Wahhabi Islam

Books Reviews:

Wahhabi Islam
By Natana DeLong-Bas, Oxford University Press, 2004, 370 pp. List: $35; AET: $27.50.

Reviewed by Sara Powell

AS I WAS reading Wahhabi Islam on the bus, a fellow passenger asked me if I was a professor or just eccentric. The latter, I answered. A non-eccentric reader, however, could just as easily have been enjoying this very accessible, though academic, book. Encompassing a brief biography of Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of Wahhabi Islam, with a deconstructive study of his works, DeLong-Bas argues that Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's philosophy is in keeping with the 19th century renaissance movement in Arab Islam. Having thoroughly researched Abd al-Wahhab's own writings, those of his contemporaries, as well as other interpretive works, she has produced a well-argued, logically constructed, and considered-if perhaps somewhat sympathetic-analysis of Abd al-Wahhab's beliefs, and therefore of the foundations of Wahhabism. DeLong-Bas concludes her book with a discussion of the relevance of modern interpretations of Wahhabism, including that of Osama bin Laden, to the world's current political situation.

In and of itself, this study of an important sect of Islam is a needed addition to the field, which includes only a few such studies. In the context of a post-9/11 world environment, however, in which many are advancing Samuel Huntington's "clash of civilizations" theory, Muslims and Arabs are being targeted, and even popular filmmakers like Michael Moore attack the Saudi government, the need for DeLong-Bas' clear and cogent study of the belief system blamed for 9/11 is absolutely crucial.

To reiterate, the book is well researched, well written, totally accessible to the layperson-even enjoyable. The author's description of Abd al-Wahhab's strictures regarding weddings-the gifts, the food, the dancing-provide wonderful and unexpected glimpses into the lighter side of a deeply religious sect. DeLong-Bas also allows the reader to follow Abd al-Wahhab's thought process by tracing the various lines of reasoning from the time he is presented with a problem to the moment he decides its conclusion-whether it is the fate of a tree which might mistakenly be considered an idol, or that of an adulterer who confesses, repents, but strays again.

An important caveat-which DeLong-Bas herself makes, and is an important consideration for the reader to keep in mind-is that of historical context: Wahhabism is a product of neither the 21st nor the 20th centuries. Nonetheless, in contrast to orientalist theories of an unchanging East, DeLong-Bas not only places Wahhabism in the 19th century reform movement, but depicts its capacity for adaptation.

Footnotes, an index, and a bibliography add to the book's usefulness, as does a glossary that is not only listed at the back, but inserted throughout. Painstakingly keeping her reader in mind, DeLong-Bas translates Arabic words and unfamiliar terms, thus keeping the flow of ideas uninterrupted by constant referrals to the back of the book.

In a tour-de-force of historic writing on what to many Americans is an obscure and troubling religious sect, DeLong-Bas has produced an academic treatise that both engages and enlightens the reader. In fact, I almost wished that Oxford had abandoned its staid academic reputation and given Wahhabi Islam the most colorful, even lurid, cover possible-something along the lines of the charged painting adorning the cover of Edward Said's Orientalism. For it would be a great loss if potential readers-those who suspect that there must be a logical reason behind the strife between Islam and the West, those who would go beyond an inherent "clash of civilizations" and attempt to understand and bridge any gaps-were to avoid this book because it looks forbidding (or because they might look like an eccentric reading it on the bus). Wahhabi Islam is, without question, one of the most important books of the year.

This article was published in the May-June edition of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. It is used here with permission.