A Purist Jihadi-Salafi: The Ideology of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi

Abstract

This article deals with the prominent contemporary Jihadi-Salafi ideologue Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi. In what follows, three major tenets of his ideology (al-walā͗ wa-l-barā͗, kufr and jihad) are discussed. These concepts show that al-Maqdisi more or less transcends the boundaries of Quintan Wiktorowicz's division of Salafis into purists, politicos and jihadis. I contend that al-Maqdisi is relatively close to purist Salafism and can thus be seen as a ‘purist Jihadi-Salafi’. This implies that his ideas may resonate more easily with purists than the rhetoric of the likes of Osama bin Laden. At the same time, jihadis may take him more seriously because of his religious authority based on his close adherence to the purist creed. Although this article does not focus on explaining al-Maqdisi's popularity, it seems obvious that his specific combination of purist and jihadi Salafism may account for at least some of his standing among Salafis.

Notes

^*The author is a lecturer and PhD-candidate at Radboud University Nijmegen. His research focuses on the influence of Abuū Muammad al-Maqdisī within the Jihadi-Salafi movement. [email protected] He would like to thank Roel Meijer, Harald Motzki and the anonymous peer reviewers for their useful comments on earlier versions of this article

¹ Scholarly studies dealing with Salafism include Quintan Wiktorowicz, ‘The Salafi Movement in Jordan’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 32 (2000), pp. 219–240; ibid, ‘Anatomy of the Salafi Movement’, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 29 (2006), pp. 207–239; and François Burgat and Muhammad Sbitli, ‘Les Salafis au Yémen… la Modernisation malgré tout’, Chroniques Yéménites, 10 (http://cy.revues.org/document137.html, 2002).

² Studies on this subject include Jason Burke, Al-Qaeda – The True Story of Radical Islam (London: I.B. Tauris, 2004); Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower – Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (New York: Knopf, 2006); and Abdel Bari Atwan, The Secret History of al Qaeda (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2006).

³ Mamoun Fandy, Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent (New York: Palgrave, 1999); Brynjar Lia, Architect of Global Jihad – The Life of Al Qaeda Strategist Abu Mus͑ab al-Suri, (London: Hurst Publishers, 2007); Roel Meijer, ‘Re-Reading al-Qaeda – Writings of Yusuf al-Ayiri’, ISIM Review, 18 (2006), pp. 16–17; ibid, ‘Yusuf al-Uyairi and the Making of a Revolutionary Salafi Praxis’, Die Welt des Islams, 47(3–4) (2007), pp. 422–459; and Madawi al-Rasheed, Contesting the Saudi State – Islamic Voices from a New Generation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).

⁴ Thomas Hegghammer, ‘Global Jihadism After the Iraq War’, Middle East Journal, 60(1) (2006), pp. 15–17.

⁵ Fawaz Gerges, The Far Enemy – Why Jihad went Global (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 262.

⁶ William McCants and Jarret Brachman, Militant Ideology Atlas, Executive Report (West Point, NY: Combating Terrorism Center, www.ctc.usma.edu/atlas/, 2006), p. 8.

⁷ Fandy, Saudi, pp. 3–4; Wiktorowicz, The Management of Islamic Activism – Salafis, the Muslim Brotherhood, and State Power in Jordan, (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2001), p. 122; Al-Rasheed, Contesting, pp. 121–125.

⁸ Wiktorowicz, Management, p. 122; International Crisis Group (ICG), Jordan's 9/11: Dealing with Jihadi Islamism, Middle East Report No. 47 (Amman/Brussels, 23 November 2005), p. 9.

⁹ Rudolph Peters, De Ideologische en Religieuze Ontwikkeling van Mohammed B., Expert-witness report in the case against Mohammed Bouyeri, (Amsterdam, May 2005), p. 20. Peters also found two of al-Maqdisi's most important tracts on Bouyeri's computer. He had apparently translated them into Dutch and is said to have considered al-Maqdisi an important religious authority. I would like to thank Martijn de Koning for bringing this information to my attention.

