Framing jihad: Intramovement framing contests and Al-Qaeda's struggle for sacred authority

International Review of Social History

Volumn 49, Issue SUPPL. 12, 2004, Pages 159-177+i

  Wiktorowicz, Quintan ^a  

^a RHODES COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 10644276996     PISSN: 00208590     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0020859004001683     Document Type: Review

References (69)

1. For more details about the salafi ideology, see Quintan Wiktorowicz, The Management of Islamic Activism: Salafis, the Muslim Brotherhood, and State Power in Jordan (Albany, NY, 2001), ch. 4.
2. See idem, "The New Global Threat: Transnational Salafis and Jihad", Middle East Policy, 8 (2001), pp. 18-38.
3. This brief history is taken from Quintan Wiktorowicz and John Kaltner, "Killing in the Name of Islam: Al-Qaeda's Justification for September 11", Middle East Policy, 10 (2003), pp. 76-92.
4. See, for example, Fawaz Gerges, "The Decline of Revolutionary Islam in Algeria and Egypt", Survival, 41 (1999), pp. 113-125.
5. See Quintan Wiktorowicz, "The GIA and GSPC in Algeria", in Magnus Ranstorp (ed.), In the Service of al-Qaeda: Radical Islamic Movements (New York, forthcoming).
6. Charlotte Ryan, Prime Time Activism: Media Strategies for Grassroots Organizing (Boston, MA, 1991).
7. Dale F. Eickelman and James Piscatori, Muslim Politics (Princeton, NJ, 1996).
8. This article primarily draws from two sources. First, it uses interviews I conducted between 1996 and 1997 with jihadi and reformist salafis in Jordan, which represents an intellectual hub for salafi scholars from both groups. Second, it uses the most prominent public statements issued by al-Qaeda before and after the September 11 attacks. Public statements are seen as appropriate sources since they are explicit modes for disseminating frames intended for popular consumption.
9. Mayer N. Zald and John D. McCarthy, "Social Movement Industries: Competition and Conflict Among SMOs", in idem (eds), Social Movements in an Organizational Society (New Brunswick, NJ, 1987), p. 161.
10. Robert D. Benford, "Frame Disputes within the Nuclear Disarmament Movement", Social Forces, 71 (1993), p. 681; idem and Louis Zurcher, "Instrumental and Symbolic Competition among Social Movement Organizations", in Sam Marullo and John Lofland (eds), Peace Action in the Eighties (New Brunswick, NJ, 1990), pp. 125-139.
11. Robert D. Benford, "Frame Disputes within the Nuclear Disarmament Movement", Social Forces, 71 (1993), p. 681; idem and Louis Zurcher, "Instrumental and Symbolic Competition among Social Movement Organizations", in Sam Marullo and John Lofland (eds), Peace Action in the Eighties (New Brunswick, NJ, 1990), pp. 125-139.
12. William A. Gamson and David S. Meyer, "Framing Political Opportunity", in Doug McAdam, John D. McCarthy, and Mayer N. Zald (eds), Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements: Political Opportunities, Mobilizing Structures, and Cultural Framings (Cambridge, 1996), p. 283.
13. Luther P. Gerlach and Virginia H. Hine, People, Power, Change: Movements of Social Transformation (Indianapolis, IN, 1970), p. 161.
14. Benford, "Frame Disputes within the Nuclear Disarmament Movement", pp. 677-701; Benford and Zurcher, "Instrumental and Symbolic Competition among Social Movement Organizations".
15. Benford, "Frame Disputes within the Nuclear Disarmament Movement", pp. 677-701; Benford and Zurcher, "Instrumental and Symbolic Competition among Social Movement Organizations".
16. See Benford, "Frame Disputes within the Nuclear Disarmament Movement", pp. 692-693; Robert D. Benford and David A. Snow, "Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment", Annual Review of Sociology, 26 (2000), pp. 620-621.
17. See Benford, "Frame Disputes within the Nuclear Disarmament Movement", pp. 692-693; Robert D. Benford and David A. Snow, "Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment", Annual Review of Sociology, 26 (2000), pp. 620-621.
