Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat

by CDR Youssef H. Aboul-Enein USN

This book proposes a common framework and definition of "Militant Islamist Ideology" to be considered by all ranks within the U.S. military. It seeks to define the differences between Islam, Islamist, and Militant Islamist, with the objective of disaggregating the immediate threat posed by Militant Islamist groups, and disaggregating them from Islamists and Islam. Winning this long war against militant Islamist ideology will require a higher level of nuanced understanding that will enable U.S. military personnel to comprehend that militant Islamists operate with the friction of diverse Islamic practices, nationalism, and tribalism inherent in the human landscape of the region.

Chapters will highlight how Militant Islamist ideology takes fragments of Islamic history and theology to weave it into a narrow, pseudo-intellectual ideology that justifies their violence against Muslims and non-Muslims alike and their radical worldview.

Without a realistic and sound doctrine-based definition of the threat we shall be stuck between two extremes in American national policy discourse, those who advocate all Islam is evil and those who advocate all Islam is peace. These extremes are not effective in deriving effective policy or addressing the nuances and perversion that Militant Islamist ideology has wrought upon Islam that is just beginning to outrage many Muslims. We cannot afford to call this phenomenon Islamism or Islamo-fascism and somehow link this as the new fascism or communism. It is imperative to begin thinking about this problem in new ways delineating between Islam, Islamist, and Militant Islamist, thereby providing both Muslims and non-Muslims a common reference to the ideology of the Militant Islamist which al-Qaida represents. Militant Islamists alienate not only the United States but even Islamist political groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and HAMAS. It is time for a more nuanced definition of the threat.

Genres: Military Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

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.