¹⁰ Nibras Kazimi, ‘A Virulent Ideology in Mutation: Zarqawi upstages Maqdisi’, in Hillel Fradkin, Husain Haqqani and Eric Brown (eds) Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, Vol. II (Washington, DC: Hudson Institute, 2005), pp. 59–73; Steven Brooke, ‘The Preacher and the Jihadi’, in Fradkin, Haqqani and Brown (eds) Current Trends in Islamic Ideology, Vol. III (Washington, DC: Hudson Institute, 2006), pp. 52–66; Anouar Boukhars, ‘The Challenge of Terrorism and Religious Extremism in Jordan’, Strategic Insights, 5(4) (www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2006/Apr/boukharsApr06.asp, 2006).

¹¹ Wiktorowicz, ‘Anatomy’, p. 208.

¹² Wiktorowicz, ‘Anatomy’, p. 209.

¹³ Wiktorowicz, ‘Anatomy’; Burgat and Sbitli, ‘Salafis’, pp. 8–9.

¹⁴ Muammad b. li b. al-͑Uthaymīn, The Muslims (sic) Belief, (n.d.) (www.allaahuakbar.in).

¹⁵ Abū Baīr al-arūsi, Hādhihi ͑Aqīdatunā wa Hādhā alladhī Nad͑ū ilayhi, (2002); Abū Muammad al-Maqdisī, Hādhihi ͑Aqīdatunā, (1997), (www.tawhed.ws).

¹⁶ See for example the manifestos by Jaysh Anār al-Sunna and Al-Qa͑ida in the Land of the Two Rivers, entitled resp. ͑Aqīdatunā wa Manhajunā, (n.d.) and Hādhihi ͑Aqīdatunā wa Manhajunā (n.d.). Both can be found at www.tawhed.ws.

¹⁷ āli b. Fawzān al-Fawzān, ‘Why Manhaj?’, (n.d.), (www.allaahuakbar.in).

¹⁸ Wiktorowicz, ‘Anatomy’, pp. 210–212; ibid, Management, pp. 114–115.

¹⁹ For examples of political Salafis, see Fandy, Saudi; Al-Rasheed, Contesting; and Stéphane Lacroix, ‘Between Islamists and Liberals: Saudi Arabia's new “Islamo-Liberal” Reformists’, Middle East Journal, 58(3) (2004), pp. 345–365.

²⁰ For purist criticism of the other two groups, see the purist websites www.salafipublications.com and www.allaahuakbar.in, which have entire sections on ‘deviant’ groups and sects. For criticism by politicos, see Fandy, Saudi; Al-Rasheed, Contesting; and Lacroix, ‘Between’. Criticism of both purists and politicos by jihadis can best be found at www.tawhed.ws.

²¹ This part of al-Maqdisī's name is somewhat controversial. Saudi journalist Mshari al-Zaydi (Mishārī al-Dhāyidī), who knew al-Maqdisi personally, claims his real name is not ͑Āim but ͑Iām. See Al-Sharq al-Awsat – English Edition (www.asharqalawsat.com/english) (26 July 2005). Al-Maqdisī himself stated in an interview that he prefers the former to the latter. See ‘Liqā͗ min Khalaf Qabān al-Murtaddīn “Sana 1418”’, (1997), (www.tawhed.ws), p. 2.

²² Al-Wa an (5 July 2005).

²³ Al-Maqdisī, ‘Abū Anas al-Shāmī: Bal qaā nuibbuhu tat Liwā͗ al-Tawīd’, (2004), (www.tawhed.ws).

²⁴ Al-Sharq al-Awsa (14 January 2004).

²⁵ Hegghammer and Lacroix, ‘Rejectionist Islamism in Saudi Arabia: The Story of Juhayman al-͑Utaybi Revisited’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 39 (2007), pp. 115–116.

²⁶ Al-Wa an (5 July 2005).

²⁷ Fu͗ād usayn, Al-Zarqāwī – Al-Jīl al-Thānī li-l-Qā͑ida, (Beirut: Dār al-Khayāl, 2005), p. 11.

