What was the Islamic rules about someone or person like Mufti or some Muslim scholar who gave the Fatwa regarding Muhammad Abdul Wahab, Ibn Taymiyah saying they are astray or misguided. Have they committed a sin about their Fatwa?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

In fact, Allah has made the blood, property and honor of every Muslim sacred to every other Muslim. Whoever accuses another Muslim of going astray without having an evidence is a sinner and an evil doer. If one does so with respect to a scholar or a pious person, no doubt, the matter becomes worse, since the Sharee’ah imposes on us to respect the Muslim scholars. Whoever issues a Fatwa concerning Shayk al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and Imam Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahaab and judges them as devious persons, he is one of these two categories.

Firstly, either he is an ignorant person and does not have the knowledge of how great both scholars were. He does not even know how highly they were praised by many other scholars, and the great sacrifices they made to spread and renew the Sunnah and to remove the innovations.

Secondly, or he is obstinate and stubborn and recognizes their status but denies it in order to support innovations which are strongly condemned by both scholars. In fact, some of these persons do not have the correct knowledge regarding the superiority of the two scholars.

Therefore, we should guide such persons to the truth concerning the status of the both great scholars and should always advise them to avoid accusing them of slander and explain that they were great reformers of this Ummah. May Allah reward them both.

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 82605 and 81463.

Allah knows best.