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‘War of Theology’: The Theological Aspect of the Split between Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State in Iraq in 2013.

Ajjoub, Orwa LU (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:
author
supervisor
organization
publishing date
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}},
}