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God's Terrorists
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.
368 pages, Paperback
First published February 23, 2006
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402 people want to read
About the author
Charles Allen
88 books112 followersCharles Allen is a British writer and historian. He was born in India, where several generations of his family served under the British Raj. His work focuses on India and South Asia in general. Allen's most notable work is Kipling Sahib, a biography of Rudyard Kipling. His most recent work, Ashoka: the Search for India's Lost Emperor, was published in February 2012.
Selected works:
Plain Tales from the Raj: Images of British India in the Twentieth Century (1975)
Raj: A Scrapbook of British India 1877–1947 (1977)
Tales from the Dark Continent: Images of British Colonial Africa in the Twentieth Century (1979)
A Mountain in Tibet: The Search for Mount Kailas and the Sources of the Great Rivers of India (1982)
Tales from the South China Seas: Images of the British in South-East Asia in the Twentieth Century (1983)
Lives of the Indian Princes, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (1984)
Kipling's Kingdom: His Best Indian Stories (1987)
A Glimpse of the Burning Plain: Leaves from the Journals of Charlotte Canning (1986)
A Soldier of the Company: Life of an Indian Ensign 1833–43 (1988)
Architecture of the British Empire, Ed. R. Fermor-Hesketh (1989)
The Savage Wars of Peace: Soldiers' Voices 1945–1989 (1990)
Thunder and Lightning: The RAF in the Gulf War (1991)
The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History (1999)
India Through the Lens: Photography 1840–1911, Ed. Vidya Dehejia (2000)
Soldier Sahibs: The Men who Made the North-west Frontier (2000)
The Buddha and the Sahibs: The Men who Discovered India's Lost Religion (2002)
Duel in the Snows: The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa (2004)
Maharajas: Resonance from the Past (2005)
God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad (2006)
Kipling Sahib: India and the Making of Rudyard Kipling (2007)
The Buddha and Dr Führer: An Archaeological Scandal (2008)
The Taj at Apollo Bunder: The History of the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (2011)
Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor (2012)
Selected works:
Plain Tales from the Raj: Images of British India in the Twentieth Century (1975)
Raj: A Scrapbook of British India 1877–1947 (1977)
Tales from the Dark Continent: Images of British Colonial Africa in the Twentieth Century (1979)
A Mountain in Tibet: The Search for Mount Kailas and the Sources of the Great Rivers of India (1982)
Tales from the South China Seas: Images of the British in South-East Asia in the Twentieth Century (1983)
Lives of the Indian Princes, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (1984)
Kipling's Kingdom: His Best Indian Stories (1987)
A Glimpse of the Burning Plain: Leaves from the Journals of Charlotte Canning (1986)
A Soldier of the Company: Life of an Indian Ensign 1833–43 (1988)
Architecture of the British Empire, Ed. R. Fermor-Hesketh (1989)
The Savage Wars of Peace: Soldiers' Voices 1945–1989 (1990)
Thunder and Lightning: The RAF in the Gulf War (1991)
The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History (1999)
India Through the Lens: Photography 1840–1911, Ed. Vidya Dehejia (2000)
Soldier Sahibs: The Men who Made the North-west Frontier (2000)
The Buddha and the Sahibs: The Men who Discovered India's Lost Religion (2002)
Duel in the Snows: The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa (2004)
Maharajas: Resonance from the Past (2005)
God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad (2006)
Kipling Sahib: India and the Making of Rudyard Kipling (2007)
The Buddha and Dr Führer: An Archaeological Scandal (2008)
The Taj at Apollo Bunder: The History of the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (2011)
Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor (2012)
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December 19, 2016
Challenging the notion that the Taliban arose following the anti-Soviet mujahedeen movement in the 1980s, Charles Allen traces the antecedents of the movement to the period following the collapse of Mughal power in India and the rise of the British in the 18th-19th centuries.
The ideology of the Taliban can be traced even further back to ibn Taymiyya, the 13th cenutry scholar, jurist and reformer. He lived through the devastation of the Islamic world following the Mongol invasions, and advocated a return to the purity and austerity of the Prophet's time to revive the lost glory. That message resonated with al Wahhab and his near contemporary, Sheikh Waliullah of Delhi in the early 18th century, who took ibn Taymiyya's teachings back to their respective communities. Sheikh Waliullah too lived through the collapse of Mughal power in India, after the death of Aurangazeb as the Marathas first and later the British eroded the empire.
