EDITOR'S NOTE

The Saudi-American Forum is very pleased to present excerpts from the new book Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad by Natana J. DeLong-Bas.  Today we present the book's introduction and will follow with other excerpts over the coming weeks.  In addition to reading the excerpts we hope you will join a a discussion of the book and view the additional material about Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad.

Related Material:

• Wahhabi Islam Book Page

• Conversation with Natana J. Delong-Bas

• Background Information on Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab

• From Oxford University Press -- Advance praise for Wahhabi Islam ..

Click here for ordering information.

INTRODUCTION

Post-9/11, Wahhabism has been identified by governments, political analysts, and the media as the major "Islamic threat" facing Western civilization and the inspiration for Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network.  It has become infamous for its negative influence on Islam, mosques, and madrasas globally.  It is described as extremist, radical, puritanical, contemptuous of modernity, misogynist, and militant in nature.  It has been characterized as Islamo-facism following in the traditions of communism and nazism.¹  It is accused of inspiring militant religious extremism in movements ranging from the Taliban of Afghanistan to the so-called Wahhabis of Central Asia and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.²  It is targeted as the most intolerant of all interpretations of Islam, seeking to impose itself alone as the expression of "true" Islam.³  Wahhabi teachings are often referred to as "fanatical discourse" and Wahhabism itself has been called "the most retrograde expression of Islam" and "one of the most xenophobous radical Islamic movements that can be."⁴

Yet Wahhabism is also the conservative creed of the ruling family of Saudi Arabia and has been defended by visionary twentieth-century reformers like Muhammad Rashid Rida of Egypt and the Palestinian American scholar Ismail Raji al-Faruqi as a mode for reforming and rejuvenating Islam in the modern era -- an interpretation considerably at odds with its supposedly violent and intolerant tendencies.  Also at odds with such negative portrayals are the more positive images of Wahhabis distributing copies of the Quran and hadith (accounts of the sayings and deeds of the Prophet), funding hospitals, orphanages, and other charitable institutions; and constructing mosques worldwide.  Wahhabis have also provided relief following natural disasters globally and in the aftermath of the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo.  However controversial the missionary work (daw'ah) accompanying these efforts has been, a strong case can be made for recognition of Wahhabi involvement in charitable works and its provision of educational and worship institutions for Muslims throughout the world.⁵  This image does not fit with the more monolithic presentation of Wahhabism as a militant, violent, extremist movement.

For all of the press and academic coverage of Wahhabism, few attempts have been made to define and delineate what makes a Wahhabi a Wahhabi other than broad concerns about tendencies toward violence, extremism, terrorism, and indoctrination of the masses in the conservative Wahhabi creed.  There has been little discussion of the Wahhabi interpretation of Islamic law or scripture outside of general assertions of "literalism," "innovation," "heresy," and obsession with ritual matters, such as the precise length and style of a man's beard or the exact fashion in which one is to pray.⁶  Having been accused of a paradoxical combination of narrow-mindedness and innovation, Wahhabism is then typically dismissed as being unrepresentative of "Islam" and unworthy of detailed attention to its doctrines.  Particularly striking is the lack of attention given to the written works of Wahhabism's founder and ideologue, Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, despite the fact that it is assumed that the militance, violence, and extremism displayed by certain Wahhabis today have their origins in Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's own teachings.

Post-9/11, many in the West have struggled to understand the connection between Wahhabi beliefs and the horrendous acts of terrorism that cased the deaths of over three thousand civilians.  Fear and uncertainty about the previously little known Wahhabis have led to serious questions.  Does Wahhabism represent an ongoing threat to the United States and American interests?  Is Wahhabism monolithic?  Is it necessarily opposed to Western civilization and values?  Can the United States safely have a friendly and cooperative relationship with the Wahhabi monarchy of Saudi Arabia or are Americans being deluded into consorting with the enemy due to the need for oil and a failure to understand the "true" nature of Wahhabism? ⁷

In response to the demands for answers, many have asserted that the militant extremism of Osama bin Laden has its origins in the religious teachings of Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who is believed to have legitimated jihad against non-Wahhabis and encouraged the forcible spread of the Wahhabi creed.  According to this interpretation, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab is the godfather of modern terrorism and Islamic militance.⁸  Like his contemporaries, he is accused of being opposed to modernity, and extreme literalist in his interpretation of Muslim scriptures, a misogynist, and an admirer and imitator of past militant radicals, particularly the medieval scholar Ibn Taymiyya.  Like Osama bin Laden, he is believed to have had little formal religious training, and his written works are generally dismissed as mere compilations of Quranic verses and hadith, without any accompanying commentary or interpretation.⁹  Finally, both Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and the Wahhabis are often accused of being outside of the Sunni tradition due to their position as "heretical innovators" and extremists.¹⁰  Although this comparison makes for a simple and clean analysis, it is not faithful to the historical record.

The real Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, as revealed in his written works, was a well-trained and widely traveled scholar and jurist, as well as a prolific writer.  His extant written works fill fourteen large volumes, including a collection of hadith; a biography of the Prophet Muhammad; a collection of fatawa (juridical opinions); a series of exegetical commentaries on the Quran; several volumes of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), numerous theological treatises; and other varied works, including detailed discussions of jihad and the status of women.  The scope of his scholarship stands in marked contrast to the few legal rulings (fatawa) issued by Osama bin Laden.  More importantly, his insistence on adherence to Quranic values, like the maximum preservation of human life even in the midst of jihad as holy war, tolerance for other religions, and support for a balance of rights between men and women, results in a very different worldview from that of contemporary militant extremists.  The absence of the xenophobia, militantism, misogyny, extremism, and literalism typically associated with Wahhabism raises serious questions about whether such themes are "inherent" to Wahhabism and whether extremists like Osama bin Lade are truly "representative" of Wahhabism and Wahhabi beliefs.

Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad presents for the first time in a Western language the themes of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's writings that are of greatest concern post-9/11:  Wahhabi theology and worldview, Islamic law, women and gender, and jihad.  Rather than reinforcing the standard image of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab as "an unsophisticated, narrow-minded wanderer" and a "disconnected, footloose son of the remote oases" who became "the archetype for all the famous and infamous Islamic extremists of modern times,"¹¹ it reveals a more moderate, sophisticated, and nuanced interpretation of Islam that emphasizes limitations on violence, killing, and destruction and calls for dialogue and debate as the appropriate means of proselytization and statecraft.  This new understanding is then compared to the writings of other scholars and activists, both past and present, on the controversial topic of jihad in order to assess Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's influence, or lack thereof, on contemporary Islamic militants, most notably Osama bin Laden, and to explore the roots of the militant extremism inherent in their visions of global jihad.