Wahhabithe Real Enemy

By Robert G. Williscroft
In the world most of us know, we have nothing analogous to Wahhabi Islam. his
may e!"lain why we a""ear to be ignoring this ominous threat, des"ite everything
we have accom"lished in the "ast two years.
he Wahhabi sect is a branch of #unni Islam. $ bit of background will facilitate an
understanding of where Wahhabi adherents fit into the overall Islamic scheme.
Islam is based on two writings, the %ur&an, believed by 'uslims to have been
revealed by $llah to 'ohammad during the (th century, and the #unnah, which
records the )ro"het&s life. aken together, the %ur&an and #unnah form the basis for
Islam as a religion and for Islamic *uris"rudence, very much like our +onstitution
forms the basis for our secular laws, e!ce"t that Islam does not distinguish between
-religious. and -secular. as we do in the West.
he #hari&ah, which is analogous to codified law in Western society, consists of the
%ur&an, the #unnah, and a constantly evolving collection of /atwas or rulings that
deal with every as"ect of Islamic life from ideology to "ractical daily matters.
hroughout Islamic history, Imams and 'ullahs have issued /atwas, which have the
force of law among 'uslims, similar to a ruling by a Western court. $s in the West,
these rulings can be confirmed or overturned by a higher authority, by issuing a /i0h.
/rom the beginning, two branches of Islam evolved1 #unni and #hia or #hi2i. $s in
every religion with internal differences in belief, how these differences are described
is very much a function of who does the describing. $ll factions, however, seem to
agreed on at least two "oints.
he #hia 3or #hi2ites4 believe that they derive directly from 5$li, the cousin and son6
in6law of the )ro"het. 5$li died in $7 889. #hi2ism, as their brand of belief is called,
derives from the $rabic "hrase -shi2at 5$li,. which literally means the "artisans or
"arty of 5$li. he #hia believe that the )ro"het chose 5$li as his rightful successor.
oday they fall under one of twelve Imams, and most live in Iran, Ira0, and :ebanon.
he #unni, on the other hand, s"ecifically re*ect that the )ro"het selected 5$li as his
successor, and went to war re"eatedly in the ensuing 9,;<< years to "rove their
"oint. he #unni is organi=ed under four schools of law or *uris"rudence called
madh2habs. heir differences don2t matter here.
he second "oint is not so obvious in how it matters, but has been material in the
wars fought between the #unni and #hia over the centuries. he #unni "assionately
believe that certain body "arts of $llah are real, "hysical ob*ects. he #hia *ust as
"assionately believe that $llah is entirely immaterial. I don2t mean to triviali=e these
differences here, but only to indicate that relatively minor differences in belief or in
"ers"ective have resulted in "rofound differences in behavior.
In our own >udeo6+hristian culture some believe in the literal meaning of the Bible,
whereas others choose to inter"ret the Bible according to one or another religious
"oint of view. In this sense, Islam is no different.
In another sense, however, Islam is dramatically different from both +hristianity and
>udaism. he >udeo6+hristian focus is mainly on "eace and non6violenceturning the
other cheek. Granted, in "ractice, our own heritage has had its share of faith6based
wars, but in today2s modern world, both +hristianity and >udaism can be considered
entirely benign.
?o so Islamand es"ecially not so the Wahhabi branch of #unni Islam. he
Wahhabis believe that $llah2s organs are "hysical, and that $llah sits firmly on a
ruling throne in "aradise. hey take in a literal sense every %ur&anic statement,
es"ecially when it relates to warfare, and most "articularly to *ihadreligious war.
#ometimes called the #alafi school, Wahhabi is an 9@th century offshoot of the
Aanbali madh&hab. In 9@9@ Wahhabi was nearly defeated and de"rived of influence,
but the #a2udi dynasty breathed new life into the movement in the early B<th
century when it drove the Aashemites out of $rabia into the "resent >ordan.
$ccording to a "rominent :ebanese Islamic scholar 3who remains anonymous for
obvious reasons4, during the last decade, #audi $rabia has financed all of the
Wahhabi movements in the region either directly or indirectly through non6
governmental organi=ations.
his means that al %aeda, CD99, and all the other terrorist acts against the Enited
#tates and other nations received their funding from the Aouse of #a2udi.
-his was really a strategic mistake,. says this scholar. -he $rab rulers, as well as
the "olicy analysts, have really underestimated the FfundamentalistG regeneration in
the region. I would e!"ect a war of Wahhabism against the gulf countries,
"articularly #a2udi rulers..
In effect the Aouse of #a2udi tried to "urchase "rotection for itself by channeling
some of its vast wealth to the Wahhabis. Recent events, of course, have "ut the lie
to this "oint of view.
In most of the Islamic world, the Wahhabis control basic schooling. Between the ages
of ( and 9H, students are taught fundamentals of strict Islam and religious
obligations. Initial introduction to basic education 3reading, writing, and arithmetic4 is
entirely absent, e!ce"t as an ad*unct to the teaching of strict, literal Islam. Between
9H and BH, young men are taught to fight, are "re"ared for *ihad.
Wahhabism flourishes in every 'uslim country. :ebanon has about ;,<<< Wahhabis.
In Egy"t, #audi $rabia, and )akistan it is far larger. Wahhabism goes by many names
Ikhwan, Wahhabi, #alifiyya, 'owahabin, and aliban. What all of them have in
common is a strident, militant view of #unni Islam, and financial su""ort at the
highest levels of the #audi government. hey also share a hatred of anything not
strictly Wahhabi.
Esama bin :aden has ca"itali=ed on this wide6s"read Wahhabism to unite 'uslims
across the Islamic world. he movement grows by indoctrinating youngsters in its
hatred while ostensibly educating them. It is fueled by massive infusions of #a2udi
money. $nd it is legitimi=ed by /atwas issued almost daily by Islamic clerics
throughout the Islamic world.
he system feeds u"on itself, and is growing stronger by the day. In recent weeks,
Ira0i clerics have begun issuing /atwas to their local congregations that, in effect,
"ut at risk every non Islamic "erson anywhere in the region.
hese "eo"le cannot be sto""ed by reason. hey cannot be starved out. $nd they
certainly cannot be changed. heir message of universal fundamentalist Islamic rule
over all 'uslims now and over the entire world as soon as "ossible cannot be ignored
if we value our freedom and way of life.
he s"ecter of universal >ihad is u"on us. he longer we wait, the stronger the
Wahhabis become, and more ca"able of achieving their goals.
Will the entire 'iddle6East become a Wahhabi ruled theocracyI %uite "ossibly. Will
the rest of the world fall to the Wahhabi swordI ?ot likely, so long as the Enited
#tates remains willing to a""ly its overwhelming force to "revent this from
ha""ening.
In the meantime, we cannot allow Wahhabi schools to e!ist, let alone flourish in any
area we control. he moment a cleric utters a /atwa calling for anyone2s death is the
moment for us to act. hese clerics must be sto""ed "ermanently, no matter what it
takes. We must s"eak to them in the only language they understandforce and
violence. We must disburse Wahhabi communities and re0uire their children to be
educated in secular schools that we control, schools where they will learn about the
real world, and how to build a self6governing society on the ruins of the Wahhabi
disaster.
If $merica lacks the will to take these drastic ste"s, I fear that our "resence and
influence in Ira0 will be a momentary s"lash in the fry "an of history.

Robert G. Williscroft is a DefenseWatch Senior Editor. He can be reached at
dwnavyeditorJargee.net.