[ via Muslim Pundit and Charlie Stross ] A Suni scholar in Italy wrote a history of the founder of Wabbabism, the dominant form of Islam practiced in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and associated with Osama bin Laden and the al Quida terrorist network.
He (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) also said: “There will be people who come from the eastern side of Arabia who will recite Qur’an, but their recitation will not pass beyond their collarbones. They will go out of Islam as swiftly as the arrow goes through the prey. Their sign is shaving their heads.”
What an amazing, and damning description.
ibn Abdi-I-Wabbah, born in the 18th Century, was apparently an ambitious man. He actively sought appointment as a Khalifah, a leader of the community, but was seen by the community in Mecca as someone seeking power. Instead, he went amoung the Bedowins and preached. He found an ally in the leader of a group of brigands, Muhammad Ibn Sa’ud, and appointed himself as their religious leader, teaching them that the relgious leaders in sacred cities of Islam were guilty of bid’ahs, or heresy.
ibn Abdi-I-Wabbah was ‘discovered,’ and found useful by the English colonials who put his line in charge of the lands now known as Saudi Arabia.
I’m not a religious expert, so I put the caveat that this is my best understanding of the article. There’s facinating history there, which has bearing on the current crisis we are all in. You’ll want to have a glossary of Islamic terms handy while reading.
