A Review of the Book “The Roots of the Revival of the Islamic Caliphate and Its Geopolitical Implications”
Volume 31, Issue 4, December 2018, Pages 86-89
Hossein Ajorlou
Abstract This article reviews Sayyid Ali Moujani’s book “The Roots of the Revival of the Islamic Caliphate and its Geopolitical Implications”. Moujani presents a multidisciplinary analysis of the ideological and social foundations behind the rise of takfiri movements such as ISIS. The author investigates both external political factors and internal social crises—such as identity conflicts, poverty, and ideological disenchantment—as key elements in the resurgence of caliphal narratives. Drawing from fieldwork, interviews, and fluency in regional languages, the book offers an insightful and grounded perspective. A critical point is the limited discussion on the influence of movements like the Muslim Brotherhood and Wahhabism. Overall, the work provides a significant scholarly contribution to understanding the evolving geopolitics of West Asia
Dismantling History: Space, Identity, and Ğannāt al-Baqīʻ
Volume 31, Issue 3, September 2018, Pages 1-23
Adam Bobeck
Abstract The cemetery Ğannat al-Baqi’ in Madīna has been one of the most important locations in the religious geography of Muslims. It has also been the site of an ongoing struggle for competing interpretations, especially between the Saudi-Wahhabi alliance on one side, and Shiʻa and Sunni Muslims on the other. The cemetery, which hosts a number of burial sites of paramount importance for Muslims, has been destroyed twice by the Saudi government in the past. This paper argues that the reason for this behavior is a spatial one; and Islam indeed should be read as a spatial religion. This reading of Islam clarifies the connection between space, identity, and memory. Adapting theories of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari leads to observe three overlapping processes of spatialization, despatialization and respatialization in Baqīʻ. Spatialization indicates the creation and expansion of the cemetery, along with centuries of shrine building and their renovations. Despatialization points to the repeated destruction of those shrines; and respatialization is visible most clearly in the strict control of the spatial arrangements and practices at the cemetery by the Saudi-Wahhabi authorities today. The Saudi-Wahhabi did not remove signs and symbols solely to evacuate the cemetery of its traditional meaning, but to implant a new, alternative meaning onto Baqiʻ.