A complex relationship between Taliban and ISIS is often assumed, but it has not been yet systematically investigated. In this paper we will attempt to compare the two groups in the areas of their social origins, how each appeared in the Islamic arena, organizational characteristics, the influence of other ideological movements or tribal mechanisms on their organizational system, political agenda, faith, theology, jurisprudence, ethics, and Mysticism by exploring the commonalities and differences that exist between the two groups. This paper also contributes towards the conceptualization of the immediate and long-term political and security implications of the Taliban’s return to power. In addition to that, the paper discusses the relations of these two groups with the ethnic fabric of their societies and their relationship with the rest of the ideological movements in the Islamic world. These two groups cannot be understood without delving into the deep roots of their theological foundation.
{"title":"TALIBAN AND ISIS: AN ANALYTICAL COMPARISON","authors":"Muhammad Moheq, Riad Amiraoui, Bashir Ansari","doi":"10.54561/prj1701053m","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1701053m","url":null,"abstract":"A complex relationship between Taliban and ISIS is often assumed, but it has not been yet systematically investigated. In this paper we will attempt to compare the two groups in the areas of their social origins, how each appeared in the Islamic arena, organizational characteristics, the influence of other ideological movements or tribal mechanisms on their organizational system, political agenda, faith, theology, jurisprudence, ethics, and Mysticism by exploring the commonalities and differences that exist between the two groups. This paper also contributes towards the conceptualization of the immediate and long-term political and security implications of the Taliban’s return to power. In addition to that, the paper discusses the relations of these two groups with the ethnic fabric of their societies and their relationship with the rest of the ideological movements in the Islamic world. These two groups cannot be understood without delving into the deep roots of their theological foundation.","PeriodicalId":41271,"journal":{"name":"Politics and Religion Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42614595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Terrorist movements express their discourse through messages, which they are keen to send a specific state or people or the whole world. However, terrorist blasts are not the only message, but rather ideological reasoning accompanies every terrorist act. This was clearly observable in the discourse of Al-Qa’eda, especially as the group tried to rely on considerable grievances which cannot be denied. Al-Qa’eda has a wide and accumulated experience in turns and events, which make it a phenomenon worthy of study. With the development of Al-Qa’eda’s experience, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s power, speed of spread, ascendancy and brutality since it took control of Mosul without noticeable resistance on June 20, 2013 has been remarkable. This moment was a point of transformation in the media’s view of the organization. And it becomes clear that any of both organizations will not be sustainable so long as they lack justifications considered reasonable by outside observers and lack grievances to push their soldiers to recruit youth and convince them with their media arguments.
{"title":"HOW AL-QAEDA AND ISIS EMPLOYED MEDIA? A COMPARATIVE STUDY","authors":"Aiman Abboushi, Sharifah Hayaati Syed Ismail al-Qudsy, Amer Abdulwahab","doi":"10.54561/prj1701089a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1701089a","url":null,"abstract":"Terrorist movements express their discourse through messages, which they are keen to send a specific state or people or the whole world. However, terrorist blasts are not the only message, but rather ideological reasoning accompanies every terrorist act. This was clearly observable in the discourse of Al-Qa’eda, especially as the group tried to rely on considerable grievances which cannot be denied. Al-Qa’eda has a wide and accumulated experience in turns and events, which make it a phenomenon worthy of study. With the development of Al-Qa’eda’s experience, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s power, speed of spread, ascendancy and brutality since it took control of Mosul without noticeable resistance on June 20, 2013 has been remarkable. This moment was a point of transformation in the media’s view of the organization. And it becomes clear that any of both organizations will not be sustainable so long as they lack justifications considered reasonable by outside observers and lack grievances to push their soldiers to recruit youth and convince them with their media arguments.","PeriodicalId":41271,"journal":{"name":"Politics and Religion Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41566411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Since its inception in 1994 as an organised group or network with a claim on rulership of the country, the Taliban has been generally described as an „Islamic movement” committed to the implementation of sharia in Afghanistan. Such description may accord well with the group’s professed objective but reveals itself reductive at best and misleading otherwise on closer scrutiny. This article argues that the „Taliban” represents a hybrid phenomenon that deploys religious and political narratives just as it deploys organised crime in pursuit of maximum power and profit.
{"title":"UNPACKING THE TALIBAN: A HYBRID OF DELINQUENT SANCTIMONY","authors":"Ahmad Shayeq Qassem","doi":"10.54561/prj1701025q","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1701025q","url":null,"abstract":"Since its inception in 1994 as an organised group or network with a claim on rulership of the country, the Taliban has been generally described as an „Islamic movement” committed to the implementation of sharia in Afghanistan. Such description may accord well with the group’s professed objective but reveals itself reductive at best and misleading otherwise on closer scrutiny. This article argues that the „Taliban” represents a hybrid phenomenon that deploys religious and political narratives just as it deploys organised crime in pursuit of maximum power and profit.","PeriodicalId":41271,"journal":{"name":"Politics and Religion Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43148264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“RELIGION, BIDEN AND SERBIA: RELIGIOUS FACTOR IN THE POLITICS OF PRESIDENT BIDEN AND HOW COULD IT AFFECT SERBIAN INTERESTS”","authors":"Nemanja S. Mrdjenovic","doi":"10.54561/prj1701189m","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1701189m","url":null,"abstract":"REVIEWS, CRITICAL VIEWS AND POLEMICS","PeriodicalId":41271,"journal":{"name":"Politics and Religion Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47663122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Salama, Sharifah Hayaati Syed Ismail al-Qudsy, Osman Rasip, Amer Abdulwahab
This article examines the extent to which the Palestinian issue is exploited to promote cross-border terrorist movements. The analytical descriptive approach is employed to explore the evolution of the terrorist organizations, and trace the ideology, means, and content of their media discourse. The article reveals that the extremist groups utilized the value, sanctity, and nobility of the Palestinian issue to influence Arab and Islamic societies in an attempt to give legitimacy and credibility to their presence, media discourse, and terrorist acts; disseminate their extremist ideologies; rally support and recruit new elements, and emotionally influence the public perception. The article also concluded that these terrorist organizations refrained from targeting the Israeli occupation and opposed the Palestinian national narrative about the national and political nature of the Palestinian struggle.
{"title":"THE PALESTINIAN ISSUE IN THE MEDIA DISCOURSES OF TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS","authors":"A. Salama, Sharifah Hayaati Syed Ismail al-Qudsy, Osman Rasip, Amer Abdulwahab","doi":"10.54561/prj1701109s","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1701109s","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the extent to which the Palestinian issue is exploited to promote cross-border terrorist movements. The analytical descriptive approach is employed to explore the evolution of the terrorist organizations, and trace the ideology, means, and content of their media discourse. The article reveals that the extremist groups utilized the value, sanctity, and nobility of the Palestinian issue to influence Arab and Islamic societies in an attempt to give legitimacy and credibility to their presence, media discourse, and terrorist acts; disseminate their extremist ideologies; rally support and recruit new elements, and emotionally influence the public perception. The article also concluded that these terrorist organizations refrained from targeting the Israeli occupation and opposed the Palestinian national narrative about the national and political nature of the Palestinian struggle.","PeriodicalId":41271,"journal":{"name":"Politics and Religion Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44653533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Islamic conception of Jahiliyyah brings together the three most debated Muslim militant organizations of our times, namely Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Taliban in terms of their justification for violence. It is discussed here that despite significant differences in their political agendas, social and cultural motives as well as religious denominational affiliations, the three organizations are hegemonic in their resort to the notion of Jahiliyyah while opposing the non-Shari’ah based political rule. They converge on the idea that there is an imperative to install a system based on Shari’ah and that any actors opposed to this can be treated as enemies, deviants, and infidels, hence, worthy of violent aggression. It is demonstrated here that this particular connotation of Jahiliyyah was essentially espoused in the works of Sayyid Qutb, one of the most influential twentieth century proponents of Islamism and global Jihad. Although developed primarily to denounce Western imperialists in a postcolonial context, one may see Jahiliyyah as a contemporary Islamic rhetoric for providing the three organizations in question, valid pretexts to wage armed insurgencies against whoever they view as hostile political forces. This overall narrative, as this study indicates, relates to the broader contemporary Islamist discourse on the legitimacy of political violence in the name of religion.
