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God's Terrorists

The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad

Charles Allen

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Paperback

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English
Abacus
08 March 2007
Now in B format

A fascinating history of the religious fanatics that would come to be known as the founding fathers of Islamic terrorism and who set down the intellectual roots of Al Queda.

The brutal assasination of Commissioner Frederick Mackeson on British India's North-West Frontier in 1853 was a bloody and public declaration of a conflict that was to stretch well into the next one hundred and fifty years. The Wahhabi tribe, extreme Islamist fundamentalists, set out to restore purity to their faith by declaring violent jihad on all who opposed them. Their history has long been forgotten and yet their vicious brand of political ideology lives on. The Wahhabi deeply influenced not only the formation of modern Saudi Arabia, but Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. Their teachings educate orphan boys in Afghanistan and press rifles into their hands, for the sake of jihad.

The parallels between this pivotal terrorist network and our post-9/11 political climate are staggering. Charles Allen sheds lights on

the historical roots of modern terrorism and shows how this dangerous nineteenth-century theology lives on today.
By:  
Imprint:   Abacus
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Height: 196mm,  Width: 126mm,  Spine: 26mm
Weight:   260g
ISBN:   9780349118796
ISBN 10:   0349118795
Pages:   368
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Charles Allen is one of the most celebrated travel writers and historians of his generation.

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

Allen joins 9/11 to his long-standing interest in the soldier/scholar adventurers of the British Raj and turns up some interesting nuggets on Islamic fundamentalism.As early as the 12th century, writes Allen (The Search for the Buddha, 2003, etc.), radicals sought to turn Islam into a militantly unaccommodating faith. Against the backdrop of the Mongol invasions of the Arab world, a Syrian jurist named Ibn Taymiyya declared Muhammad wrong to suggest-or so ecumenical clerics had determined-that jihad was an internal struggle for purity as much as a war against enemies of the faith. No, said Ibn Taymiyya: Jihad was literal, an unrelenting struggle against all who stood in the way of Islam's destiny. That militant stance was revived in the 18th century in the Arabian backcountry, when fundamentalist Bedouins preached fire and brimstone. At first, the Wahhabi cult didn't make much of a dent outside of the kingdom of the Saudis, rejected and condemned as schismatic. Still, where Islam was felt to be threatened, as in India, when brought under British rule, new adherents were easily recruited, particularly among young males from among the poor and ignorant (preferably prepubescent orphans) who could be easily indoctrinated. So it was in the Raj, when cadres of Islamic assassins set out to murder as many Britons as they could, retiring to the schools called madrassas to read scripture in their off hours. The same demographic category, writes Allen, fueled the Taliban, which emerged seemingly from nowhere in 1994 to seize power in Afghanistan, soon to be allied with al-Qaeda. Both movements grew from the same fundamentalist roots, the author asserts, adding that others will follow unless grievances such as the lack of education and opportunity for young Muslims-to say nothing of the lack of a Palestinian state-are neutralized.This narrative has a grafted-on feel, but it is still of use to those seeking to understand the origins and growth of Islamic extremism. (Kirkus Reviews)


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