Jordanian Salafism and the Social Appropriation of Tradition

278 Pages·2017·5.87 MB·English

Syracuse University
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August 2017
Contentious Politics in the Arab Middle East:
Jordanian Salafism and the Social Appropriation of
Tradition
Massimo Ramaioli
Syracuse University
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Dissertation Abstract:
In which ways do intellectuals affect social and political mobilization? How do they
impact the trajectory of contention – the kind of mobilization and its developments - through
their ideological work? Prominent intellectuals seem to play a relevant role in contentious
politics, yet this role is still undertheorized. In this project, I analyze this question in the context
of contemporary Arab Salafism, a particularly literal interpretation of Sunni Islam. I seek to
unpack the processes by which prominent Islamist intellectuals impact and shape two Salafi
currents originating and operating across Jordan during the 1990s and beyond. The first current
is labeled 'Quietist' Salafism, as its members engage mostly in preaching, proselytizing and
provision of social services; they refrain from direct political activities or overt confrontation
with state authorities. The second current is known as 'Jihadi' Salfism, and espouses instead a
confrontational and at times violent stance vis à vis state power. I posit that Islamist intellectuals
in both instances impact mobilization in similar ways through three main mechanisms: diffusion,
whereby they facilitate the spreading and transmission of ideas and concepts formulated
elsewhere; elaboration, whereby they build upon the existing body of knowledge on a given
subject, providing novel insights, interpretations or at times formulating new ideas altogether;
and systematization, whereby they (re)organize the otherwise relatively fragmented or incoherent
worldview of their followers and acolytes. Together, these mechanisms compound into a process
that I call ‘the social appropriation of tradition', by which group members, harking back to
elements belonging to a shared and exemplar tradition, rearticulate the central aims of the group
to include sustained social and political mobilization. In this way we may properly locate the
intellectual efforts of prominent thinkers within a theoretical framework, parsing out and
assessing their contribution to episodes of political contention.
Contentious Politics in the Arab Middle East: Jordanian Salafism and the
Social Appropriation of Tradition

By Massimo Ramaioli

B.A. University of Pavia, 2003
M.A. University of Pavia, 2005
M.A. School of Oriental and African Studies, 2007

DISSERTATION

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science
Syracuse University
August 2017
Copyright © 2017 Massimo Ramaioli
All Rights Reserved
Acknowledgments

