Safar al-Hawali: Saudi Islamist or Saudi nationalist?

Safar al‐Hawali's name came to prominence during the Gulf War due to the popularity of his taped sermons, which galvanized public debate inside Saudi Arabia on a range of issues of major concern for both the Saudis and the Muslim world. Because most Western writings on the Islamists discourse h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
Main Author: Fandy, Mamoun 1961- (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge 1998
In: Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
Further subjects:B Palestinians
B Zivilisationsdifferenzen / Kulturdifferenzen
B Globalization
B Christianity
B end of war / end of conflict / armistice
B Palestinian Arabs
B Holy War
B Middle East conflict
B Third Sacred War
B Islam
B Fundamentalism
B Middle East Conflict
B civilizational conflict / cultural diversity
B Cease fire / Konfliktbeendigung / Kriegsbeendigung
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Safar al‐Hawali's name came to prominence during the Gulf War due to the popularity of his taped sermons, which galvanized public debate inside Saudi Arabia on a range of issues of major concern for both the Saudis and the Muslim world. Because most Western writings on the Islamists discourse have depended on second‐hand material, Hawaii was presented in the Western media as a Saudi Shaykh who opposed the royal family of Saudi Arabia. Here I will attempt to give a more complete picture of the man and his discourse through an analysis of his written work and his cassette‐taped sermons. This portrayal will reveal that Hawaii is concerned with broad issues transcending the local Saudi setting. He debates such issues as Western domination of the Arab/Muslim world, the role of the US in the Gulf region, the implications of that domination for the Muslim community at large, and the role of Christian fundamentalists who, in Hawaii's view, work relentlessly to undermine the Muslim world. These fundamentalists and their millenarian views lend complete support to Israel at the expense of the Arabs and Muslims, Hawaii suggests, and his analysis of these Christian fundamentalists reveals a surprisingly solid knowledge of their writings, sermons and beliefs. Hawaii also discusses the problems associated with the current peace process between Arabs and Israelis and suggests an alternative framework. But who is Safar al‐Hawali?
ISSN:0959-6410
Contains:In: Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/09596419808721135