Islam in Saudi Arabia

Reviews / Votes

'In the popular imagination, Saudi Arabia is a monolithic and static relic from an earlier age, wedded to a reactionary interpretation of Islam and led by an authoritarian monarchy whose alliance with a retrograde religious establishment has assured its survival. David Commins challenges this view by tracing the origins and evolution of the Saudi state from its eighteenth century roots through the present day. For Commins, Saudi Arabia's contemporary social and political order is the product of dynamic historical and ongoing struggles, both internal (pitting dynasts against religious traditionalists, Wahhabi true believers against non-Wahhabis and their more liberal Wahhabi allies, and an old guard against a younger generation habituated to a world of social media, cable television, and consumerism) and external (including threats from imperial powers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Arab nationalists in the 1950s-60s, Saddam's Iraq in the 1990s, and, currently, Iran and al-Qaeda). Commins tracks the Al Saud's efforts to balance and overcome these challenges, in the process creating a system whose defining characteristics are contradiction and ambiguity. An eye-opening account, clearly written, subtly argued.' James L Gelvin, Professor of History, UCLA, author of The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know and The Modern Middle East: A History; 'Islam in Saudi Arabia provides a learned and in-depth view of the role that religion plays in the Kingdom's politics and social dynamics. This very readable book is based on a close reading of primary sources and extensive fieldwork, as well as an intimate knowledge of Saudi society. Commins superbly explains Wahhabism's influence on domestic and international policies, and how this particular interpretation of Islam - through the government, scholars and religious activists - affects the status of women and religious minorities. This is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand the influence that religion has on this opaque society and how it is deployed by different actors for achieving their respective goals.' Bernard Haykel, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University, co-editor of Saudi Arabia in Transition