²⁸ Al-Sharq al-Awsa (7 July 2005); Al-Ghad (14-7-2005).

²⁹ usayn, Al-Zarqāwī, pp. 13–14.

³⁰ Al-͑Arab al-Yawm (5 July 2005); Al- ayāt (5 July 2005); Al-Ghad (5 July 2005); Al-Sharq al-Awsa (14 January 2004).

³¹ Al-‘Arab al-Yawm (5 July 2005); Al-Ghad (5 July 2005); Al-Jazeera (www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/68E9B0F9-5F9F-447C-9B38-9F5DDB7D23C2.htm, 6 July 2005).

³² Abū Mu͑ab al-Zarqāwī, ‘Bayān wa Tawī li mā Athārahu al-Shaykh al-Maqdisī fī Liqā͗ihi ma͑a Qanāt al-Jazīra’ (http://soutweb.100free.com/books.htm). It started circulating on the internet from July 2005 onwards. I would like to thank Paul Schrijver for providing me with this document.

³³ Al-Sharq al-Awsa (4, 7 and 8 July 2005).

³⁴ All of these sources were found on al-Maqdisi's website (www.tawhed.ws). Since many of these writings can only be read as html documents, it is sometimes difficult to refer to specific pages. These documents can only be printed in chapters, which is why I refer to whole chapters or the page numbers of the chapters as I have printed them. For documents that are found in normal Word format, the page numbers given in the document itself are referred to.

³⁵ For a further elaboration of the concept of barā͗ in the Quran, see Uri Rubin, ‘Barā͗a: A Study of Some Quranic Passages’, Jerusalem Studies of Arabic and Islam, 5 (1984), pp. 13–32.

³⁶ Noorhaidi, Laskar Jihad – Islam, Militancy and the Quest for Identity in Post-New Order Indonesia, PhD Dissertation (Leiden, 2005), pp. 140–143.

³⁷ Taqī al-Dīn Amad b. Taymiyya, ‘ukm ͑Iyādat Ahl al-Kitāb wa al-alāt ͑alā Mawtāhum’, (n.d.), (www.tawhed.ws).

³⁸ āmid b. ͑Abdallah al-͑Alī, ‘Hal Yajūzu al-Itifāl bi-͑Īd Ra͗s al-Sana al-Narāniyyā?!’, (n.d.), (www.tawhed.ws).

³⁹ ͑Abd al-͑Azīz b. Bāz, ‘ukm Mushārakat al-Naārā fī A͑yādihim’, (n.d.), (www.binbaz.org.sa).

⁴⁰ Daryl Champion, The Paradoxical Kingdom – Saudi Arabia and the Momentum of Reform, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), pp. 20–51.

⁴¹ Al-Rasheed, Contesting, pp. 36–37.

⁴² For an application of al-walā͗ wa-l-barā͗ by al-Maqdisi to a social issue, see his book I͑dād al-Qāda al-Fawāris bi Hajr Fasād al-Madāris, (2000/2001), pp. 2–10. In this book, al-Maqdisi denounces the ‘infidel’ schools in countries like Yemen and Pakistan.

⁴³ Al-Maqdisī, Millat Ibrāhīm wa Da͑wat al-Anbiyā͗ wa-l-Mursalīn, (1984), introduction, p. 3. This and other translations of the Quran used in this article are taken from A.J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted (New York: Touchstone, 1996).

⁴⁴ Juhaymān al-͑Utaybī, Raf͑al-Iltibās ͑an Milla min Ja͑lihi Allāh Imām li-l-Nās, (n.d.), (www.tawhed.ws).

⁴⁵ Al-Maqdisī, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 1.

⁴⁶ Al-Maqdisī, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 1, Introduction, pp. 4–5. Al-Maqdisī acknowledges that this hadith is not considered sound by some of his critics but he believes its chain of transmission (isnād) is good ( asan) and quotes various scholars who included this tradition in their hadith collections.

⁴⁷ Al-Maqdisī, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 1, Ch. 3, pp. 1–3.

