The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror: Amazon.ca: Stephen Schwartz: Books

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From Publishers Weekly

Schwartz challenges President Bush's "axis of terror." "The real exporters of international Islamic extremism and terror," he says, are not Iraq or Iran, but an American ally: the Saudis. Saudia Arabia is dominated by Wahhabism, which journalist Schwartz (Kosovo: Background to a War) labels a "fascistic" cult. And the West, he goes on, has "nurtured this serpent in [its] very bosom" by supporting the Saudis in the belief that they were "moderate..
- very bosom" by supporting the Saudis in the belief that they were "moderate."
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Is Islam a tolerant and peaceful religion? Or is it embodied by the murder of civilians seen in New York and Tel Aviv? Islam is, this passionate book contends, both and more. Schwartz cautions against viewing Islam as a monolith, pointing out that even under the umbrella of "fundamentalist" Islam, there is considerable diversity. He argues that the most dangerous and oppressive brand of Islamic extremism isn't found in Iran or Iraq, but in America's closest Arab ally, Saudi Arabia. In Arabia, the spiritual legacy of Muhammad ibn abd al-Wahhab, a radical--and, Schwartz says, heretical--seventeenth-century cleric, rose to prominence when his followers, the Wahhabis, forged an allegiance to the Sa'ud family. Together, Wahhabis and Sa'uds murdered and plundered their way to the Arabian throne. Ever since, Schwartz maintains, the Saudis have worked tirelessly to export their uniquely extreme vision of Islamic piety. U.S. alliance with the Saudi regime only furthers the cause of terrorism. Provocative, detailed, and fervently written analysis. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, well researched, and disturbing, Jun 27 2006

By

Brian Griffith (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror (Hardcover)

In "The two Faces of Islam", Stephen Schwartz locates the primary source of fanatically intolerant Islam in the world today, finding its origin in the Wahhabi denomination, which is the official religion of Saudi-Arabia. This version of Islam, Schwartz argues, was imposed on Arabia by naked force, and maintains its power by official suppression of all other Islamic traditions. Then, in recent decades, the Wahhabi supremacists have launched a massive campaign, backed by Saudi oil wealth, to export and impose their uniquely intolerant fundamentalism onto every Muslim community in the world. In contrast to this, Schwartz highlights resistance to the Wahhabis from other Muslims, be they devotees of Sufi mystics or ordinary believers in many nations, who stress compassion and forgiveness as primary values.

This excellent book has many conclusions, but perhaps this is a good one to mention: "Western reporting uniformly treats opponents of the Saudi regime as fanatical, anti-Western theological extremists bent on replacing the existing order with one inspired by bin Laden or Khomeini, and therefore inconcievably worse. Some prominent opposition elements are clearly aligned with extreme Wahhabism and even serve as apologists for bin Laden ... [But] In reality, while religious dissidence will doubtless be the source of future upheavals in all three peripheral provinces, none of these communities [the mainly Shia Eastern Province, the Hejaz western coastlands around Mecca and Medina, or the Najran and the Yemani borderlands to the south] are extremist in their outlook or their probable demands. All of them mainly seek to replace Wahhabi rigidity with the pluralism and spirituality of traditional Islam." (p.273)

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A unique and important book with some serious flaws, Nov 21 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror (Hardcover)

The Two Faces of Islam is a passionate, polemical book that attempts to refocus the war on terrorism on the Wahhabi branch of Islam, the officially established doctrine of that part of Arabia now under control by the House of Sa'ud, i.e. "Saudi" Arabia. Schwartz argues that the emerging dominance of Wahhabism within the Islamic world, buttressed by petrodollars and the Sa'uds strategic alliance with Western powers, has obscured the true, pluralistic, tolerant face of Islam with a dogmatic, oppressive, anti-intellectual, violent face of Islam. Schwartz has identified himself as a follower of a mystical, unitarian form of Sufi Islam. His political beliefs are difficult to pinpoint on the spectrum, but he was written articles for right-wing media like Frontpage and the Weekly Standard, and he has long been passionately opposed to the extreme left.

