Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat

by Youssef H. Aboul-Enein

A top adviser at the Joint Intelligence Task Force for Combating Terrorism argues that winning the war against Militant Islamists requires a more nuanced understanding of their ideology. His book is among the first attempts to deconstruct and marginalize al-Qaida ideology using Islamic based arguments. By clearly defining the differences between Islam, Islamist, and Military Islamist, Aboul-Enein highlights how militant Islamist ideology takes fragments of Islamic history and theology and weaves them into a narrow, pseudo-intellectual ideology to justify their violence against Muslims and non-Muslims alike. In offering a comprehensive explanation of how Militant Islamists have hijacked the Islamic religion, Aboul-Enein provides a realistic description of the militant threat, which is different and distinct from Islamist political discourse and the wider religion of Islam.

Genres: Military Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2010

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good, overall. There is a lot to be learned about the nuances between Islam, Islamists, and Militant Islamists - and this book gives you a good base for that. My only critique is that I think you need to already come in knowing some of the basics of Islam/Arab history before reading to really understand some of the concepts. If you don't have this background, I'd suggest picking up Reza Aslan's No God But God or another book called After the Prophet by Lesley Hazleton. Those will provide good intros so that you can soak up some of the history first, then delve into this book.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

The content and ideas conveyed were worthy of more stars, but the disjointed style and nearly unedited feel distracted from the message. Now that's out of the way, I'll try to express what I learned and why I highly recommend this book if you are interested in the subject matter.

The author, a US Navy Officer and Muslim of Egyptian heritage lays out a very convincing case for why we must clearly understand the threat of militant islamist thought and the groups who feed on this narrow ideology. His narrative isn't so much a narrative but, a collection of essays and "chapters" that support his assertion. However, in just about every page he asserts a qualitative difference between Islam, political Islam (Islamists), and Militant Islamists (those who believe the only legitimate expression of Islamism is violent struggle. We in the west often make the mistake of conflating Islam, Islamists, and Militant Islamists. We sometimes fall in to the trap of painting our struggle with the Militant Islamist terrorists as a "clash of cultures." This author asserts that if that is our narrative (a one dimensional narrative) then our potential responses are also limited to one dimensional responses.

Of course all 1 billion muslims don't identify with the narrow, un-nuanced, and largely historically contrived idological world view of militant Islamists who proclaim that violent struggle against infidels is the only valid response to the world they find themselves in. The author traces the historical characters and writers who have outlined this narrow corner of Islamist Militant thought and juxtaposes them with many others, some Islamists, who reject the violent militant aspects. I learned a bit about Islamic history, about the experiences of Mohammed the Prophet as a political leader and how in his own history illustrates no support for the Militant Ilsamist ideology.

This study reminded me of my own studies into the history and thought of Mormonism, the religion I was raised in, and how there is so much more nuance and variation there than ever comes out in public portrayals of that faith. So many people think they understand mormonism because they have mormon friends, or they watched a couple seasons of HBO's "Big Love" or they spoke with some mormon missionaries one day, or they sat through a class about how to convert your mormon neighbors to the Lord in their adult sunday school class once. The real truth however involves a whole lot of variation in the beliefs and practices of the current adherents to the faith and it's off-shoots, a whole lot of nuance found throughout the short history of the faith and a wide range of ideas, beliefs and practices among even those practicing mormons today. My point in drawing that comparison is that of course there's a vast array of beliefs, practices, and nuanced views among the 1 billion or so muslims on the earth today. And finally, how depressing to observe how a small but, well financed cadre of people who don't even have a deep scholarly background in one of the three big monotheistic faiths, can hijack the narrative and cast a billion of their brothers and sisters in a sinister light by their radical, violent and anti-everybody-else views and practices.

Ultimately, while the current "war" involves plenty of Militant Islamist enemies, it is not a clash of civilizations. There is nothing in the foundational principles of Islam that forces its adherents into this narrow, backward looking and dead end Militant Islamist track that brooks no difference of opionions among the faithful, makes enemies of anyone with different thoughts and forces constant violent struggle upon those who buy into its ideology. Contrary to such claims, there is precedence within Islamic history, jurisprudence, and theology to participate within the frameworks of secular democratic institutions (like modern democracies). We must not conflate Islam, Islamists, and Militant Islamists if we are to successfully identify and overcome our enemies in the current struggle. Real arguments must be made, most of all by muslims, about the narrowness, non-scholarly, and non-historical viewpoints of the tiny minority that has co-opted the language and imagery of Islam to foist their militant views and methods upon those around them and the rest of the world.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book seeks to define militant Islamist ideology, explain it to a Western audience, and provide suggestions on how to counter this ideology using Islamic arguments. The author succeeds overall. It provides one of the most in-depth discussions of Islamic history and philosophy that I've seen, and one that refutes the militants point by point. Overall, the writing style is engaging, although it is a bit choppy near the beginning. The main problem with the book, however, is that I think the author focuses too exclusively on al-Qaeda, and does not go in to enough depth when dealing with other militant Islamist movements. But, it is still an excellent introduction to the subject, with much to teach even someone who follows current affairs on a fairly regular basis.