualmilieu,
have some importancefor an understandingof the origins of at least the
Wahhabirevivalistimpulse.
MuhammadHayya appearsto have had a modest fame in his day as a
teacherof had7th.Majorhistoriansof his time like 'Abdal-Rahmanal-Jabarti
and MuhammadKhalilal-Muradigave him somenotice,but he was not one of
1 The author expresses his gratitude to the National Endowment for the Humanities, whose
grant made research for this paper possible. The Endowment has no responsibility for any view
expressed in the article.
The editions of frequently cited sources and their short reference form are: al-Jabarti:
'Abd al-Rahmian al-Jabarti, 'Ajd'ib al-thlr fl 'l-tardjim wa 'l-akhbdr (ed. Hasan Muhammad
Jawhar and others), Cairo, 1957-68.
al-Muhibbi: Muhammad Amin al-Muhibbi, Khuldsat al-athar ff a'ydn al-qarn al-tadl 'ashar,
Cairo, 1284/1867-8. (Reprinted in Beirut by Dar al-Sadir.)
al-Muradi: Muhammad Khalil al-Muradi, Silk al-durar ft a'ydn al-qarn al-tlhnl ^'ashar,
Baghdad, 1301/1883-4.
2 Henri Laoust, Essai sur les doctrines sociales et politiques de Takl-d-din Ahmzadb. TaimTya,
661/1262-728/1328, Cairo, 1939, 507.
3George S. Rentz, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (1703/04-1792) and the beginnings of
unitarian empire in Arabia, unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of California, 1948, 27-8.
 AN ANALYSIS OF AN INTELLECTUAL GROUP IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTUIRY MADINA 33

the dominant intellectual leaders of the period. He was, rather, a quiet scholar
who attracted a variety of students and who participated in a vigorous com-
munity of hadtthscholarshipin Madina. Only a general outline of his life is given
in the biographies.4 He was born in a village in Sind, in present-day Pakistan
and travelled in the province to get his basic education. From there he went to
the holy cities in Arabia, where he settled, first as a student and then as a
teacher, becoming, in the praise rhetoric of al-Muradi,the' bearer of the banner
of the Sunna in Madina '.
As a student, Muhammad Hayya was associated with a number of the
prominent teachers of his time. In terms of his own life, the most important of
these was Abfi '1-IHasanMuhammad ibn 'Abd al-Hadi al-Sindi, like himself an
emigrant from Sind.5 Abu 'l-Hasan had attained substantial fame as a teacher in
the Prophet's Mosque and Muhammad Hayya became his close associate,
eventually taking over his teaching sessions after Abi 'l-H.asan'sdeath. Three
other teachers are also mentioned: 'AbdallIh ibn Salim al-Basri, Hasan ibn
'All al-'Ajami, and Abi 'l-Tahir Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Krarni.6 In addi-
tion, it is noted that he was initiated into the Naqshabandiyya tariqa by
'Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf.7
There is some diversity among the four ' academic ' teachers, but in certain
respects they have basic similarities that help to define Muhammad Hayya's
intellectual position. They are diverse in terms of madhhaband origin. Two are
Hanafi and two are Shafi'i. One was born in India and, while the other three
were born in the Hijaz, their families had come to the region relatively recently,
'Abdallah's from Basra, Abi 'l-Tahir's from Persia,8 and Hasan's name could
imply a foreign, possibly Persian, background. However, these men had a
distinctive feature in common: they appear to have been strongly influenced,
especially in hadith study, by the same general school of thought.
The most obvious feature in their common background is their relationship
to Ibrahim ibn Hasan al-Kiirani, a famous Medineseteacher of that time. Three
of the four-'Abdallah, Abu 'l-Hasan, and Abu 'l-Tahir-were students of
Ibrahim. (Abiu'l-Tahir was his son.) The fourth, Hasan al-'Ajami, appears to
have been older, and studied with Ibrahim's major teacher Ahmad al-Qashashi,
as well as other prominent teachers of Ibrdhim.9 A more detailed examination
of the instructors of Muhammad Hayya's teachers emphasizes their scholarly
linkages even further. While Ibrahim al-Kuiraniseems to have been a dominant
4 Formal
biographical entries can be found in al-Muradi, iv, 34, and 'Uthman ibn 'Abdallah
ibn Bishr, Kitab 'unwdn al-majd fi tdrrkhNajd, Baghdad, 1328/1910, I, 28-9. The date of his
birth is not given, and for his death al-Muradi gives 1163/1750 while Ibn Bishr gives 1165/1752.
See also al-Jabarti, I, 182, 210; in, 108, 255.
5 Al-Muridi, iv, 66, and al-Jabarti, I, 214.
6 Biographies of these men are in al-Jabarti, I, 177 and 208-10, and
al-Muradi, iv, 27.
7
Al-Jabarti, i, 182.
8 Ibrahim al-Kfirni was said to have been born in
Tehran, al-Jabarti, i, 171, and to have been
Shahraziiri by origin, al-Muradi,, , 5-6.
9 In all, the two men had five teachers in common: al-Qashashi, al-Babili, 'Isa al-Ja'fari
al-Maghribi, Zayn al-'Abidin al-Tabari, and 'Ali al-ShubramiIsi.
34 JOHN VOLL

