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| Indira Mukherjee |
One of
the greatest pressing issues which plague this increasingly inter-connected,
materialistic and complicated world is terrorism. And out of the most gruesome
acts that we have seen in the recent past, the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre
stands out in sharp contrast. It is commonly said that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” and the book “God’s Terrorists” by Charles Allen
skilfully explains this thought. It traces the growth of the Wahabi cult and the hidden roots of
modern Jihad. It explains how Wahabism makes its entry into India, why
the British expansionist policy of the 18th century comes into
conflict with it, how this ideology gets enmeshed with the revolt of 1857 and
why the terrorist organisations like Al
Qaeda owe allegiance to it. It also tells us that as a theory, Wahabism has a fanaticism attached to it
and in practice, it believes in an inherent hostility to people who are not
strict adherents of Islam. In short, the author says that Wahabism was always rooted in violent intolerance and it appeared
as a champion of the faith of Islam at a time when the triumph of the religion
was not proceeding as ordained. This aspect holds true, even today.
To begin
with, Wahabism is an Islamic revivalist
movement, the guiding ideology behind modern Islamist terrorism. It is named
after Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahab
[1703-1792] of Najd, Saudi Arabia who under the influence of the medieval
theologian Ibn Taymiyyah [1263–1328]
aspired to return to the earliest fundamental Islamic sources of learning i.e.
the Quran and the Hadith. The movement gained popularity
and propaganda due to the financial and political support rendered by the royal
house of Saudi Arabia. In terms of belief, Wahabism
considers Allah as the only one to be
worshipped and leaves no space for tolerance or acceptance of any other
religion. Much of this notion is attributed to the experiences of Ibn Taymiyyah who witnessed a lot of
Mongol attacks on the Islamic world. The motley group of people from different
regions and religions during the medieval period led to a gradual
inter-mingling of faiths and consequent dilution of Islam. This led a section
of the Islamic society to stress the emphasis on maintaining the purity of Islam
by adhering to Quran and Hadith only. Muhammad Wahab carried forward this belief and the formal seeds of Wahabism were sown.
In early
19th century, Wahabism
made its entry into India as a religious reform movement whose objective was to
restore Muslim power in India by overthrowing the Sikhs and the British. Saiyad Ahmad [1786-1831] of Rae
Bareilley was the founder of Wahabi
movement in India. He believed that India had become dar-ul-kafir [land of unbelievers] and it has to be made dar-ul-harb [land of war] by waging a
war against the infidels and the British. For this purpose, he sought the
assistance of the Nizam of Hyderabad, the various Pathan tribes of the North
West frontier of India and even some Muslim leaders outside India. The regular
organisation of Indian Wahabism was
set up in Patna and initial spadework done by Vilayat Ali, whereas Inayat Ali, Titu Mir and others popularized it
immensely. Since the Wahabis made
vigorous preparations to wage a full-scale war against the British, they were
looked upon with suspicion. In fact, during the 1857 revolt it was found that
the sepoys were in constant touch with the Wahabis
at Sittana and there was a supply chain by which men, money and material was
being transferred between the Wahabi
camp in the north western frontier and Patna. The first two Anglo-Afghan wars
in 1839 and 1878 were meant to weed out the influence of the Wahabis so that Afghanistan could be
used as a strong buffer state against the expanding kingdom of Russia. In late
1860’s and early 1870’s, the British crackdown increased and many Wahabi leaders were transported for life
– this led to a temporary halt in the movement.
The
Muslim world again joined hands after the 1st world war when they
rose up against the liberal Government set up in Turkey under the aegis of
Mustafa Kemal Pasha Attaturk. Soon after, in 1932 the kingdom of Saudi Arabia
was carved out of Nejd and Hijaz. After the oil shock of 1973, the royal house
of Saudi Arabia was awash with petrodollars and it became a financial cushion
for the Wahabis. The Soviet invasion
of Afghanistan sparked off another round of jihad
wherein the Holy war was waged against the Russians. This war shaped the
thought process of Osama Bin Laden, the future leader of Al Qaeda. In fact, the
Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990 prompted Bin Laden to defend Saudi Arabia by
calling his global network of ex-Afghanistani jihadis, beginning with the several thousand Wahabi veterans now back in Arabia. However, the Saudi Government,
unlike its traditional support to Wahabis,
turned instead to the United States. This feeling of betrayal accompanied with
his strong Wahabi convictions led Bin
Laden to revisit the Prophet’s injunction that there should not be two
religions in Arabia. He became a bitter enemy of the House of Saud and United States,
considering them as enemies. Wahabism
in the late 20th century led to the emergence of two different
organisations - one tight-knit and localised, the other loose-knit and with
global aspirations: the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden eventually ended
up supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan and unleashing terror on the
un-Islamic world via the Al Qaeda.
