[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Today's dog-bites-man story

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
Today's dog-bites-man story
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1170728179.shtml


   Saudi scholar discovers that [1]Wahhabism is inpsired by politics...

     Dakhil's findings offer a new reading of the Wahhabi movement that
     contradicts the official narrative and could lead to a reduction of
     the clergy's power. Wahhab was inspired by politics as much as
     religion, Dakhil said,

     In a chapter he has written for the book "Understanding Wahhabism,"
     to be published this year by the University of Michigan Press,
     Dakhil argues that Wahhab's goal was to create a strong state to
     make up for the disintegrating tribal system and that the preacher
     found his first willing sponsor in Muhammad bin Saud, first head of
     the House of Saud.

     The mosque was a place to exert authority; the call to prayer and
     enforcing communal prayers were symbols of authority, Dakhil said.
     Wahhab labeled as apostates all the villages that broke away from
     the first Saudi state or refused to join it, he said.

     "Religion is a much more powerful enforcer. Wahhabis made being a
     good Muslim contingent on obeying the ruler. That's a naked
     political statement," Dakhil said.

   This is like discovering that water is wet, or that gravity, not God
   or a giant turtle, makes things fall down.

   However, I'm sure that this 'discovery' is significant to Saudis.

   One interesting thing about this story - it was linked to by a
   new-to-me blog called [2]Terror Finance. They have a whole section
   about [3]Tariq Ramadan. Interesting stuff.

References

   1. http://terrorfinance.org/
   2. http://terrorfinance.typepad.com/
   3. http://www.terrorfinance.org/the_terror_finance_blog/2006/10/a_swiss_intelli.html