figure in this scholarly group in the holy cities, he is, in a broader picture, only
a focal point within a larger web of intellectual interrelationships, which appear
for this group to centre around two prominent teachers of an older generation,
Ahmad al-Qashashi in Arabia and Muhammad al-Babili in Egypt. All four of
Muhammad Hayy&'sinstructors have close links with these two men. Three of
the four were students of al-Babili, along with Ibrahim, and only Ibrahim's son,
Abu 'l-Tahir, did not have direct contact since he was too young. If one con-
structs an' intellectual family tree ', MuhammadHayya had at least eight lines
of connexion with al-Babili.10 Similar ties can be seen with al-Qashashi.
Ibrahim al-Kurani was his successor in his major teaching post, so the ties with
Ibrahim lead to al-Qashashi. In addition to Hasan al-'Ajami's direct connexion
with al-Qashashi,there are at least four other instructors of MuhammadHayya's
teachers who were students of al-Qashashi. Thus, in the ' family tree ' there are
at least six lines linking MuhammadHayya with al-Qashashi. The interconnec-
ted nature of this ' academic community' is further emphasized by the fact
that five of the six men who are parts of the linkage between Muhammad
jHayya and al-Qashashi were also links between him and al-Babili.
The picture that emerges from this pattern of student-teacher relationships
is one of a relatively closely intertwined intellectual community. There is no
evidence to show that this ' school' was in any way formally organized. How-
ever, it seems safe to assume that these scholars had at least some basic common
views and either knew each other personally or were well known to each other
by reputation. This particular group or tradition was centred in Makka and
Madina, although most of the men had relatively wide-ranging educations. The
most common place to which they went for further education was Egypt, with
the result of the close ties with the Egyptian teacher, al-Babili. In addition,
many of the group took advantage of the educational opportunities provided by
scholars coming to the holy cities on pilgrimage. Thus the names of prominent
scholars from throughout the Islamic world appear on some of the teacher lists.
A total of 27 names appear in biographies as either teachers of Muh.ammad
Hayya or their teachers. Of these, 16 appear as a part of the integrated' family
tree ' of student-teacher relations, while 11 appear as teacher of only one of the
men and no other direct connexion is indicated in the biographies.
This grouping of scholars as a whole has a number of interesting characteris-
tics. The group is more broadly cosmopolitan than the five direct teachers of
MuhlammadHayya. Their birthplaces and areas of early study range from
India and Persia to Algiers and Morocco. The group as a whole is widely
travelled and very few received their full education in just one or two places.
Some had direct dealings with political and military officials but none of them
held a significant ' official' religious post for any length of time, except for one
teacher of Hasan al-'Ajami. That man was the Hanafi Mufti of 'the Hijaz