Like Schwartz's Islam, his book has two faces: one is an apologetic for Muhammad and traditional Islam, the other is his vigorous polemic against Wahhabism, Saudi Arabia, and its western benefactors. Both aspects of the book have faults. With regard to his apologetic, Schwartz is not always convincing to those of us with doubts about the notion that Islam "means peace." His defense of Muhammad is far more ambiguous than he realizes, and his dicussion of the less flattering aspects of Islamic rule, such as the dhimmi, are far from satisfying for anyone familiar with the subjects. I strongly disagree, however, with the notion that Schwartz has written this book to appeal to the "Islamophobic" crowd. ("Islamaphobia" is itself a suspect term often employed by groups like CAIR who front for radical Islam and want to shut down any rational discussion of Islamic theology or the extremists' global infrastructure). His book is, if anything, an admirable attempt to destroy what he sees as a catastrophic public identification of Wahhabism with Islam itself. Schwartz devotes a large portion of the book to discussing how the Sa'uds have used their resources and influence to present Wahhabism as "true" Islam all around the world.

The flaw of the second aspect is that Schwartz neglects to discuss the other possible sources of Arab-Islamic extremism, so focused as he is on pinning the tail on the Wahhabi camel. He does not satisfactorily consider, for example, the influence of secular ideologies such as pan-Arab socialism or Ba'athism. He also goes out of his way, unconvincingly, to absolve Shi'a Islam for any responsibility for Islamic radicalism. The most disturbing part of the book is when Schwartz attempts to have us believe that Ayatollah Khomeini was not such a bad guy after all, that he was really a mystic with benevolent Sufi tendencies, that he was just a victim of anti-Shi'a Wahhabi propaganda! I think the people of Iran would dissent from his view of the theocrats in Tehran. Thus his goal to wall off Wahhabism as the sole source of Islamic extremism go too far at times.

On the whole, the book deserves a wide readership and consideration. Despite its flaws, I have found this to be one of the most helpful and refreshingly unorthodox post-September 11 books (although Schwartz was ringing this bell long before that fateful day).

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, well researched, and disturbing, July 16 2006

By

Brian Griffith (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror (Hardcover)

In "The two Faces of Islam", Stephen Schwartz locates the primary source of fanatically intolerant Islam in the world today, finding its origin in the Wahhabi denomination, which is the official religion of Saudi-Arabia. This version of Islam, Schwartz argues, was imposed on Arabia by naked force, and maintains its power by official suppression of all other Islamic traditions. Then, in recent decades, the Wahhabi supremacists have launched a massive campaign, backed by Saudi oil wealth, to export and impose their uniquely intolerant fundamentalism onto every Muslim community in the world. In contrast to this, Schwartz highlights resistance to the Wahhabis from other Muslims, be they devotees of Sufi mystics or ordinary believers in many nations, who stress compassion and forgiveness as primary values.

This excellent book has many conclusions, but perhaps this is a good one to mention: "Western reporting uniformly treats opponents of the Saudi regime as fanatical, anti-Western theological extremists bent on replacing the existing order with one inspired by bin Laden or Khomeini, and therefore inconcievably worse. Some prominent opposition elements are clearly aligned with extreme Wahhabism and even serve as apologists for bin Laden ... [But] In reality, while religious dissidence will doubtless be the source of future upheavals in all three peripheral provinces, none of these communities [the mainly Shia Eastern Province, the Hejaz western coastlands around Mecca and Medina, or the Najran and the Yemani borderlands to the south] are extremist in their outlook or their probable demands. All of them mainly seek to replace Wahhabi rigidity with the pluralism and spirituality of traditional Islam." (p.273)

--author of Correcting Jesus

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars "Two Faces": First four chapters and the rest
After I completed reading of this book, I have got an impression that the heyday of the great Islamic civilization is definitely over. Read more

Published on Nov 6 2004 by Grettir Strong

1.0 out of 5 stars Simplistic, Naive
The author of this book is a neo-conservative so-called expert on Islam. He doesn't speak or read Arabic. He is not a Middle East scholar. Read more

Published on July 14 2004