Book Review: The Spiders of Allah

The following book review was first published in CSIOF (Centre for the study of Islam and other faiths) Bulletin No. 4. (2011), Melbourne School of Theology Press, Australia. ISBN: 978-0-9870793-1-2. To read more about CSIOF please click: CSIOF

The Spiders of Allah - Travels of an unbeliever on the frontline of holy war

James Hider

London: Transworld Publishers, 2009

ISBN:  13: 978-0312-56585-5
ISBN:  10:0-56585-2 
pp. 396

Spiders of Allah is a journalist’s overview of firsthand experience of war in Iraq, officially known (to Americans) as Operation Iraqi Freedom.  However, it is not just traditional news reporting but an intricate mix of experiencing, analysing, theorizing, reporting, futurrizing, and philosophising on the complex situation that exists in the region in general and in Iraq in particular. The author’s view of god (sic) and greed as important factors in this situation runs thread-like linking the chapters.  

The book opens with a psychological analysis of the immense power gained by terrorists using Hollywood’s marketing strategies.  The former have done so much better than the latter.  Both need and use limitless human imagination and a story in their productions.  And it seems both are going to stay in business too for long. The terrorist block buster was 9/11, and since then many other low budget sequels have followed, e.g.  See Infidel Die a Horrible Death Parts I, II, and III posted on the Internet. In true journalistic tradition, he reports in graphic detail the blood and gore, the fear, intrigues, madness (based both on divine scriptures, and human despair of some, and on delusions of grandiosity of others). Leading up to the war were scriptural beliefs of the literalists, and myths surrounding people like Saddam Hussein believed by many to be immortal.  

Iraq is the birthplace of civilizations, myths and religions.  

Analyzing the events of the invasion by the West, the author argues that by the disintegration of Saddam’s rule, the people were given too much freedom too soon, resulting in serious socio-politico-religious problems.  Liberty and democracy were not issues to be fired about, in areas where scurvy and dysentery were the principal concerns.

On the other side, George Bush believed God was instructing him to attack. Hider subscribes to the theory that the reason for the Iraq invasion was oil to lubricate the global economy. But he also believes that the American planners hugely underestimated the task of conquering Iraq. They thought it would be like tying a Gordian knot, but it was more like performing brain surgery. America ignored the lessons from Histories of Herodotus and had forgotten her own history; and had not shown enough appreciation of the long and rich history, culture and religion(s) of the region. Hence the mess.

The title of the book comes from the myths that evolved during the war. Pictures on the walls of the mosques of Fallujah declared, “Miracle of God in Fallujah”. Many Iraqis believed that Allah was on their side and somehow miraculously would bring the infidels to defeat and shame. Hence the stories circulated that the bodies of the dead Muslims did not putrefy but gave out a sweet musk smell. Also, that there were ferocious camel spiders that attacked the invading infidels and killed them.  Gross exaggerations about these creatures were popularized. However, the truth about them was much less exciting. While obviously dismissing such claims as untrue, Hider also raises questions about the truth of the biblical account of Gaderene swine jumping en masse into the Sea of Galilee, dismissing these and other biblical accounts as myths as well.  

Hider also makes some interesting observations of the ridiculous extremes to which some Muslim fanatics went in this very chaotic time.  In some areas the tomatoes and cucumbers could not be displayed together for sale, as the former could remind the buyer of female breasts and later of male organ. And the bananas could only be sold in plastic bags to avoid offence. According to another reports goats were to wear underpants, to avoid being a source of sexual arousal.  

Hider is no friend of any religion. To him mainstream religion is the mild opiate while the fanatical fundamentalism is the distilled crack cocaine of the same stuff. “The message on the tablets was valium.” Neither is he a respecter of lands. He makes sweeping observations of the human landscapes and notes that. “The craziness of Middle Eastern crackpots often seems to resonate with our own homegrown variety.” (p. 324).

After masterfully leading the reader through the time-space-being tapestry of Iraq, he then looks at other important issues of the region: the Israel/Palestinian issue. Who are the Palestinians?  The 1.4 million people whose homeland bears several rag tag descriptions have on one of their hill this notice, “World’s largest prison camp”. Hider subscribes to the theory that they are actually the descendants of the Jews that were left in Palestine at Diaspora, and over the hundreds of years have lost their Jewish identity.  He cites some interesting studies based on DNA analyses to support this theory.

The book is a clever mix of history, event-analysis, and news reporting propagating secular atheism. If the reader can stomach this hard peddling of atheism, the book is an interesting and a fair account of Iraq’s war.

Akhtar Injeeli