Global Salafst Jhad n UK - Strateges of Preventon A Monograph by COL James L Murray-Playfar MBE Brtsh Army School of Advanced Mltary Studes Unted States Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth Kansas AY 06-07 Approved for Publc Release; Dstrbuton s Unlmted
Report Documentaton Page Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Publc reportng burden for the collecton of nformaton s estmated to average 1 hour per response ncludng the tme for revewng nstructons searchng exstng data sources gatherng and mantanng the data needed and completng and revewng the collecton of nformaton. Send comments regardng ths burden estmate or any other aspect of ths collecton of nformaton ncludng suggestons for reducng ths burden to Washngton Headquarters Servces Drectorate for nformaton Operatons and Reports 1215 Jefferson Davs Hghway Sute 1204 Arlngton VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwthstandng any other provson of law no person shall be subject to a penalty for falng to comply wth a collecton of nformaton f t does not dsplay a currently vald OMB control number. 1. REPORT DATE 24 MAY 2007 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED 4. TTLE AND SUBTTLE Global Salafst Jhad n UK- strateges of preventon. 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) James Murray-Playfar 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNT NUMBER 7. PERFORMNG ORGANZATON NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) US Army School for Advanced Mltary Studes250 Gbbon Ave.Fort LeavenworthKS66027 8. PERFORMNG ORGANZATON REPORT NUMBER ATZL-SWV 9. SPONSORNG/MONTORNG AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONTOR S ACRONYM(S) 12. DSTRBUTON/AVALABLTY STATEMENT Approved for publc release; dstrbuton unlmted. 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 11. SPONSOR/MONTOR S REPORT NUMBER(S) 14. ABSTRACT The monograph analyses the orgns of the use of volence n the name of relgo n by the Salafst movement n Europe n order to enable dentfcaton of key ch aracterstcs to shape natonal strateges of preventon that are approprate fo r tacklng the root causes of slamst volence that threatens UK natonal nterests. The study shows how the nterplay between the socal poltcal and mltant elements of the movement have gven rse to the jhadst facton whose spread to the UK has been the result both of economc mgraton and as a response to the U.S.-led nvason of Afghanstan n 2001. Hstorcal analyss demonstrates how the Muslm populaton n Europe has developed a separate dentty from that of ts adopted states and dentfes three strands of radcal Suun slamst thought and practce that challenge the West. Analyss ponts up a range of ndvdual motvatons to radcal actons for whch there s some pattern but an nsuffcently consstent profle to offer opportuntes for proactve targetng and a broad strategc logc based on the cost effectveness of the sucde technque when lnked to relgous or poltcal goals. n framng strateges government should therefore be less concerned wth general deprvaton or ndvdual pathologes than wth the broader scope of ndvdual motvatons the strategc logc of group acton and the need to empower more moderate purst elements at the expense of the jhadsts. The prncples of contemporary counternsurgency thnkng are appled to the charactersaton already developed to formulate polces that are based upon solatng terrorsts from ther deologcal psychologcal and physcal support whle terrorst supporters are ntegrated back nto the broader communty. Recognton s gven to the domestc mpact of world events that flow from globalsaton and the need to reframe foregn polces that take account of ths mrror effect on the electorate. mmgraton polces are dentfed as a key to reducng dvson encouragng tolerance and mutual respect wthn the frm prncple of allegance to the naton state whle preventng the creaton of separate communtes; ths concept s descrbed as constructve pluralsm. 15. SUBJECT TERMS 16. SECURTY CLASSFCATON OF: 17. LMTATON OF ABSTRACT a. REPORT unclassfed b. ABSTRACT unclassfed c. THS PAGE unclassfed 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 67 19a. NAME OF RESPONSBLE PERSON
SCHOOL OF ADVANCED MLTARY STUDES MONOGRAPH APPROVAL COL James L Murray-Playfar MBE Ttle of Monograph: Global Salafst Jhad n UK.. Strateges of Preventon Monograph Drector Kevn C.M. Benson COL AR Drector School of Advanced Mltary Studes Drector n Ph.D. Graduate Degree Programs
Abstract GLOBAL SALAFST JHAD N UK - STRATEGES OF PREVENTON by COL James L Murray-Playfar MBE Brtsh Anny 63 pages. The monograph analyses the orgns ofthe use of'volence n the name of relgon by the Salafst movement n Europe n order to enable dentfcaton ofkey characterstcs to shape natonal strateges ofpreventon that are approprate for tacklng the root causes of slamst volence that threatens UK natonal nterests. The study shows how the nterplay between the socal poltcal and ml t lements of the movement have gven rse to the jhadst facton whose spread to the UK has een the result both of economc mgraton and as a response to the U.S.-led nvason of Afghanstan n 2001. Hstorcal analyss demonstrates how the Muslm populaton n Europe has developed a separate dentty from that of ts adopted states and dentfes three strands ofradcal Suun slamst thought and practce that challenge the West. Analyss ponts up a range of ndvdual motvatons to radcal actons for whch there s some pattern but an nsuffcently consstent profle to offer opportuntes for proactve targetng and a broad strategc logc based on the cost effectveness ofthe sucde technque when lnked to relgous or poltcal goals. n framng strateges government should therefore be less concerned wth general deprvaton or ndvdual pathologes than wth the broader scope of ndvdual motvatons the strategc logc of group acton and the need to empower more moderate purst elements at the expense of the jhadsts. The prncples of contemporary counternsurgenc~ thnkng are appled to the charactersaton already developed to formulate polces that are based upon solatng terrorsts from ther deologcal psychologcal and physcal support whle terrorst supporters are ntegrated back nto the broader communty. Recognton s gven to the domestc mpact of world events that flow from globalsaton and the need to reframe foregn polces that take account of ths mrror effect on the electorate. mmgraton polces are dentfed as a key to reducng dvson encouragng tolerance and mutual respect wthn the frm prncple of allegance to the naton state whle preventng the creaton of separate communtes; ths concept s descrbed as 'constructve pluralsm.'