18. Marsha L. Vanderford, "Vilification and Social Movements: A Case Study of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Rhetoric", Quarterly Journal of Speech, 75 (1989), pp. 166-182; Scott A. Hunt, Robert D. Benford, and David A. Snow, "Identity Fields: Framing Processes and the Construction of Movement Identities", in Enrique Laraña, Hank Johnston, and Joseph R. Gusfield (eds), New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity (Philadelphia, PA, 1994), pp. 185-208; Patrick G. Coy and Lynne Woehrle, "Constructing Identity and Oppositional Knowledge: The Framing Practices of Peace Movement Organizations during the Persian Gulf War", Sociological Spectrum, 16 (1996), pp. 287-327, as cited in Benford and Snow, "Framing Processes and Social Movements", p. 621; Ira Silver, "Constructing 'Social Change' through Philanthropy: Boundary Framing and the Articulation of Vocabularies of Motives for Social Movement Participation", Sociological Inquiry, 67 (1997), pp. 488-503; Dawn McCaffrey and Jennifer Keys, "Competitive Frame Processes in the Abortion Debate: Polarization-Vilification, Frame Saving, and Frame Debunking", The Sociological Quarterly, 41 (2000), pp. 41-61; Robert D. Benford and Scott A. Hunt, "Interactional Dynamics in Public Problems Marketplaces: Movements and the Counterframing and Reframing of Public Problems", in James Holstein and Gale Miller (eds), Challenges and Choices: Constructionist Perspectives on Social Problems (New York, 2003), pp. 153-186.
19. Marsha L. Vanderford, "Vilification and Social Movements: A Case Study of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Rhetoric", Quarterly Journal of Speech, 75 (1989), pp. 166-182; Scott A. Hunt, Robert D. Benford, and David A. Snow, "Identity Fields: Framing Processes and the Construction of Movement Identities", in Enrique Laraña, Hank Johnston, and Joseph R. Gusfield (eds), New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity (Philadelphia, PA, 1994), pp. 185-208; Patrick G. Coy and Lynne Woehrle, "Constructing Identity and Oppositional Knowledge: The Framing Practices of Peace Movement Organizations during the Persian Gulf War", Sociological Spectrum, 16 (1996), pp. 287-327, as cited in Benford and Snow, "Framing Processes and Social Movements", p. 621; Ira Silver, "Constructing 'Social Change' through Philanthropy: Boundary Framing and the Articulation of Vocabularies of Motives for Social Movement Participation", Sociological Inquiry, 67 (1997), pp. 488-503; Dawn McCaffrey and Jennifer Keys, "Competitive Frame Processes in the Abortion Debate: Polarization-Vilification, Frame Saving, and Frame Debunking", The Sociological Quarterly, 41 (2000), pp. 41-61; Robert D. Benford and Scott A. Hunt, "Interactional Dynamics in Public Problems Marketplaces: Movements and the Counterframing and Reframing of Public Problems", in James Holstein and Gale Miller (eds), Challenges and Choices: Constructionist Perspectives on Social Problems (New York, 2003), pp. 153-186.
20. Marsha L. Vanderford, "Vilification and Social Movements: A Case Study of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Rhetoric", Quarterly Journal of Speech, 75 (1989), pp. 166-182; Scott A. Hunt, Robert D. Benford, and David A. Snow, "Identity Fields: Framing Processes and the Construction of Movement Identities", in Enrique Laraña, Hank Johnston, and Joseph R. Gusfield (eds), New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity (Philadelphia, PA, 1994), pp. 185-208; Patrick G. Coy and Lynne Woehrle, "Constructing Identity and Oppositional Knowledge: The Framing Practices of Peace Movement Organizations during the Persian Gulf War", Sociological Spectrum, 16 (1996), pp. 287-327, as cited in Benford and Snow, "Framing Processes and Social Movements", p. 621; Ira Silver, "Constructing 'Social Change' through Philanthropy: Boundary Framing and the Articulation of Vocabularies of Motives for Social Movement Participation", Sociological Inquiry, 67 (1997), pp. 488-503; Dawn McCaffrey and Jennifer Keys, "Competitive Frame Processes in the Abortion Debate: Polarization-Vilification, Frame Saving, and Frame Debunking", The Sociological Quarterly, 41 (2000), pp. 41-61; Robert D. Benford and Scott A. Hunt, "Interactional Dynamics in Public Problems Marketplaces: Movements and the Counterframing and Reframing of Public Problems", in James Holstein and Gale Miller (eds), Challenges and Choices: Constructionist Perspectives on Social Problems (New York, 2003), pp. 153-186.
