What Drives Well-Educated Professionals And Even Prosperous Muslims To Join Islamist Terrorist Organizations? How Isis’s Propaganda Strategy Works To Motivate Alienated Muslim Minds
By
Ornella Sukkar, New Age Islam
6 April
2022
One of the
most intriguing questions before the world and particularly Muslims is what
motivates well-educated, well-settled, even prosperous Muslims to join Islamist
terrorist organizations and perpetrate brutality on others and even give up
their own lives.
One can probably gain some insight from Faysallah Jan's book, Islamic Discourse in Extremist Groups, which analyses how these terrorist groups play a critical role in securing and maintaining public support for militant organizations. The book examines how these organizations discursively construct the social and political reality of their world, in the process of defining the self and the other. The self becomes a nation, or the global Muslim community, while the other becomes the West, including the United States, Israel, and India. This book presents an analysis of three historical moments, being the assassination of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the controversial YouTube video "Innocence of Muslims", and the shooting of the Pakistani child activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai. This analysis reveals the rhetorical strategies used by militant organizations to create what the French philosopher Michel Foucault calls “systems of truth, and the expression of self and other identities” [1].
At the outset, it must be clarified that
terrorism has nothing to do with the educated or the uneducated, and is not
limited to a sect, race, or race. Rather, it is a trans-religious culture that
is linked in many aspects to tendencies that go back to the background of the
formation of the new world order and the clash of civilizations. This is
preached by Samuel Huntington in his book “The Clash of Civilizations” in which
he expressed both failure and discretion in describing other people on the
basis that they are uncivilized and that they need someone to open them. The arrogant rhetoric that the imperialist
West used to describe the world, and which today translates into a discourse of
racism and intolerance in the Ukrainian war, repeats itself and encourages many
terrorist groups to exploit these grievances in order to incite people to join
those groups. They emphasize the propaganda supporting the fight against the
infidels in order to cleanse the earth of their infidelity. They created
justifications and narratives that exaggerate the grievances and suffering that
the Muslim world suffers from in order to achieve their goals. They use this to
gain sympathy from Muslims. This has resulted in their capturing the minds of
some believers and the return of terrorism again in a deadlier form. They do
this through the exploitation of religious ideology and Islamic texts and the
traditional theology that came in an entirely different historical
context. A justification is made for
jihad for the sake of defending Islamic identity and existence.
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We cannot ignore that Islam contains vast
theological literature that can be exploited for inciting people by taking
things out of context and applying them to circumstances that it is not suited
for. The crisis of Islam is in the interpretation of its sacred texts and
scriptures. The religious text in the
Qur’an does not call for the caliphate, the killing of a soul unjustly,
punishment for blasphemy, deviation from the faith, or what is called apostasy. Rather, God calls for the believer to do
righteous deeds and believe in God. No justification exists in Islam for
violence, terrorism, and bloodshed.
What motivates an educated person with
academic degrees, such as an engineer, a doctor, and a scientist, to join
terrorist organizations such as Al-Nusra Group, ISIS, and Al-Qaeda? Some
academics blame this on marginalization, oppression, tyranny, a feeling of
grievances, and the grievances of others who belong to the same religion and
group. Many Muslim citizens in Western
societies feel discriminated against, feels that they are second-class
citizens, that their sanctities are subjected to abuse and humiliation, and
that Western societies merely pay lip service to democracy and human rights,
they practice duality on the other hand through the discourse of Islamophobia
and hostility to the culture of foreigners as represented by the discourse on
the veil and religious fanaticism.
According to some academic researchers, it is this sense of alienation
among some Muslims that has led to extremism and terrorist operations like what
we have seen in Madrid, London, Germany, Ireland, France, and Denmark.
Some academics also blame the Western and
particularly American policy blunders in the Middle East, Syria, Iraq, and
Afghanistan, which contributed to more security tensions and conflicts to which
Muslims are exposed. In addition, the settlement and occupation in Jerusalem,
the neighbourhood of Al-Jarrah, and Iranian expansion in the region are all
factors that are supposed to have prompted these people to search for the
revival of Jihad and in order to defend those rights and grievances that
Muslims and Islam are subjected to everywhere.
This orientation comes through belief in the jihadi faith and in Islam,
which they think is the solution to their problems. The Jihadi interpretation
of Islam calls for fighting the enemies in defence of the faith and
religion. From here, we understand that
the reason for the attraction is the search for clear answers and affiliation
with those terrorist organizations that gives them a sense of belonging and
affiliation to a superior cause.
Sometimes the matter is personal, dictated by
personal motives or by collective factors.
These groups may be more vulnerable to extremist ideologies, because it
is very clear that the reliance of these groups on amplifying the narrative and
discourse of oppression and persecution is what drives and stimulates the
attraction of these young people to these organizations, according to Dr.
Othman, a researcher in historical studies and Islamic faith.
Not every sort of extremism turns into a
violent and terrorist act. The media too plays a significant role in
emphasizing and encouraging those grievances and discrimination by spreading
hate speech and linking false and distorted terms based on the assertion that
Islam is synonymous with terrorism. Amplifying incidents like the burning of
the Qur’an by a pastor and justification of invasions, as happened in Iraq in
2003, 2008, and 2014, 2022 in the Gaza war, Syria in 2011 also give impetus to
some Muslims to join terrorist organisations.
For example, in 2011, National Geographic
Channel published a documentary report stating that California includes
military bases of MS-16 and that the media played a role in encouraging the use
of these weapons which led to the rise of terrorist attacks on the second day
after the report was broadcast. The
media plays a key role in the rise and influence of these terrorist
organizations and inflaming violence. They are supporting and amplifying
concepts related to emotional issues and mimicking the suffering of those who
recruit according to an ideological discourse in which they adopt suspicious
religious and ideological terms and concepts with the aim of manipulating and
brainwashing their affiliates.
Extremist groups’ propaganda strategy:
Propaganda is constituted as "a
deliberate and systematic attempt to shape perception, manipulate
consciousness, and direct behaviour to achieve a specific, desired response on
the part of a particular actor".
Propaganda is one of the types of strategic
communication that includes all forms of communication directed to achieve the
goals of a particular organization in the public sphere by influencing the
behaviour of individuals. The most important
foundations of strategic communication are as follows:
1- Deliberate directing: for any organization,
strategic communication represents a deliberate and deliberate process directed
to achieve the organization’s goals, and is no less important than any other
function that is performed. This makes the formulation of the discourse issued
by the organization among its priorities to build a positive image in the
public sphere.
2- Selection of goals: strategic communication
seeks to achieve desired results that were previously determined by those in
charge of planning for the organization so that these goals contribute to
achieving its major goals which are to maintain its survival and cohesion, and
enhance its ability to compete in the face of opponents, in addition to
expansion and strengthening its influence in its surroundings.
3- Centralization of specialization: strategic
communication is not managed by the entire organization, but a group of
individuals specialized in managing strategic communication is delegated, as it
is a very complex and precise field, and requires multiple experiences and
knowledge in the areas of marketing, discourse, communication, and message
design.
4- Interaction with the public sphere:
strategic communication focuses on interacting with the public sphere to
influence the behaviour of individuals and strengthen the foundation's support
bases to build social incubators that support its survival and expansion.
This includes the need to formulate messages
that are acceptable to the expected audience and lead to the consolidation of
existing convictions or the building of new ones.
Pillars of ISIS propaganda:
The study included a content analysis of the
magazine "Dabiq" which is issued by ISIS in the English language and
published on the organization's electronic platforms. The starting point in
ISIS propaganda represents the re-formation of the followers' perception of the
world through an ideal vision of the world that was extracted and interpreted
from Islamic history in order to receive acceptance among sects of the target
audience.
