Salafi-jihadism : the history of an idea / Shiraz Maher.

Contents: Introduction. The prayer hall putsch ; Salafi-jihadism : typologies and definitions ; Intellectual history -- Jihad. The obligation of fighting. The virtues of jihad ; Authorising defensive declarations of jihad ; Applying jihad in Salafi thought. Attacking the far enemy as a defensive measure ; The rules of qital ; Qiṣaṣ : the law of equal retaliation ; Vicarious liability ; Human shields (tatarrus) -- Takfir. Establishing disbelief. The foundations of takfir ; The emergence of takfir as a tool for intra-Muslim violence ; The postponers emerge ; Praxis in action. The roots of modern takfir ; The tyrants (ṭawaghit) ; Criminal transgressors and oppressors (mujrimun and zalimun) ; Heretics (mushrikun and rawafiḍ) -- Al-wala wa-l-bara. The making of love and hate. Al-wala wa-l-bara ; Understanding al-wala wa-l-bara and its linguistic dimensions ; The emergence and development of al-wala wa-l-bara as a political concept in the first and second Saudi states ; The development of al-wala wa-l-bara as a theoretical doctrine of dissent ; Al-wala wa-l-baraʼ as social empowerment. Manifestations of al-wala wa-l-bara as a means of rebellion, separation and confrontation ; Akhaff al-ḍararayn as a means of derogation from the prohibition of istiana bi-l-kuffar ; Resistance to akhaff al-ḍararayn and the rise of popular dissent ; Contemporary Salafi-jihadi interpretations of al-wala wa-l-bara -- Tawḥid. Realising monotheism ; Tawḥid in Salafi thought ; Tawḥid al-uluhiyya : Islam as a living ideal ; Political applications of tawḥid ; Holy war and the essence of monotheism. Jihad as the means of realising tawḥīd -- Ḥakimiyya. The dawn of modern political Islam. The birth of an idea : from reform to governance ; The fear of secularism ; Transposing Maududi's thought to the Arab world ; Arab discourse on ḥakimiyya shifts from inclusive to aggressive : the fight against domestic tyranny ; Ḥakimiyya as temporal empowerment ; Securing God's rights. The revival of ḥakimiyya discourse in Saudi Arabia ; Intra-Salafi debates on obedience, jihad and iṣlaḥ ; Tawḥid al-ḥakimiyya as a Salafi-jihadi neologism.

Summary: "No topic has captured the public imagination of late quite so dramatically as the specter of global jihadism. While much has been said about the way jihadists behave, their ideology remains poorly understood. As the Levant has imploded and millenarian radicals claim to have revived a Caliphate based on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, the need for a nuanced and accurate understanding of jihadist beliefs has never been greater. Shiraz Maher charts the intellectual underpinnings of Salafi-jihadism from its origins in the mountains of the Hindu Kush to the jihadist insurgencies of the 1990s and the 9/11 Wars. What emerges is the story of a pragmatic but resilient warrior doctrine that often struggles--as so many utopian ideologies do--to consolidate the idealism of theory with the reality of practice. His ground-breaking introduction to Salafi-jihadism recalibrates our understanding of the ideas underpinning one of the most destructive political philosophies of our time by assessing classical works from Islamic antiquity alongside those of contemporary ideologues. Packed with refreshing and provocative insights, Maher's book explains how war and insecurity engendered one of the most significant socio-religious movements of the modern era"—Dust jacket.

English