Yaroslav Trofimov, The siege of mecca: The 1979 Uprising at Islams Holiest Shrine (New York, Anchor Books, 2008), pp. 301.
The Siege of Mecca, a book written by the author Yaroslav Trofinmov, who was a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal is a thrilling historical retelling of the events that took place in the holy city of Mecca, which resulted in the capture of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. He interviewed many Saudi locals who preferred to be anonymous, he encouraged French adventurers to talk and used the freedom of information act to pry loose US documents, including the diary of a Saudi Ambassador, John C. West. This is one of the least understood events in the modern islamic world. The attack was known as “ the first jihad operation of modern times”. The men who invaded and seized the mosque has the goal of reversing the flow of world history, sparking a global war that would lead to Islams total victory. This incidence of take over was against the Saudi Arabian Monarchy and the royal ruling families in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was an isolated place which only received its income from believers who visited every year to pray.After the discovery of oil in 1930's, Saudi was thrust into the world's spotlight and led to it becoming a wealthy country. The Saudi forces were under fragmented leadership and were doomed to failure and capitulated to several ambushes. This arrest of the Grand Mosque horrified and appalled the Islamic World as hundreds and thousands of believers were taken captive and hundreds of military personnel as well as those detained were caught in the crossfire and were killed during the siege. The seige ended two weeks after it started. This attack, resulted in the Saudi state enacting a stricter...
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...gical influence on other Islamist groups as well as strategic influence. The seizure of the Grand Mosque mortified the Saudi regime. The kingdoms rulers first decided not to acknowledge that it had happened. And later tried to minimize the importance.
In conclusion, the siege at the grand mosque was influential in many respects. They helped change the Saudi society of the better.
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Thomas W. Lippman gives an introduction to the Muslim world in the book Understanding Islam. He has traveled throughout the Islamic world as Washington Post bureau chief for the Middle East, and as a correspondent in Indochina. This gave him, in his own words, "sharp insight into the complexities of that turbulent region." However, the purpose of the book is not to produce a critical or controversial interpretation of Islamic scripture. It is instead to give the American layman an broad understanding of a religion that is highly misunderstood by many Americans. In this way he dispels many myths about "Muslim militants," and the otherwise untrue perception of Islamic violence. In this way the American reader will become more knowledgeable about an otherwise unfamiliar topic. However, the most significant element of Lippman’s book is that it presents Islam in a simple way that makes the reader feels his awareness rise after each chapter. This encourages him to continue learning about the world’s youngest major religion. Understanding Islam dispels many misconceptions about the Muslim world, and presents the subject in a way that urges his reader to further his understanding of Islam through continued study.
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