William Dalrymple argues that Muslims who follow the teaching of Abdul Wahhab (the Wahhabis) are determined to destroy the more gentle interpretations of Islam (e.g. Sufism). He begins by noting Wabbabi-inspired opposition Rahman Baba, "the Nightingale of Peshawar," an 18th-century poet and mystic, who believed music and dance could and should form part of the search for union with God. He goes on to explore the influence of "Wahhabism" more generally, noting that, in 2001, the number of Madrassas in Pakistan had risen to 6,870, "Sufism is an entirely indigenous Islamic resistance movement to fundamentalism, with its deep roots in South Asian soil. The Pakistani government could finance schools that taught Pakistanis to respect their own religious traditions, rather than buying fleets of American F-16 fighters and handing over education to the Saudis. Instead, every day, it increasingly resembles a tragic clone of Taliban Afghanistan."
Profile of Saudi Arabia
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