10In addition to the three direct lines there are at least five chains of authorities through other
teachers of his teachers.
 AN ANALYSIS OF AN INTELLECTUAL GROUP IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY MADlNA 35

regions and al-Madina '.11 Perhaps related to this is the fact that out of the 24
scholars whose madhhabis given or can be reasonably inferred,12only three, in-
cluding this mufti and al-'Ajami, are Hanafi. The third, Abft 'l-Hasan al-Sindi,
was of Indian origin. The prominence of the H1Tanafi madhhabin India may
explain his position and also Muhammad Hayya's own atypicality in this regard,
since he was also a Hanafi. The five scholars of Maghribiorigin were Maliki in
madhhab. All of the remaining 16 were Shafi'i. Especially in the light of the
emphasis often given to the Hanbali background of Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-
Wahhab, it is remarkableto note that none of the teachers, or even the teachers
of the teachers, of Muhammad HIayya, is identified as HIanbali. Thus, while
the group is not explicitly defined by madhhabaffiliation, it does appear to have
some relationship to the legal schools. The core of the group is Shafi'i, with a
solid leaven of Maliki scholarship. It was not closed to other schools but their
participation was limited.
It is also notable that most of these 27 scholars had some Sufi affiliations.
This is most frequently described in general terms rather than having the name
of a specific tariqagiven. One order that is specifically mentioned is the Naqsha-
bandiyya, into which MuhlammadHayya was initiated. Perhaps the most
notable Naqshabandiyya affiliates in the general group are Ibrahim al-Kiirani
and Ahrmadal-Qashshi. Thus while little concrete can be said about the specific
affiliations of this cluster of scholars, it is possible to note that they were not
opposed to Sufism and at least some of them were affiliated with the reformist
Naqshabandiyya tradition.
This community of scholars is the context within which Muhaiammad Hayya
taught. Available sources provide information about 20 students who studied
under him in Madina.13 An examination of these men aids in providing a fuller
picture of the educational background of Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab.
In a broader sense it provides a case study in the spread of influence of the group
of scholars of which Muhammad Hayya was a part. The importance of being
located in Madina is illustrated by the variety of the students. The Medinese
scholarly community in general was able to contact people from throughout the
world of Islam because of the Pilgrimage. This means, however, that a list of
the students of any HIijazischolar will tend to be heterogeneous and not form a

11Hanif al-Din al-Marshidi is so described in al-Muhabbi, ii, 126.

12 Three of the teachers listed were not identified by madhhab and biographical sketches
could not be found.
13 Seventeen men listed in al-Muradi are his students and al-Jabarti adds two more names to
the list. Neither of these historians mentions Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, whose studies
under Muhammad Hayya are discussed by Ibn Bishr. Ibn Bishr also mentions that 'Ala al-Din
al-Suiratiwas a student of Muhammad Hayya, but since I have been unable to find biographical
information about this man, he has not been included in the tabulations. It might also be noted
that Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Sammain is included in the list of students although
al-Muradi does not say that he studied under Muhammad Hayya. The inclusion of al-Samman
among the students of Muhammad Hlayya is based on biographical information in a Sammaniyya
book which is cited in al-Tahir Muhammad 'All al-Bashir, al-Adab al-Sifif al-Sitddlni, Khartoum,
1390/1970, 44.
VOL. XXXVIII. PART 1. 5
36 JOHN VOLL

