A Quietist Jihadi: The Ideology and Influence of Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi

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Cambridge University Press, 2012 M06 11 - 290 pages
Since 9/ll, the Jordanian Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi (b. West Bank, 1959) has emerged as one of the most important radical Muslim thinkers alive today. While al-Maqdisi may not be a household name in the West, his influence amongst like-minded Muslims stretches across the world from Jordan - where he lives today - to Southeast Asia. His writings and teachings on Salafi Islam have inspired terrorists from Europe to the Middle East, including Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of al-Qa'ida in Iraq, and Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden's successor as the head of al-Qa'ida Central. This groundbreaking book, which is the first comprehensive assessment of al-Maqdisi, his life, ideology, and influence, is based on his extensive writings and those of other jihadis, as well as on interviews that the author conducted with former jihadis, including al-Maqdisi himself. It is a serious and intense work of scholarship that uses this considerable archive to explain and interpret al-Maqdisi's particular brand of Salafism. More broadly, the book offers an alternative, insider perspective on the rise of radical Islam, with a particular focus on Salafi opposition movements in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
 

Contents

The Development ofRadical Islam
10
Theoretical Framework Methodology and Sources
20
r Wavering between Quietism and Jihadism
29
AlMaqdisis Quietist JihadiSalafi Aqida
55
AlMaqdisis Quietist JihadiSalafi Manhaj
75
ALMAQDISIS INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT
145
Reframing alIstiana bilKuffar
153
Explaining alMaqdisis Frame Resonance
160
Guidance t0 the Seekers
191
A Visionary in the Land of the Blind
208
The Prison Experience and Beyond
214
Framing ordanian Opponents
222
A New Generation ofQuietistflhadiSalafis?
231
Conclusion
237
Bibliography
251
Index
277

jihad as Bara against Infidel Wala
174
The Acceptance of alMaqdisis Salafisedjihad
183

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About the author (2012)

Joas Wagemakers is an assistant professor in the Department of Islam and Arabic at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

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