21. Marsha L. Vanderford, "Vilification and Social Movements: A Case Study of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Rhetoric", Quarterly Journal of Speech, 75 (1989), pp. 166-182; Scott A. Hunt, Robert D. Benford, and David A. Snow, "Identity Fields: Framing Processes and the Construction of Movement Identities", in Enrique Laraña, Hank Johnston, and Joseph R. Gusfield (eds), New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity (Philadelphia, PA, 1994), pp. 185-208; Patrick G. Coy and Lynne Woehrle, "Constructing Identity and Oppositional Knowledge: The Framing Practices of Peace Movement Organizations during the Persian Gulf War", Sociological Spectrum, 16 (1996), pp. 287-327, as cited in Benford and Snow, "Framing Processes and Social Movements", p. 621; Ira Silver, "Constructing 'Social Change' through Philanthropy: Boundary Framing and the Articulation of Vocabularies of Motives for Social Movement Participation", Sociological Inquiry, 67 (1997), pp. 488-503; Dawn McCaffrey and Jennifer Keys, "Competitive Frame Processes in the Abortion Debate: Polarization-Vilification, Frame Saving, and Frame Debunking", The Sociological Quarterly, 41 (2000), pp. 41-61; Robert D. Benford and Scott A. Hunt, "Interactional Dynamics in Public Problems Marketplaces: Movements and the Counterframing and Reframing of Public Problems", in James Holstein and Gale Miller (eds), Challenges and Choices: Constructionist Perspectives on Social Problems (New York, 2003), pp. 153-186.
22. Marsha L. Vanderford, "Vilification and Social Movements: A Case Study of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Rhetoric", Quarterly Journal of Speech, 75 (1989), pp. 166-182; Scott A. Hunt, Robert D. Benford, and David A. Snow, "Identity Fields: Framing Processes and the Construction of Movement Identities", in Enrique Laraña, Hank Johnston, and Joseph R. Gusfield (eds), New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity (Philadelphia, PA, 1994), pp. 185-208; Patrick G. Coy and Lynne Woehrle, "Constructing Identity and Oppositional Knowledge: The Framing Practices of Peace Movement Organizations during the Persian Gulf War", Sociological Spectrum, 16 (1996), pp. 287-327, as cited in Benford and Snow, "Framing Processes and Social Movements", p. 621; Ira Silver, "Constructing 'Social Change' through Philanthropy: Boundary Framing and the Articulation of Vocabularies of Motives for Social Movement Participation", Sociological Inquiry, 67 (1997), pp. 488-503; Dawn McCaffrey and Jennifer Keys, "Competitive Frame Processes in the Abortion Debate: Polarization-Vilification, Frame Saving, and Frame Debunking", The Sociological Quarterly, 41 (2000), pp. 41-61; Robert D. Benford and Scott A. Hunt, "Interactional Dynamics in Public Problems Marketplaces: Movements and the Counterframing and Reframing of Public Problems", in James Holstein and Gale Miller (eds), Challenges and Choices: Constructionist Perspectives on Social Problems (New York, 2003), pp. 153-186.
