An Interview with stephen scwartz
Stephen Suleyman Schwartz (born September 9, 1948) is an American journalist, columnist, and author. He has been published in a variety of outlets, perhaps most notably The Wall Street Journal.[1] His background is on the political left, and much of his journalism has focused on Marxism, Communism and anarchism, but Schwartz now describes himself as a libertarian.[2]
He "has been a student of Sufism since the late 1960s and an adherent of the Hanafi school of
Islam since 1997".[3] the executive director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism, he is a vocal critic of Islamic Fundamentalism and the form of the Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam.
1. THE TWO FACES OF ISLAM is your masterpiece. I never read any book that deals with the history and present character of Wahhabism so deeply, aside from it. What lead you to write such a book?
Thank you for your high compliments, which I treasure.
I became aware of the negative role of Wahhabism in present-day Islam during the Bosnian war, with the interference of Wahhabi “mujahidin” who came to Bosnia and did not contribute properly to the Bosnian struggle but did attempt to impose their deviant interpretation on the Balkan Muslims. I read everything then available in Muslim sources on Wahhabism and when I went to live in Bosnia was prepared to confront it. Lukhaman karuvarakkund
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When I came back from the Balkans, the events of September 11, 2001, and the involvement of Saudi subjects in the terrorist atrocities of that day, made my knowledge of Wahhabism suddenly relevant.
I had intended to write a book on Islam, and, with no warning, a specific topic – Wahhabi radicalism – was thrust upon me. I took up the challenge, but all such abilities are gifts from Allah subhanawata’la, so finally must say I wrote the book because I was guided to do so. I was presented with a task, and did my best to fulfill it, and, alhamdulillah, have been rewarded for it in this life. It is perhaps a matter worthy of irony that when I was writing The Two Faces of Islam some of my non-Muslim colleagues were surprisedwhen I said I was writing the book more for Muslims than tnon-Muslims. They presumed that Muslims would not read my book. But my book has had a greater impact in the Muslim countries than in the West, which
is very gratifying to me.
3. How was your book accepted in the west? Especially since you revealed the things that nobody previously published about the dual face of Wahhabism?
My book was well-accepted in the West because after September 11 Westerners were desperate to learn about Saudi radicalism. Western readers understood that the moment could no longer be delayed when the deceit of the Saudi-Wahhabis would be revealed and examined. My book
has only been treated negatively by Wahhabis and those interested in protecting them.