Natana J. DeLong-Bas

Shariah is by now a term that most Americans and Europeans recognize, though few really understand what it means. Often portrayed as a medieval system used by religious zealots to oppress women and deny human rights, conservative politicians, media commentators, and hardline televangelists stoke fear by promoting the idea that Muslims want to impose a repressive Shariah rule in America and Europe. Despite the breadth of this propaganda, a majority of Muslims-men and women-support Shariah as a source of law. In fact, for many centuries Shariah has functioned for Muslims as a positive source of guidance, providing a moral compass for individuals and society. This critical new book by John L. Esposito and Natana Delong-Bas aims to serve as a guide for what everybody needs to know in the conversation about Shariah, responding to misunderstandings and distortions, and offering answers to questions about the origin, nature, and content of Shariah.

Shariah is by now a term that most Americans and Europeans recognize, though few really understand what it means. Often portrayed as a medieval system used by religious zealots to oppress women and deny human rights, conservative politicians, media commentators, and hardline televangelists stoke fear by promoting the idea that Muslims want to impose a repressive Shariah rule in America and Europe. Despite the breadth of this propaganda, a majority of Muslims-men and women-support Shariah as a source of law. In fact, for many centuries Shariah has functioned for Muslims as a positive source of guidance, providing a moral compass for individuals and society. This critical new book by John L. Esposito and Natana Delong-Bas aims to serve as a guide for what everybody needs to know in the conversation about Shariah, responding to misunderstandings and distortions, and offering answers to questions about the origin, nature, and content of Shariah.

Until September 11, 2001 few Westerners had ever heard of "Wahhabism." Now most of us recognize the word as describing an austere and puritanical type of Islam, mentioned frequently in connection with Osama bin Laden and Saudi Arabia and often named as the inspiration behind the 9/11 terror attacks. The word "Wahhabi" stems from the name of the founder of this system of thought, Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1702-1791), companion and religious adviser to Muhammad Ibn Saud, founder of the House of Saud. In this book Natana DeLong-Bas offers an in-depth study of the written works of al-Wahhab. She focuses on four areas: theology, legal theory, proselytizing through education and jihad, and law on women. Through a close reading of al-Wahhab's texts she demonstrates that many aspects of 20th- and 21st-century Wahhabi extremism do not have their origins in his writings. Examples of this extremism include the emphasis on jihad, martyrdom and militancy, and misogyny. The strict division of the world into dar al-Islam and dar al-kufr, according to which only Wahhabi adherents are considered to be true Muslims and all others are non-Muslims who must be fought, is entirely absent from al-Wahhab's work. Instead, argues DeLong-Bas, all of these themes were only added to Wahhabi teachings in the 19th century following armed engagement with the Ottoman Empire. DeLong-Bas's study fills an enormous gap in the literature about Wahhabism by returning to the original writings of the founder of the movement. She debunks the common journalistic portrayal of Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab as an illiterate, rural bumpkin with no scholarly formation. Her revisionist reading of al-Wahhab's thought will be controversial but impossible to ignore. The book will be essential reading for students and scholars of Islam as well as for those interested in the background of this dangerous modern ideology.

- The only available book on Wahhabism grounded in the writings of its founder, Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab- Traces the development and distortion of Wahhabism from its founder to Osama bin Laden