God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad

By Charles Allen

Book Overview

In today's post-9/11 world, the everyday news shows us images of fanatic fighters and suicide bombers willing to die in holy war, martyrs for jihad. But what are the roots of this militant fundamentalism in the Muslim world? In this insightful and wide-ranging history, Charles Allen finds an answer in the eighteenth-century reform movement of Muhammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab and his followers--the Wahhabi--who sought the restoration of Islamic purity and declared violent jihad on all who opposed them, Moslems and pagans alike. As the Wahhabi teaching spread in the nineteenth century, first, to the Arabian peninsula, and then, to the region around the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, their followers brought with them a vicious brand of political ideology and militant conflict. The Wahhabi deeply influenced the rulers of modern Saudi Arabia and their establishment of a strict Islamic code. A more militant expression of Wahhabism took root in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where fierce tribes have waged holy war for almost two hundred years. The ranks of the Taliban and al-Qaeda today are filled with young men who were taught the Wahhabi theology of Islamic purity while rifles were pressed into their hands for the sake of jihad. God's Terrorists sheds shocking light on the historical roots of modern terrorism and shows how this dangerous theology lives on today.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306815222
• ISBN13: 9780306815225
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 349 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

God's Terrrorists

Don't be confused by a previous review. Terrorism and Wahhabism are indeed synonymous. That terrorism is currently being played out by the spawn: Taliban and al-Qaeda. This is a well-researched book albeit it a difficult read for the novice of Islam. If you are curious about how our civilization got into this mess, read this accounting of Muslim history. The reading has left me frustrated about how global terrorism will ever be conquered because of this fundamentalism rooted in Wahhabi teachings. Take young men, send them to Wahabbi madrassahs, teach them to administer sharia law to include beheading and mutilation of the apostate and infidel populations with a goal of martyrdom and you come up with the challenge of the 21st century!

A warning to Western Civilization - the roots of terror

Interesting historical look at the spread of radical Islam throughout colonial India and its ties back to the rise of radical Islamic theology in the declining Ottoman Empire. It exposes roots to terrorist movements like al Qaeda and ties the roots of this radical movement to the House of Saud like few other accounts have. There are clearly lessons to be learned here and insights about what the West is up against - particular in this region of the world where Bin Laden is believed to be given safe-harbored but I was completely let down by the author's brief and poorly argued conclusion. It seemed thrown-in as an after thought. Otherwise it was a fascinating historical read that I would highly recommend.

Looking Back to Try to Understand Islamic Terrorists

Since 9/11 we have been forced to look into the dark and mysterious world of the Islamic militants. It almost seemed that they emerged from the deserts of Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan fully grown, already angry, and holding a Kalashnikov. Of course, as this book points out, they have a history. They began as one of many groups wanting to reform Islam to restore the purity and ideals which they believe existed when the religion was formed. He concentrates his investigations into the Wahabi sect and explains how they became more and more extreme as the grew in size. He draws some interesting parallels between the Puritan reform in Europe and the Wahhabi's. I'm not so sure, however, that he shouldn't have looked further back, say to the time of the Inquisition. It seems like something happens to religions when they are about a thousand years old. He leaves a lot of open questions. For instance there seem to be several splits between the branches of the Wahhabi. Osama bin Laden seems to split his hatred between the government of Saudi Arabia and the US. How might this affect us. And why is he so angry with us anyway?

Is filled with understanding of past events, key to understanding modern jihad.

GOD'S TERRORISTS: THE WAHHABI CULT NAD THE HIDDEN ROOTS OF MODERN JIHAD provides a history of the reform movement of al-Wahhab and his followers, who in the 18th century sought to restore Islamic purity. So what does this early history of the Wahhabi sect hold in meaning for modern readers? Plenty: it follows a sect that spread throughout the region and whose concepts today form the foundation for modern extremists. His history isn't filled with solutions, but it is filled with understanding of past events, key to understanding modern jihad. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch