PSC 321 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Armed Islamic Group Of Algeria, Sayyid Qutb, Tanzim
18 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
The Far Enemy
Prologue
● The Far Enemy
, or al-Adou al-Baeed, is a term used by jihadis to refer to the United
States and its Western allies
● Jihadis are practicing taqleed (emulating traditions) and are engaged in ijtihad (an effort
of interpretation of the sacred texts) at the same time
● The most notable groups are the Egyptian al-Jama’a al-Islamiya (Islamic Group) and
Tanzim al-Jihad (Islamic Jihad); the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which no
seems to be defunt and replaced by the Salafist Group for Dawa and Combat; Al Qaeda;
al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad, led by the militant Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi; and other
smaller fringe groups
● Irredentist struggles (who focus on redeeming land considered to be part of the House of
Islam) are not as a rule the work of doctrinaire jihadis, whereas both internal and global
jihads typically are
● The Muslim brotherhood flirted with violence and established a secret apparatus which
leg to Egyptian authorities brutally suppressing them in the 1940s-1960s
○ Now thought it has moved more and more to the political mainstream
The New Definition of Jihad
● Jihadis of all colors consider jihad a permanent and personal obligation and a vital pillar,
though now absent, of Islam
● Among the five pillars, bin Laden ranked jihad second only to iman (belief), an
astonishing judgement coming from a nonreligious authority
○ However, this is not that surprising, considering the new ideologues of jihad
contest the foundation of the classical school, which laid more stress on the
“defensive” and “collective” nature of jihad
Jihad as a Permanent Revolution
● Sayyid Qutb, hanged by Egyptian authorities in 1966, inspired generations of jihadis,
including Al Qaeda’s senior leaders
○ Jihad for him was a permanent revolution against internal and external enemies
who usurped God’s sovereignty
● Al Qaeda associates took their jihadi movement in a dramatically opposite direction than
recommended by Qutb, when they took their fight against the U.S. and allies
○ He rationalized it in reference to America’s direct intervention against the Islamist
movement
● Zawahiri, said that Qutb personally inspired him to establish the first underground cell of
Egyptian “Jihad” in 1967
● Jihadis look up to Qutb as a founding, spiritual father of their contemporary movement
● Qutb’s Milestones
provided the religious justification for many groups, which
appropirated his concepts of hakimiya and jahiliya and used them as ammunition in their
ideological and political struggle against Muslim rulers
● Since Milestones
was the last book written by Qutb before his execution it is seen as his
final “will” to future generations
Document Summary
The far enemy , or al-adou al-baeed, is a term used by jihadis to refer to the united. Jihadis are practicing taqleed (emulating traditions) and are engaged in ijtihad (an effort. States and its western allies of interpretation of the sacred texts) at the same time. The most notable groups are the egyptian al-jama"a al-islamiya (islamic group) and. Irredentist struggles (who focus on redeeming land considered to be part of the house of. Islam) are not as a rule the work of doctrinaire jihadis, whereas both internal and global jihads typically are. The muslim brotherhood flirted with violence and established a secret apparatus which leg to egyptian authorities brutally suppressing them in the 1940s-1960s. Now thought it has moved more and more to the political mainstream. Jihadis of all colors consider jihad a permanent and personal obligation and a vital pillar, though now absent, of islam.
