The Recovery of Radical Islam in the Wake of the Defeat of the Taliban

Terrorism and Political Violence

Volumn 15, Issue 1, 2003, Pages

  Cook, David ^a  

^a RICE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 1942452305     PISSN: 09546553     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09546550312331292957     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. Many of the websites cited in this article have either been suppressed or have moved from address to address. When this is the case I have placed an asterix in brackets (*) at the end of the URL.
2. See for discussion, William Shepard, 'What is "Islamic Fundamentalism"?' Studies in Religion 17 (1988) pp.5-26.
3. For numerous references, see my 'Muslim Apocalyptic and jihad', Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 20 (1996) pp.66-104, at p.71f.
4. See, e.g., Abu Basir, Sifat al-ta'ifa al-mansura (available at abubaseer.com); Abu Walid al-Ansari, 'The Victorious Group and Fighting in the Path of Allah', at tawhed.com; Abu Qatada al-Filistini, 'The Signs of the Victorious Group in the Syrian Homeland of the Believers', at tawhed.com.
5. See, e.g., Abu Basir, Sifat al-ta'ifa al-mansura (available at abubaseer.com); Abu Walid al-Ansari, 'The Victorious Group and Fighting in the Path of Allah', at tawhed.com; Abu Qatada al-Filistini, 'The Signs of the Victorious Group in the Syrian Homeland of the Believers', at tawhed.com.
6. See, e.g., Abu Basir, Sifat al-ta'ifa al-mansura (available at abubaseer.com); Abu Walid al-Ansari, 'The Victorious Group and Fighting in the Path of Allah', at tawhed.com; Abu Qatada al-Filistini, 'The Signs of the Victorious Group in the Syrian Homeland of the Believers', at tawhed.com.
7. The tendency of radical Muslims to accuse large numbers of other Muslims of being non-Muslims (takfir) is one of the characteristics of radical Islam; see the radical Abu Basir ('Abd al-Mun 'im Mustafa Halima), Qawa' id fi al-takfir (available at abubaseer.com); Khalid bin Muhammad al-Anbari, The Fundamentals of Takfir (Detroit: al-Qur'an was-Sunnah Society of North America, 1999); and see the critique by the three prominent Muslim scholars al-Albani, 'Abdallah b. Baz and Ibn 'Uthaymin (published together as Fitnat al-takfir, n.p., n.d.).
8. The tendency of radical Muslims to accuse large numbers of other Muslims of being non-Muslims (takfir) is one of the characteristics of radical Islam; see the radical Abu Basir ('Abd al-Mun 'im Mustafa Halima), Qawa' id fi al-takfir (available at abubaseer.com); Khalid bin Muhammad al-Anbari, The Fundamentals of Takfir (Detroit: al-Qur'an was-Sunnah Society of North America, 1999); and see the critique by the three prominent Muslim scholars al-Albani, 'Abdallah b. Baz and Ibn 'Uthaymin (published together as Fitnat al-takfir, n.p., n.d.).
9. The tendency of radical Muslims to accuse large numbers of other Muslims of being non-Muslims (takfir) is one of the characteristics of radical Islam; see the radical Abu Basir ('Abd al-Mun 'im Mustafa Halima), Qawa' id fi al-takfir (available at abubaseer.com); Khalid bin Muhammad al-Anbari, The Fundamentals of Takfir (Detroit: al-Qur'an was-Sunnah Society of North America, 1999); and see the critique by the three prominent Muslim scholars al-Albani, 'Abdallah b. Baz and Ibn 'Uthaymin (published together as Fitnat al-takfir, n.p., n.d.).
10. The figure of the Dajjal/Antichrist in Islam has changed considerably from the monstrous and loathsome character described in the classical sources (see my Studies in Classical Muslim Apocalyptic [Princeton: Darwin Press, forthcoming, chapter 2, section 7] to one whose temptation is more insidious and in tandem with the conspiracy theories promoted by The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
11. 'Questions (1): Were the Mujahidin Deluded into an Unequal Conflict?' at www.alneda.com/-subject=2&rec=56.htm.
12. Executed in 1982 for his part in the Oct. 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat.
13. Trans. Johannes Jansen, The Neglected Duty (New York: Macmillan 1986); see also the translation of Abu Umama, The Absent Obligation (Birmingham: Maktabat al-Ansar 2000), which although it is freer with the text shows that this document can be modified for further use by contemporary Muslim radicals.