Of all things I learnt during my time in the PhD program in the Department of Political
Science at Syracuse University, two seem particularly compelling to me as I close my thesis.
First, one must be struck by the amount of things he or she does not know: pursuing a doctoral
degree has been, for me, an exhilarating and humbling experience at the same time, and if I have
learnt anything, it has been to maintain an active and alert skepticism to say ‘I don’t know’ many
more times than I would have without this training. We do really know little: yet I always look at
this more as an engaging opportunity than anything else.
Second, Gavan made it clear in one of the seminars I took with him how the pursuit of
knowledge, in our case social scientific knowledge, is never a solitary endeavor, but always a
collective one. In my first real attempt to contribute, within the limits of my abilities, to the
understanding of social reality, I have truly come to treasure that idea. While, of course, all the
faults wherein are only my responsibility, whatever value the present study has must be ascribed
to all the people that, in different capacities and at different times, I have encountered in this
journey.
In this regard, various institutions made it possible for me to write this work. First of all,
the Department of Political Science at SU, which has constantly supported me over 6 years. Then
the institutions sponsoring my field research in Jordan: the Moynihan Institute for Global
Affairs, the Association for the Study of Middle East and North Africa, and the International
Institute of Islamic Thought. Last but not least, the Center for International Exchange and
Education in Amman, which made it possible for me to live in the Jordanian capital for two
years, granting me in the process a rewarding and enjoyable teaching experience.
I have probably met and interacted with more professors, teachers, peers, colleagues,
students and friends over the course of my PhD than I can possibly remember, much less do
justice to. However, I must first and foremost thank the members of my dissertation committee.
He has already been mentioned, but I would not like to repeat his name, as that would be
unfair to Gavan Duffy. Gavan, in some order, introduced me to social constructivism (a bigger
thing than the layman may suspect), always made me feel welcomed in his house, and proved to
be a highly unconventional yet all the more true mentor.
Hossein Bashiriyeh has been an inexhaustible source of scholarship, knowledge and
rigor for the study of social theory, the Middle East, and all in between. His greatest quality,
however, has always been his affability and kindness.
I will never forget when I first started flipping the page of Gramsci’s Notebooks, and how
they read to me as nothing like I have read before, to the point of having goose bumps: Mark
Rupert masterfully opened up to me those pages, which tremendously impacted me both as
person and as a scholar.
L.H.M. Ling showed me, more vividly and more interestingly than anyone else, how
food and gender, fashion and war, art and scholarship are to be painted in the same picture. I
cherished my discussions with Lily as an invaluable occasion to be challenged intellectually in
ways that I could not even suspect.
A special note to my advisor, Mehrzad Boroujerdi. His class on the International
Relations of the Middle East was the first course I took at SU, and I remember clearly how I
regretted the three hour seminar was over: I told myself, if this is academia, I want it. I have seen
many times, and never failed to appreciate, how his mentorship and advice have been in the last
iv
the prime reason as to why I completed this work. I will continue to be inspired by his
scholarship, intellect and kindness.
I would like to thank other professors at SU that were part of my teaching, intellectual
and scholarly development: Matt Cleary, Brian Taylor, Miriam Elman, Tazim Kassam and
Rania Habib. I would also like to thank Glyn Morgan and Margarita Estevez-Abe, always ready
to offer their advice or share their thoughts, especially on Italian politics and culture…In the
Political Science Department, I would like to thank Candy, whose assistance is truly beyond
words, Sally and Jacquie.
Amongst my peers and fellow graduate students, Mike Makara and Deepa Prakash need
to be mentioned first. Mike helped me in more ways than he can probably think, and I am
honored to count him as a friend. Deepa showed me how compassion, fun and friendship are one
and the same.
Meagan, Sibel, Mike and Katie Beckstrand, Jing, Nneka, Aykut, Ugur, Emy: thank to you
all. Dean challenged me in my understanding of Marxism in ways that crossed, again, into my
life. Thank you comrade. Evan, similarly, challenged me in my understanding of ‘theory,’ and as
good as he is as a scholar, he proved to be even better as a friend. Even if he likes the Lakers.
A few words for Charlie won’t nearly suffice in letting him know how much I value him
as a friend, colleague, and, even more importantly, soon-to-be fellow countryman. It’s been a
pleasure to meet you my friend.
I have incurred an inordinate amount of debt with the people in Amman too. Elena
Corbett has been the best boss I have ever had: teaching was great because she made it so.
Khader Abualhayjaah has improved tremendously my Arabic proficiency, and done so over
endless conversations over history, politics and philosophy that I was emboldened to be having
in such an impossible language. Tamer Khorma deserves all the credit for the interviews I was
able to carry out for this work: his help has been nothing but remarkable. Marwan Shahadah and
Hassan Abu Hanieh were kind enough to meet with me multiple times to share their insights and
expertise on Salafism: to both of them my deepest appreciation.
Yet of course Amman would not have been Amman without the warmth, friendship and
care of Miriam Abu Samra and Sharif Tbileh: in opening their home to me, they made me feel at
home, and that without considering the talks over arghilé about neoliberism, Palestine and
basketball. I don’t think I can extinguish any time soon the debt I owe them.
Two last special mentions. To Sinan Chu, who not only managed to share the same house
with me for three years, never complaining about my nationalist rants about the superiority of
Italian cuisine, but he apparently elected to continue such intellectually laden conversations for
many years to come in more academic venues. His friendship is perhaps one of the greatest gifts
Syracuse will leave me with.
And to Pedram Maghsoud-Nia: our friendship will last as long as there will be interesting
questions to ask and tentative answers to provide. A true ostaz, maestro and intellectual, he is the
only person I can talk to and feel as if we were two characters in a Dostoevskij’s novel. To those
who know me, there can be no higher praise.
Last, it’s been now more than eight years that I have left my home and my family to
pursue what I want to do. I have never suspected it was easy for them to let me do so, hence my
thanking them is the deepest and most heartfelt of all. I thus dedicate this work to my mother
Dorina, my father Antonio and my brother Alberto, who right when I was writing these chapters
gave me the wonderful news of a new life coming into our family.
To all of you, thanks, grazie, ًاركش
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Table of Contents