{"title":"JAHILIYYAH RHETORIC AS A DIVINE LEGITIMACY FOR VIOLENCE: A STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF SAYYID QUTB AND THE CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIST ORTHODOXY ON AL-QAEDA, THE TALIBAN, AND THE ISLAMIC STATE","authors":"Mohammad Khalid","doi":"10.54561/prj1701069k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1701069k","url":null,"abstract":"The Islamic conception of Jahiliyyah brings together the three most debated Muslim militant organizations of our times, namely Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Taliban in terms of their justification for violence. It is discussed here that despite significant differences in their political agendas, social and cultural motives as well as religious denominational affiliations, the three organizations are hegemonic in their resort to the notion of Jahiliyyah while opposing the non-Shari’ah based political rule. They converge on the idea that there is an imperative to install a system based on Shari’ah and that any actors opposed to this can be treated as enemies, deviants, and infidels, hence, worthy of violent aggression. It is demonstrated here that this particular connotation of Jahiliyyah was essentially espoused in the works of Sayyid Qutb, one of the most influential twentieth century proponents of Islamism and global Jihad. Although developed primarily to denounce Western imperialists in a postcolonial context, one may see Jahiliyyah as a contemporary Islamic rhetoric for providing the three organizations in question, valid pretexts to wage armed insurgencies against whoever they view as hostile political forces. This overall narrative, as this study indicates, relates to the broader contemporary Islamist discourse on the legitimacy of political violence in the name of religion.","PeriodicalId":41271,"journal":{"name":"Politics and Religion Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45628826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The term terrorism is not subject to a universally accepted definition. However, it is generally used to describe the use of violence against civilian targets to spread fear and distress and thereby achieve ideological and/or political objectives. Specific acts of terrorism, whether national or international, have been proscribed by respective laws. The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan after Kabul’s collapse in August 2021 has raised an important question: are the Taliban different from other terrorist organizations (e.g., al Qaeda, ISIS)? This debate is significant because the groups share ideological similarities and execution practices; and at present, the Taliban face challenges of both intent and capability vis-à-vis ceasing acts of terror and ending ties with other terrorist organizations. This paper argues that the lack of a universally agreed definition of terrorism may not affect the investigation and prosecution of the Taliban’s terrorist offenses. In this regard, this paper critically appraises three factors—accountability, ties with terrorist organizations, and the inclusion of Taliban members’ names in the global sanctions regime. It also demonstrates why the international community is obligated to take both legal and ‘non-legal’ actions against the Taliban to avoid the normalization of terrorism.
{"title":"TERRORISTS OR LEGITIMATE INSURGENTS? THE TALIBAN STATUS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW","authors":"Fawad Poya","doi":"10.54561/prj1701129p","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1701129p","url":null,"abstract":"The term terrorism is not subject to a universally accepted definition. However, it is generally used to describe the use of violence against civilian targets to spread fear and distress and thereby achieve ideological and/or political objectives. Specific acts of terrorism, whether national or international, have been proscribed by respective laws. The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan after Kabul’s collapse in August 2021 has raised an important question: are the Taliban different from other terrorist organizations (e.g., al Qaeda, ISIS)? This debate is significant because the groups share ideological similarities and execution practices; and at present, the Taliban face challenges of both intent and capability vis-à-vis ceasing acts of terror and ending ties with other terrorist organizations. This paper argues that the lack of a universally agreed definition of terrorism may not affect the investigation and prosecution of the Taliban’s terrorist offenses. In this regard, this paper critically appraises three factors—accountability, ties with terrorist organizations, and the inclusion of Taliban members’ names in the global sanctions regime. It also demonstrates why the international community is obligated to take both legal and ‘non-legal’ actions against the Taliban to avoid the normalization of terrorism.","PeriodicalId":41271,"journal":{"name":"Politics and Religion Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49277497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“THE POLITICS OF PROTESTANT CHURCHES AND THE PARTY-STATE IN CHINA: GOD ABOVE PARTY?”","authors":"Lars Rhodin","doi":"10.54561/prj1701183r","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1701183r","url":null,"abstract":"REVIEWS, CRITICAL VIEWS AND POLEMICS","PeriodicalId":41271,"journal":{"name":"Politics and Religion Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49165961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Grievances have been an important source of conflict throughout human history. In this paper, we attempt to explain the conflict in Afghanistan beyond the economic reasons – a premise that dominated the development discourse in the post-2001 period, yet had limited impact in terms of reducing violence and countering insurgency. We present a theory of ‘religious grievance’ in understanding the conflict in Afghanistan which shows how individuals resort to insurgency in response to their perceptions of discrimination, political exclusion, and perceptions of threat to religious sovereignty. The theory explains how and when religious grievance turns into political grievance to engender conflict in societies where a political interpretation of religion is dominant. The paper concludes with a discussion of how radicalism can be contained by investing in and promoting alternative moderate discourses to delegitimize radical narratives that have been used as a conflict mobilization strategy.
