Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary
- Note on Transliteration
- Introduction
- Part I Al-Maqdisi's Life and His Place in the Jihadi Ideological Spectrum, 1959–2009
- Part II Al-Maqdisi's Influence on the Saudi Islamic Opposition, 1989–2005
- Part III Al-Maqdisi's Influence on the Development of al-Walāʾ wa-l-Barāʾ, 1984–2009
- 6 The Revival of al-Istiʿāna bi-l-Kuffār
- 7 ‘Salafising’ Jihad
- Part IV Al-Maqdisi's Influence on the Jordanian Jihadi-Salafi Community, 1992–2009
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
7 - ‘Salafising’ Jihad
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary
- Note on Transliteration
- Introduction
- Part I Al-Maqdisi's Life and His Place in the Jihadi Ideological Spectrum, 1959–2009
- Part II Al-Maqdisi's Influence on the Saudi Islamic Opposition, 1989–2005
- Part III Al-Maqdisi's Influence on the Development of al-Walāʾ wa-l-Barāʾ, 1984–2009
- 6 The Revival of al-Istiʿāna bi-l-Kuffār
- 7 ‘Salafising’ Jihad
- Part IV Al-Maqdisi's Influence on the Jordanian Jihadi-Salafi Community, 1992–2009
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
Summary
Al-Maqdisi is likely to have had a modest but nevertheless important impact on Saudi Salafi-Wahhabi scholars and activists with regard to al-istiʿāna bi-l-kuffār. This is not the only dimension of al-walāʾ wa-l-barāʾ in which al-Maqdisi has been influential, however, nor have only Saudis been influenced by him in this respect. This chapter deals with one of al-Maqdisi's main themes, namely al-walāʾ wa-l-barāʾ as a tool to frame the legislation of ‘man-made laws’ as kufr and the laws and their legislators as ṭawāghīt in order to legitimise takfīr of and jihad against the rulers. It also shows how and why non-Saudi authors have been influenced by his use of al-istiʿāna bi-l-kuffār.
The chapter starts with an analysis of al-Maqdisi's views on al-walāʾ wa-l-barāʾ as a means to frame laws and the rulers that apply them as guilty of un-Islamic loyalty that should be fought by means of jihad. It then deals with the Jihadi-Salafi scholars who have probably been influenced by al-Maqdisi in this respect, as well as with the non-Saudi authors who seem to have adopted his modern-day application of al-istiʿāna bi-l-kuffār. Finally, the chapter focuses on how al-Maqdisi's influence on both groups can be explained through framing. Throughout the chapter, we will see how al-Maqdisi takes an inherently subversive and thus very un-quietist idea (jihad against Muslim rulers) and incorporates it into his own Salafi discourse through the use of al-walāʾ wa-l-barāʾ. By reframing the excommunication of and the jihad against the Muslim world's rulers in a Salafi way – indeed by ‘Salafising’ them – al-Maqdisi again shows his close adherence to quietist ideas, underlining his own position as a quietist Jihadi-Salafi.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- A Quietist JihadiThe Ideology and Influence of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, pp. 165 - 188Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012