Rights statement: The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, International Relations, 30 (4), 2016, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2016 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the International Relations page: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/IRE on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/
Accepted author manuscript, 451 KB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Al-Qaeda’s grievances in context : reconciling sharia and society . / Holbrook, Donald.
In: International Relations, Vol. 30, No. 4, 01.12.2016, p. 473-493.Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Al-Qaeda’s grievances in context
T2 - reconciling sharia and society
AU - Holbrook, Donald
N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, International Relations, 30 (4), 2016, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2016 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the International Relations page: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/IRE on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - At a time when political debate in the West is preoccupied with the perceived impact of extremist ideas on individuals who embrace or support terrorism, this article uses the publicly articulated grievances of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda’s most prolific ideologue, as a case study to examine how a globally focused and distributed extremist narrative matches political realities on the ground. The approach of the article is to compare two political processes: the approach of Islamist extremists, as represented by Zawahiri, to constitutional reform as articulated through public appeals to potential supporters versus the reality of constitutional amendments and evolution of fundamental law in the Middle East and South Asia. Incorporating insights from studies on law and society and International Relations, the article demonstrates how Zawahiri’s interpretation of religious law emphasises wholesale adoption of sharia while the process of legal reform has invariably resulted in the creation of legal hybrids, mixing Islamic and non-Islamic legal traditions. This is not an article about theology or religious law but an effort to dissect the public relations of an international terrorist movement. The analysis pays particular attention to events in Zawahiri’s native Egypt, where evolving grievances concerning a series of constitutional amendments – including those following the Arab revolutions and the toppling of Mohammed Morsi – are assessed.
AB - At a time when political debate in the West is preoccupied with the perceived impact of extremist ideas on individuals who embrace or support terrorism, this article uses the publicly articulated grievances of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda’s most prolific ideologue, as a case study to examine how a globally focused and distributed extremist narrative matches political realities on the ground. The approach of the article is to compare two political processes: the approach of Islamist extremists, as represented by Zawahiri, to constitutional reform as articulated through public appeals to potential supporters versus the reality of constitutional amendments and evolution of fundamental law in the Middle East and South Asia. Incorporating insights from studies on law and society and International Relations, the article demonstrates how Zawahiri’s interpretation of religious law emphasises wholesale adoption of sharia while the process of legal reform has invariably resulted in the creation of legal hybrids, mixing Islamic and non-Islamic legal traditions. This is not an article about theology or religious law but an effort to dissect the public relations of an international terrorist movement. The analysis pays particular attention to events in Zawahiri’s native Egypt, where evolving grievances concerning a series of constitutional amendments – including those following the Arab revolutions and the toppling of Mohammed Morsi – are assessed.
KW - Al-Qaeda
KW - Ayman al-Zawahiri
KW - constitutions
KW - Egypt
KW - ISIL
KW - Islamist extremism
KW - jihadism
KW - legal hybrids
KW - political rhetoric and reality
KW - public relations
KW - sharia
KW - terrorism
U2 - 10.1177/0047117816676308
DO - 10.1177/0047117816676308
M3 - Journal article
VL - 30
SP - 473
EP - 493
JO - International Relations
JF - International Relations
SN - 0047-1178
IS - 4
ER -