Jihadi-Salafi Ideology: The Suspension of Dialectic and Radicalization of Thought

Abstract

Abstract: The ideology of Jihadi-Salafism seeks to suspend the dialectic through the positing of an ahistorical state which exists under an unmediated divine sovereignty, through the full exclusion of the “other”. Thus the period of the salaf is understood as a golden age, which can be revived without regard to historical context. The “Islamic State” is considered as existing directly under the rule (hakimiyya) of God by way of the shari’ a code. There is an attempt to sever oneself from apostates by exercising al-walawa’ l-bara and the practice of takfir. The reaching of the perfect end state, however, necessarily entails an activist pursuit of violent change whereby all opposition elements are forcibly removed. Despite its ahistorical pretension, the Islamist ideology developed through distinct stages in Islamic history. The present essay depicts the historical formation of the Jihadi-Salafi ideological principles by tracing back the trajectory. Through attention to the deductive logic implied in the principles, the paper reveals an absolute standpoint precluding the possibility for any form of mediation that has come to be formed. With the delineation of the reasoning underlying Jihadi-Salafi concepts, the basis for the rejection of dialectical development is demonstrated, as well as the implications of the absolutist standpoint for the intensification of extremism culminating in the “Islamic State”.