TABLE OF CONTENTS NTRODUCTON J........ 1 ANALYSS OF RELGOUS TERROR AND SLAM N EUROPE 6 Relgous Terror J 6 slam J 9 The Spread of Mltant slam : 10 The Salaf Creed and Takfr : 12 Muslms n Europe ; 15 mmgraton Polces and Ther mpact.. L 17 Mltant slam n Europe 20 CHARACTERSNG THE SALAFST MOVEMENT N UK 22 Sucde Kllng 1 24 ndvdual Motvatons ~ 26 Radcalsaton j 32 Europe on the Frontlne J 36 The Future : 37 STRATEGES OF PREVENTON l 40 Msunderstandng Strategy.L 41 Possble Government Responses ; 43 An Approprate Government Response ; 45 solate the Terrorsts : 46 ntegrate Terrorst Supporters nto the Broader Communty.49 Reflect the External Realty n Foregn Polcy ; 50 Constructve Pluralsm ' 52 CONCLUSONS 54 BBLOGRAPlY 58 Books 58 Doctrne and Offcal Publcatons 60 Theses and Papers.... 60 Artcles n Newspapers and Perodcals 61 Documentares and Web Stes 63 ~. 1
NTRODUCTON The detonaton n the heart ofthe London transport network on 7 July 2005 of four near smultaneous sucde bombs wth the kllng of 52 and njurng of some 700 cvlans set off a tran of events whch exposed both the ease wth whch the technque can paralyse an urban transport nfrastructure and the dffcultes faced by a Western democracy n respondng to ths ruthless and seemngly senseless type ofattack. The unwttng kllng of an nnocent 27-year-old Brazlan man by ant-terrorst offcers ofthe Metropoltan Polce as part ofther response to a suspected second phase attack two weeks later called nto'queston both the most approprate tactcal response to sucde bombers and t~e nature ofthe 'government strategy to prevent such attacks. The nternatonal dmenson of UK-based slamst fundamentalst terrorsm was brought home wth the attempted plot by Brtsh born mmgrants ofpakstan descent to destroy 10 arlners n md ar en route to the USA n September 2006. The relatvely phlegmatc publc response to the bombngs the arlne plot and ther mmedate aftermath beled the depth of publc questonng about the extent and nature ofthe threat to Brtsh ctzens - and to the rest of the world - from ether home-grown or mported Muslm fundamentalst terrorsm and what should be done about t. Whlst the Brtsh government and publc may have some 30 years' experence of 4 mantanng relatve normalty n the face of manland bombngs perpetrated n the name of rsh republcan terrorsm by the rsh Republcan Army (RA) the nature ofthe July 2005 bombngs offered a sgnfcant departure from prevous experence tprough both the use of sucde tactcs and the coordnated nature ofthe attacks. That young men seemed prepared to kll themselves as a result ofdesperaton borne out ofsolaton or of a perct<ved falure of socety at large to lsten to ther cause was dffcult to understand. That they wer~ prepared to kll and ndscrmnately njure a large number of nnocent people n the name of r~lgon appeared shockng. But the fact ' that they were thrd-generaton mmgrants who had been welcomed to the multcultural socety
that s modern Brtan was deeply dsturbng to the publc at large and rases questons that ths monograph wll explore. Set wthn the context of on the one hand natonal mltary operatons n Afghanstan and raq as part ofuk global counter terrorsm operatons and on the other a level ofquestonng amongst European poltcal eltes ofthe severty and nature ofthe threat to the contnent the bombngs and attempted attacks served as the mpetus to enhance mmedate counterterrorsm defences and examne the best natonal response. The plethora ofquestons beng asked by both ctzens and offcals can be synthes:z;ed nto three crtcal lnes ofenqury. What were the orgns ofslamst fundamentalsm and how dd ths volent branch of a relgon that s descrbed as peaceful n government rhetorc spread ts network to Europe? What s the nature of the radcal branch of ths form of expansonst ~lam? What strateges offer the greatest lkelhood of success n preventng further attacks on Brtsh nterests? n order to understand the evoluton ofcurrent slamst fundamentalst thnkng one must examne ts roots. Tracng ts orgns back to ts founder Hassan al-banna and the Muslm Brotherhood n Egypt n the 1920s the Salafst l movement has evolved from orthodox slamc thought brngng a potent relgous creed that emphasses a return to tradtonal values whch stress the mportance of orgnal Koranc teachngs n ndvdual behavour. Offerng ts adherents a return to the calphate and the authorty of a resurgent slam t could be charactersed as a.. bengn poltcal m~ement where t not for the jhad facton that espouses the mltant expanson ofslam the volent overthrow ofapostate regmes n the Mddle East the forcble mposton of shara law and the su~jugaton of non-muslms. mrngra~on patterns ofthe late 20 th Century and the dsperson of the Salafst movement have spread the doctrne from the Mddle East and Asa to Europe where t now mxes wth moderate followers ofslam and whose arrval has been marked by a mxture of assmlaton and the retenton of ~ separate dentty. Explotng western Salafsm (the word "salaf' s Arabc for "root") s based upon the deology that true slam has become msrepresented and decayed over tme; ts adherents call for the restoraton of authentc slam as expressed n orgnal teachngs and texts. 2
European lberal deals and welcomng ts generous socal securty handouts the movement has used the contnent as a sanctuary from where the 9/11 terrprst attacks n New York and Washngton DC were planned. t s n ths context that poltcal eltes and the chatterng classes alke debate the relatve merts of segregaton and ntegraton as socal polces to deal wth ncreasng mmgraton. Whlst the Brtsh government's offcal polcy s ~ot 10 negotate wth terrorsts the Madrd bombngs of2004 served to renforce n the jhadst's mnd the effcacy ofusng well tmed and targeted volence to nfluence European populatons' poltcal decson-makng.. Brtan's transton from ts colonal past has served to create close tradng and mmgraton lnks wth a number ofdevelopng natons some of whch are exploted by terrorsts ether as a launchpad for regonal operatons or as a base for tranng and equppng those who plan to attack natonal nterests at home. n addton the domestc Brtsh Muslm consttuency offers both a cultural rchness from whch a more nuanced analytcal Jderstandng may sprng as well as the potental for domestc unrest n the face ofuk foregn polces that are unpopular wth the Muslm electorate. Orgnally establshed n the aftermath ofthe 9/11 atroctes UK strateges to.counter the terrorst threar layout the broad parameters for a wde-rangng approach to the problem of global nfluence that&s now sought by slamst fundamentalst te~rsts. They prescrbe an app~~ach for addressng the symptoms prmarly by dsruptng terrors ndvduals or groups and preparng the naton for attack that causes sgnfcant numbers of casualtes and offer some polces that attempt to mtgate deprvaton nequalty and socal nju~tce amongst the Muslm communty n the UK. Whlst the polcy was successful n framng the ~edate response to the July 2005 bombngs and has been partally updated n 2006 ths 4roach falls short ofa comprehensve framework for addressng the root causes ofnternatonal terrorsm that s carred out n the name. 2 UK Count" Tenons Strategy (CONTEST) an HMJo publcatonofjuly 2006. 3
