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authors the books foreword and provides a succinct and stimulating description: This volume is a looking-glass through which it is possible to look into the pastin order to envision the future. R. KELVIN MOORE UNION UNIVERSITY JACKSON, TENNESSEE
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Wahhabism: A Critical Essay. By Hamid Algar. Oneonta, N. Y.: Islamic Publications International), 96 pp. $12.95. The growing influence of Wahhabism as a peculiar interpretation of Islamic doctrine and practice has brought to the forefront the ways extreme forms of religion intersect in the rough terrain of politics in the Middle East. Since 9/11, the West has been forced to come to grips with the rise of Wahhabism and to see it within the larger context of Arab and Muslim history. The work to understand it has only begun. In this critical essay, Hamid Algar, professor of Islamic studies at the University of California, Berkeley, writes about the rise of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia, arguing throughout that it has seriously distorted the fundamental teachings of Islam and functioned for decades as the ideological mainstay of the Saudi regime. In addition, the Wahhabi movement has vilified Sunni and Shii Muslims, exacerbating divisions and causing turmoil throughout Asia and Europe (most notably in Afghanistan). Algar shows how, at the hands of Abd al-Wahhab, Sunni Islam took an uncompromising turn and how, at the outset, Wahhabism was set on a collision course with the traditional practices and beliefs of Muslims, even among his own family. Algars essay discusses how the Wahhabi movement made it possible to justify the shedding of blood of those who did not adhere to its brand of Islamic purity: the Wahhabi sect quickly condemns the ignorance, shirk, and innovation of moderate Muslims, while creating the censorious climate of fear, intimidation, and coercion among its most zealous followers, especially the Taliban. Algars essay reveals how Wahhabism has been anything but a perverse form of Islam, noting how it was not until the rise of the Saudi dynasty that it took on notoriety outside Arabia. The mixture of state influence and economic prosperity catapulted Wahhabis to a new but ominous level of influence. The geo-political ramifications have been felt in recent decades. To students of church and state affairs, Algars work will present two unique but interrelated challenges: first, it will raise questions on how Islam will deal internally with growing but disparate schools of thought, with issues of Quranic revelation and historical interpretation center stage. Algars essay can be viewed as a critical attempt to deal with this problem: no individual or society is a blank slate upon which to imprint one particular religious ideology (p. 11). Coming to this awareness will be crucial to Islams future. The

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impact of modern historical consciousness upon Islamic thought and practice will only serve to raise issues about how Muslims will address matters of religious authority and political life. Second, the historical linkages of Wahhabism, Saudi oil, the Taliban regime, American foreign policy, and terrorism come into full view when reading Algars essay. His critique of Americas war on terror as ascribed only to Muslim persons, organizations, and states will certainly strike a cord: as a war with global ramifications, it brings to the surface the role of the United States in the Middle East (e.g., in Israel and Palestine) and the widespread violence throughout Euro-Asia (e.g., in Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Bosnia, and Kosovo). These interconnecting links highlight the need to learn how Wahhabism continues to exert influence upon state and non-state entities on the one hand, and how it reacts to the inter-mixing forces of modernity and religious tradition on the other. Historical connections cannot be ignored. Algars essay is part of a larger series of publications by Islamic Publications International. It includes a helpful bibliography, a useful chronology of Abd al-Wahhabs life, and three appendices (including the writings of Abd-al Wahhab, a contemporary critique of early Wahhabism, and a Shii Response to Wahhabism). Its critical edge will surely prompt discussion and response. ANDREW D. KINSEY THE POLYCARP PROJECT SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY DALLAS, TEXAS

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Korean Shamanism: The Cultural Paradox. By Chongho Kim. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate Publishing. 248 pp. $29.95 paper. This work is a volume in Ashgates Vitality of Indigenous Religions series and it represents a reworking of Kims dissertation in social anthropology at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales. So, it has both the strengths and weaknesses of such a volume. On the one hand, the research is fresh and Kim offers important correctives and expansions on the fieldwork of Youngsook Kim Harvey and Laurel Kendalls with Korean shamans, and yet it suffers from some repetition and distracting jargon that often marks a published dissertation. The content is based on work first begun in 1991, but the main fieldwork was carried out in 1994 and 1995 in Soy, a rural area of South Korea. I was surprised to find that so many of the issues I encounter in my own research with contemporary daoshi in Fujian province were also frustrations that Chongho Kim found in his work in Korea. Gaining the confidence of practitioners and developing a reliable set of informants is a common challenge for those wishing to guide study of contemporary religious traditions with on-the-ground observation and documentation.