23. Marsha L. Vanderford, "Vilification and Social Movements: A Case Study of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Rhetoric", Quarterly Journal of Speech, 75 (1989), pp. 166-182; Scott A. Hunt, Robert D. Benford, and David A. Snow, "Identity Fields: Framing Processes and the Construction of Movement Identities", in Enrique Laraña, Hank Johnston, and Joseph R. Gusfield (eds), New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity (Philadelphia, PA, 1994), pp. 185-208; Patrick G. Coy and Lynne Woehrle, "Constructing Identity and Oppositional Knowledge: The Framing Practices of Peace Movement Organizations during the Persian Gulf War", Sociological Spectrum, 16 (1996), pp. 287-327, as cited in Benford and Snow, "Framing Processes and Social Movements", p. 621; Ira Silver, "Constructing 'Social Change' through Philanthropy: Boundary Framing and the Articulation of Vocabularies of Motives for Social Movement Participation", Sociological Inquiry, 67 (1997), pp. 488-503; Dawn McCaffrey and Jennifer Keys, "Competitive Frame Processes in the Abortion Debate: Polarization-Vilification, Frame Saving, and Frame Debunking", The Sociological Quarterly, 41 (2000), pp. 41-61; Robert D. Benford and Scott A. Hunt, "Interactional Dynamics in Public Problems Marketplaces: Movements and the Counterframing and Reframing of Public Problems", in James Holstein and Gale Miller (eds), Challenges and Choices: Constructionist Perspectives on Social Problems (New York, 2003), pp. 153-186.
24. Marsha L. Vanderford, "Vilification and Social Movements: A Case Study of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Rhetoric", Quarterly Journal of Speech, 75 (1989), pp. 166-182; Scott A. Hunt, Robert D. Benford, and David A. Snow, "Identity Fields: Framing Processes and the Construction of Movement Identities", in Enrique Laraña, Hank Johnston, and Joseph R. Gusfield (eds), New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity (Philadelphia, PA, 1994), pp. 185-208; Patrick G. Coy and Lynne Woehrle, "Constructing Identity and Oppositional Knowledge: The Framing Practices of Peace Movement Organizations during the Persian Gulf War", Sociological Spectrum, 16 (1996), pp. 287-327, as cited in Benford and Snow, "Framing Processes and Social Movements", p. 621; Ira Silver, "Constructing 'Social Change' through Philanthropy: Boundary Framing and the Articulation of Vocabularies of Motives for Social Movement Participation", Sociological Inquiry, 67 (1997), pp. 488-503; Dawn McCaffrey and Jennifer Keys, "Competitive Frame Processes in the Abortion Debate: Polarization-Vilification, Frame Saving, and Frame Debunking", The Sociological Quarterly, 41 (2000), pp. 41-61; Robert D. Benford and Scott A. Hunt, "Interactional Dynamics in Public Problems Marketplaces: Movements and the Counterframing and Reframing of Public Problems", in James Holstein and Gale Miller (eds), Challenges and Choices: Constructionist Perspectives on Social Problems (New York, 2003), pp. 153-186.
25. Hunt et al. "Identity Fields".
26. Ibid.; Silver, "Constructing 'Social Change' through Philanthropy".
27. Ibid.; Silver, "Constructing 'Social Change' through Philanthropy".
28. McCaffrey and Keys, "Competitive Frame Processes in the Abortion Debate".
29. Vanderford, "Vilification and Social Movements"; McCaffrey and Keys, "Competitive Frame Processes".
30. Vanderford, "Vilification and Social Movements"; McCaffrey and Keys, "Competitive Frame Processes".
31. Benford and Hunt, "Interactional Dynamics in Public Problems Marketplaces".
32. Ryan, Prime Time Activism, p. 85.
33. Benford and Hunt, "Interactional Dynamics in Public Problems Marketplaces", pp. 166-167.
34. Popular intellectuals also produce vilification and exaltation frames. They may, however, consciously avoid becoming personally embroiled in frame disputes to protect their image as dispassionate experts. Under these conditions, others in the movement may be responsible for developing and articulating the frames.
35. Robert Furtell, "Framing Processes, Cognitive Liberation, and NIMBY Protest in the US Chemical-Weapons Disposal Conflict", Sociological Inquiry, 73 (2003), p. 380.
36. I b i d.
37. Benford and Snow, "Framing Processes and Social Movements", p. 621.
38. Coy and Woehrle, "Constructing Identity and Oppositional Knowledge".
39. David Snow, and Robert D. Benford, "Ideology, Frame Resonance and Participant Mobilization", International Journal of Social Movement Research, 1 (1988), p. 208; Benford and Snow, "Framing Processes and Social Movements", pp. 619-620.