of an slamc deology motvated by ts expansonst aspm.tons for the calphate. Ths defct appears to sprng both from a lack ofunderstandng of th( nature of the Salafst movement n Europe and an unwllngness to rsk further dvson between Brtsh Muslms and ther neghbours n the name of socal coheson. Attempts to rbduce the threat to natonal nterests from global relgous terrorsm ether at home or abroad wll be hampered n the applcaton of the approprate nstruments of natonal power wthout such a framework ofunderstandng. Ths monograph therefore ams to dentfy polces that Je approprate for tacklng the root causes of slamst volence that threatens UK natonal nterests of whch the leadng deologcal exponent s the Salafst movement. Chapter 1 descrbes the hstorcal relgous and cultural ( ; contexts ofthe Sa1afst movement and descrbes how t has grown from the manstream body of tradtonal slamc thought. t explans the nterplay betwben the socal poltcal and mltant elements of the movement whch have gven rse to thejhadst facton and wll trace ts evoluton and spread as a result both of economc mgratrn and as a response to world events ~ ncludng the U.S.-led nvason of Afghanstan n 2001 todefeat the Talban government. n Chapter 2 the body of academc thought n the poltcal ~d socal scence arenas wll offer frameworks from whch to deotly the key CharacterstCl ofthe Salafjhadst movemen~ ncludng the European dmenson. Ths analyss wll be hsed as the bass for framng potental natona~pooses. n the fnal secton n Chapter 3 the ~st mportaot queston ;;U he addressed. What are the most approprate preventatve strtteges to defeat or deter ths threat to UK natl66.a1 nterests? Successful strateges can perhaps be defned as those that ncrease the lkelhood ofdsruptng the current generaton ofjhadsts whle preventng the recrutment ofthe next generaton ofterrorsts to ths volent cause. The PrhCPles ofcontemporary counternsurgency thnkng wll be appled to the charactersaton developed n Chapter 2 and used to dentfy preventatve strateges that offer a greater1lkelhood of success than relyng on reducng poverty and a polcy ofbroad socal nclusvty Jnder the banner ofmultculturalsm. (Jd-(. ~ ( f 4
The workng hypothess ofthe monograph has stayed relatvely unchanged snce ts ncepton. ts gudng precept s that analyss ofthe orgns ofthe use ofvolence n the name of relgon by the Salafst movement n Europe wll dentfy characterstcs that can be used to shape strateges ofpreventon to enable the more effectve applcaton ofthe nstruments ofuk. natonal power. ' '.. 5
ANALYSS OF RELGOUS TERROR AND SLAM N EUROPE Ths chapter wll trace the rsng tde of relgous terrorsm and show how the mltant Salafst jhad facton has grown from the manstream bod~ oftradtonal slamc thought. t wll then demonstrate how the nature of 1950s post war Asan mmgraton and government ntegraton polces have led to the establshment of a well rooted Muslm communty n Western Europe whose separate socal and relgous dentty has enabled the growth of radcal actvsm n UK. Relgous Terror ( Gven the hgh profle and often pervasve nature ofcontemporary mass meda coverage of relgous terrorsm wthn the Mddle Eastern context one mght be forgven for assumng that the use of volence and terror n pursut of relgous goals s a late 20 th century phenomenon. Arab-srael wars the Sha Muslm ranan revoluton th~ rse ofwhat the meda has dubbed ' 'slamc fundamentalsm' and reports of sectaran slaughter n raq all add to ths percepton. However the realty s qute dfferent; a lngustc search dentfes Latn roots for the word 'terrorsm' Sha Muslms coned the term 'assassn' durrg the Crusades and the term 'thug' s the nventon of a 7 th Century relgous cult n nda n servce ofa Hndu goddess. n Europe the foundaton of the ~odern naton state and current post ~ghtenment secularsm can trace tc ancestry back to the schsms that arose from the relgous hature ofthe 30 Years War from 1618 to 1648. Terrorsm as we understand t n a modern sense: can be traced to the late 1960s when left wng revolutonary groups emerged as the frst postcolonal products ofthe Cold War. 3 fthe t 1980s saw the frst modern relgous terrorst groups wth the ntaton ofthe ranan Revoluton the 1990s were charactersed by a rse n the relgous dmenson and motvaton oftrans-state 3 The word terrorsm traces ts lngustc roots to the Latn verb 'terrere' meanng "to cause to tremble". The term 'assassn' was coned by a radcal offshoot qfa Muslm Sha sect fghtng to repel the Crusaders from the slamc Calphate n the 10th Century. 6