14. Trans. Johannes Jansen, The Neglected Duty (New York: Macmillan 1986); see also the translation of Abu Umama, The Absent Obligation (Birmingham: Maktabat al-Ansar 2000), which although it is freer with the text shows that this document can be modified for further use by contemporary Muslim radicals.
15. Statement of Ayman al-Zawahiri to the American people, 10 Oct. 2001.
16. The Prophet Muhammad's tribe and chief opposition throughout most of his life.
17. Qur'anic translations are taken from Majid Fakhry, The Qur'an: A Modern English Version (London: Garnett 1997).
18. It is even more ironic when one considers that the quote 'war is a back-and-forth matter' repeated by Abu Ghayth was originally said by Abu Sufyan, Muhammad's opponent at Uhud. This philosophy is completely opposed to that of the Prophet Muhammad.
19. E.g., 'Questions (3): The Mujahidin and the story of Abu Basir', at alneda.com.
20. 'Abd al-Hamid, Halak wa-damar amrika al-muntazar (Cairo: Maktabat al-Bashir 1997) p.5.
21. This idea was best developed in Bashir Muhammad 'Abdallah, Zilzal al-ard al-'azim (Cairo: n.p. 1994), and Khalid 'Abd al-Wahid, Nihayat Isra'il wa-l-Wiliyat al-Muttahida (available at asifa13sim.org (*) and geocities.com/kalwid/index (*)), but has circulated widely beyond apocalyptic circles.
22. This idea was best developed in Bashir Muhammad 'Abdallah, Zilzal al-ard al-'azim (Cairo: n.p. 1994), and Khalid 'Abd al-Wahid, Nihayat Isra'il wa-l-Wiliyat al-Muttahida (available at asifa13sim.org (*) and geocities.com/kalwid/index (*)), but has circulated widely beyond apocalyptic circles.
23. See Salah al-Din Abu 'Arafa, al-Qur'an al-'azim yunabbi bi-dimar al-Wilayat al-Muttahida wa-gharq al-jaysh al-Amriki (Jerusalem: n.p. 2001), summarized further in section 4 below.
24. Sayyid Qutb wrote a poem on Hubal as the United States in the 1950s, but the theme has not been prominent among radical Muslims since that time.
25. Al-Bukhari, Sahih (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr 1991) vol.4, p.34 (no.3039); also Ibn al-Kalbi, Kitab al-asnam (Cairo: Matba'at Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya 1995) p.28.
26. Al-Bukhari, Sahih (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr 1991) vol.4, p.34 (no.3039); also Ibn al-Kalbi, Kitab al-asnam (Cairo: Matba'at Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya 1995) p.28.
27. See alneda.com/-subject=2&rec=661.htm; partial translation memri.com, Special Dispatch Series #388 (12 June 2002).
28. Aloswa.org/bayanat/afghan/boghat.htm (*) (The interview is undated, but apparently took place in June 2002).
29. See also the Moroccan writer Abu Sayf al-Islam al-Wajdi, The Benefits of the Blessed Sept. 11 Raid' at aloswa.org/adab/moktas_ 11sep.html (*), who states 'this was a great blow against the idolatry of America, to which all of the apostate kings and Arab infidel heads make pilgrimage' (p.2).
30. As cited in azzam.com (*), news, 3 Dec. 2001, the radical Palestinian shaykh Abu Walid al-Ansari in Kunduz had also seen a vision of the Prophet, who told him that 500 angels would come to fight on the side of the mujahidin.
31. Azzam.com (*), news, 3 Dec. 2001. I made modifications to the text in order to improve the English, as well as substituting Fakhry's translation of the Qur'an for the one given.
32. Markazdawa.org (*), news, Dec. 10, 2001. I have made minor modifications to the English style, and again the Qur'anic translation is Fakhry's.
33. The story was supposedly verified on 26 Nov. 2001, and reported by azzam.com (*), news, 10 Dec. 2001 'to heal the hearts of the Muslims and to boost their morale'; and it was cited by Ayman al-Zawahiri in an interview with Faraj Isma'il, printed in al-Majalla, 16-22 Dec. 2001 (he said that the brother's name was Abdallah al-Walid - note that this is said by the azzam.com version to be the name of the reporter who verified the story - and the sister's name was Umm Hafsa and that they were British Jews converted to Islam).
34. I b i d
35. 'Al-Jazeera Interview with Taliban Commander in Eastern Afghanistan', at 202.43.163.180/̃acom/afghan/interviews (*), p.2.
