How Islamic is al-Qaeda? The politics of Pan-Islam and the challenge of modernisation

Abstract

This article investigates the contested ideology of al-Qaeda through an analysis of Osama bin Ladin’s writings and public statements issued between 1994 and 2011, set in relation to the development of Islamic thought and changing socio-political realities in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Challenging popular conceptions of Wahhabism and the “Salafi jihad”, it reveals an idealistic, Pan-Islamic sentiment at the core of his messages that is not based on the main schools of Islamic theology, but is the result of a crisis of meaning of Islam in the modern world. Both before and after the death of al-Qaeda’s iconic leader, the continuing process of religious, political and intellectual fragmentation of the Muslim world has led to bin Ladin’s vision for unity being replaced by local factions and individuals pursuing their own agendas in the name of al-Qaeda and Islam.

Keywords:

• Al-Qaeda
• Osama bin Ladin
• Pan-Islam
• modernity
• meaning

Notes

1. The Pew Global Attitudes Survey (2005) revealed that a surprising number of Muslims had confidence in bin Ladin’s conduct in world affairs, regardless of the overall decline in support of the use of suicide bombing and other forms of terrorism and growing concern over the consequences of the war against terror. While in Morocco and Indonesia, public support for bin Ladin ranked at 26% and 37% respectively, marking an overall decline in support since 2003, this trend is not reflected in other countries. In Pakistan, for example, a narrow majority of 51% places some measure of confidence in bin Ladin, a moderate increase from 45% in 2003. In Jordan, support for the al-Qaeda leader rose from 55% to 60% between 2003 and 2005, including 25% who say they have a lot of confidence in him.

2. According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet was brought by night from Mecca to the Dome of the Rock (or miraj), Jerusalem, from where he ascended to heaven.

3. The qibla is the direction that should be faced when a Muslim prays. Muslims all praying towards the same place is traditionally considered to symbolise the unity of all Muslims worldwide under the Law of God.

4. Critical voices include such scholars as Mu’tazila in the eighth century, Sayyid Ahmad Khan in the nineteenth century or Ghulam Ahmad Parwez in the twentieth century (Graham 1974; Martin, Woodward, and Atmaja 1997).

5. Conservative opinion was represented by Muhammad Rasid Rida (1923), who, in his compilation al- Khilafa wa’l-imama al-uzma (The Caliphate or the Greatest Imamate), made the case for a restoration. Radical opinion was represented by ‘Ali ‘Abd Al-Raziq (1999), who, in his al-Islam wa usul al-hukum (Islam and the Foundations of Government), expressed doubts about the need for a caliphate. Realist opinion was expressed by Abd al-Raziq Sanhoury (1926).

6. For an excellent exposition of the theory of jihad, see Heck (2004) and Bonner (2006).

7. Griffin (2012) and Fierke (2012) offer excellent discussions of the role of emotions and the individual search for meaning in the conduct of political violence.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christina Hellmich

Christina Hellmich is Reader in International Relations & Middle East Studies at the University of Reading. She is a specialist in Middle East politics (especially Yemen and the Arab Gulf) with a particular research interest in Political Islam and International Security. During fieldwork in Iraq and the Yemen, she has conducted extensive research into the role of Islamic preaching as a medium for political communication and the changing nature of Muslim politics. She is the author of Al-Qaeda: From Global Network to Local Franchise (Zed, 2011), Knowing al-Qaeda: The Epistemology of Terrorism (Ashgate, 2012) and Which Way to Heaven? Al-Qaeda and the Challenge of Islamist pluralism in Yemen (Hurst/OUP, 2015).