Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 312 pages
• Published by: Diane Pub Co October 30, 2002
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0756791340
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0756791346
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 1.4 pounds

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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror (Hardcover) One of the oddest things about this book is its reviews, positive and negative alike. Apparently none of the reviewers have noticed that Schwartz, to the extent one can judge from a plethora of hints in the text (most obviously in the Acknowledgements) is, most likely, himself a Sufi. It is pointless, therefore, to guess whether he is on the Right or on the Left and whether his book is anti-Islamic - it definitely is not. It is, in fact, a polemical tract, and whereas I do not believe the picture of the contemporary Islam he paints is without merit, it is seriously flawed due to his relentless Sufi perspective. Thus, ayatollah Homeini gets away with a mild rebuke simply because he was a Shiite and pro-Sufi. The author somehow fails to mention that the practice of suicidal martyrdom was not invented by the Wahhabites. It goes a long way back with the Shiites and was widely practiced during the Iran-Iraq war. Iranian revolution, even though not exportable per se because tainted with Shiism, was an idea and an example that went a long way. Furthermore, Schwartz gives very different treatment to rather similar secular regimes. He professes great dislike for Kemal Ataturk but deals gently with Nasser of Egypt, pretty ugly character. Everything clears up once we recall that Ataturk banned Sufi orders, whereas Nasser who was fighting Wahhabi-like Moslem Brotherhood, left the Sufis alone. And so forth. The history of Wahhabism and its present day worldwide influence deserve to be widely known, and Schwartz is apparently well served by his Sufi sources. Still, terms like "diabolical" do not belong in a book that purports to retain some objectivity. To conclude, the title itself is wrong. It suggests that the diabolical face of Wahhabism is somehow balanced by the angelic face of Sufism. No, it is not - and not only because Sufism, thanks to its horizontal structure, is far from uniform and does not possess a hierarchy to speak for itself. Every major religion can possess only one merit in the eyes of those who are not its adherents: it could leave them alone. In other words, it could be either intrusive or ignorable. Islam, whatever its historical deserts, today does not pass this test.