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890 JOURNAL OF CHURCH AND STATE

authors the books foreword and provides a succinct and stimulatingdescription: This volume is a looking-glass through which it is possible to lookinto the pastin order to envision the future.

R.KELVIN MOOREUNION UNIVERSITY

JACKSON,TENNESSEE

Wahhabism: A Critical Essay. By Hamid Algar. Oneonta, N. Y.: IslamicPublications International), 96 pp. $12.95.

The growing influence of Wahhabism as a peculiar interpretation ofIslamic doctrine and practice has brought to the forefront the ways extremeforms of religion intersect in the rough terrain of politics in the Middle East.Since 9/11, the West has been forced to come to grips with the rise of

Wahhabism and to see it within the larger context of Arab and Muslim history.The work to understand it has only begun.

In this critical essay, Hamid Algar, professor of Islamic studies at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, writes about the rise of Wahhabism inSaudi Arabia, arguing throughout that it has seriously distorted thefundamental teachings of Islam and functioned for decades as the ideologicalmainstay of the Saudi regime. In addition, the Wahhabi movement has vilifiedSunni and Shii Muslims, exacerbating divisions and causing turmoilthroughout Asia and Europe (most notably in Afghanistan). Algar shows how,at the hands of Abd al-Wahhab, Sunni Islam took an uncompromising turnand how, at the outset, Wahhabism was set on a collision course with the

traditional practices and beliefs of Muslims, even among his own family.Algars essay discusses how the Wahhabi movement made it possible to justifythe shedding of blood of those who did not adhere to its brand of Islamicpurity: the Wahhabi sect quickly condemns the ignorance, shirk, andinnovation of moderate Muslims, while creating the censorious climate offear, intimidation, and coercion among its most zealous followers, especiallythe Taliban.

Algars essay reveals how Wahhabism has been anything but a perverseform of Islam, noting how it was not until the rise of the Saudi dynasty that it

took on notoriety outside Arabia. The mixture of state influence andeconomic prosperity catapulted Wahhabis to a new but ominous level ofinfluence. The geo-political ramifications have been felt in recent decades.

To students of church and state affairs, Algars work will present twounique but interrelated challenges: first, it will raise questions on how Islam

will deal internally with growing but disparate schools of thought, with issuesof Quranic revelation and historical interpretation center stage. Algars essaycan be viewed as a critical attempt to deal with this problem: no individual orsociety is a blank slate upon which to imprint one particular religious ideology

(p. 11). Coming to this awareness will be crucial to Islams future. The

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BOOK REVIEWS 891

impact of modern historical consciousness upon Islamic thought and practicewill only serve to raise issues about how Muslims will address matters ofreligious authority and political life.

Second, the historical linkages of Wahhabism, Saudi oil, the Talibanregime, American foreign policy, and terrorism come into full view whenreading Algars essay. His critique of Americas war on terror as ascribed onlyto Muslim persons, organizations, and states will certainly strike a cord: as a

war with global ramifications, it brings to the surface the role of the UnitedStates in the Middle East (e.g., in Israel and Palestine) and the widespread

violence throughout Euro-Asia (e.g., in Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Bosnia, andKosovo). These interconnecting links highlight the need to learn howWahhabism continues to exert influence upon state and non-state entities onthe one hand, and how it reacts to the inter-mixing forces of modernity andreligious tradition on the other. Historical connections cannot be ignored.

Algars essay is part of a larger series of publications by IslamicPublications International. It includes a helpful bibliography, a usefulchronology of Abd al-Wahhabs life, and three appendices (including the

writings of Abd-al Wahhab, a contemporary critique of early Wahhabism, and

a Shii Response to Wahhabism). Its critical edge will surely promptdiscussion and response.

ANDREWD.KINSEYTHE POLYCARP PROJECT

SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITYDALLAS,TEXAS

Korean Shamanism: The Cultural Paradox. By Chongho Kim. Burlington,Vt.: Ashgate Publishing. 248 pp. $29.95 paper.

This work is a volume in Ashgates Vitality of Indigenous Religionsseriesand it represents a reworking of Kims dissertation in social anthropology atthe University of Newcastle in New South Wales. So, it has both the strengthsand weaknesses of such a volume. On the one hand, the research is fresh andKim offers important correctives and expansions on the fieldwork ofYoungsook Kim Harvey and Laurel Kendalls with Korean shamans, and yet it

suffers from some repetition and distracting jargon that often marks apublished dissertation. The content is based on work first begun in 1991, butthe main fieldwork was carried out in 1994 and 1995 in Soy, a rural area ofSouth Korea.

I was surprised to find that so many of the issues I encounter in my ownresearch with contemporary daoshi in Fujian province were also frustrationsthat Chongho Kim found in his work in Korea. Gaining the confidence ofpractitioners and developing a reliable set of informants is a commonchallenge for those wishing to guide study of contemporary religious traditions

with on-the-ground observation and documentation.

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