Jihadist Ideology Research Articles

Abū Qatāda and Palestine

Abū Qatāda “The Palestinian” is among the most influential ideologues of the salafi-jihadi movement. Born in Palestine, Abū Qatāda grew up in the Jordanian capital Amman, spent time among jihadi guerrillas in Pakistan, and ended up a militant preacher in London. Over the last decade, while going in and out of prison accused of aiding international terrorism, Abū Qatāda has worked to define the theological basis of al-Qaida and likeminded movements. This article explores the Palestinian preacher’s background, activism and ideological communication, focusing on the relationship with his land of origin. It finds that the jihadi thinker seems largely to have ignored his country of origin in both word and deed. This is counter-intuitive given that Abū Qatāda represents a movement presenting the liberation of Palestine as the heart of a worldwide armed holy struggle. However, jihadi ideologues tread a fine line between nationalism and worldliness on one hand, and transnational religious purism on the other.

Jihadist ideology, Western counter-ideology, and the ABC model

Counter-ideology is an important part of counter-radicalisation, but much counter-ideology aimed at jihadism is likely to be ineffective because it advances propositions that make more sense to Western governments than to the Muslims at whom the counter-ideology is addressed. This article uses an ‘ABC’ model to analyse the major components of jihadist ideology. It shows that much of the counter-ideology is aimed at parts of the jihadist narrative that are widely accepted among Muslims, and so are almost immune to counter-ideology. It is the jihadist course of action – jihad – that is not widely accepted, and this is the element of jihadist ideology against which counter-ideology should be directed.

Kekerasan Atas Nama Tuhan: Respons "Netizen" Indonesia

Violence in the name of God—terrorism attacks, violence toward minority even inter religious conflicts—has nowadays become a global issue. In Indonesia, there are at least 30 cases of “holy” violence committed in the last ten years. The demand to have such freedoms, as of expression, of speech, of getting access to information, could be seen as a process of an ongoing democracy. Internet, in this context, is one of the popular media to channel this ambitions of democracy. On the other hand, many Muslim extremists use this change and this media to channel the ideology of jihad. This article aims to shed light on how the Indonesia netizen’s (cyber community) response to those kind of radical Islamist messages. By using descriptive content analysis to the comments of the respective issue in Kaskus website, this paper sees the variety of the responses that would contribute to the prevention of violence in the name of religion and suggest some solutions.

Uncovering the French-speaking jihadisphere: An exploratory analysis

Terrorist groups have exploited the internet and other information technologies to advance their strategies since the mid-1990s. Violent jihadi groups are no exception. They have located the internet at the core of their media strategies, which has given birth to a vibrant global jihadisphere: an online community of militants and sympathizers united by their common adherence to a global Salafi jihadi ideology. Not only do jihadi groups devote increasing energy to attempting to connect with global audiences, but jihadi sympathizers from all around the world are more involved than ever in widening the spread of jihadi online content through para-personal media. The expanding use of non-Arabic languages such as French, English, German, Russian and Dutch by jihadi groups and ideologues has not yet been adequately examined in the academic literature. This article represents a preliminary effort at delineating the nature of the French-speaking jihadisphere, including discussion of the major websites and forums composing it, the real and virtual links between these, and how forum users originally learned of the forums’ existence.

JIHADIST IDEOLOGY. THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE. Farhad Khosrokhavar, Aarhus, Center for Studies in Islamism and Radicalization (CIR)/Aarhus University, 2011, 252 pages

JIHADIST IDEOLOGY. THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE. Farhad Khosrokhavar, Aarhus, Center for Studies in Islamism and Radicalization (CIR)/Aarhus University, 2011, 252 pages

An Intifada in Europe? A Comparative Analysis of Radicalization Processes Among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza versus Muslim Immigrants in Europe

Groups of second- and third-generation Muslim immigrants in Europe are increasingly undergoing radicalization processes that can lead to violent activity. These immigrants find relief for their frustrations in global jihadi ideology and radical Islam. In seeking to understand these radicalization processes within the European context, the author draws lessons from the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza on the eve of the “First Intifada” (popular uprising) in 1987. While these cases have different root causes and implications, the author's comparative analysis demonstrates that the social processes and generational clashes that lead to radicalization are shared by the two arenas.

