Description
Book SynopsisDavid Commins challenges the stereotype of Saudi Arabia as a country immune to change by highlighting the ways that urbanization, education, and consumerism have exerted pressure on the religious establishment.
Trade Review[Commins] has produced a succinct and insightful survey of puritanical Wahhabi Islam in Saudi Arabia. He covers history, doctrinal issues, the symbiosis of the ruling family with the Wahhabi clergy, and everyday Islamic practice in the realms of education, moral standards, law, charity, and gender.
* Foreign Affairs *
There is a need for a book like Islam in Saudi Arabia. Unlike a good deal of recent academic and journalistic writing on Saudi Arabia that tends to treat the country in a kind of exceptionalist framework or as a so-called enigma, David Commins underscores that—just like any other country—there are transparent and standard means of analyzing aspects of Saudi society.
* Canadian Journal of History *
This book makes a valuable contribution to understanding the interplay among culture (religion), politics, and society in Saudi Arabia. Commins (history, Dickinson College) accounts for the rise of modern Wahhabi religious doctrine and its interplay with other religious and political currents in the Arabian Peninsula.
* Choice *
Table of ContentsForeword by Malise Ruthven1. Introduction
2. The Establishment of the Wahhabi Tradition
3. Wahhabism and the Modern Saudi State
4. Religion and Daily Life
5. Islam in Contemporary Saudi Society
6. Religious Politics
7. The International Reach of Wahhabism
8. ConclusionNotes
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index