But the radicalization of the Pathan tribes began with the activities of Syed Ahmad, a preacher from Rae Bareilli, who witnessed the increasing encroachments of the British and wanted to initiate a religious resistance to colonial domination. But a jihad could only be launched from a 'dar ul islam" and not from a "dal ul harb" (zone of war or ungodliness), and therefore a search was on for a sanctuary where a willing amir would govern on religious principles. An alliance with the Pathan tribes on the remote northwestern frontier was the answer. Since the 1820s, for close to a century, a remote fortress at Sittana in the foothills of the Mahabun mountains on the edge of the vale of Peshawar became the "Hindustani fanatic's" camp. It is from here that a number of military actions were planned, and in turn it was this region that became a target for British retaliatory expeditions, including the infamous Ambeyla campaign. Interestingly, Syed Ahmad and his followers managed to create a supply network from the "chota gudam" at Patna, to the "bada gudam" at Sittana, ferrying men and materiel right under the noses of the British.
It was also interesting to read that the 1857 insurrection, considered largely a spontaneous uprising of Indian soldiers under British employ, was also to an extent planned and coordinated. Several groups such as the Hindustani Fanatics had created communication and logistics networks, with the result that revolts broke out simultaneously in half-a-dozen sites across northern and eastern India. But once the insurrection began, the Hindustani Fanatics took a backseat, since their Wahabbi idealogy forbade them to cooperate with Shias and Hindus.
In a parallel narrative, Allen also covers the origin and growth of Wahabbism in the Arabian peninsula. al Wahhab established a partnership, later cemented by a matrimonial alliance for his son, with the al Saud family. The al Sauds, originally tribal leaders from the Nejd, eventually manage to bring the Hijaz and progressively the entire Arabian peninsula under their control. But their growth was far from smooth. An initial setback followed from their sack of Mecca, then under the protection of the Ottomans and their agents, which made them reviled throughout the Muslim world. An Egyptian army acting on behalf of the Ottomans pushed them back into the Nejd. But the Wahhab-Saud alliance eventually managed to unify all the Arab tribes, by promoting a religious ideology that suppressed tribal loyalties and substituted devotion to the amir-imam partnership.
These two streams of narrative -- the radicalization of the Pathans consequent to the Hindustani Fanatics movement, and the Wahhabbi ideology imported from the Arabian peninsula -- were to merge in the rise of the Taliban. Osama bin Laden, the Yemeni raised in Saudi Arabia who found sanctuary in the Afghan borderlands, epitomizes this evil alliance. Allen does not cover the modern period in much detail, since there are in-depth treatments available from contemporary sources. Allen's main contribution lies in identifying the historical roots of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and tracing these roots further back than most other authors do.
The ideology of the Taliban can be traced even further back to ibn Taymiyya, the 13th cenutry scholar, jurist and reformer. He lived through the devastation of the Islamic world following the Mongol invasions, and advocated a return to the purity and austerity of the Prophet's time to revive the lost glory. That message resonated with al Wahhab and his near contemporary, Sheikh Waliullah of Delhi in the early 18th century, who took ibn Taymiyya's teachings back to their respective communities. Sheikh Waliullah too lived through the collapse of Mughal power in India, after the death of Aurangazeb as the Marathas first and later the British eroded the empire.
But the radicalization of the Pathan tribes began with the activities of Syed Ahmad, a preacher from Rae Bareilli, who witnessed the increasing encroachments of the British and wanted to initiate a religious resistance to colonial domination. But a jihad could only be launched from a 'dar ul islam" and not from a "dal ul harb" (zone of war or ungodliness), and therefore a search was on for a sanctuary where a willing amir would govern on religious principles. An alliance with the Pathan tribes on the remote northwestern frontier was the answer. Since the 1820s, for close to a century, a remote fortress at Sittana in the foothills of the Mahabun mountains on the edge of the vale of Peshawar became the "Hindustani fanatic's" camp. It is from here that a number of military actions were planned, and in turn it was this region that became a target for British retaliatory expeditions, including the infamous Ambeyla campaign. Interestingly, Syed Ahmad and his followers managed to create a supply network from the "chota gudam" at Patna, to the "bada gudam" at Sittana, ferrying men and materiel right under the noses of the British.