particular academic group, since many would only stay in Madinafor a relatively
short time before returning home. At the same time, it was thus possible for
Medinese scholars to have at least some influence over the development of Islam
in many different areas.
The list of students of Muhammad Hayya under study here has a recogniz-
able bias. It is compiled primarily on the basis of biographical information
appearing in the works of al-Muradiand al-Jabarti. As a result, all 20 men have
some connexion with the eastern Arabic-speaking world and none of the men
listed by these two historians settled as mature scholars outside of that region.
However, some hint of the broader nature of MuhiammadHIayya's 'student
body' can be seen in the birthplaces. Three of them were born in the eastern
Islamic world 14 and three came from the regions of Rum. The remaining 14
all came from the eastern Arab world, but even here there is substantial
diversity. Four were born in Madina and four came from Aleppo, and the
other six came from different places: one each from Yaman, Najd, Jerusalem,
Baghdad, Nablus, and Damascus. It is noteworthy that while a number
of these students had North African teachers and Muhammad H.ayya him-
self appears to have had associations with North African scholars, none of his
listed students are of North African origin. Since both al-Muradi and al-
Jabarti are quite conscious of the activities of Maghribischolars, this may indi-
cate something more than just data bias. It is possible that a Hanafi teacher
like Muhammad Hayya with 'eastern' connexions would not attract Maliki
scholars in the same way that some of his Shafi'i colleagues would.
In general terms of madhhabaffiliation, none of Muhammad Hayya's listed
students were Maliki. In contrast to the general scholarly community of which
he appears to have been a part, the majority of his students (twelve) were
Hanafi and only five were Shafi'.15 Of the twelve Hanafis, seven either came to
hold ' official ' religious positions or became in some way closely associated with
the Ottoman state.l6 Four of the other five were Sufi shaykhs or teachers of
Sifism,17 and only one was a regular teacher of hadith.18 In contrast to this, all
five of the Shafi'l students had little or no direct connexion with ' religious
officialdom' and were basically scholar teachers in the various legal sciences.'9
Among the three other students, one was a Sufi recluse, whose madhhabwas not

14Two were born in DIghistan and one in India.

15No madhhabwas listed for one of the students and two were HIanbali.
18 Two become Hanafi Muftis of Madina. (Al-Muradi, III, 134-5; iv, 60. See also 'Abd al-
Rahman al-Ansari, Tuhfat al-muhibbin wa 'l-as4dbf ma'rifat nid li 'l-Madaniyyfn in al-ansab (ed
Muhammad al-'Arfsi al-Matwi), Tunis, 1970, 36-7 and 201.) One became Hanafi Mufti in
Damascus (al-Muradi, mI, 219-28). One was Deputy Qadi of Madina for a short term (al-Muradi,
in, 230-1, and al-Ansari, 300), and another was a servant of the Daftardar in Madina (al-Muradi,
in, 216-17, and al-Ansari, 226). The sixth ultimately held an official teaching appointment in
Istanbul (al-Muradi, I, 37-9), while the seventh was a recognized political adviser in that capital
(al-Jabarti, nI, 254-56).
17Al-Muradi, I, 255; in, 201-2, 260-2; iv, 50-1.
18Al-Muradi, in, 215.
19Al-Muradi, n, 291-2, 328-9; in, 63-4, 65-6; iv, 60-1.
 AN ANALYSIS OF AN INTELLECTUAL GROUP IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY MADINA 37

given,20the second was a prominent Hanbali teacher of hadlthin Nablus,21and

the remaining student was Muhammadibn 'Abd al-Wahhab himself, a Hanbali
whose family had had and maintained close connexions with local ruling princes
in central Arabia.
Similar diversity can be seen in terms of the associations of this group of
students with the Sufi tradition. Of the 20 scholars, 12 are explicitly noted as
participating directly in some way in *ufism. Seven are identified as members of
major tartqas,three either taught or wrote Sufi books, one was a miracle-working
Sufi recluse, and one was said to be 'beloved of the people of the tariqas '22
Within this grouping there is no apparent correlationbetween Suifiaffiliationand
either geographic origin 23 or nwdhhab.2 Even in the case of the two Hanbalis,
one, Muhammadal-Saffarini, had association with a tariqa. This was not unusual
among eighteenth-century jHanbalisin the Syrian region.25
There are relatively few tartqas that are explicitly mentioned. The most
frequently noted is the Naqshabandiyya. Four of the seven are said to be
members of this order. The second order of apparent importance in this group
is the Khalwatiyya, with the other three men noted as affiliates. Although two
of the students were members of more than one order, none of the seven is said
to have been a member of both the Khalwatiyya and the Naqshabandiyya.
One man from each of these two orders was described as having Qadiriyya
connexions. The only other orders mentioned by name are the 'Aydarisiyya
and the Wafa'iyya, which are other tartqas of the Naqshabandi/Qadiri, 'Abd
al-Rahman al-'Aydarus.26
Although the number of Khalwatiyya and Naqshabandiyya listed members
is small, these particular students also help to define the religious scholarly
community of which MuhammadHayya was a part. The Naqshabandi students
are among the more prominent members of that period in the eastern Arab
world: Isma'il al-Uskadari was the ' shaykh of the Naqshabandi group in
Madina ',27 while 'Ali al-Muradi was the senior member of the leading Naqsha-
bandi family in Syria and the Hanafi Mufti of Damascus for many years, and

