Wahhābism

“Bunzel’s scholarship is groundbreaking… . It is essential that it reaches as wide an audience as possible.”—John McHugo, History Today“The amount of primary sources and manuscripts referenced in Cole Bunzel’s new book is dizzying in the best way possible. The new standard for literature on Wahhabism! … A must read book.”—Aaron Y. Zelin, Brandeis University“The single most significant event in the publication history of the scholarship on Wahhābism—period. There’s no book that rivals it … in scope, erudition, and breadth… . It’s one of these books that will set the agenda for future scholarship.”—Omar Anchassi, Islamicate Book Reviews“Remarkably detailed, robust, and cohesive… . This is a worthwhile read for anyone with an interest in either Islamic history and/or the lasting impact of Wahhābism.”—Troy E. Spier, Reading Religion“Telling this complicated story in accessible prose, Wahhābism is a fine book worth reading by anyone interested in the history of ideas in Islam.”—Mustafa Akyol, Religion & Liberty“Cole Bunzel’s Wahhābism is a fine work of exacting scholarship, combining the best of the philological tradition in Islamic Studies with a gumshoe’s nose for locating evidence and reconstructing historical contexts. The book is an outstanding contribution to the study of Wahhābism, especially in its presentation and analysis of the movement’s doctrine and its evolution, and it sets a high bar for studies of Wahhābism to come.”—Daniel Lav, Islamic Law and Society“Through a reexamination and historical-doctrinal analysis of primary sources, Bunzel’s study provides important elements for the study of the discipline … and represents one of the primary texts on which to base a study on Wahhabism.”—Christian Tratzi, Islamochristiana“Bunzel’s study will be a standard reference for its richly descriptive documentation of Wahhabism over its first two centuries.”—Paul L. Heck, JAOS“This is a first-class work of religious and especially doctrinal development… . A vast number of previously unknown or underutilized sources have been brought to bear on the phenomenon of Wahhābism that need to be assimilated by anyone who is interested in contemporary Islamic thought.”—David Cook, Nova Religio

Cole M. Bunzel is a Hoover Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.