Introduction to The Obligation of Adhering to the Sunnah and a Warning Against Innovation

A short but important treatise by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab establishing the obligation of following the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the danger of introducing innovations into the religion. The author draws on Quranic verses and authentic hadith to demonstrate that adherence to the Sunnah is not optional but a fundamental religious obligation.

The key Quranic proofs include: "Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatever he forbids you, refrain from it" (59:7); "Say, if you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you" (3:31); and "Let those who disobey the Messenger's order beware, lest some trial befall them or a painful torment be inflicted upon them" (24:63). The hadith evidence includes the Prophet's statement that every innovation is misguidance.

The author then warns against the major innovations that had crept into Arabian religious practice by his era, demonstrating from the Quran and Sunnah that these practices lacked any valid basis and constituted the very kind of innovation against which the Prophet warned. This brief text encapsulates the core reformist methodology of ibn Abd al-Wahhab.