The organization adopts a simple binary vision
of the world based on the perception of a historical conflict between the
“believers” and the unbelieving forces of evil according to the organization’s
vision while imposing a choice on the public between joining the organization
or bearing the huge cost of joining other sects. At the same time, they are
depriving the public of the third option of neutrality, or not to join any
denomination. In this regard, the most
important foundations of ISIS propaganda are as follows:
1- Monopolizing the legitimacy of the
Caliphate: The main focus of ISIS propaganda is to monopolize the legitimacy of
the Caliphate, and to demand all Islamic currents and sects pledge allegiance
to the organization and its leaders. They want them to join it. Otherwise, they
will become “Khawarij,” (those who have been excluded from Islam) according to
the organization’s expressions in the “Dabiq” magazine. The texts issued by the
organization focus on the monopoly of the Caliphate, its centrality, its
complete association with ISIS itself, and its denial of all other religious
organizations and currents.
2- Addressing Muslims: An analysis of the
content of the English-language "Dabiq" magazine reveals a focus on
addressing English-speaking Muslims who have a knowledge base of religious
terms.
This means that "Dabiq" is directed
to three categories: the foreign fighters inside the organization in Syria, the
Muslim minorities in Western countries, and the English-speaking Muslim
community in all countries of the world.
"Dabiq" includes religious words and
terms in the Arabic language, various references from the Holy Qur'an, and
events from Islamic history that non-Muslims will not understand. ISIS
repeatedly uses terms such as "legacy", "Satan", "the
abode of unbelief", "loyalty and disavowal", and other concepts
and terms that non-Muslims do not understand.
3- Reviewing religious commitment: ISIS
expected that accusations would be levelled against it for breaking Islamic law
and not representing Islam which prompted it to display its religious
commitment and portray itself as a representative of Muslims around the
world. ISIS’s writings in the “Dabiq”
magazine focus on its commitment to the Hanbali school of thought, and its
sponsorship of the application of Islamic law in the areas it controls
according to the organization’s vision.
4- Redefining concepts: The organization seeks
to redefine concepts and terminology in line with its vision of the world. At
the forefront of these concepts is the concept of migration, as the
organization mobilized religious texts extracted from their historical context
to condemn the migration of Muslims from conflict areas to Western countries
and to invite Muslims in all parts of the world. The world is to migrate to Syria and Iraq,
and join ISIS.
In an article published by the organization in
“Dabiq” magazine in 2015, entitled “The Danger of Abandoning the House of
Islam,” the organization reviewed the story of the Prophet’s migration, may
God’s prayers and peace be upon him, from Mecca to Medina. It had its
interpretation according to what serves the organization’s purposes and the
call of Muslim communities in Islamic countries to immigrate to join the
organization in Syria and Iraq.
5- Re-formulation of reality: “Dabiq” focuses
on framing events and facts and reinterpreting them according to what serves
the purposes of the organization. Where the magazine "Dabiq" dealt
with the clashes between the police and some minorities in the United States,
and the rise of racism in American society.
The organization took advantage of these
events to portray the West as a fragmented and unstable entity, and to build an
image of a unified, cohesive, and non-racist society under the organization’s
rule. It also criticized Western liberalism and its values, accusing it of
causing the fracture of states in the Islamic world.
In conclusion, it can be said that the
application of strategic communication by extremist groups in the formulation
and dissemination of its propaganda did not fully achieve the basic objectives
set by the organization due to the lack of flexibility and the dominance of
ideological extremism over the discourse issued by the organization, in
addition to localism in formulating its discourse, and fuelling conflicts with
groups. Also, researchers should study and understand the religious text in the
Qur’an and determine the reasons and motives of those verses and their goals,
not to give preference to the Western trend over it. This disgrace that extremist groups have
fallen into is an insult to Islam and jihad, which constitutes a fundamental
pillar of this religion. It is also necessary for countries to cooperate in
drying up the funding of these groups financially to limit their spread and
spread a culture of peace and dialogue through objective media that takes into
account national security and does not incite violence, hatred, and racism.
References:
[1] Faizullah Jan. “The Muslim Extremist Discourse constructing
Us versus Them”, Rowman and Littlefield, 2015, p180
2. Douglas Wilbur, Propaganda's Place in
Strategic Communication: The Case of ISIL's Dabiq Magazine, International
Journal of Strategic Communication, May 2017, DOI:
10.1080/1553118X.2017.1317636
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A
columnist for New Age Islam, Ornella Sukkar is a Lebanese journalist
specialising in Oriental and Islamic studies and dialogue between cultures and
civilizations.
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism