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Traces Abdallah Azzam's path from a West Bank village to the battlefields of Afghanistan and explains why jihadism went global.
This book studies the art forms and social practices that make up much of the daily life of jihadi culture.
Saudi Arabia, homeland of Osama bin Laden and many 9/11 hijackers, is widely considered to be the heartland of radical Islamism. For decades, the conservative and oil-rich kingdom contributed recruits, ideologues and money to jihadi groups worldwide. Yet Islamism within Saudi Arabia itself remains poorly understood. Why has Saudi Arabia produced so many militants? Has the Saudi government supported violent groups? How strong is al-Qaida's foothold in the kingdom and does it threaten the regime? Why did Bin Laden not launch a campaign there until 2003? This 2010 book presents the first ever history of Saudi jihadism based on extensive fieldwork in the kingdom and primary sources in Arabic. It offers a powerful explanation for the rise of Islamist militancy in Saudi Arabia and sheds crucial new light on the history of the global jihadist movement.
This book presents new insights and the most up-to-date research on Saudi Arabia's social, cultural, economic and political dynamics.
Based on new information gathered from extensive fieldwork in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, this account sheds light on the story and legacy of Juhayman al-‘Utaybi, the militant who led the 1979 takeover of Islam’s holiest site: the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Detailing the events that would set in motion numerous attacks on the U.S. embassy in Pakistan and Shia uprisings in oil-rich areas of Saudi Arabia, this record offers insight into the religious inspiration behind the rebel leader’s message and acknowledges many unanswered questions: Who were the rebels and what did they want? Why and how did Juhayman’s group come into existence? What was Juhayman al-‘Utaybi’s ideological legacy and how have his writings influenced contemporary Islamist strains?
Are violent jihadis an enduring feature of modern international affairs, or do they hold in their own doctrines the seeds of self-destruction? Historical precedent suggests the latter. Jihadi ideologues have formulated an individualist-centered Islam to mobilise Muslims far and wide, youths above all, to join a global jihad. However, the duty and right to an individually initiated jihad constitutes just one side of this do-it-yourself Islam; the other is the duty to protect the purity of doctrinal beliefs against any perceived deviation by even their fellow jihadis. This book explores the religious philosophy underlying jihadism, as set against the background of the Kharijites, the first counter-establishment movement in Islam, whose idealistic and individualistic practice of Islam inevitably led them to deploy takfir against each other and thereby to self-destruct. By investigating the links between Kharijism and jihadism, Lahoud argues that the same doctrinal beliefs that appear to unite today's jihadis will also be the cause of their downfall.
In February 2014, al-Qaida issued a statement that shocked the entire Jihadi movement. For the first time in its history, the group declared that a local affiliate, the Islamic State in Iraq, was no longer part of al-Qaida. The renegade Iraqi group, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had expanded its operations to Syria, taking over the regional branch Jabhat al-Nusra; but in the process, the group had defied orders from al-Qaida's amir, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Islamic State's actions, and increasingly aggressive posture towards fellow Jihadis, eventually ignited a Jihadi civil war-a period defined by internal tensions that ultimately turned global. With devastating impact, this fitna left the Jihadi m...
To reveal the inner workings of Al Qaeda, this book collects and annotates key texts of the major figures from whom the movement has drawn its beliefs and direction. There are excerpts from the writings of Azzabdallah Azzam, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
A sober analysis of IS's media and propaganda output, essential for understanding what drives the movement.
Road Warriors is a history of the modern foreign-fighter jihadist movement, detailing the lives and struggles of foreigners who left their homes to wage jihad in another country. This book shows how governments have tried to fight the group and assesses what worked and what needs to be done.