It was also interesting to read that the 1857 insurrection, considered largely a spontaneous uprising of Indian soldiers under British employ, was also to an extent planned and coordinated. Several groups such as the Hindustani Fanatics had created communication and logistics networks, with the result that revolts broke out simultaneously in half-a-dozen sites across northern and eastern India. But once the insurrection began, the Hindustani Fanatics took a backseat, since their Wahabbi idealogy forbade them to cooperate with Shias and Hindus.
In a parallel narrative, Allen also covers the origin and growth of Wahabbism in the Arabian peninsula. al Wahhab established a partnership, later cemented by a matrimonial alliance for his son, with the al Saud family. The al Sauds, originally tribal leaders from the Nejd, eventually manage to bring the Hijaz and progressively the entire Arabian peninsula under their control. But their growth was far from smooth. An initial setback followed from their sack of Mecca, then under the protection of the Ottomans and their agents, which made them reviled throughout the Muslim world. An Egyptian army acting on behalf of the Ottomans pushed them back into the Nejd. But the Wahhab-Saud alliance eventually managed to unify all the Arab tribes, by promoting a religious ideology that suppressed tribal loyalties and substituted devotion to the amir-imam partnership.
These two streams of narrative -- the radicalization of the Pathans consequent to the Hindustani Fanatics movement, and the Wahhabbi ideology imported from the Arabian peninsula -- were to merge in the rise of the Taliban. Osama bin Laden, the Yemeni raised in Saudi Arabia who found sanctuary in the Afghan borderlands, epitomizes this evil alliance. Allen does not cover the modern period in much detail, since there are in-depth treatments available from contemporary sources. Allen's main contribution lies in identifying the historical roots of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and tracing these roots further back than most other authors do.
May 10, 2011
One way to find what is wrong with this book is to see reviews of those who end up liking it. Take for instance the readers who claim that Charles Allen's narrative is important for those who want to 'familiarize themselves with religions they don't know', or 'insightful read into the origins of Jihad' etc; one five star reader even calls it a 'must read for those who want to understand Afghanistan'. Therefore, I would consider it a dangerous text as it ends up portraying itself (perhaps inadvertently) as a coherent commentary on religion, theology and Islamic thought in general.
I read it as a crass, oversimplistic, irresponsible and slightly Islamophobic text. There are instances when it is so casually written to make one wonder whether Allen really knows the difference between 'Mujahid' and 'Mujahideen'. An example of this crassitude is how Allen finds it enough to observe that there was one common teacher (among many) of Shah Wali Ullah and Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahab, in order to make their ideologies comparable.
It is true that there are historical patterns of Islamic authoritarianism and extremism but Allen miserably fails to even start exploring them. The reason I didn't dislike this books because it accumulates some important pieces of information regarding struggles for sovereignty in South East Asia during imperial Raj.
I read it as a crass, oversimplistic, irresponsible and slightly Islamophobic text. There are instances when it is so casually written to make one wonder whether Allen really knows the difference between 'Mujahid' and 'Mujahideen'. An example of this crassitude is how Allen finds it enough to observe that there was one common teacher (among many) of Shah Wali Ullah and Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahab, in order to make their ideologies comparable.
It is true that there are historical patterns of Islamic authoritarianism and extremism but Allen miserably fails to even start exploring them. The reason I didn't dislike this books because it accumulates some important pieces of information regarding struggles for sovereignty in South East Asia during imperial Raj.
July 22, 2018
My first read about this region, great starter to figure out what more to read! Will definitely read his other works.
January 5, 2011
Don't be put off by all of the names. I learned pretty quickly that unless and until Allen distilled Arabic names to their basic form I didn't need to try to remember every person mentioned. Another "must read" for those interested in religions with which they may not be familiar. Most Americans by now have heard of Sunni, Shia, and even Sufi Muslims. How many are familiar with Wahhabism? Well, we need to be! I was excited a couple of years ago when one of the major news magazines actually did a cover story on the Sunnis and the Shias and how they are different. There was not ONE WORD about radical Wahhabism, the form of Islam on which Saudi Arabia was founded and is still ruled. Shouldn't we know these things?? Read the book.