Charles Allen is a fine narrative historian; “God’s
Terrorist” depicts the germination, consolidation and expansion of an ideology
which is the bedrock of Islamic fundamentalism of modern day. Wahabism has
captured the imagination of several people ever since the medieval ages but the
kind of strong principles it believes in, along with the missionary zeal with
which it is being professed, has made it a subject which one just cannot leave
out while studying the birth of modern day terrorism. And the ease and
simplicity with which the author has explained this huge trajectory, is
commendable. Writing a book with historical underpinnings, the author has
delved into rigorous research and background work – one which is clearly
visible in the numerous references to the personal accounts of the British
officers who served in Indian civil services during the 19th century,
collection of rare photographs and inclusion of the extremely minute details
pertaining to the war, casualties, arms, locations etc. A combination of these,
has catapulted the book to a different platform all together.
The best part of the book is the details on the
confrontation between the Hindustani fanatics and the British Indian Army in
mid 19th century. The complexity of the missions sent to
Afghanistan, the often hurt ego of the Governor Generals, the ferocity of the
warring frontier tribes, the disadvantage of unfavourable weather during
campaigns, the different mechanisms thought of by the officers to win over the “great game” etc would surely keep the
readers hooked on to the book. The way in which a supply chain network develops
between the “chota godown” at Patna
and the “burra godown” at Sittana
during the revolt of 1857 makes one think that probably, the commonly held
belief of the failure of the sepoy mutiny might not be entirely true because
without systematic planning and coordination, such an activity could not have been
carried out under the noses of the British administration. The book also
carefully explains the threat perceived by the Government from the aficionados
of wahabism. In fact, the entire
blame of the revolt was put on the Muslims which got further deepened when soon
after, Lord Mayo was assassinated by a Wahabi fanatic Sher Ali in Andamans. Thus,
in effect the work of later modern Islamic revivalists like Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
of Aligarh started by convincing the British that the Muslims were the most
loyal subjects of the British crown.
The author has told his complex story with concision,
insight and wide ranging vision. The thread connecting Wahabism, Deoband School,
Taliban and Al Qaeda has been clearly portrayed. The very fact that the Wahabi ideology found its way into the
20th century by opposition to the anti Islamic heretic forces under
the complex relations of international politics clearly shows the current relevance
of the notion. The post cold war scenario accentuated this feeling of antipathy
– the Arab-Israel conflict; Islamic revolution of Iran in 1979; Soviet invasion
of Afghanistan; and US military intervention in Middle East alienated a large
section of the Muslims, some of whom resorted to violent means to establish the
Islamic faith. This ranged from terrorist organisation like Al Qaeda to more
radical forms of governments like the Taliban in Afghanistan. These groups were
able to sustain due to the money being doled out from the Arabian Peninsula. In
fact, when the Taliban Government was established in early years of the first
decade of the 21st century, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were the first
ones to recognize it.
There
are a few places in the book where the narrative becomes a bit too extended and
the tone overtly pessimistic. But on the whole, Charles Allen has delivered a
book which the readers will read with rapt attention. The relevance of the
topic of terrorism and the long trail of history that lies behind it, makes a
double delight for the audience. The concept of Jihad and the thought process entailing
it, has been very aptly described by the author. And all this has been done in
the backdrop of the Indian colonial setup, giving a chance to relate to the
environment, ambience and surroundings of the events. On the whole, “God’s Terrorists” is a long, bloody and
commandingly told story and it does what we long for history to do; tells a
tale of yesteryears that throws new and uncomfortable light on the contemporary
world
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Indira Mukherjee is an IPS probationer of the 88th
FC at LBSNAA, Mussoorie. This post is her review of the book "God's
Terrorists" by Charles Allen.
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