⁴⁸ Al-Maqdisī, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 1, Ch. 3, pp. 3, 5.

⁴⁹ Al-Maqdisī, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 1, Al-Kawāshif al-Jaliyya fī Kufr al-Dawla al-Sa͑ūdiyya, (1989/1990), pp. 7, 58, 181.

⁵⁰ Al-Maqdisī, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 1, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 2.

⁵¹ Al-Maqdisī, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 1, ‘Barā͗at al-Muwaidīn min ͑Uhūd al-awāghīt wa Amānihim li-l-Muāribīn’, (2002).

⁵² Al-Maqdisī, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 1, Millat, Ch. 1, pp. 1–11.

⁵³ Al-Maqdisī, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 1, Al-Kawāshif, pp. 122–142.

⁵⁴ Al-Maqdisī, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 1, Millat, Ch. 4, pp. 1–5.

⁵⁵ Al-Maqdisī, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 1, Kashf al-Niqāb ͑an Sharī͑at al-Ghāb, (1988), Ch. 1 and 2.

⁵⁶ Al-Maqdisī, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 1, Imtā͑ al-Nar fī Kashf Shubhāt Murji͗at al-͑A r, (1999/2000), pp. 116–122.

⁵⁷ See Johannes J.G. Jansen, The Neglected Duty (New York and London: MacMillan, 1986), pp. 159–234.

⁵⁸ Sayyid Qub, Milestones (New Delhi: Islamic Book Service, 2005), pp. 10–11.

⁵⁹ Al-Maqdisī, Imtā͑, pp. 8–10.

⁶⁰ There are dozens of articles dealing with this subject including Muammad Nāir al-Dīn al-Albānī, ‘Concerning those who do not rule by what Allaah SWT has revealed’; ͑Abd al-Salām al-Burjis, ‘A treatise on ruling by other than what Allaah has revealed’; and Ibn al-͑Uthaymīn, ‘Shaikh Ibn ͑Uthaymeen on al-hukmu bi-ghayri maa anzallallaah’, (www.salafipublications.com, n.d.).

⁶¹ Al-Maqdisī, Imtā͑, p. 89.

⁶² Al-Maqdisī, Imtā͑, pp. 124–127.

⁶³ There are many purist articles dealing with this issue, including Abū ͑Iyād, ‘Kufr can occur without Istihlaal or Juhood’, (n.d.), (www.salafipublications.com) and Ibn Taymiyya, ‘Shaikh ul-Islam on the increase and decrease of iman’, (n.d.), (www.salafipublications.com).

⁶⁴ Al-Maqdisī, Imtā͑, pp. 8, 10, 46, 49–52; ibid, Tab īr al-͑Uqalā͗ bi Talbisāt Ahl al-Tajahhum wa-l-Irjā͗, (1996), pp. 44–48, 113–114.

⁶⁵ Al-Albānī, ‘Concerning’; Al-Burjis, ‘Treatise’.

⁶⁶ See for instance al-Fawzān, ‘Shaikh Salih al-Fawzan explains his words in Kitaab ut-Tawheed on ruling by other than what Allaah has revealed’; and ͑Abd al-͑Azīz b. Bāz, ‘Imam Ibn Baz on the one who uses the fatwa of Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim to assert generalised takfir’, (www.salafipublications.com, n.d.).

⁶⁷ Al-Maqdisī, Imtā‘, p. 50.

⁶⁸ Al-Maqdisī, Imtā‘, p. 50, Al-Dīmuqrātiyya Dīn, (n.d.), Ch. 1, pp. 1–3.

⁶⁹ Al-Maqdisī, Imtā‘, p. 50, Ch. 2, pp. 1–3.

⁷⁰ Al-Maqdisī's criticism of democracy is not only religious in nature since he also equates it with the foreign policy of democratic states such as Israel and the United States. See al-Maqdisī, Mashrū͑ al-Sharq al-Awsa al-Kabīr, (2004), Ch. 5–8.