March 4, 2008
KNowing that his Western' readers have trouble keeping track of Middle-Eastern names, the author provides a handy reference in the back, but It is still as difficult as keeping track of all the Henrys, Edwards and Richards in English History. The author sheds light on the 18th century origins of the Wahabi strain of Islam that is the religion of the ruling Sauds in Saudi Arabia as well as being the genesis of the Taliban in Afganistan. He delineates how the sect started in Iran and then transfered to the Hindustani sections of British ruled India
December 25, 2014
An interesting story of the roots of present day fanaticism, especially on the western frontier of the sub-continent. It is a very well researched book. Maybe that is the reason for sometime draggingly long narratives of events.
October 30, 2008
A hard read but a must read for anyone wishing to understand Afghanistan.
May 14, 2010
A really interesting and worthwhile book. The Taliban has deep roots, centuries deep, in India and Saudi Arabia as well as Afghanistan.
September 6, 2021
Something as terrorising as terrorism (instilling the masses with fear) couldn't have been so vicious without the influence of selfish people, either for political or purely personal reasons. There is no way gods - Allah, Jehovah, Zeus, Brahman, Mulungu, whatever - could commission such violence against the peoples.
That's what God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad by Charles Allen is all about.
Terrorism in the world today is not a commission by a god, or gods. There is no holy or evil war. It is all creation of men, as it is of all religions. Saudi Arabia was founded from terrorism, by the Wahhabi cultists. And this endures today.
The brutal assassination 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.
This book is an eye-opener: we should not just follow what we are told blindly, find out the truth for yourself.
That's what God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad by Charles Allen is all about.
Terrorism in the world today is not a commission by a god, or gods. There is no holy or evil war. It is all creation of men, as it is of all religions. Saudi Arabia was founded from terrorism, by the Wahhabi cultists. And this endures today.
The brutal assassination 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.
This book is an eye-opener: we should not just follow what we are told blindly, find out the truth for yourself.
May 11, 2013
A bit dry on narrative & one dimensional!
The book that traces the progress of radical Islamic Fundamentalism from an isolated & discarded tribe in Nejd (in present day Saudi Arabia) to the Khandahar (Afghanistan).
Chronologically it draws from notes, reports and experiences of British individuals spanning more than two centuries.
It states the dynamics that evolved this extreme puritan form of Islam from spurts of aggression to the world's most efficiently organized terrorist outfit.
Though an outsider gets immense amount of information about formation of Modern Jihad it doesn't engage the reader. It reads almost like browsing through archived newspaper articles.
Only towards the end of the 400 odd pages Allen gives a humane tone to the narrative. He summaries the book in 2 pages flat, with a plea to wither off this movement by withdrawing it's source of motivation and funding.
A decent first read. But fails miserably in presenting "Why the majority of the Islamic world is the movement's foremost enemy". For this singular reason, it becomes a very dangerous book to form ones opinion from!
The book that traces the progress of radical Islamic Fundamentalism from an isolated & discarded tribe in Nejd (in present day Saudi Arabia) to the Khandahar (Afghanistan).
Chronologically it draws from notes, reports and experiences of British individuals spanning more than two centuries.
It states the dynamics that evolved this extreme puritan form of Islam from spurts of aggression to the world's most efficiently organized terrorist outfit.
Though an outsider gets immense amount of information about formation of Modern Jihad it doesn't engage the reader. It reads almost like browsing through archived newspaper articles.
Only towards the end of the 400 odd pages Allen gives a humane tone to the narrative. He summaries the book in 2 pages flat, with a plea to wither off this movement by withdrawing it's source of motivation and funding.
A decent first read. But fails miserably in presenting "Why the majority of the Islamic world is the movement's foremost enemy". For this singular reason, it becomes a very dangerous book to form ones opinion from!
September 25, 2023
A book in which an author tries to craft a narrative on a subject he does not master.
The author slams the term "Wahhabi" on anything that does not fit into his framework of "good" Islam. He simplifies every Islamic theological concept (Tawhid, Hakkimiya, Jihad etc.) to his own constructed narrative. And for some reason he occasionally takes Hitler and Osama Bin Laden to create a ridiculous comparison that is as anachronistic as unnecessary.