40. David Snow, and Robert D. Benford, "Ideology, Frame Resonance and Participant Mobilization", International Journal of Social Movement Research, 1 (1988), p. 208; Benford and Snow, "Framing Processes and Social Movements", pp. 619-620.
41. Benford and Hunt, "Interactional Dynamics", p. 166.
42. Osama Bin Laden, "Address to the Ummah on the Anniversary of the Crusader War Jihad", available at www.jihadunspun.com. Accessed 1 November 2002.
43. "Respecting the Status of Scholars", Al-Asaalah Magazine, available at: www.al-manhaj.com/articles/knowledge/K1002.html. Accessed 9 October 2001.
44. Author's interviews with jihadi salafis in Jordan, 1996-1997.
45. Muhammad Naasir ud-Deen al-Albaanee, Abu Talhah Dawud ibn Ronald Burbank (tr.), The Knowledge of Current Affairs (Ipswich, 1994).
46. Osama Bin Laden, "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places", published in al-Quds al-Arabi (London), 8 August 1996.
47. Olivier Roy, The Failure of Political Islam, Carol Volk (tr.) (Cambridge, 1994).
48. See, for example, Islamic Group military commander and al-Qaeda leader, Rifa'ey Ahmad Taha's interview in Nida'ul Islam (April-May 1997).
49. Bin Laden, "Declaration of War".
50. Al-Qaeda, "a Statement from Qa'idat al-Jihad Regarding the Mandates of the Heroes and the Legality of the Operations in New York and Washington", 24 April 2002. The original document was posted at www.alneda.com (hosted by Markaz al-Dirasat wal-Buhuth al-Islamiyya) and provided to the author by Paul Eedle after the website was shut down.
51. See, for example, James P. Piscatori (ed.), Islam in the Political Process (Cambridge, 1983); Wiktorowicz, The Management of Islamic Activism, ch. 2; and Seyyed Vali Nasr, Islamic Leviathan: State Power and Islam in Malaysia and Pakistan (Oxford, 2001).
52. See, for example, James P. Piscatori (ed.), Islam in the Political Process (Cambridge, 1983); Wiktorowicz, The Management of Islamic Activism, ch. 2; and Seyyed Vali Nasr, Islamic Leviathan: State Power and Islam in Malaysia and Pakistan (Oxford, 2001).
53. See, for example, James P. Piscatori (ed.), Islam in the Political Process (Cambridge, 1983); Wiktorowicz, The Management of Islamic Activism, ch. 2; and Seyyed Vali Nasr, Islamic Leviathan: State Power and Islam in Malaysia and Pakistan (Oxford, 2001).
54. James P. Piscatori, "Ideological Politics in Sa'udi Arabia", in idem, Islam in the Political Process, pp. 60-61.
55. MEMRI, "A New Bin Laden Speech", Special Dispatch Series, no. 539, 18 July 2003.
56. I b i d.
57. Osama Bin Laden, interview with Nida'ul Islam, reproduced in Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin (eds), Anti-American Terrorism and the Middle East (Oxford, 2002), p. 143.
58. Bin Laden, "Declaration of War".
59. Al-Qaeda, "A Statement from Qa'idat al-Jihad".
60. Author's interview with jihadi salafis in Jordan, 1996-1997.
61. Osama Bin Laden, "To the Islamic Ummah, On the First Anniversary of the New American Crusader War", 12 October 2002. Available at www.jihadunspun.net.
62. Osama Bin Laden interview with Dawn, as reproduced in Rubin and Rubin, Anti-American Terrorism, p. 262.
63. Al-Qaeda, "A Statement from Qa'idat al-Jihad".
64. I b i d.
65. I b i d.
66. Al-Qaeda Statement, October 13, 2001, reproduced in Rubin and Rubin, Anti-American Terrorism, p. 254.
67. Hammoud Al-Uqlaa Ash-Shuaybi, "Fatwa on Events Following 11 September 2001", no date. Originally accessed at www.azzam.com in October 2001. The website was shut down sometime in 2002.
68. Al-Qaeda, "A Statement from Qa'idat al-Jihad".
69. Robert D. Benford, "An Insider's Critique of the Social Movement Framing Perspective", Sociological Inquiry, 67 (1997), pp. 411-412.