{"title":"A THEORY OF RELIGIOUS GRIEVANCE: UNDERSTANDING THE CONFLICT IN AFGHANISTAN","authors":"Omar Joya, L. Rahimi","doi":"10.54561/prj1701161j","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1701161j","url":null,"abstract":"Grievances have been an important source of conflict throughout human history. In this paper, we attempt to explain the conflict in Afghanistan beyond the economic reasons – a premise that dominated the development discourse in the post-2001 period, yet had limited impact in terms of reducing violence and countering insurgency. We present a theory of ‘religious grievance’ in understanding the conflict in Afghanistan which shows how individuals resort to insurgency in response to their perceptions of discrimination, political exclusion, and perceptions of threat to religious sovereignty. The theory explains how and when religious grievance turns into political grievance to engender conflict in societies where a political interpretation of religion is dominant. The paper concludes with a discussion of how radicalism can be contained by investing in and promoting alternative moderate discourses to delegitimize radical narratives that have been used as a conflict mobilization strategy.","PeriodicalId":41271,"journal":{"name":"Politics and Religion Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45977810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article addresses ambiguous politics-religion relations within resilient democratization. It specifically examines the relations between Islam and Pancasila as the nation’s civil religion in the transitioning Indonesian democratic reform from both philosophical and actor-centered viewpoints of the changing governmentsociety relations. The foci are twofold: first, the extent to which the national civil religion Pancasila retakes place in Indonesian political transition; and second, in what sense and in which ways religious movements might correspond to the national civil religion Pancasila in contemporary Indonesia’s democracy. It suggests that establishing Pancasila as a formal ideology imposed by anyone currently holding power may provoke risks of Indonesia’s democratization back to autocratization. While maintaining Pancasila as an open ideology is necessary to prevent that risk, openness in a political transition may also attract various interests. The recent decline of Indonesia’s democracy also prompts the necessity of constructive roles of civil society organizations in supporting resilient democratization in the country. Political turbulence that threatens democratization in Indonesia requires the independence of the established Muslim community organizations to build constructive power relations against but not be captured by the political regime.
{"title":"THE COMPATIBILITY OF ISLAM AND PANCASILA IN INDONESIA’S DECLINING DEMOCRACY","authors":"Defny Holidin","doi":"10.54561/prj1602179h","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1602179h","url":null,"abstract":"The article addresses ambiguous politics-religion relations within resilient democratization. It specifically examines the relations between Islam and Pancasila as the nation’s civil religion in the transitioning Indonesian democratic reform from both philosophical and actor-centered viewpoints of the changing governmentsociety relations. The foci are twofold: first, the extent to which the national civil religion Pancasila retakes place in Indonesian political transition; and second, in what sense and in which ways religious movements might correspond to the national civil religion Pancasila in contemporary Indonesia’s democracy. It suggests that establishing Pancasila as a formal ideology imposed by anyone currently holding power may provoke risks of Indonesia’s democratization back to autocratization. While maintaining Pancasila as an open ideology is necessary to prevent that risk, openness in a political transition may also attract various interests. The recent decline of Indonesia’s democracy also prompts the necessity of constructive roles of civil society organizations in supporting resilient democratization in the country. Political turbulence that threatens democratization in Indonesia requires the independence of the established Muslim community organizations to build constructive power relations against but not be captured by the political regime.","PeriodicalId":41271,"journal":{"name":"Politics and Religion Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2022-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42127399","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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