title: how trump happened
text: force and fanaticism  wahhabism in saudi arabia and beyond is wahhabism a complete distortion of islam november   raymond ibrahim 
  note in what follows shillman fellow raymond ibrahim reviews force and fanaticism wahhabism in saudi arabia and beyond by simon ross valentine a shorter version of the book review first appeared in the middle east quarterly fall  vol  no  
  valentine a british methodist pastor and teacher who taught in saudi arabia has written a useful book about the desert kingdom most interesting is its exploration of how the monarchy is the single greatest force in spreading islamic fundamentalism it has spent as much as  billion to spread wahhabism in the west yet america and britain have been and are continuing to be implicit supporters of wahhabism 
  valentine discusses the background of how this unholy alliance came about he warns if the west simply ignores it saudi arabias role in international terrorism seems likely to worsen rather than conveniently disappear this is troubling considering that isis is saudi arabias latest monstrous contribution to world history 
  the author explores important topics including the mutawwa  or religious police and provides useful historical context discussing the origins of wahhabism its alliance with the house of saud and the oil discoveries that changed everything 
  the books primary defect is standard valentine regularly insists that it is of the greatest importance to distinguish between wahhabism and islam generally anything good positive tolerant and peaceful is ascribed to islam anything bad negative intolerant and violentmisogyny draconian punishments execution of apostates intolerance for and discrimination against nonmuslimsis ascribed to wahhabism 
  this position appears to be based on the authors own cultural presuppositions thus he felt confused and puzzled to hear of wahhabi intolerance including the attempt to propagate their beliefs by force prompting him to wonder can you force someone to love god in all the conversations i had with ulema imams mutawa religious police and saudis generally there was never a mention of love the idea that god loved me just frightful talk of hell burning and future pain if i did not believe and accept the wahhabi faith 
  had valentine engaged in a critical reading of islamic doctrine and historyas opposed to projecting his christian notion of god onto islamhe wouldve known that muhammad followed by countless caliphs and sultans throughout the centuries did propagate their beliefs by force the overwhelming majority of todays muslim world was taken from nonmuslims by force and that although islam attributes  characteristics to god love is not one of them 
  valentines readers wouldve benefit much more had he simply laid out his useful information concerning the inner workings of the saudi regime and its unholy alliance with the west without trying to tackle the deeper question of what islam really isleading to yet another book marred by islamic apologetics