36. Although technically speaking he continues to hold the title of amir al-mu'minin during his communiqués since the fall of Kandahar he has favored the title of khadim al-muslimin (the Servant of the Muslims; an obvious play on the title of the King of Saudi Arabia, khadim al-haramayn, the Servant of the Two Sacred Places, Mecca and Medina).
37. In the text (p.2) he also speaks of 'al-Qa'ida now being safe in Khurasan, above the peaks of the Hindukush Mountains'.
38. Present day Iraq.
39. Nu'aym b. Hammad al-Marwazi, Fitan (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr 1993) p.280-1.
40. Historically Chalcedon, across the Bosphorus Straits.
41. Nu'aym, Fitan, pp.280-1; compare Joshua 6-7.
42. The contemporary interpretations can be found at khurasaan.com (*) 'Afghanistan and Iran in [the] light of the Prophecies' (issued on 30 March 2002), and 'The Current Situation and Prophecies of the Holy Prophet' (issued on 17 April 2002); asifa13sim.org/_private/Khorasan.htm (*) (identifying Afghanistan with the messianic Khurasan); and in Amin Jamal al-Din, Armageddon: Akhir bayan ya ummat al-Islam (Cairo: al-Maktaba al-Tawfiqiyya 2001) pp.65f.
43. The following is taken from al-Shaykh Salah al-Din Abu 'Arafa (see note 17); its popularity was described by The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition (10 Oct. 2002) 'Booklet predicting end of US is PA bestseller' (by Khaled Abu Toameh).
44. The verse (Qur'an 7:116) reads (after Moses tells the magicians to do their tricks) 'He [Moses] said: 'You cast'; but when they cast, they put a spell upon the eyes of the people, and frightened them, producing a mighty feat of magic'.
45. Abu 'Arafa, al-Qur'an al-'azim yunabbi, p.7.
46. Ibid. p.14.
47. Including Sulayman Abu Ghayth, 'Under the Shadow of the Lances'; his interview with Mu'assasat Sahab, the 'Statement by al-Qa'ida'; as well as Abu 'Ubayd al-Qurashi, 'Who defeated Whom in Afghanistan?' at aloswa.org/adab/ hazima.html (*); Abu Ayman al-Hilali, 'The Struggle in Afghanistan' at aloswa.org/adab/ask/sira3_afgha.html (*); and others cited in the notes below.
48. Including Sulayman Abu Ghayth, 'Under the Shadow of the Lances'; his interview with Mu'assasat Sahab, the 'Statement by al-Qa'ida'; as well as Abu 'Ubayd al-Qurashi, 'Who defeated Whom in Afghanistan?' at aloswa.org/adab/ hazima.html (*); Abu Ayman al-Hilali, 'The Struggle in Afghanistan' at aloswa.org/adab/ask/sira3_afgha.html (*); and others cited in the notes below.
49. E.g., the interesting analysis of Abu 'Ubayd al-Qurashi, 'From Munich to New York' at aloswa.org/adab/ask/munikh.html (*) which compares the publicity gained for the Palestinian cause by the 1972 attack on the Israeli Olympic team at Munich together with the same for radical Islam in the wake of the 'raid on New York' (partial translation at memri.org Special Dispatch #352 [8 March 2002]).
50. See Abu Sayf al-Islam al-Wajdi, 'In Favor of Decisive Steps by Guarding the Benefits of the Blessed Sept. 11 Raid' at aloswa.org/adab/moktas_11sept.html (*).
51. I am using this term guardedly in the same undefined manner as Al-Qaeda. Clearly for them it is a catchall term for those nations that either derive their belief-systems from western Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism) or the Enlightenment, and are militarily, economically and culturally dominant in the world.
52. 'Interview with al-Jazira' (21 Oct. 2001), p.7; compare the translation at azzam.com (202.43.163.180/̃acom/afghan/interviews (*)); the above translation is my own.
53. 'Umar Mahmud Abu 'Umar, 'A shar'i view of the Events of 11 Sept', at aloswa.org/adab/kat11sep.html (*), p.5.
54. Abu Aymana al-Hilali (note 41).
55. Note the recent proclamation of Al-Qaeda on alneda.com: 'Kuwait, Yemen and Bali are healing for the hearts of the believers'.
56. Also cited by 'Umar Mahmud Abu 'Umar.
57. From fas.org/irp/world/para/ayman_bk11.htm, p.9; original published in al-Sharq al-Awsat (12 Dec. 2001).
58. From fas.org/irp/world/para/ayman_bk11.htm, p.9; original published in al-Sharq al-Awsat (12 Dec. 2001).