Salafi-Jihadi Ideology

Das Buch leuchtet Aspekte der salafistischen Glaubenslehre, Ideologie und Bewegung und die von ihr gestellten Herausforderungen für Politik, Medien, Wissenschaft und Zivilgesellschaft aus. Es stellt Möglichkeiten des Umgangs mit ebendiesen Herausforderungen ebenso zur Diskussion wie die Zusammenhänge mit Phänomenen des Dschihadismus. Die Beiträge basieren auf Erkenntnissen eines vom Leibniz-Institut Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (HSFK) koordinierten und vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) geförderten Forschungsverbunds mit dem Titel »Salafismus in Deutschland – Forschungsstand und Wissenstransfer«.

A rebuttal of ISIL's Jurisprudence of Blood (Fiqh al-Dima'). This book is a comprehensive, principled rejection of one of the main jurisprudential texts that is used by takfiri (salafi-jihadist) terrorist groups in general, and ISIL/ISIS and its associates in particular, including Boko Haram (ISWAP). The text that we comprehensively refute is the 579-page Mas’ail min Fiqh al-Jihad (“Issues from the Jurisprudence of Jihad”) by Abu ‘Abdullah al-Muhajir, a key ISIS ideologue. The text is also known amongst jihadists by another name: Fiqh al-Dima’, or The Jurisprudence of Blood. This is a “bible for jihadists,” containing alleged theoretical and legal grounding that has manifested itself on the ground with atrocities committed by like-minded terrorists around the globe, at the hands of groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Unlike many texts from the takfiri (salafi-jihadist) literary canon that are usually brief and simple, this text offers intricate details on the use of jihad in its traditional Sunni discussion, and misuses these features to provide Islamic legal cover to terrorist operations.

The "Jurisprudence of Blood" is composed of twenty chapters, each dedicated to the discussion of one issue (mas’alah) of the jihadists’ interpretation of jihad. In order to try to impress the reader and show his command of Islamic jurisprudence, the author sometimes adds a new chapter – under a new title – to discuss the very same issues mentioned in previous chapters.

The development of the takfiri ideology starts with the principle of excommunicating (pronouncing takfir upon) all existing political regimes, as they are not implementing the true teachings of Islam and have fallen into a “trap of pre-Islamic ignorance” (jahiliyya), and distinguishing, as the author does, between the “lands of Islam” and the “lands of unbelief (kufr).” The takfiri jihadists are therefore entitled to fight the unbelievers and attack all infidel (non-Muslim) countries of the world that do not have a treaty with them. This jihad has to continue until infidelity (non-Islam) disappears and Islam becomes the only dominant faith. Moreover, this dichotomisation of the world into factions of belief and unbelief is used by ISIS to legitimise the following:

i. assassinations,
ii. kidnapping and taking hostages,
iii. conducting suicide operations,
iv. mutilating corpses,
v. beheading people,
vi. killing of children and non-combatants,
vii. the taking of sex-slaves
viii. trading in human organs,
ix. employing weapons of mass destruction, and
x. committing genocide.

The ISIS author, known only through his by-name Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir that indicates his religious emigration from his homeland, is an Egyptian who joined the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan (1979-89) and mixed with the likes of Usama bin Ladin and, possibly, Ayman al-Zawahiri. As a takfiri theologian, orator and writer, his influence upon Al-Qaeda and ISIS is immense, although he has generally slipped under the radar outside those circles. As a younger man, he regarded the Taliban and even Bin Ladin as too soft. He is thought to be alive and at large after over three decades of jihadism, although a fellow takfiri theologian with the same by-name (Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir) was killed by an American airstrike in Syria in November 2016.

Our work comprehensively debunks and rejects ISIS’ proto-Islamic arguments, demonstrating their ignorance and disregard for traditional Islamic scholarship as well as for the basic humane and Islamic values of mercy and compassion.

We give a detailed response to ISIS’ ideological jurisprudence based on a wide and holistic reading of Islamic jurisprudence and theology.
In the course of our work, we strongly emphasise the convergence between traditional Islamic and modern warfare ethics, as illustrated by the works of leading contemporary Islamic jurists whom we quote in our work. We especially draw upon the work of Muhammad Abu Zahra, Wahba Zuhayli and other Al-Azhar jurists, as well as critiquing some of Qaradawi's views on warfare ethics.

We include a summary of what we term "Modern Islamic Warfare Ethics," consisting of 13 conclusions summarised from our response to the "Jurisprudence of Blood" (Fiqh al-Dima').

In a nutshell, it is only fringe groups like ISIS that have a bloodthirsty approach to the world. In contrast, contemporary, mainstream Islamic jurisprudence endorses international agreements and treaties related to nation-states and warfare ethics, thus continuing the centuries of Islamic contributions to shared, global civilisations.