⁷¹ Al-Maqdisī's criticism of democracy is not only religious in nature since he also equates it with the foreign policy of democratic states such as Israel and the United States. See al-Maqdisī, Mashrū͑ al-Sharq al-Awsa al-Kabīr, (2004), Ch. 5–8, Kashf, chapter ‘Amthila Kufriyya min al-Dustūr’, no. 1, pp. 3–5.

⁷² Al-Maqdisī's criticism of democracy is not only religious in nature since he also equates it with the foreign policy of democratic states such as Israel and the United States. See al-Maqdisī, Mashrū͑ al-Sharq al-Awsa al-Kabīr, (2004), Ch. 5–8, chapter ‘Mā huwa al-Dīn…’, pp. 3–5.

⁷³ Al-Maqdisī's criticism of democracy is not only religious in nature since he also equates it with the foreign policy of democratic states such as Israel and the United States. See al-Maqdisī, Mashrū͑ al-Sharq al-Awsa al-Kabīr, (2004), Ch. 5–8, ‘Mukhtaar ‘Kashf al-Niqāb ͑an Sharī͑at al-Ghāb’ – al-Dustūr al-Urdunni’, (1996), p. 24.

⁷⁴ Al-Maqdisī's criticism of democracy is not only religious in nature since he also equates it with the foreign policy of democratic states such as Israel and the United States. See al-Maqdisī, Mashrū͑ al-Sharq al-Awsa al-Kabīr, (2004), Ch. 5–8, Kawāshif, pp. 58–142.

⁷⁵ Al-Maqdisī's criticism of democracy is not only religious in nature since he also equates it with the foreign policy of democratic states such as Israel and the United States. See al-Maqdisī, Mashrū͑ al-Sharq al-Awsa al-Kabīr, (2004), Ch. 5–8, Kashf, Ch. 33–42; ibid, Al-Ma ābī al-Munīra fī l-Radd ͑alā As͗ilat Ahl al-Jazīra, (1993), pp. 3–8.

⁷⁶ Al-Maqdisī's criticism of democracy is not only religious in nature since he also equates it with the foreign policy of democratic states such as Israel and the United States. See al-Maqdisī, Mashrū͑ al-Sharq al-Awsa al-Kabīr, (2004), Ch. 5–8, Al-Risāla al-Thalāthīniyya fī l-Ta dhīr min al-Ghulū fī l-Takfīr, (1998/1999), Ch. 1, pp. 1–6.

⁷⁷ Al-Maqdisī's criticism of democracy is not only religious in nature since he also equates it with the foreign policy of democratic states such as Israel and the United States. See al-Maqdisī, Mashrū͑ al-Sharq al-Awsa al-Kabīr, (2004), Ch. 5–8, Ch. 2, pp. 2–34.

⁷⁸ Al-Maqdisī's criticism of democracy is not only religious in nature since he also equates it with the foreign policy of democratic states such as Israel and the United States. See al-Maqdisī, Mashrū͑ al-Sharq al-Awsa al-Kabīr, (2004), Ch. 5–8, all 33 chapters giving examples of extreme takfīr but also the conclusion, pp. 412–413; ibid, Hādhihi, (1997), Ch. 8, pp. 2–3.

⁷⁹ Al-Maqdisī's criticism of democracy is not only religious in nature since he also equates it with the foreign policy of democratic states such as Israel and the United States. See al-Maqdisī, Mashrū͑ al-Sharq al-Awsa al-Kabīr, (2004), Ch. 5–8, Millat, Ch. 3, p. 4; ibid, Kawāshif, pp. 114, 143; ibid, Tab īr, p. 143.

⁸⁰ Al-Maqdisī's criticism of democracy is not only religious in nature since he also equates it with the foreign policy of democratic states such as Israel and the United States. See al-Maqdisī, Mashrū͑ al-Sharq al-Awsa al-Kabīr, (2004), Ch. 5–8, Millat, Ch. 1, p. 5; Ch. 3, p. 4.

