Haverford College Professor Michael A. Sells has accused the renovators (whose money came in large part from Saudi Arabia) of Wahhabism in the mosque.
The opposition is so much so that even the Yihewani Chinese sect, which is fundamentalist and was founded by Ma Wanfu who was originally inspired by the Wahhabis, reacted with hostility to Ma Debao and Ma Zhengqing, who attempted to introduce Wahhabism/Salafism as the main form of Islam.