The sources the author uses are mostly written by British colonial officers. Based on these highly coloured narratives (to which the author in no way places a critical note), the author tries to construct a narrative that barely hangs together. An example of this is the contact that key Indian figures had on their Haji with the "Wahhabi's". He just states that they were in sort of the same place at sort of the same time; so they must have conversed and exported their Wahhabi ideology. Another example is that the author continious on the notes of British Colonial Officers that only "the poor and the ignorant" could support a radical Islamic movement that wished the end of the British Raj
The collective beliefs, reading of authentic sources and Islamic rituals of "Wahhabism" are enormously complex and strongly linked to the context in which they originated in the Arabian Peninsula. The author makes no note of the fact that "Wahhabism" is an exonym and not an endonym and presents it as a kind of ready-made export product whose "creator" was aware of its potential and future developments.
There is no insight given in the history of this crucial period in the development of a reactive, radical and innovative Islam, namely the British rule of South Asia.
As can be read below, individuals unfamiliar with the subject go along with Allen's narrative. I therefore dare to say that Allen is succeeding in what it is trying to achieve; giving a polarised portrayal of Salafist Islam where it can be divided into two easy camps: "good" and "bad". For the average headline reader this is a good book to be confirmed in what you can read in the headlines of Fox News.
For those truly interested in the development and history of the global Salafist movement, I recommend "Salafi-Jihadism" by Shiraz Maher. He gives a simple but excellent insight of the subject.
The author slams the term "Wahhabi" on anything that does not fit into his framework of "good" Islam. He simplifies every Islamic theological concept (Tawhid, Hakkimiya, Jihad etc.) to his own constructed narrative. And for some reason he occasionally takes Hitler and Osama Bin Laden to create a ridiculous comparison that is as anachronistic as unnecessary.
The sources the author uses are mostly written by British colonial officers. Based on these highly coloured narratives (to which the author in no way places a critical note), the author tries to construct a narrative that barely hangs together. An example of this is the contact that key Indian figures had on their Haji with the "Wahhabi's". He just states that they were in sort of the same place at sort of the same time; so they must have conversed and exported their Wahhabi ideology. Another example is that the author continious on the notes of British Colonial Officers that only "the poor and the ignorant" could support a radical Islamic movement that wished the end of the British Raj
The collective beliefs, reading of authentic sources and Islamic rituals of "Wahhabism" are enormously complex and strongly linked to the context in which they originated in the Arabian Peninsula. The author makes no note of the fact that "Wahhabism" is an exonym and not an endonym and presents it as a kind of ready-made export product whose "creator" was aware of its potential and future developments.
There is no insight given in the history of this crucial period in the development of a reactive, radical and innovative Islam, namely the British rule of South Asia.
As can be read below, individuals unfamiliar with the subject go along with Allen's narrative. I therefore dare to say that Allen is succeeding in what it is trying to achieve; giving a polarised portrayal of Salafist Islam where it can be divided into two easy camps: "good" and "bad". For the average headline reader this is a good book to be confirmed in what you can read in the headlines of Fox News.
For those truly interested in the development and history of the global Salafist movement, I recommend "Salafi-Jihadism" by Shiraz Maher. He gives a simple but excellent insight of the subject.
October 14, 2025
Charles Allen has written a complete and detailed account of the most extreme ideology which has grown out of any religion, wahabism. This book foretells the story of the ideology which created the most dreaded terrorists of our times ranging from Al-Zarqawi to Osama Bin Laden. Charles Allen at length discusses the roots of wahabees from it's created Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. How this ideology on fanaticism and violence travelled from Arabia to India via the pathan lands of pakistan. and Afghanistan. The author also details the intricate relationship which the wahabees hold with the ruling family of sauds in Saudi Arabia. The ideology which orginated in the deserts need travelled all the way to Delhi and influenced the Madrasah-i Rahimiyah and later forms the ideological roots of the Darul Uloom Deoband. The influence that this ideology still holds through his followers in the most dreaded Taliban. Wonderful book to understand how an ideology extremely dreaded and hated by early Muslims came to have so much influence on a large population.
October 6, 2022
Terrific and informative book on the origin of Wahabi Islam, and the surprisingly significant impact of Wahabism on Indian history
I thought I knew a fair bit about Indian history, but clearly I have a lot more to learn. For me, the most insightful was the impact of the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny on the social structure of India vis-a-vis Hindus and Muslims
Superb research, as usual, from Charles Allen.
