Warriors Of The Prophet: The Struggle For Islam - Softcover

Huband, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813327814 ISBN 13: 9780813327815

Publisher: Basic Books, 1999

Synopsis

Based on eyewitness accounts and original interviews, this bold new work provides a vivid portrayal of the evolving political and cultural role played by Islamic fundamentalist movements. Drawing on his firsthand experiences, Mark Huband moves deep inside the contemporary Islamic movements of countries as diverse as Morocco and Afghanistan.Huband reveals how Western powers have contributed to the rise of Islamic movements by their earlier support of the Afghan Islamic resistance and gives detailed accounts of his discussions with militant groups, Muslim scholars, and political opponents of the Islamic movements.Enriching these discussions, the author contextualizes the movements by exploring their historical and intellectual framework. The book uniquely illustrates the variety found within the movements, as well as the range of relationships the Islamic movements have to the various countries in which they are active.Warriors of the Prophet details the current crisis in Algeria; the disappointments of Arab nationalism and socialist experiments in Egypt; the social breakdown of Somalia in relation to the ideal of an Islamic way of life; the disaffected youth in the Islamic movements of Morocco, Egypt, and elsewhere; and the Islamic experiment and its relationship with the non-Islamic world as revealed in Sudan's experience since 1989. Through these insightful accounts, Huband gives us a penetrating exploration of one of the major issues of the late twentieth century.

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Review

What were the Americans thinking when they funneled weapons and money to the Afghan resistance during the Soviet occupation? Thanks to charismatic Muslim loyalists like Osama Bin Laden, Arabs began pouring into Afghanistan, which became, according to one "Afghan Arab," a 10-year university for jihad resistance. Long-time Middle East news correspondent Mark Huband tells the story, noting that when the Afghan Arabs were kicked out after the war, they returned to their respective homelands to contribute to radical Islamist movements. Hubard isn't sounding an alarm, though. His thesis is that so-called Islamic fundamentalists, whom he prefers to call Islamists, have less to do with religious imperialism than with local politics. Through first-hand accounts in the Muslim countries of North Africa and the Middle East, Huband sketches a world in which Islamism is a response to national conflict, not a gambit for global domination. In countries like Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt, where political repression and economic disadvantage persist long after colonialism and Cold War posturing, Hubard finds that Islamism is the only indigenous vehicle for change. Hubard puts it best, "The Islamist turns to his own country and hopes to reform it by using political pressure. When he fails he becomes frustrated. The consequences are multifarious." --Brian Bruya

About the Author

Mark Huband is an award-winning journalist and former correspondent for The Guardian, The Observer, and The Times. He is currently Security Correspondent for the Financial Times. He lives in London.

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0813327814
• ISBN 13: 9780813327815
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 248