⁸¹ For overviews of jihad in classical Islam, see for example Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1996); David Cook, Understanding Jihad (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2005). The idea of applying jihad within Muslim countries is not limited to Jihadi-Salafis, of course. A twentieth-century thinker like Sayyid Qub also believed jihad should be waged against the rulers of Muslim countries because he believed them to be infidels, as explained above. See Qub, pp. 53–76.

⁸² Emmanuel Sivan, Radical Islam – Medieval Theology and Modern Politics (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1985), pp. 47–49.

⁸³ For an excellent overview of the debate amongst jihadis on who to attack first, see Gerges, Far, pp. 185–250.

⁸⁴ Huayn, Al-Zarqāwī, pp. 202–211.

⁸⁵ Abū Mu͑ab al-Sūrī, Da͑wat al-Muqāwama al-Islāmiyya al-͑Ālamiyya, (2004), part 2, Ch. 8, pp. 53–69, the quote is from p. 53. I would like to thank Brynjar Lia for providing me with this document.

⁸⁶ Al-Maqdisi, Waqafāt ma͑a Thamrāt al-Jihād, (2004), chapter ‘The ninth position’, p. 1.

⁸⁷ Al-Maqdisi, Waqafāt ma͑a Thamrāt al-Jihād, (2004), chapter ‘The ninth position’, p. 1, Tab īr, pp. 147–148; ibid, Hādhihi, Ch. 11, p. 2.

⁸⁸ Al-Maqdisi, Waqafāt ma͑a Thamrāt al-Jihād, (2004), chapter ‘The ninth position’, p. 1, Millat, Ch. 4, p. 3; ibid, ‘Liqā͗’, pp. 10–11.

⁸⁹ Al-Maqdisi, Waqafāt ma͑a Thamrāt al-Jihād, (2004), chapter ‘The ninth position’, p. 1, Waqafāt, chapters ‘The thirteenth position’, pp. 1–7 and ‘The fifteenth position’, pp. 5–9.

⁹⁰ Al-Maqdisi, Waqafāt ma͑a Thamrāt al-Jihād, (2004), chapter ‘The ninth position’, p. 1, La Ta zun in Allāh ma͑anā, (1994), Ch. 3, pp. 1–2; ibid, Waqafāt, chapter ‘The eighteenth Position’, pp. 11–17.

⁹¹ Al-Maqdisi, Waqafāt ma͑a Thamrāt al-Jihād, (2004), chapter ‘The ninth position’, p. 1, Waqafāt, chapter ‘The fourteenth position’, pp. 1–6.

⁹² Al-Maqdisi, Waqafāt ma͑a Thamrāt al-Jihād, (2004), chapter ‘The ninth position’, p. 1, chapter ‘The tenth Position’, pp. 1–5.

⁹³ Al-Maqdisi, Waqafāt ma͑a Thamrāt al-Jihād, (2004), chapter ‘The ninth position’, p. 1, chapter ‘The first position’, pp. 1–5.

⁹⁴ Al-Maqdisi, Waqafāt ma͑a Thamrāt al-Jihād, (2004), chapter ‘The ninth position’, p. 1, ‘Al-Zarqāwī; Munāara wa Munāaa’, (2004), pp. 8–11.

⁹⁵ Al-Maqdisi, Waqafāt ma͑a Thamrāt al-Jihād, (2004), chapter ‘The ninth position’, p. 1, Millat, Ch. 4, pp. 2–6; ibid, Waqafāt, chapters ‘The fifteenth position’; and ‘the seventeenth position’, pp. 10–12.

⁹⁶ Al-Maqdisi, Waqafāt ma͑a Thamrāt al-Jihād, (2004), chapter ‘The ninth position’, p. 1, Waqafāt, chapter ‘The fifteenth position’, p. 4.

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Joas Wagemakers

* *The author is a lecturer and PhD-candidate at Radboud University Nijmegen. His research focuses on the influence of Abuū Mu ammad al-Maqdisī within the Jihadi-Salafi movement. [email protected] He would like to thank Roel Meijer, Harald Motzki and the anonymous peer reviewers for their useful comments on earlier versions of this article