Jihad Against Infidels and Democracy: A Frame Analysis of Jihadist Ideology and Jurisprudence for Martyrdom and Violent Jihad

Abstract

Since 9/11, scholars have devoted much attention to investigating the rhetoric of President George W. Bush, and other Western leaders for its ostensive distancing of Arab Muslims and its binary polarization of Islam and democracy. Additionally, researchers have explored the mechanisms by which the news media frame reporting and perceptions of radical Islamic terrorism. Of significant noteworthiness is the visible absence of scholarly research investigating the writings, pronouncements, or communiqués of the proponents of jihadism. This study sought to address this gap by exploring two written documents with authorship attributed to Ayman al-Zawahiri that focused on Islam's relationship with democracy and the jurisprudence for jihad. Coding of the two documents involved both a deductive a priori general frame categorization, along with an inductive grounded-theory approach to identify specific framing devices. The findings indicate that Zawahiri tended to frame democracy as an apostate religion that competes with Islam and therefore, must be destroyed, while likewise framing jihad and martyrdom as sacrosanct obligations for all Muslims.