Details

Abstract / Summary

In this original and provocative book, Nahed Artoul Zehr explores the theological underpinnings of al-Qaeda and related Islamic movements such as ISIS. She demonstrates how this marginal narrative transformed al-Qaeda from a relatively hierarchical and regional organization to a globalized, decentralized, and diffuse system of networks. She draws connections between religious ideas and strategy in her translation and analysis of leading theoretical and tactical jihad text, The Global Islamic Resistance Call, by Mustafa abu Mus' ab al-Suri. Just as importantly, she questions al-Qaeda's understanding of the Islamic tradition on the use of force, arguing that it reflects a weak understanding of this tradition. More specifically, it is al-Qaeda's (and related groups') break with this tradition that is key to an al-Qaeda defeat. Simultaneously, Zehr critiques the US military and policy establishment as it attempts to offer counter-narratives to the al-Qaeda phenomenon that emphasizes "good Muslims" versus "bad Muslims" in order to embrace a "moderate" form of Islam. According to Zehr, this approach is misguided: it is beyond the US government's purview and expertise to make such theological claims about Islam. Better, she argues, to note the counter-narratives that are coming from within the Muslim community and other nongovernment institutions interested in moving this work forward. By refocusing our attention on al-Qaeda's narrative and the various ways thatit is being contested, the book provides an alternate lens from which to viewal-Qaeda and the al-Qaeda phenomenon for Islamic and US foreign policy scholars and students.

Field of Interest

Religion & Thought

Author

Nahed Artoul Zehr, fl. 2014

Copyright Message

Copyright © 2017 Georgetown University Press. All rights reserved.

Content Type

General reference book

Duration

0 sec

Format

Text

Page Count

232

Publication Year

2017

Publisher

Georgetown University Press

Place Published / Released

District of Columbia

Subject

Religion & Thought, Social Sciences, Persecution, Conflict, and War, الاضطهاد, الصراع, والحرب, Persécution, conflit, et guerre, Verfolgung, Konflikt, und Krieg, רדיפות, סכסוכים, ומלחמה, Persecución, Conflicto y Guerra, Perseguição, Conflito e Guerra, Al-Qaeda, Muslim, Morals, Fundamentalism, Islam, Jihad, Islamic Ethics

Keywords and Translated Subjects

الاضطهاد, الصراع, والحرب, Persécution, conflit, et guerre, Verfolgung, Konflikt, und Krieg, רדיפות, סכסוכים, ומלחמה, Persecución, Conflicto y Guerra, Perseguição, Conflito e Guerra