I thought I knew a fair bit about Indian history, but clearly I have a lot more to learn. For me, the most insightful was the impact of the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny on the social structure of India vis-a-vis Hindus and Muslims
Superb research, as usual, from Charles Allen.
March 24, 2019
A good, if laboured, account of the origins of Wahhabism and its effect on Saudi Arabia and modern Jihadism.
June 8, 2020
A very well researched and laden with extensive details which needs quite a dedication to read this book.
Good for people doing in depth research.
Good for people doing in depth research.
Want to read
March 22, 2017I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14457961
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14457961
October 16, 2016
Interestingg, although solely from the Western point of view.
January 11, 2016
Terrorism has been the most critical factor on global agenda, ever since the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001. Almost the entire TV-viewing world knows who Osama bin Laden was and a few even know about the Wahhabi cult to which the master terrorist belonged. But the origin and development of the sect which envelops the whole of Saudi Arabia under its umbrella and protects the holy cities of Islam is a tale not told before in a popularly accessible book. Charles Allen does all this, in addition to linking it to the political unrest in India during the 19th century and goes on to provide a sequel to that all, in the post-Soviet resurgence of Islamic terrorism. By a long stretch of logic and narration of events, Allen has succeeded in making an impression of presenting a credible history. But to an observant eye, the link turns out to be tenuous and the message implicit in the text is that the Indian Mutiny of 1857, or the First War of Independence, is nothing but a battle stimulated by calls of jihad (holy war) and the rebellion may be compared to acts of sabotage and terrorism indulged by the fidayeen (suicide) warriors exploding themselves in the crowded streets of Baghdad or Peshawar. This is utterly illogical and the author has completely missed the thread of religious unity which bound the nation together for a brief moment in 1857 before being frayed out again towards the disastrous partition of the country in 1947. Basically, the book is structured into three parts – origin and growth of Wahhabi cult in Arabia during the 18th century, origin, growth and battles of fundamentalist and violent Islamic cults in India encouraged by the Wahhabi concept in 19th century, and the origin and growth of international terrorism in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. All of these phenomena is presented as the direct effects of Wahhabi influence in terms of religious sanction, fighting men and petro-dollars. However, when the last page was turned, it was felt that this book is a byproduct of the research which he had for his earlier work Soldier Sahibs and that Allen had found a conveniently attractive theme of Wahhabism to join them.
For more, see http://sapientiasemita.blogspot.in
For more, see http://sapientiasemita.blogspot.in
March 1, 2015
If you want to know about the Wahhabi movement the Sub-Continent during the British Raj, this is one of the key texts quite frequently cited these days. Charles Allen specialises in the history of the British rule over India. Follow this text and you would find the followers of the three major religions in British India: Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism as troublemakers, passive and faithful to the their British masters respectively, a point of view which would not be very flattering to any of these groups. The author is not very keen to cite his sources although he does give an extensive bibliography at the end but the absence of footnotes or end notes makes him very unconvincing. There are some errors which are pointed out by other reviewers. Shabbir Ahmad Uthmani's name is spelled as 'Shabbar' Ahmad Uthmani both in the main text and in the Index at the end of the book.
This book is important because it points at Wahhabism as the main source of trouble in Islamic countries. This phenomenon has not been popular for more than a a couple of decades outside the Arabian peninsula which is alarming. The rapid speed with which the 17th century teachings of Abdullah ibn i Wahab alNajadi spread in the wider Islamic world after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban and al Qaeda, the recent attacks on civilians in the West and elsewhere,can all be understood as doings of the followers of a revivalist cult called Wahhabism which more and more people should understand in order to gain a better understanding of our contemporary world. This book gives an account of how the foundations of this violent revolution were laid over a period of two centuries. The final chapter explains the recent developments due to the money spent by Saudi Arabia to further develop and strengthen Wahhabi networks in poorer Islamic countries and among the immigrant Muslim communities in the West.
