The Saudi religious reform movement of the 18th and 19th centuries; known in the west as Wahhabism; is one of the most controversial and misunderstood religious movements of the modern Middle East. This biography of its founder; Muhammad Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab; is the first serious English-language account written not from a Western; but an Arabian perspective. Based on exhaustive research of primary sources; Abd-Allah Salih Al-Uthaimin reconstructs the social; political and spiritual environment of the Arabian peninsula in the time of Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab. The author charts this movement's intellectual development and growing sway; and unpicks the historic alliance of its founder with the House of Al-Saud: a uniquely close partnership of political and religious relationships whose legacy is felt in the Saudi state to this day. Al-Uthaimin also provides a detailed exposition and commentary on Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab's doctrines; based on his published and unpublished works; and explains his perspective on concepts such as tawhid; takfir and sharia. This meticulously researched biography offers a unique insight into its complex and often controversial subject. As such; it will become essential reading for anyone interested in political Islam; Saudi Arabia and the modern Middle East.
#13272727 in Books 2009-02-13Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.50 x .34 x 5.83l; .40 #File Name: 1843420775134 pages
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