A Genealogy of Evil
A Genealogy of Evil
Based on extensive scrutiny of primary sources from Nazi and Jihadist ideologues, David Patterson argues that Jihadist anti-Semitism stems from Nazi ideology. This book challenges the idea that Jihadist anti-Semitism has medieval roots, identifying its distinctively modern characteristics and tracing interconnections that link the Nazis to the Muslim Brotherhood to the PLO, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda, the Sudan, the Iranian Islamic Republic, and other groups with an anti-Semitic worldview. Based on his close reading of numerous Jihadist texts, Patterson critiques their antisemitic teachings and affirms the importance of Jewish teaching, concluding that humanity needs the very Jewish teaching and testimony that the Jihadists advocate destroying.
- Makes extensive use of primary texts from Nazi and Jihadist ideologues
- Carefully traces the intricate web tying Jihadist movements to one another, and linking Nazism to Islamic Jihadism
- Argues against the common misconception that Islamic Jihadism is a throwback to medieval ideology, identifying its distinctively modern characteristics
Reviews & endorsements
“In A Geneology of Evil, David Patterson examines the texts of key contributors to the twentieth-century Islamist tradition, including Abdul Al’a Maududi, Haj Amin al-Husseini, Hassan al-Banna, and Sayyid Qutb, as well their successors in recent decades, and probes the influence, confluence, and parallels between their views and National Socialism. He offers readers an effective synthesis of the growing historical and social science writing about Islamism while adding a distinctive interpretation rooted in his understanding of theology. His discussions of martyrdom and attitudes toward death provide important conceptual clarification about similarities as well as differences between Nazism and Islamic Jihadism. Much research remains to be done on these issues. Patterson’s work should serve as an important source in present and future debates and discussions.” – Jeffrey Herf, University of Maryland, College Park
"....Patterson's extensive inquiry into the origins and spread of Islamic jihand ought to be wide read....[He] ought to be congratulated for his thorough research and well-written narrative." --Alexander Zvielli, The Jerusalem Post
"The substance ofPatterson's work reifies those who project a similar political agenda, but will be subject to strong criticism from those whose expertise is Nazi-Muslim relations. Nevertheless, this comment aside, there is a rich trove of material for others to mine and insert into the historical record and controversy that has raged on for some decades, but one that certainly is currently in vogue." -Sanford R. Silverburg, Digest of Middles East Studies
Product details
October 2010Hardback
9780521197472
312 pages
234 × 159 × 25 mm
0.55kg
Available
Related links
Table of Contents
- Introduction: the essence of the Jihadist evil
- 1. Nazi ideology and Jihadist echoes
- 2. Modern Jihadist ideological foundations
- 3. The Nazi seed in Islamic soil
- 4. The evil spreads: the Muslim Brotherhood
- 5. Jihadist brothers: the Sudanese National Islamic Front, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas
- 6. 'Religious' offshoots: the Islamic revolution, Hezbollah, and Al-Qaeda
- 7. 'Secular' offshoots: the Baath Party and the PLO
- 8. Concluding thoughts: humanity's need for Israel.