Al-Qaeda in Gaza: Isolating “the Base”

In 1996, Osama bin Laden declared jihad against the American forces occupying Saudi Arabia, calling for Muslims to expel the infidels from the “land of the two holy places.” The first sacred ground mentioned in this statement, however, was not Saudi Arabia but Palestine. His words seething with hatred, bin Laden scorned the Arab regimes for failing to recapture Jerusalem and described the situation as a festering wound upon the Islamic umma .[1] Fourteen years later, even after orchestrating devastating attacks in three Western capitals, Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda is still unable to do much against Israel besides issuing scathing diatribes. Its most vigorous efforts to establish itself in the Palestinian arena have been in the Gaza Strip. Here, however, al-Qaeda-linked groups are stymied by a perhaps surprising adversary: Hamas. But despite Hamas’s efforts to suppress them, Salafi -jihadi groups maintain an underground presence. Even if al-Qaeda affiliates remain weak operationally in comparison to Hamas, al-Qaeda’s ideology of global jihad seems to be on the rise in Gaza. Meanwhile, the al-Qaeda leadership is relentless in pursuing new and ingenious ways for its agents to penetrate the Strip. A Hamas weakened by a tightened blockade or another war with Israel would leave an opening for Salafi -jihadi militants. The prospect of these al-Qaeda-linked factions upsetting a fragile peace needs to be considered among the many other factors relevant to engagement with Hamas.

Bringing Global Jihad to the Horn of Africa: al Shabaab, Western Fighters, and the Sacralization of the Somali Conflict

ABSTRACT. Sacralization of conflict is the process through which religion, or, in most cases, a militant interpretation of it, evolves from being an irrelevant or secondary factor at the onset of a conflict to shaping the views, actions, and aims of one or more of the conflict's key actors. The article outlines how this phenomenon has taken place in Somalia over the past twenty years by looking at two related phenomena: (1) the rise to prominence of al Shabaab, a group that, unlike its predecessors, follows a global jihadist ideology, and (2) the arrival of foreign fighters, particularly from Western countries, attracted more by global jihadist ideology than ethnic ties or nationalist sentiments.

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

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.

Special Issue/Forum on religious fundamentalism, terrorism, and the ideology of Jihad: Analysis of terrorism in Asia

Asian Journal of Social PsychologyVolume 13, Issue 3 p. 208-208 Special Issue/Forum on religious fundamentalism, terrorism, and the ideology of Jihad: Analysis of terrorism in Asia First published: 16 August 2010 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-839X.2010.01331.x Call for Papers Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume13, Issue3September 2010Pages 208-208 RelatedInformation

The Rise of the Russian Khalifat: The View from the Jihadist Side

AbstractRussia, similar to many other parts of the globe, continues to be affected by terrorism, mostly since the beginning of the conflicts in the Caucasus. While started by the Chechens after the beginning of the First Chechen War (1994-1996), terrorism and resistance to Moscow in general soon moved outside Chechen borders, absorbing representatives from other ethnic groups of the Caucasus and beyond. As a result, what originally had been mostly a Chechen nationalist movement finally transformed itself into a multi-ethnic force where the liberation of Chechnya from Russian rule became just one aspect of the struggle. Moreover, nationalist-minded Chechens seemed to have moved to the margins of the resistance, for increasing numbers of the resistance members could well go to the official Chechen leadership. While nationalistic and, in a way, a moderate model of the Chechen resistance became increasingly unworkable, jihadism provided an increasingly acceptable modus operandi. To start with, jihadism emphasises an ideological, Muslim identity and discards any sense of ethnicity, nationalism in general, that separates Muslims from each other. Secondly, jihadism promulgates the creation of a universal Khalifat as the final goal. Khalifat is seen as the ideal society, in a way similar to that of the “thousand-year rule of Christ” and/or communism, each of which actually transcends history as it is known. All of this has led to the increasing influence of jihadists among the members of the Chechen resistance, and a final split between them and the nationalist-minded members of the resistance. This paper presents a detailed analytic account of the recent developments within the Chechen resistance, as well as the jihadist ideology, and terrorism in the North Caucasus and Russia in general.