groups seekng to overturn the order n naton states or prosecute more lmted goals through the use ofvolence. The era of globalsaton and postmodernty4 has created a context n whch natonal authorty has been eroded and ndvdual and local forces have attaned both a greater legtmacy and ncreased power. An analytcal snapshot <;f 30 ofthe world's most dangerous groups lsted by Madelene Albrght n 1998 showed that 50 percent were classfed as relgous.s Well-publcsed attacks n the 1990s ncluded those wth a relgous deology as ts bass n Tokyo the frst World Trade Centre bomb of 1993 the assassnaton ofytsak Rabn by a Jewst extremst n Tel Avv and hjacks offrench arlners by slamc Algerans. Concurrent wth ths the emergence ofmodern state-sp9nsored terronsm some ofwhch possesses relgous (' motvatons has become a persstent phenomenon. Whle the number ofattacks reduced n the 90s ther effect became more lethal through the use ofmore powerful technques and more ruthless tactcs; wth mproved state securty procedures came greater terrorst nnovaton and the evoluton ofa flud and dynamc poltcal phenomenon assocated wth the volence. Relgous terrorst groups ofths perod can be charactersed by the number and varety of faths represented by ther growng use ofthe sucde technque by a deepenng ofthe seemng prmacy ofther fath as motvaton and the search for sngle weapon systems that were capable ofcausng ncreased casualtes among ts vctms. 6 The lst ncludes slamc groups Jewsh organsatons Am+ whte supremacsts and cults W~ Buddhst roots. The West uses a number of sometmes conflctng defntons of a terrorst; ndeed one 1988 study by the Unted. j States Army found thn more than one hundred defntons ofthe term exst and have been used. 4 Wkpeda defnes 'postmodem' as "the term s used by phlosophers socal scentsts art crtcs and socal crtcs to refer to aspects ofcontemporary art culture economcs and socal condtons that are the result ofthe unque features of late 20th century and early 21 st century lfe. These features nclude globalzaton consumersm the fragmentaton ofauthorty and the commodtzaton ofknowledge." The term s used here for ts utlty n framng some ofthe major causatve factors to the relatve declne n the authorty ofthe naton state and the growth n the empowerment ofthe ndvdual and trans-natonal movements. ; S "Global Terror" Los Angeles Tmes August 8 1998. 6 Hoffman Broce. nsde Terrorsm. 1st ed. New Yor~: Columba Unversty Press. New York 199892-93. 7
But from these nterpretatons the key elements can be synthessed as a person who "uses volence to spread fear wth the goal ofpersuadng a group to change a polcy."? The term terrorst s generally preferred by governments snce t detotes llegtmacy and a lack ofpopular support for ts cause. Government opponents naturally prefer terms that reflect a movement attemptng to redress grevances for whch poltcal measures may lead to resoluton. These nclude revolutonary and nsurgents whch latter term counternsurgency theorst Davd Klcullen useful defmes as "a popular movement that seeks to overthrow the status quo through subverson poltcal actvty nsurrecton armed conflct and tertorsm.9 That A Qaeda possesses a degree ofpopular deologcalslamc support and seeks a change to the status quo ( ; through the destructon ofthe current world order and ts replacement by an slamc Calphate seems clear. Bn Laden has used a range of technques n pursut ofhs cause ncludng terrorsm. The jhad can therefore best be charactersed as an nsurgency that uses the weapons of the weak such as sucde bomb~gs aganst the tradtonal power of states and ther mltary forces. But the nature ofslamst terrorsm wth ts expansonst assault on western values and the preparedness of ts adherents to use sucde as a tactc gves t a relevance and promnence that sets t apart from other contemporary terrorst organsatons. 7 Record Jeffrey. Boundng the Global War on Terrorsm. SC 1988. An exhaustve defnton s offered by Baur as " (l) the systematc use of(2) actual or threatened volence (3) aganst persons or aganst the vtal nterests ofpersons (e aganst the terrorst's drect target) (4) n pursut ofpoltcal deologcal relgous socal economc fmancal and/or terrtoral objectves (5) whereby the volence s suffcently random or ndscrmnate (6) so as to cause fear among the members ofthe terrorst ndrect target group (7) thus creatng a generalzed clmate of fear dstrust or nstablty wthn certan sectors of socety or wthn socety at large (8) the ultmate am of whch s to nfluence popular opnon or governmental polcy n a manner that serves the terrorst's objectves". Baur Mchael. "What s Dstnctve About Terrorsm?" Paper submtted at nternatonal Conference on Understandng Terrorsm at Loyola Marymount Unversty 11-13 September 200314. 8 Defmed by O'Nell as ''the struggle between a m1ngand a nonmlng group whch uses poltcal resources and volence to destroy formulate or sustan the bass ofts legtmacy". fone takes ths focus At Qaeda can be seen to undertakng a 'mltary focus strategy wthn a global theatre ofoperatons. O'Nell Bard. nsurgency and Terrorsm. 2nd ed. Dulles: Potomac Books 2005 15. 9 Klcullen Davd. Counterng Global nsurgency dated 30 Nov 04. 8
slam n order to make sense ofths rse n volence for slam we must examne some ofthe foundng prncples ofslam for whch consstency - n the absence ofcodfed relgeous doctrne - s created by ts unfed deology. Snce Mohammed s perceved as the 'supreme model ofhuman behavour' subsequent sacred tradtons ~e to be based upon hs own exemplar of volent expanson of the calphate through subjugaton 'of non belevers mltary COUp.O The fve Pllars ofslam are well known: 'shahadah' the testmony of fath 'sa/at' the rtual ofdaly prayer 'sawm' fastng at Ramadan 'zakat' the payng of alms to the poor and 'hajj' the annual plgrmage to Mecca or one ofthe holy stes. Often cted as the 'forgotten pllar' slam's concept ( ofwarfare 'jhad ' holds three stages ofdevelopment. ntal concepts oftoleraton gve way to defensve actons to deter or rebuff an attackng group or ldeology. Ths s eclpsed by offensve warfare when the condtons allow a more actve approac~. Lteral Koranc nterpretaton argues that 'tumult and oppresson are worse than slaughter' and therefore blood revenge and compromse ofwhat we would see as moral prncples s rreferable to lvng under the rule ofnon Muslms. Wthn ths context the prncple of 'dhmmtude' places conquered non Muslms n a state of servtude wth the choces of ether converson to slam or the payment ofan endurng tax. t s nterestng that the hgh tde ofthe 7 th century calphate matches the pont at whch an ~ _...~ d 'ded th than.. l'. mcreasmg majoflty eel to convert ra er contmue payng a tax upon re 19on. From ths we can draw a number of useful nferences ncludng the prme place of external or offensve jhad and dhmmtude at the root ofslam and not as a ms-charactersaton as 'a perverson ofan otherwse peaceful relgon.' Ofperhaps greater sgnfcance the concept of peaceful coexstence appears to be an alen concept n a lteral nterpretaton ofthe Koran. Wthn the context ofthrd generaton European Muslms'who are troubled by separate state and relgous denttes a key problem s that when personal dstress leads ndvduals to seek greater 10 1 : 9