20 II, 249-50.
Al-Jabarti,
21
Al-Muradi, iv, 31-2, and al-Jabarti, in, 106-10.
22
Al-Muradi, m, 63.
28 Of the 12 with Suifi
connexions, nine were born in the eastern Arab world, two in the lands
of Rum, and one in India. There were eight men for whom no special Suificonnexion is mentioned.
Of these, five were born in the eastern Arab world, two in the more eastern regions of the Islamic
world, and one in Rum. Thus it would be very difficult to make any significant correlations of
Sufi affiliation with region of origin.
24 In terms of madhhab, seven of the Hanafis had Sufi affiliations
mentioned, five had not.
Among the Shafi'is, three had them mentioned and two had not. Even the Hanbalis were split,
one and one.
26 For a more intensive discussion of the attitudes and positions of these eighteenth-century

Hanbalis, see John Voll, ' The non-Wahhabi Hanbalis of eighteenth century Syria ', Der Islam,
XLIX, 2, 1972, 277-91.
26 'All Mubarak, al-Khuttat al-Tawflqiyya al-jadfda, Cairo, 1306/1888-9, v, 11-14.
27Al-Muradi, I, 255.
38 JOHN VOLL

had the Ottoman Sultan as a patron.28 'Abd al-Rahman al-'Aydaruis,a third

Naqshabandi, was a-prominent member of the great 'Aydarus family which
provided teachers and religious leaders for communities stretching from India
to Cairo. The fourth listed member of the order was an Indian scholar who
settled in Damascus under the patronage of the Muradifamily.29 Thus Muham-
mad HIayya,:himselfa Naqshabandi, can be said to have been associated, both
through his teachers and his students, with some of the most prominent and
influential groups within that tarlqa as it was established in the eastern Arab
world.
Although Muhammad Hayya's connexions with the Khalwatiyya do not
appear to be as close, it is certainly worth noting that two of his three Khalwati
students were associated with that order through the leading reviver of that
tradition, Mustafa al-Bakri. One of these was Muhammadal-Samman;.aleading
student of al-Bakri.30 In addition, Mustafa himself studied under one of Muham-
mad Hayya's teachers, 'Abdallah al-Basri, and one of the sons of Ibrahim al-
Kirani, as well as other men in the community of scholars with whom Muham-
mad Hayya was associated. Thus, while the ties are more generalized, the new
revivalist Khalwati tradition of Mustafa al-Bakri also appears to play a part in
Muhammad H.ayya's personal milieu.
Through examining his students and his teachers, the position of Muhammad
Hayya al-Sindi thus becomes clearer. He was a quiet teacher of hadith in
Madina but was in contact with and a part of some of the major movements of
his day. Many of his students became men of some importance, as notables in
the religious 'establishment ', as tariqa leaders, or as teachers of hadith.
Although Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab is now the best-known ' revivalist'
among his students, he was not the only student with that approach. The
others included Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Samman, the student of
al-Bakri whose own tariqa, the Sammaniyya, had influence in Yaman and the
eastern Sudan, and Muhammad al-Saffarini, who came to dominate Hanbali
scholarship in Nablus, one of the smaller centres of the madhhab. Al-Saffarini
was said to have been 'victorious for the Sunna and a suppressor of
innovation .31

Scholars often search for possible sources of the ideas and inspirations of
important historical figures. In terms of Islamic fundamentalism, many
attempts have been made to show how the Wahhabis influenced other revivalist
28
Al-Muradi, fm, 219-28.
29 Al-Muradi, hi, 260-2.
30 For a general discussion of the Khalwatiyya at this time, as well as comments about al-
Samman, see B. G. Martin, ' A short history of the Khalwati Order of Dervishes', in N. Keddie
(ed.), Scholars, saints and Sufis, Berkeley, 1972, 275-305. The two Bakriyya Khalwatis are
discussed in al-Jabarti, in, 106-10, and al-Muradi, iv, 60-1. The third was associated with a local
branch in Aleppo which does not appear to have had very close ties with Mustafa al-Bakri.
Although Mu$tafa's shaykh in the Khalwatiyya was born in Aleppo (al-Muradi, iI, 123), there is
no mention of this student of Muhammad Hayya studying under either al-Bakri or his shaykh.
Rather, he was the khalffa of his own father in the local order (al-Muradi, iv, 50-I).
31
Al-Jabarti, HI, 106.
 AN ANALYSIS OF AN INTELLECTUAL GROUP IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY MADINA 39

movements, but less has been done in analysing the context out of which
Wahhabism itself grew. It certainly is possible to note the potential funda-
mentalism of the Hanbali tradition, especially as defined by Ibn Taymiyya.
It is, however, not at all clear that the spirit of Ibn Taymiyya was the dominant
one among the Hanbalis of the eastern Arab world in the eighteenth century.32
It was a part of Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's inspiration, but one might
also see inspiration for vigorous reform coming from the study of hadith as
presented by Muhammad HIayya. Through this teacher, Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab
certainly must have had an introduction to a broader world of religious scholar-
ship within which ideas of reform were developing.
This picture is limited, however, if one simply looks at the brief information
about Muhammad Hayya himself. When the group of which he is a part is
analysed, the point becomes stronger. Through MuhammadHayya, the founder
of the Wahhabiyya can be seen in contact with the eighteenth-century revivalist
impulses of the Naqshabandiyya and Khalwatiyya traditions. This line of
analysis provides an even broader set of less direct connexions. The community
of teachers in which Muhammad Hayya participated played a quiet but impor-
tant role in the Islamic world of that era. When the great Indian reformerSh:ah
Wall Allah came to Arabia, he studied hadlth under Muhammad Hayya's
teacher, Abu 'l-Tahir Muhammadibn Ibrahlm al-Kfurni.33 At a slightly earlier
date, the students of Ibrahlm al-Kfuran included Shaykh Yusuf, who later led
a holy war against the Dutch in Indonesia and was exiled to South Africa, and
'Abd al-Ra'uifof Singkel, who was a major influence in the revival of orthodox
Sufism in Sumatra.34
Thus, through Muhammad Hayya al-Sindi and his scholarly tradition, one
can place the founder of the Wahhabi movement in a world of Islamic revivalism
that stretches from Indonesia to Africa. These various eighteenth-century
movements assumed varying forms depending on local conditions and the
personalities of the leaders. There is, however, a remarkable convergence of
background around the small group of teachers of hadithin the holy cities. Men
like Muhammad Hayya do not often have a prominent place in history, but a
careful analysis of their life and context can provide an opening to a better
understanding of the major movements in history.

32Voll, ' The non-Wahhabi Hanbalis', 277-91.

33Aziz Ahmad, ' Political and religious ideas of Shah Wali-ullah of Delhi ', Muslim World,
LII, 1, 1962, 22.
34 G. W. J.
Drewes, 'Indonesia: mysticism and activism', in G. E. von Grunebaum (ed.),
Unity and variety in Muslim civilization, Chicago, 1955, 290-1.