This book is important because it points at Wahhabism as the main source of trouble in Islamic countries. This phenomenon has not been popular for more than a a couple of decades outside the Arabian peninsula which is alarming. The rapid speed with which the 17th century teachings of Abdullah ibn i Wahab alNajadi spread in the wider Islamic world after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban and al Qaeda, the recent attacks on civilians in the West and elsewhere,can all be understood as doings of the followers of a revivalist cult called Wahhabism which more and more people should understand in order to gain a better understanding of our contemporary world. This book gives an account of how the foundations of this violent revolution were laid over a period of two centuries. The final chapter explains the recent developments due to the money spent by Saudi Arabia to further develop and strengthen Wahhabi networks in poorer Islamic countries and among the immigrant Muslim communities in the West.
September 21, 2018
You will get a complete disappointment, if you are looking for a complete history of Wahhabism and their long tentacles on the entire world history and every aspect of current world politics (particularly Middle East). On the other hand the book concentrates heavily on the Wahhabism and their heavy influence on the pre-independence history of India, Pakistan as well as the entire modern history of Afghanistan. (And there will be no surprise, especially if we know the fact that the author specializes in Indian subcontinent.) As such the book itself is a treasure trove of information and provides a clear insight into the root cause of current sectarian politics in India as well as in Pakistan and also the long standing rivalry between these countries.
The major disqualifications of the book are:-
1)The author uses the first nine chapters as base to bring his point from the tenth chapter onwards. As such the readers may get the equivalent feeling of pre-credit scenes, which is more than three quarters of the entire length of the motion picture.
2) The irritating way in which phonetic representation of Hindi, Urdu and Arabic words are done in English.
I am giving two out of five stars due to the above mentioned faults.
The major disqualifications of the book are:-
1)The author uses the first nine chapters as base to bring his point from the tenth chapter onwards. As such the readers may get the equivalent feeling of pre-credit scenes, which is more than three quarters of the entire length of the motion picture.
2) The irritating way in which phonetic representation of Hindi, Urdu and Arabic words are done in English.
I am giving two out of five stars due to the above mentioned faults.
August 26, 2009
I finished reading the sections related to Wahabism in India. I felt the author needs to present facts rather than asserting his assumptions. Alongside with grave misrepresentation of texts is his novice and superficial knowledge of religious theology, not to mention the lack of understanding of the Indian culture and religious ideas of the time.
All in all, the book is worth a read so that it gives an idea to people how historic events can be twisted and misrepresented.
A clever way to show how all religious and political movements that strove for revival can be shown to have links with al-Qaedah.
All in all, the book is worth a read so that it gives an idea to people how historic events can be twisted and misrepresented.
A clever way to show how all religious and political movements that strove for revival can be shown to have links with al-Qaedah.
December 3, 2012
The majority of this book was interesting and seemed to be well researched. I thought the author did a fairly decent job of describing the history of the Wahhabis, at least one perspective of it. Unfortunately, the end of the book illuminated his lack of understanding in some areas and seemed quite hurried. This was unfortunate because had he devoted the same level of research and understanding it could have been useful. I felt that his bias and lack of understanding then devalued the effort he put into the beginning because it calls into question his judgement and impartiality. Although I have enjoyed some of this authors previous works, this book was a disappointment.
October 9, 2014
While a worthy subject and offering some useful perspective to the present day Islamic terrorists, the book was ploddingly dull and I had to push myself to finish. The writing style was dry; the only characters humanised were the British officers in the East India company and army. The bulk of the mujahideen all sounded like each other, and there was little insight into their lives' circumstances, the historical events of the time or their motivations, beyond a simple recounting of key events in the timeline.
April 11, 2016
a very interesting subject, but a rather tedious result: there are so many names crammed into every page that it is difficult to follow if you know little of indian history during the 19th century. This seems to be a conscious choice by the author, who is more concerned to discuss personalities rather than what these personalities stood for. Still, contains some very revealing and useful information, if one can just keep going
July 28, 2011
One of the most important, or maybe the most important book to understanding of wahhabism and its base in India/Pakistan/Afghanistan. If you want to know the ties between taliban, tablighi, deobandi, salafi and wahhabi movements, it's the right book to learn it.
July 30, 2008
An interesting insight into the origins of Jihad and the different ideas behind Islam, a must if you want to understand the early beginnings of a widespread religion.
Read
November 23, 2010the described storyline is enuf to create interest
August 24, 2012
No, this is not a book about how Muslims are crazed Christian killers; rather, it is a historical look into the formation of the Taliban. Although dry and plodding at times, it is very informative.
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