Open Source from Public Radio International had a show on Tuesday night about Saudi Arabia. I had left a comment on their blog that they were kind enough to read out on air, but best of all was that their expert guest, prof. Bernard Haykel of NYU agreed with the gist of my point. I've been reading a lot about Saudi Arabia over the last year, trying to make some sense of this very opaque country. I don't really understand how the different strands of religion, religio-political ideology, tribe, region, economics and international relations all truly come together but hopefully I'm on the right track.If anyone has suggested reading that will help me understand how Salafism and Wahhabism, that began as very separate traditions within Islam, relate to each other today - indeed is there any difference anymore? - I would be very grateful.
I suggest that you pick up a copy of Dory Gold's book " Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism (Washington: Regnery, 2003) as well as professor Efraim Karsh's Islamic Imperialism, A History.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Karsh, "it would be akin to splitting hairs" the difference between Salafism and Wahhabism.