pety there s a greater chance ofradcalzaton through lteral nterpretaton ofthese key tenets. Any war of deas wll need as a result to counter both the;lteral nterpretaton of slam as well as the relgous bass of these arguments that may cause moderates to seek greater relgous expansonst through volence so that they mght reject lteralsm and the concept of open ended warfare aganst unbelevers. Wthn slam two other mportant splts exst. The factons assocated wth the Sunn and Sha splt whose orgns date back to a dspute about leadershp successon n AD 632 play an mportant role n defnng dentty and Wahhabsm" has become pre-emnent n Saud Araba where the state has used thl sect to merge poltcal and relgous power. Salafsts reject Wahhabsm as lackng the purty ~nd authentcty of the 7 th century. ( The Spread of Mltant slam n dentfyng the roots of a more mltant nterp~taton of slam one must start n 1920s Egypt where Sayyd Qutb s best known for hs theoretcal work on redefnng the role of slam n socal and poltcal change whch formed the doctrnal creed for the foundaton of the Muslm Brotherhood by Hassan al_banna. 12 The movement was developed as an slamc response to the perceved problems that blghted Araba after the Great War when the combnaton of despotc monarches and secular natonalst governments were seen as perpetuatng an envronment of mstrust anlsuspcon. Ths was exacerbated by foregn mperal explotaton and domestc \ corrupton ~hch combned to create very poor socal cobdtons whch the veneer of ndepend~~ faled to erase. One of the early modem ajvocates of slamc government through 10 The orgns of the Muslm calendar le n the date when Muhammed took on the roles of poltcal and mltary leader n addton to hs sprtual dutes n AD 622. Wkpeda descrbes Wahhabsts as those who "accept the Qur'an and hadth as fundamental texts nterpreted upon the understandng of the frst three generatons of slam. t also accepts varous commentares ncludng bn Abd al-wahhab's book called Ktab al-tawhd ("Book ofmonothesm") and the works of the earler scholar bn Taymyya (1263--1328). Wahhabs dffer from the orthodox tradtonalst Sunns n that they do not follow any specfc madhhab (method or school ofjursprudence) but clam to nterpret the words of the prophet Muhammad drectly." 12 Qutb Sayyd. n the Shade ofthe Koran. Banna's key publcatons ncluded Socal Justce and Ma'a/mf-l-Tarq ("Mlestone") both of whch helped to lay the socal polcy foundatons for the movement. 10
shara law al-banna beleved that Allah had set out a better method of socal and relgous organzaton n hs dctated text through Mohammed and proposed a strct relgous approach to poltcal economc and socal ssues ncludng the eradcaton ofpoverty and corrupton as well as the expulson ofcolonal or mperal nfluences from Araba. Hs goal was enshrned as the _"doctrne of reclamng slam's manfest destny; an empll-e founded n the seventh century that stretched from Span to ndonesa." Snce ts dramatc and popular expanson n the 1930s and 1940s the movement has evolved nto three dfferent denttes. Partcpaton n the Egyptan electons of 1984 shows the nature of a regular Parlamentary opposton. Concern about the modaltes ofslamc bankng land aj}d tax reform and focus on publc health and educaton rt' ~ wthn an envronment ofshara law 13 hghlghts a movement of socal engn;erng. The elements that have descended nto volent rebellon are ndcatve of ts revolutonary appeal. t s from these deologcal teachngs whose popular appeal has oscllated wth government persecuton that an ant-mperalst pan Arabst resstance grew from ts natonalst orgns ntally focussed on Brtan's presence n Egypt t expanded throughout the Mddle East as USA took on the mantle of the man 'mperalst' n the regon'wth ts support ofsrael after World War and eventually formed the bass of the declared jhad1.. aganst the Sovet presence n Mghanstan. One of ts more promnent proponents was Egyptan physcan Ayman al-zawahr who can be c~ted wth mportng the doctrne nto the A Qaeda deology... 13 Shara law s the legal framework wthn whch the publc and some prvate aspects of lfe are regulated for those lvng n a legal system based on Muslm prncples ofjursprudence. The law deals wth deals wth many aspects of daly lfe ncludng poltcs economcs bankng busness law contract law sexualty and socal ssues. Many slamc scholars accept Shara as the body of precedent and legal theory establshed before the 19th century. " The lteral ntetpretaton of Koranc teachng leads to an ntetpretaton ofjhad as an expansonst campagn to subjugate non Muslms and the volent mposton of the Calphate whle offerng demeanng servtude to these conquered peoples. For others the termjhad means the nternal struggle to pursue the path of goodness. 11
The Salaf Creed and Takfr. On the more mltant wng ofslam st the Salafsts whose creed revolves around strct adherence to the concept of'tawhd S (oneness ofgod) wth a passonate rejecton of the pre emnence ofhuman reason logc and power. Strct adherence to the rules ofthe Koran and the gudance offered by the Sunna (the way ofthe PrOphetl~ ams to elmnate the bas ofhuman subjectvty and self-nterest. n ths nterpretaton nnovaton and devant behavour become a threat to the ndvdual's oneness wth God. Whle tradtonal vews of-the Salaf movement have suggested a monolth only very recent analyss 1? has ackp.owledged the emergence ofdstnct factons: pursts poltcos andjhad~ts who share a devoton to the common creed but dffer ' over the ssues of engagement wth the modern world and the use ofvolence. Pursts to mantan ther authorty from a self mposed solaton from the corruptng nfluence ofpoltcs tend to emphasse the use of solatonst and non-volent methods of purfcaton educaton and the growth ofthe relgon wthout the contagon of modern lfe. Engagement n poltcs can only act as a dverson from the 'pure' path. Poltcos emphasse the applcaton ofthe Salaf creed wthn the poltcal arena; ~nly by engagement wth the modem world wth ts potentally corruptng nfluences on socal justce and the soveregnty of God can Salafsm be promoted n a meanngful way. Takng the most mltant lne jhadsts many of ~ 1 ;\ The concept oftawhd s the crux ofthe