Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

It is difficult to understand the terror of September 11, 2001, without taking into serious consideration the fundamentalist theology and ideology of Wahhabi Islam.  The origin of this sect goes back to the 18^th century’s founder, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792). Like other fundamentalists, Wahhab’s reformation stressed that every idea that Islam subsequently after the time of the third century (ca. 950 CE), must be considered false and expunged from Muslim doctrine.  To be a “true” Muslim, one must simply follow the original teachings of Muhammad.  

Wahhabi viewed the Muslims of his time as retrogressing to a pre-Islamic polytheism where its followers prayed to saints, made pilgrimages to the tombs of pious people, and numerous other practices that seemed to threaten the absolute monotheism of Islam.

Today, the chief foe of Wahhabism are the forces of modernity, secularism, and the idealism of the Enlightenment. (Curiously, the Wahhabis have no difficulty accepting the benefits of Western military technology!) In battling these modernistic adversaries, they are prepared to utilize even violence to eliminate the pagan competition.

Wahhabi believed that ritual laxity undermined the spirit of Islam and that only a return to true Islam held the key to a Muslim revitalization and renewal. However, those Muslims who did not adhere to the true fundamentals of Islam were not really considered, “authentic Muslims,” and ergo, then killing them is a licit act since they do not really follow the principles of Islam like they do.  

When we read about the terrorist attack on the sacred Sufi shrine in the Pakistani mosque in Lahore on July 2, 2010, killed 42 and injured 175. This mosque was built by Sufi mystics, who happen to be the most peaceful and tolerant of all Islamic sects.

Most Americans and Western countries oppose the 19th and 20th century Muslim reform movements which reinterpreted aspects of Islamic law in order to bring it closer to standards set by the West, particularly with regards to topics like gender relations, family law, personal autonomy, and participatory democracy.

When we look at the supporters of the proposed Ground Zero mosque, we must ask ourselves whether this project is being financially underwritten by followers of the Wahhabi or not. Despite its small size, and despite Islam’s great ethnic religious diversity, the Wahhabi claim that their path  is the only path of true Islam — and anyone who defies this teaching is an infidel.

We must also bear in mind that Whabbi teachings have contributed to the Saudi culture that openly and unabashedly promotes Islamic tolerance of the non-Muslim faiths/peoples, such as the Jews and the Christians. To this day, no church can exist in Saudi Arabia, nor can a Christian even wear a cross; conversion outside of Islam is considered a capital offense.

It follows, that any progressive and tolerant Islamic state can and ought to be overthrown, since in the final analysis, it is not Islamic at all.  This is the 500 lb elephant in the living-room that cannot be ignored in any discussion of this controversial issue. Given the symbolism of the Ground Zero site, one would be foolish grant a “religious” victory to the sponsors of the September 11 attack on civilization.