Madawi Al-Rasheed, Contesting the Saudi State: Islamic voices from a new generation

Excerpt

Contesting the Saudi state is a very interesting book as an ethnography of consent and contestation among contemporary Saudis who debate politics and religion. The book examines the Wahhabiyya sect in the 21st century as a contested intellectual, religious and political field, which is currently appropriated by several actors. The book deals with those aspects which are relevant to the political debate that continues in Saudi Arabia rather than as a theological body of religious knowledge produced over the last 250 years. Thus, it is not an exposition of the main teachings of the movement. From the opening pages of the introduction until the last sentence of the conclusion this book is well written, authoritative and insightful. This is a unique and well-timed study. …