Was Prophet Muhammad Sunni, Shia, or Wahhabi

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Question:

Was Prophet Muhammad a Sunni, Shia, or Wahhabi? - An inquiry into whether the Prophet belonged to any sect and how sectarian identities formed later. :::

Answer:

This question itself is wrong - the question whether prophet was shia sunni or wahhabi makes no sense because these terms were not existing during the time of the Prophet saws and all the sects and deviations came later not the other way around.

Hence, the right question to ask would be that who amongst the shia sunni and wahhabi are closer to the prophets teachings.

Origin of the term Wahhabi

Imam Abdul Wahhab (rahimullah) on whose name the people have derived the term Wahhabis was an Islamic Reformer who reignited the preaching of the Prophet saws which had faded out due to innovations in religion and sectarianism.So he tried to return Muslims to the Pristine Islam which was free from all adulteration - so to say that Islam was radicalized due to his efforts is false rather Islam was de-Radicalized due to the efforts of Imam Abdul Wahhab and the Saudi Government and Saudi scholars who follow the Salafi ideology.Obviously anyone who tries to do something good is branded by his opponents by different names and accusations. So is the case with Wahhabis. No one refers to himself as Wahhabis generally only some groups refer to opposing groups as Wahhabis in their foolishness.

However if Wahhabis mean the followers who are on the path of Imam Abdul Wahhab who in turn was the followers of the salafus saleheen then remember that these people refer to themselves as SALAFIS (Not Wahhabis).

Why (so called) Wahhabis call themselves as Salafis?The name Salafi refers to the one who attaches himself to that group of people about whom the Prophet , peace be upon him, said:“The best of people is my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them (i.e. the first three generations of Muslims).” [Reported by Bukhari and Muslim - Mutawaatir].This attachment is not to a single person or persons (i.e. scholars), which is the case of many groups present today. It is not an attachment to a person or even tens of people, but to that which will not err, since it is impossible that the Salaf would unite upon error or misguidance. So in his subscribtion to the way of the Salaf, the Salafi has attached himself to that which cannot go wrong.This is taken from the hadith: “My Ummah will not unite upon error.” [Reported by at-Tirmidhee and Haakim - Sahih], and it is not correct that this hadith refers to the people of later ages, since it was only in the era of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his Companions that the Ummah was free from widespread division and deviation. The deviant sects separated themselves from the Jamaa’ah after them, and from that time onwards their was disunity.

Clearly based upon the above the Salafis (so called wahhabis) are the closest to following the Islam which prophet saws and his companions followed.