Salaf creed ofwhch there are three components. One God s the sole creator and soveregn of the unverse such as n other monothestc relgons. Ths s reflected n the shahada (testmony offath): " testfy that there s no God except Allah and that Muhamm:ab s hs messenger." There s an nterestng smlarty wth " beleve n one God" from the Chrstan creed - frst adopted n AD 325 at the Frst Ecumencal Councl ofncaea. Second God s supreme and entrely unque not sharng characterstcs or powers wth humans or any ofhs other creatons. Because the Koran mentons God as the supreme legslator humans are oblgated to follow the shara n ts entrety whch leads Salafs to reject secularsm and the separaton of church and state because these suggest the supremacy ofhuman made law. Thrd God alone has the rght to be worshpped - no ntercessors such as prests or mams because ths s worshppng somethng other than God and devant behavours ndcates the msson s somethng other than God. 16 The Sunnah ofthe prophet means ''the way ofthe prophet". Termnologcally the word 'Sunnah' n Sunn slam means those relgous actons that were nsttuted by Muhammad durng the 23 years ofhs mnstry and whch Muslms ntally receved through the consensus ofcompanons of Muhammad (Sahaba) and further through generaton~to-generatontransmsson. 12
whom are the product ofthe ant-sovet Mghan jhad n whch the ways ofpoltcs and warfare became merged argue from ther experence that only volence and a Muslm uprsng wll overturn apostate rulers and establsh slamst states. Ayman al-zawahr offered us an nsght nto the nternal dvsons of Salafsm when he complaned n 2004 ofthe pursts: You our clercs reconcled wth tyrants and handed over the land and people to the Jews the Crusaders and ther hangers-on among apostate rulers when you remaned slent about ther crmes feared to preach the truth to them and dd not succeed n bearng the banner ofjhad and monothesm... You abandoned us n the most dffcult ofcrcumstances and you handed us over to the enemy... 18 t s aganst ths background that the ssue of'takfr' must be examned snce t offers both a promnent source of frcton nsde slam where t s one ofthe key motvatons for Suun attacks upon ther co-relgonsts ofthe Sha sect ahd; an nsght nto a paradox at the heart of the problem ofempowerng moderate factons. Defned as "the act ofdeclarng the ncumbent rulers apostate" the practce of takfr has been used for centures to overthrow Muslm rulers who renounce slam or the Muslm way of lfe. Whlst the Koran provdes a relatvely clear set of rules handed down by Mohammed the gudance on how all orgnal precepts apply n the modern world s obtaned from hadth whch provde the 'nterpretaton' ofthe Prophet's orgnal vsons from the tradtons relatng to the words and deeds ofthe Prophet. One could conceptualse the movement as a wde educatonal network snce Salafsts spend a sgnfcant amount ofther tme learnng about sb..' ndeed many refer to themselves as "students ofrelgous knowledge".a ~- full understandng ofboth the Koran and the hadth s essental to gan an authortatve nterpretaton of ta:~hd. Snce the purpose ofrelgous scholars s to authentcate the tradtons the centralty of nterpretve fgures despte the commonly accepted njunctons aganst the dangers ofboth human fralty and devant nnovaton becomes key; ths therefore places a crtcal emphass on the student-scholar relatonshp n whch the scholar s seen as a repostory protector and nterpreter ofrelgous knowledge n lght ofchangng postmodern condtons. The 17 Wktorowcz Quntan. Anatomy ofthe Sa/aft Movement. Studes n Conflct & Terrorsm 29: 207-2392006. 13
pursts are battlng to be accepted as the sacred nterpreters of slam yet are relatvely poorly postoned to refute the poltcos andjhad assessments ofthe modern world due to ther selfmposed solaton. n order to mantan ther authorty and relevance they need both a better understandng ofther own relgous doctrne and ofthe modern world. But to avod losng nfluence they must engage more wth the modern world ~espte the threat that ths may undermne ther very credblty. They alone wll be able to fnd a way to balance ths tenson but one ofthe analyst's prmary concerns wll be the way n whch strategy renforces the relatve authorty of each ofthese factons wth the desred outcome beng the empowerment of the pursts and some ofthe more moderat~ poltcos at the ex~ense ofthe jhadsts. Whlst ther : generally ant-western stance may make Western strategsts uncomfortable the pursts are the least lkely of the factons to espouse volence. The 1979 Sovet nvason ofafghanstan was a semnal event whch ntated a barrage of hostle world opnon towards the Sovet block ncludng condemnaton from the slamc world n whch t was portrayed as an ncurson nto the Muslm naton by a foregn nvader. The response from the Muslm world was a wdespread call for jhad wdely supported by Arab natons ncludng Saud Araba who saw the opportunty to dvert unwanted focus from domestc dffcultes arsng from dfferent nterpretaton ofslam. f the Saud establshment's support for the Afghanj~ offered them a chance to dvert potental troublemakers from ther struggle aganst apostate regmes n the Muslm world for the West the goal n Asa was straghtforward. As part of the d~ne of contanment Western governments sought to 'counter balance force wth force' n order to stem the expansonst tde ofthe Sovet Unon. t was therefore a strange combnaton ofpolces that found a young Osama bn Laden a bllonare whose worldvew was deeply coloured by the deas and doctrne of the Muslm Brothers and Saud style Wahhabsm and operatng n a lberaton movement wth Western backng. As the combnaton of ts leaders' 18 MEMR Specal Dspatch Seres - Number 639 7 January 2004. 14
