Ideology

1. Ideology Section I

2. Daniel Patrick Boyd and Jihadist Ideology Government Exhibit 27: “BOYD states ‘this book’ (Quran) is about jihad and how to deal with hypocrites. BOYD states there is no du'a (personal request to God) without Jihad.” Government Exhibit 27: “BOYD discusses the Meccan period of Islam. BOYD states Muslims are not in the Meccan period. BOYD talks about several scholars and what they have in common. The scholars are all majahideens (a person that engages in Jihad). BOYD quotes a Muslim scholar: For those who make Jihad in the name of Allah we will guide them to our path and there is Allah with the majahideen.”

3. In a Nutshell: The Jihadist Narrative Outside forces are attempting to physically subjugate Islam and undermine its moral fabric. Grave situation: existential conflict. The only proper response is violence—violence not only to defend Islam, but also expand it. Political reasons, but also religious ones.

4. Colonialism • Major metropolitan powers gained access to parts of the world from which they could derive wealth and power. • They would typically make deals with local elites. • The variety of colonial experiences range. Some were violent, others were political agreements. In every instance, the relationship was initiated by the West (Western Europe), designed to produce benefit to the West, and developed with the presence of significant power disparities. • Western powers came in and changed the political and social dynamics of the colonized countries. • Influence over local elites. The colonial powers needed to influence key elites and cadres to be supportive. Thus, some of the colonized received significant benefits: in India, for example, the British opened a number of schools to develop elites who could help the colonial power.

5. The Ottoman Empire’s Defeat Ottoman Empire had been the seat of the caliphate (unified leadership of Muslim world). Following the Ottomans’ defeat in World War I, the Brits occupied its territory. After leading the resistance in Turkey’s war of independence, Mustafa Kemal (akaAtatürk) abolished the caliphate on March 3, 1924. He replaced it with a secular system. The European nations said they would create nation-states out of Ottoman areas. But they wanted weak states, to maintain their influence. In the 1920s through 1940s, colonial powers set up governments that would depend on them for support, and would reflect the Western countries’ values (allowing missionaries, capitalism, and development). The colonial powers felt that monarchies were the best way to do this.

6. Social Movements • A few distinct social movements emerged in response to the colonial experience. They were nationalist, communist, and Islamist. • Example: The Baath party (communist and nationalist). • Islamist movements. These movements were attempting to answer the question “what went wrong? • Islamist movements argued that what was missing was religion, and a sense of justice.

7. IbnTaymiyya • Precursor to contemporary ideologues. • Born in 1263 AD, lived at a time when the Mongols had conquered the core of the Muslim world. • Though the Mongols claimed to be Muslims, they used their native system of laws in place of sharia. • Was warfare against the Mongols acceptable? • Taymiyya faced an obstacle to declaring war: Sunnis traditionally hold that even a bad Muslim ruler is better than fitna. • He argued that Islam requires state power. By failing to rule according to sharia, the Mongols were infidels rather than true Muslims. They should be fought and killed.

8. Salafism Name derived from the Arabic term for “pious predecessors.” Contemporary Salafi movement provides a religious answer to a political question: How did the Muslim world fall from glory? Salafism defines Islam’s ills as rooted in straying from the original practice of the faith, and tries to correct this by returning to earliest religious practice. Muhammad Abduh (b. 1849) thought that Europe had “Islam but no Muslims.” Movement became increasingly anti-West over time.

9. Hassan al-Banna • Born 1906 in Egypt, founded Muslim Brotherhood 1928. • Anti-royalist protests; British crackdown. • Overthrowing the government was difficult because of power imbalances. • Dawa. Al-Banna urged Muslims to return Islam to its rightful place by starting at the bottom. • Salafi outlook • The Brotherhood’s dawa efforts. • Social services. • Classes at mosques and in civic groups. • Courts.

10. Al-Banna on Jihad • Once enough Muslims returned to true Islam, the faith could be spread through jihad. “Jihad is an obligation from Allah on every Muslim and cannot be ignored nor evaded…The weaknesses of abstention and evasion of jihad are regarded by Allah as one of the major sins, and one of the seven sins that guarantee failure.” “We will pursue this evil force to its own lands, invade its Western heartland, and struggle to overcome it until all the world shouts by the name of the Prophet and the teachings of Islam spread throughout the world.”

