‘War of Theology’: The Theological Aspect of the Split between Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State in Iraq in 2013.
(2018)- Abstract
- On the morning of the 8th of April 2013, the world woke up to Abu Bakr Al- Baghdadi, the leader of what was called the Islamic State in Iraq or ISI, announcing the expansion of his group from Iraq into Syria. Al-Baghdadi also announced the merger of ISI and Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) into a new group called the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham or ISIS. Only one day after the announcement, JN released a recorded speech from its leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, in which he denied the merger while accepting the ties between the two groups. To make things complicated, al-Jolani swore a new oath to the head of al-Qaeda Central (AQC), Aymen Al- Zawahiri. Tension escalated between the two groups until the dispute was referred to al- Zawahiri in his... (More)
- On the morning of the 8th of April 2013, the world woke up to Abu Bakr Al- Baghdadi, the leader of what was called the Islamic State in Iraq or ISI, announcing the expansion of his group from Iraq into Syria. Al-Baghdadi also announced the merger of ISI and Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) into a new group called the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham or ISIS. Only one day after the announcement, JN released a recorded speech from its leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, in which he denied the merger while accepting the ties between the two groups. To make things complicated, al-Jolani swore a new oath to the head of al-Qaeda Central (AQC), Aymen Al- Zawahiri. Tension escalated between the two groups until the dispute was referred to al- Zawahiri in his capacity as the head of AQC. In June 2013, al-Zawahiri sent a letter to both groups to resolve the dispute in which he ruled against ISI’s decision to merge the two groups and thus created a split between ISI and JN. This thesis contends that the split between JN and ISI has led to a theological debate between Salafi-Jihadi ulamaʾ, in which they interpreted the same Islamic concepts differently to argue about the validity of al-Baghdadi’s decision to merge with JN, al-Jolani’s refusal of the merger, and al-Zawahiri’s letter itself. On the one hand, this reflects the commonalities between the adherents of this interpretation of Islam, and on the other, it shows that Salafi-Jihadism is not and has not been a homogenous entity. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/6b7a3d37-e8d7-401a-8894-a8c28b0fa026
- author
- Ajjoub, Orwa LU
- supervisor
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018-12-01
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- the Islamic State in Iraq, Abu Bakr Al- Baghdadi, Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, salafi-jihadism, jihadism, ISIS, Aymen Al- Zawahiri, al-Qa'ida, theology, Islam, The Syrian conflict
- pages
- 52 pages
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 6b7a3d37-e8d7-401a-8894-a8c28b0fa026
- alternative location
- https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/lup/publication/8964569
- date added to LUP
- 2020-03-10 10:39:57
- date last changed
- 2020-03-11 15:38:06
@misc{6b7a3d37-e8d7-401a-8894-a8c28b0fa026, abstract = {{On the morning of the 8th of April 2013, the world woke up to Abu Bakr Al- Baghdadi, the leader of what was called the Islamic State in Iraq or ISI, announcing the expansion of his group from Iraq into Syria. Al-Baghdadi also announced the merger of ISI and Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) into a new group called the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham or ISIS. Only one day after the announcement, JN released a recorded speech from its leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, in which he denied the merger while accepting the ties between the two groups. To make things complicated, al-Jolani swore a new oath to the head of al-Qaeda Central (AQC), Aymen Al- Zawahiri. Tension escalated between the two groups until the dispute was referred to al- Zawahiri in his capacity as the head of AQC. In June 2013, al-Zawahiri sent a letter to both groups to resolve the dispute in which he ruled against ISI’s decision to merge the two groups and thus created a split between ISI and JN. This thesis contends that the split between JN and ISI has led to a theological debate between Salafi-Jihadi ulamaʾ, in which they interpreted the same Islamic concepts differently to argue about the validity of al-Baghdadi’s decision to merge with JN, al-Jolani’s refusal of the merger, and al-Zawahiri’s letter itself. On the one hand, this reflects the commonalities between the adherents of this interpretation of Islam, and on the other, it shows that Salafi-Jihadism is not and has not been a homogenous entity.}}, author = {{Ajjoub, Orwa}}, keywords = {{the Islamic State in Iraq; Abu Bakr Al- Baghdadi; Syria; Jabhat al-Nusra; salafi-jihadism; jihadism; ISIS; Aymen Al- Zawahiri; al-Qa'ida; theology; Islam; The Syrian conflict}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{12}}, title = {{‘War of Theology’: The Theological Aspect of the Split between Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State in Iraq in 2013.}}, url = {{https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/lup/publication/8964569}}, year = {{2018}}, }