relgous fervour and the wdespread belef n ts popular jhad msson ncreased the movement's attracton grew more potent and more nternatonal. 19 Wth the collapse of Sovet authorty n Afghanstan a new generaton ofjhadsts whose deology had been forged n battle aganst modem western mltary forces sought new challenges and new enemes wth the am of further purfyng slam. From ts Afghan sanctuary the jhad ntensfed n the early 90s and was exported to Bosna Algera and Egypt.. Muslms n Europe n dentfyng how these often competng movements wthn slam took up permanent resdence n Europe we must examne both post World War T mmgraton and how European Muslm's worldvew has been shaped. The hgh deman~ for reconstructon workers under the Marshall Plan combned wth the grantng of ndependence to fonner colonal states created an nflux of non ndgenous people. Orgnally tnerants rather than mmgrants France and Great Brtan both receved large numbers ofctzens from fonner colonal empres n North West Afrca and the ndan subcontnent. UK's Asan Muslms have been accustomed to keepng ther own communty coheson wthn the context of the Deoband and Barelweeo movements as a defence mechansm aganst the Hndu majorty on the ndan subcontnent. Used to applyng ~ shara law wthn ther communtes wthout provokng any state nterventon a culture oflve ~ 1 and let lve has evolved over tme wth the communty preservng ts own tradtons and relgous ~ractces. n the 1950s and 1960s a network of prvately funded mosques was establshed to provde for the relgous needs ofthe communty. Supervson was placed n the hands of mams 19 n 1988 bn Laden establshed a database ofall the Jhadsts and other volunteers who had passed through hs camps. lbs gave brth to an organsatonal structure bult around a computer fle n Arabc enttled A Qaeda (the [data] base) whch became famous 10 years later and led to Bn Laden's ndctment for conspracy. 20 The Deoband s an slamc revvalst movement whose thought s charactersed by a strct adherence to the Sunnah (the tradton of the Prophet Muhammad) and an emphass on shara (slamc law) and tasawwuf (slamc Suf sprtualty). Barelwe s the man orthodox movement wthn Sunn slam establshed on the ndan sub-contnent. 15
recruted for ther basc Arabc sklls snce the practce of slam requres fathful rectaton ofthe Arabc phrases n the Koran whose command of Englsh was partal and who possessed a fractured understandng ofrelgous doctrne. mported from the same ethno-relgous group the mams were therefore n a precarous poston wth nsuffcent relgous educaton to tackle nonorthodox doctrnes and wthout enough Englsh to express nuance and subtletes; as a result they became qute cautous n ther nterpretaton ofthe relgon when appled to the modern world. Caught between a lack of relgous doctrne on one hand and ncreased questonng of tradtonal values on the other the result s ntense factonalsm between the 1400 mosques n the UK wth enthusastc relgous neophytes often leadng wth home-spun versons ofslam. 21 Wth ( employment hard to come by worred by the educaton ofther chldren who were acqurng a culture over whch they had no control and experencng the trals of mmgraton the frst generaton ofasan mmgrants to UK focused on ther own basc economc securty. Aggreved by ther parents' lack of status the second generaton became determned achevers wthn the context of Brtsh culture. Ths cohort possesses a larger proporton whch has found economc success. Caught between mutually opposed languages cultures and relgons - ther tradtonal pont of reference seemed obsolete and the host socety mpenetrable and hostle - ther chldren : n turn are attemptng to reforge ther dentty and n many cases are turnng for answers to more pous ~ersons of slam. n the early 1990s an entre generaton of mmgrant chlaren came of age attuned to European culture and fully aware of ther rghts under ther host countres laws and cultural codes. Dssatsfed wth and dsaffected from the tradtonal vew of slam and subsequently rejectng assmlaton the Koranc nterpretve tradton forces ths generaton to seek an Arabc source for renterpretaton of slamc practce. The young urban poor of ths 2\ Ofthese 1400 mosques some 97 percent are owned and mantaned by Asan Muslm communtes ethncally Pakstan ndan or Bangladesh and managed by mams who have generally been recruted from smlar ethnc groupngs. Naqshband Mehmood. Problems and Practcal Solutons to Tackle Extremsm; and Muslm Youth and Communty ssues. The Shrvenham Papers August 2006 Number 19. 16
generaton have therefore become as a result more receptve to radcal slam n the context of whch Salafst preachng possesses an aura ofclarty authentcty and truth that offers reassurance n an era of cultural and dentty confuson. mmgraton Polces and Ther mpact Dfferent natonal polces were taken by Great Brtan and France to deal wth the rsng voce ofmuslm mmgrants and ths dchotomy ofdentty faced by those who lved n a lberal leanng naton state but who shared cultural and relgous tes wth a wder brotherhood. Brtsh ctzenshp was generally obtaned wthout speakng Englsh snce the state emphassed communty dentfcaton over navdual ntegraton n a polcy known as multculturalsm descrbed n the USA as dversty thereby prolongng the tradton ofthe Brtsh ndan Empre where relgous dentty framed the nature ofpoltcal representaton whch was acheved by selectng notable personaltes to represent each communty. The country's colonal hstory may have engendered n some elements of socety an atttude of general superorty assocated wth the colonsng generatons and ther mmedate successors n whch mmgrants are unlkely to pose a threat snce ther poltcal and cultural power has been carefully bounded by state nsttutons. Ths factor may have contrbuted to the slowpace ofatttudnal change whle the socet~trendsofasan achevement and naturally passvty may have contrbuted-tothe relatve '\ harmony wth whch both groups had untl recently coexsted. n the USA the twn track polcy of enco.~gngntegraton at the same tme as dversty has not been wthout ts dffcultes n some ways beng responsble for the hgh levels of segregaton and racal tensons evdent n the south. A socal by-product ofths UK approach was the rasng ofthe profle ofthe Councl of Mosques whch delegated a number ofmedatng functons ncludng the management of unemployment chartable work and elements ofts socal network. Fath based schools especally for grls to avod relgously banned coeducaton grew up favourng a close 17