11. The BrotherhoodAfter al-Banna After Egyptian Prime Minister Nuqrashi Pasha was assassinated by a MB member in 1948, Egyptian police killed al-Banna, dissolved Brotherhood. The was a widespread reaction against the Egyptian regime. Support for Islamists and other anti-regime elements grew, as did Egyptian nationalism. Gamal Abdul Nasser and his men (the Free Officers) executed a military coup in 1952. The ideology that he promotes is socialist nationalism that is in many respects anti-Western. Free Officers and Brotherhood cooperated before the coup, but had irreconcilable views of the role of religion in society.

12. SayyidQutb Born in 1906 in Egypt, Qutb became an influential MB leader after al-Banna’s death. Prior to becoming an influential MB leader, Qutb studied in the U.S. for two years (NYC; Greeley, CO). Disturbed by racism and licentiousness—even church dances.

13. Qutb Shifts Brotherhood’s Strategy • After returning to Egypt, Qutb became a leading member of the MB. • Qutb changes the Brotherhood’s strategy: • The world’s dominant sociopolitical system is that of jahiliya. • It is the duty of Muslims to revive Islam, to transform jahili society through proselytization (da’wa) and jihad—an active struggle that includes violent means. • The transformation of jahili society is the task of a dedicated vanguard of Muslims. • Once this vanguard is assembled, the goal is the establishment of God’s sovereignty on earth—ensuring that the laws and norms of Islam are followed. Top-down vs. bottom-up.

14. Qutb’s Imprisonment • Nasser set out to shut down the Muslim Brotherhood. He threw most of them into prison. • The incarcerated Islamists spent a lot of time speaking with each other. Rather than containing the movement, Nasser’s decision fostered the development of a like-minded cadre of Islamists who were introduced to Qutb’s ideas. • Lawrence Wright notes in The Looming Tower that “[s]tories about Sayyid Qutb’s suffering in prison have formed a kind of Passion play for Islamic fundamentalists.” • Qutb wrote his classic works Milestones and In the Shade of the Qur’an while imprisoned.

15. Qutb, Prison, Takfir • The conditions under which Qutb was imprisoned had a serious effect on him • He was frail, with a weak heart, delicate stomach, and chronic pains. • He was held for hours in a cell with vicious dogs, and was beaten. • Qutb concluded that his jailers had denied God by serving Nasser. Thus, they were not Muslims. • Takfir.

16. Existential Conflict “It may happen that the enemies of Islam may consider it expedient not to take any action against Islam.... But Islam cannot agree to this unless they submit to its authority by paying Jizyah, which will be a guarantee that they have opened their doors for the preaching of Islam and will not put any obstacle in its way through the power of the state.” -Sayyid Qutb, Milestones “Islam requires the earth, not just a portion, but the entire planet... because the whole of mankind should benefit from Islam, and its ideology.” -A. A. Maududi (Pakistan)

17. Impact of the Afghan-Soviet War “Arab Afghan” presence. Like Egyptian prisons, a large number of Islamic extremists were in close proximity to each other—faith on the battlefield. Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Brought together Saudi and Egyptian extremist groups, Afghan militants.

18. Al-Qaeda Today Bin Laden expected to return home a hero following the Afghan-Soviet war, but instead was treated with suspicion; Prince Nayif confiscated his passport. Travels to Sudan, Afghanistan (Taliban). Terrorist attacks culminating in 9/11: Somalia, E. Africa embassy bombings, U.S.S. Cole. Al-Qaeda’s regeneration in Pakistan. Increasingly sophisticated messaging.

19. Other Terrorist Ideologies Shia terrorist groups (Hizballah) Other religiously inspired terrorism (Christian Identity, Jewish extremism) Political terrorism (far right, far left, anarchist) Nationalist terrorist groups (ETA, PKK, Tamil Tigers, IRA) Racist terrorist groups Single-issue terrorism (eco-terrorism, anti-abortion terrorism)