Extinguishing the Torch of Terror: The Threat of Terrorism and the 2010 Olympics

With the change in seasons comes the expected change of insurgency operations in Afghanistan as Taliban and al-Qaida fighters mount their spring and summer offensives against both NATO forces and Afghanis sympathetic to foreign troops. As insurgents curtail their seasonal operations with the arrival of fall and winter, is it likely that a threat may arise from Afghanistan to affect the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia? As will be illustrated herein, the threat to the games will not be borne directly from the insurgency in Afghanistan but rather by the universal jihadist ideology of al-Qaida rather than the nationalist beliefs of their fellow fighters, the Taliban. This article aims to call attention to the plausible threat to the 2010 Olympics posed by al-Qaida's far-reaching terrorist network while also offering a focused threat analysis based on the network's preferred tactics. Essentially, the power of al-Qaida lies in their network: the threat to the Olympic Games stems from proxy extremist and terrorist groups linked directly and indirectly to al-Qaida.

Confronting militant Islam in Southeast Asia: the case of the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines

Abstract This article discusses the Bush administration's extension of the War on Terror in Southeast Asia and this operation's main objective-the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the Philippines. It probes the ASG's history, transnational links, and terrorist operations. Then using content analysis, the article analyzes the terrorist group's primary reading material to determine its ideological affiliation with transnational Islamic militant groups. It then argues that the transnational jihadist ideology is evident in the ASG's primary reading material. The material reflects the ideas of the late Palestinian terrorist Abdullah Azzam, and by implication, those of the late Egyptian poet Sayyid Qutb. In conclusion, the article points out that the influence of jihadist ideology on the ASG is superficial, because of the widely held view that the band is a marginalized group operating at the fringes of the mainstream militant Islamic movement in Southeast Asia.

Inside jihadism: understanding jihadi movements worldwide

Introduction Chapter 1: Explanatory Approaches to Jihadism Chapter 2: Jihadist Ideology Chapter 3: Jihadism: A Culture of Violence Chapter 4: The Jihadist View of Democracy Chapter 5: Fundamentalism in Islam Chapter 6: The Transmission of Jihad to the West Chapter 7: Jihadist Intelligentsia around the World Conclusion: Toward an Islam of Hope Index

The Contradictory Effects of Ideology on Jihadist War-Fighting: The Bosnia Precedent

This article examines the manifestation of jihadist ideology in the strategic thought and behavior of war-fighting forces. Employing the “strategic approach,” it aims to determine whether jihadist ideology is a military asset or a strategic disadvantage for armed forces. It hypothesizes the impact of jihadist ideology on the use of force by examining its potential effects in seven strategic aspects: vision, threat perception, objectives, strategy, constituency, legitimacy, and conduct. It concludes by discussing the contradictory effects of jihadist ideology on the utility of force. Theoretical arguments throughout the article are elaborated by a discussion of jihadist forces in the Bosnian civil war.

The Internationalisation of the Russian–Chechen Conflict: Myths and Reality

The article provides a critical reading of various related discourses, depicting the political motives behind the conflict in Chechnya as a battlefield of the global jihad. These narratives have sought to present the involvement of external Islamist groups as a major factor in the conflict, and to portray many of the main groups within Chechnya as subscribing to a jihadist ideology. The authors suggest an alternative narrative focusing on the significance of the blood feud in the societies of the North Caucasus. It is argued that it is necessary to differentiate between the radicalisation of the resistance as such and the strengthening of the ideology of jihad. It is concluded that the resistance currently assumes a supranational character, yet one which is delimited regionally rather than globally.