communty and therefore strengthened the authorty ofthe relgous herarchy. Arguably the relatve ease wth whch unemployment and medcal benefts have been offered by a state seekng a steady supply of cheap labour has added to the attracton of a country n whch offcal polcy allows relgous dentty to trump natonal allegance. The subsequent mutually benefcal and renforcng nterdependence between the poltcal and ethnc communty leaders became the modus-vvend whch has subsequently been exploted by radcal preachers and has created a confluence for extremst slamc teachng that has led to the conng ofthe captal's ronc sobrquet'londonstan.' Thus the UK became the axs around whch the radcal preachng of slam n Europe n the 1980s revolv~. n return for a generous ncome UK was declared a ( ; sanctuary - the land oftruce n whch Muslms do not nstgate volence aganst unbelevers and nfdels - and no act ofterrorsm was commtted nor was there any concerted attempt to str up ndo-pakstans. Subsequent revsons ofths relatonshp have led the more radcal elements to declare that Europe now s charactersed as 'dar a/-harb' or the land of war n whch attacks to expand slam are authorsed and n whch the permssve envronment ofmultculturalsm s exploted as a means of rejectng ntegraton nto Western socety. n contrast to the UK approach ofmultculturalsm France's stronger tradtons of secularsm as a post enlghtenment response to both the 30 Years War and the Peace of Westphala h~e prevaled so that ntegraton has became the republc's polcy. The French revolutonary leaders' tradtons of"lberte egalte fraternte ou la mort" requred that egaltaransn'~eforethe law should take prmacy over ethnc or relgous dversty. There should be no paradng of ethnc dfferences that would strke aganst the republcan deal of ntegraton wth the contemporary poltcal concern beng that the Arab jhadsts mght str up the 3 mllon or so Maghreb Arabs 22 now lvng n metropoltan France. As a dfferent approach to the ssue ofpost colonal mmgraton t offers value n comparng ts effectveness. But nether 18
19 country's mmgraton polces have led to wholly peaceful coexstence ofmuslm mnorty populaton wthn ther adopted natons. Two wayponts n the frcton between slam and European culture offer nsghts nto the nature ofthe potental polarty. They serve to hghlght dfferent contextual nterpretaton ofthe sense ofrelgon and naton state. The Salman Rushde affar of1990 n whch a novel offered a fctonal renterpretaton ofthe Koran caused offence to many Muslms and earned ts author a fatwa from the ranan leader authorsng hs death. t offered the Khomen regme the opportunty to shft the focus of ts Sha slamc revoluton to the heart ofwestern Europe n the aftermath ofthe long and exhaustng ran - raq war whch had forced an mmedate regonal ( fght for survval over ts preference for worldwde expanson. Usng the fatwa as a mechansm for moblsng mass protest aganst western lberal norms the affar can be seen as an attempt to deter nterference wth slam by creatng domestc resstance n Europe and ncreasng popular support for ts expansonst agenda. fthe Rushde affar succeeded n expandng ranan slamc revolutonary objectves nto the conscousness of second-generaton European mmgrants the French debate over female headwear - the 'vel' - showed the extent ofthe potental ant-slamc backlash. Wth French 2 nd and 3 rd generaton mmgrants' deeper understandng ofthe human rghts prncples ofther adopted state the debate about female attre quckly descended nto conflct wth an ~ban majorty seekng vsble ntegraton. The debate was presented to and'then by the lberal wngs ofsocety as a legtmate expresson of ndvdual freedom and belef. f they dd not succ~~ n moblsng massed support for the slamc revoluton n Europe the Rushde fatwa and the vrulence ofthe vel debate certanly ncreased n Muslms a sense ofther dfference and a rased conscousness ofevents n the slamc naton where the large scale uprsng ofthe frst Palestnan ntfada was then takng place. 22 France's prme external fore~lcy concern at ths tme was n ts former colony Algera where the Maghreb suffered a brutal cvfwar from 1992 to 1997.
Mltant slam n Europe t was wthn the fertle sol ofths European garden that the seeds ofthe current extremst movements were sown. Whlst space precludes a detaled analyss of each extremst Salafst movement n the UK the emergence ofthe group A Muhajroun ('the emgrants') offers some useful ndcatons ofhow such radcal actvst elements can be attracted to grow n a lberal democracy. Wth the orgns ofthe movement rooted n ts founder Omar Bakr Muhammad's hstory of actvsm n the Mddle East the group drew ts ntal nspraton from Hzb-ut-Tahrr a movement devoted to the establshment ofthe calphate through mltary coup n emulaton of Mohammed. Establshng ts ntw presence n the late 1980s membershp amongst such groups ( grew dramatcally especally among unversty students where a sgnfcant presence has been establshed. Wth greater vsblty came some unwanted attenton from Brtsh authortes who took an ncreasngly dm vew of ts slamst mltancy. Durng the 1991 GulfWar Omar Bakr orchestrated ralles and demonstratons whch ncluded the declaraton ofthe nfamous fatwa aganst Prme Mnster John Major. The most vsble slamc movement n the UK wth branches n 30 ctes A Muhajroun's small formal membershp of 160 wth some 350 'nformal members' beles ts hgh profle publc presence and profound mpact on many publc debates. 23 Ths chapter has demonstrated how the Muslm populaton n Europe has developed a WOrl~vew that ncludes a separate dentty from that of ts adopted states. t ha;-'further shown that there are three strands of radcal Suun slamst thought and practce that currently challenge the West. The lteral nterpretaton ofkoranc teachng leads to an nterpretaton ofjhad as an expansonst campagn to subjugate non Muslms and the volent mposton ofthe Calphate whle offerng demeanng servtude to these conquered peoples. The crss ofdentty affectng prmarly thrd-generaton European Muslm mmgrants threatens a wdespread popular search 23 Wktorowtz Quntan. Radcal slam Rsng: Muslm Extremsm n the West. Lanham Maryland: Rowman and Lttlefeld 2005. The group espouses the establshment ofthe calphate n UK
for a more pous verson ofslam; the danger s that a lteral translaton of Koranc strctures may lead seekers nto a closer socety wth radcal preachers andjhadsts. The thrd factor that seems to be more contrbutve than prmarly causal s the nterpretaton of the Western presence n Mddle East as an occupaton that mandates a volent expulson as a form of defensve war. ' through volent means and threatens that Muslms wll not rest untl "the black flag ofslam fles n 10 Downng St". 21