Briefing for the New President: The Terrorist Threat in Indonesia and Southeast Asia

Counterterrorism capacity in Southeast Asia is improving, reducing the likelihood of a major attack on Western targets in the near term. However, jihadi ideology has taken root in Indonesia, and while the region's largest terrorist organization, Jemaah Islamiyah, appears to be more interested in rebuilding than mounting operations, its members still constitute an important recruitment pool for other groups. Most Indonesian jihadis appear to be more focused on local than foreign targets, but that focus can aid recruitment and facilitate alliances with other organizations. While the Iraq insurgency has not attracted Southeast Asian participation, the resurgence of the Taliban on the Afghan-Pakistan border could. The United States, under the next president, could help develop better information sharing between South and Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia may not be the “second front” that many feared after the first Bali bombs, but the terrorism threat in the region has not gone away.

Islamic Political Radicalism

As jihadi ideology shifts from articulating a perpetual conflict against the“far enemy” (read: the United States and its allies) and the “near enemy”(read: the United States’ clients) within the Middle East and the wider Muslimworld to taking the conflict to the heart of the far enemy in NorthAmericaand Western Europe, it is time for academics to take stock of what hashappened, how it has happened, and why. The “radicalization” debate, as itis called, tries to ask the pertinent question of why some Muslim male citizensof these “western” states feel so disenchanted, dis-integrated, and alienatedfrom their immediate communities that they can perpetrate such grossacts of violence as the bombings in Madrid in March 2004 and 7/7 in London.The challenge of such violent radicalism (and it is important to qualifyit as such, since radicalism traditionally has been a political virtue of the Leftdemanding change) affects security policy as well as the integrity and dignityof Muslim communities. Tahir Abbas, a reader in sociology at the University of Birmingham anda leading expert on the sociology of Britain’s Muslim communities, hasassembled a vibrant interdisciplinary circle of specialists, comprisingMuslimand non-Muslim academics and activists, to tackle this question. The collectionbrings together studies in political science, political sociology (the primaryfocus for the debate on radicalism), anthropology, psychology, criminology,and related disciplines.The contributors concentrate on Britain, albeitwithin a European context, and thus this book might be of value for thosestudying Islamismin otherMuslim-minority contexts (particularly the UnitedStates) and even in Muslim-majority contexts as a base of comparison ...

De-Legitimizing Terrorism: Creative Engagement and Understanding of the Psycho-Social and Political Processes Involved in Ideological Support for Terrorism

In recent years the world has witnessed a proliferation of global terrorism much of it carried out by groups ideologically connected to each other by the common reliance on a shared (although individualistically and often nationalistically expressed) militant jihadist ideology which makes use of distorted tenets of Islam. This militant jihadist ideology claims that Islam is under attack and rallies its adherents to join the global jihad – a war in defense of Islam. It makes a global call to Muslims all over the world to place their religious allegiances above all other allegiances (i.e. familial, national, etc.) and to consider themselves as the “fictive kin” or “Muslim brothers” of all Muslims everywhere. Disturbing events in conflict zones (i.e. Palestine, Iraq, Chechnya, and Afghanistan) are offered by these groups as concrete and alarming examples for advancing their ideology with its core theme that Islam is under attack and that therefore extreme and violent methods are justified to defend Islam and Islamic people and values everywhere. Promising to address the suffering they call to their adherents attention, and to not only end this suffering but to bring about a new world order – one that promises social justice and moral living in accordance with the tenets of the Quran terror groups promote a militant jihadist ideology that rallies their forces, increases their pool of sympathizers, raises funds and operational support and most importantly motivates their members and new recruits to enact suicide terrorism – the most lethal of weapons in the terrorists’ arsenal.

Virtual jihadist media

Within the last 10 years, the internet has become the principal platform for the dissemination and mediation of the culture and ideology of jihadism. The exponential growth of jihadist fora, with their increasingly 'high-end' production values, sophisticated critiques of prevailing narratives and ostensive attempts at impartiality, do not occur in a vacuum. To a great extent they are reactive, their raison d'être supplied by the mainstream media's perceived collusion with governmental (mis)information, or at least its uncritical acceptance. The jihadist media are far from alone in these critiques and there has been a growing convergence of interests with other non-mainstream media outlets, which are also challenging conventional modes of mediation. This article seeks to explore the functions of the new jihadist media, the ways in which it is granted legitimacy, and the compelling issue of radicalizing efficacy and recruitment.