Abstract, p. i

Title Page, p. ii

Copy Right Page, p. iii

Acknowledgements, p. iv

Chapter 1 – Introduction
Intellectuals in Contention, p. 1
Salafis: Contentious Politics, Islamism and Gramscian Intellectuals, p. 5
Studying Islamism and Mobilization: an Unavoidable Tension?, p. 11
Theory and the Salafi Case, p. 13
Jordanian Salafism: an Overview, p. 14
Plan of the Study, p. 16

Chapter 2 - A Land of Three Rivers: Combining Perspectives
Geography as a Metaphor, p. 18
On the Study of Religion in Politics, p. 19
Religion, Ideas and Political Contention, p. 21
Evolution of the Field: a Bird’s Eye View, p. 24
Framing Theory and the Study of Mobilization and Contention, p. 28
Dynamics of Contention, Cognition and Meaning Making, p. 37
Popular Intellectuals and Alternative Worldviews, p. 40
Defining an Elusive Actor: the Sociology of the Intellectuals, p. 42
Mobilizing Islam, or Why We’re Here, p. 50

Chapter 3 - The Social Appropriation of Tradition: A Theory on Religious Intellectuals
and Mobilization
Gramsci, Mechanisms and Salafi Scholars, p. 64
Gramscian Intellectuals: a Philosophy of Praxis, Subalterns and Hegemony, p. 65
Ideology and Discourse, Philosophy and Common Sense, p. 76
Salafi Scholars as Intellectuals: Making Religion into Ideology, p. 84
Mobilizing the Past: the Social Appropriation of Tradition, p. 86
Contention and Mechanisms, p. 90
Final Considerations on Mechanisms, p. 100
Conclusion, p. 101

Chapter 4 - An Introduction to Salafism and the Jordanian Context
Salafism and Jordan: Two Histories, p. 104
Salafism: a Philological Note on a Disputed Term, p. 105
The History Behind the Concept: Salafism as an Emerging Category, p. 111
Salafism: the Geography of a Discursive Field, p. 118
vi
Salafism as Social Appropriation of Tradition, p. 125
Jordan, a Country that Should Not Be, p. 127
The Creation of Jordan, p. 128
Nation Building and State Building, p. 131
Realignment: Political and Economic Shifts at the End of the Century, p. 142
Conclusion - a New Stage, p. 152

Chapter 5 - Leaving Politics is Political: Quietist Salafism and Al-Albani’s ‘Purification
and Education’ Project
Introduction, p. 154
Life of Al-Albani, p. 156
At-Tafsiyah wa at-Tarbiyah: Purification and Education as the Cornerstones of a Political
Regeneration, p. 161
The Need for an Architect: the Role of Al-Albani as Organic Intellectual, p. 167
Quietist Salafism and the Social Appropriation of Tradition, p. 178
Quietist Salafis and the State: Ambiguity and Latent Confrontation, p. 182
Lost in Translation? Ideologues’ Unintended Consequences: Al-Albani and al-Jama'a al-
Salafiyya al-Muhtasiba (JSM), p. 185
Conclusion, p. 188

Chapter 6 – Relentless Confrontation: Jihadi Salafism and Al-Maqdisi’s ‘Loyalty and
Disavowal’ Call
Introduction, p. 190
Life of Al-Maqdisi, p. 193
Al-Wala’a wa al-Bara’: Loyalty and Disavowal Setting the Boundaries of the Islamic
Polity, p. 197
The Most Influential Jihadi Ideologue: Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi’s Revolutionary
Praxis, p. 203
Jihadi Salafism and the Social Appropriation of Tradition, p. 213
Jihadi Salafis and the State: Rejection and Adjustment Between the ‘Ink of the Scholar’
and the ‘Blood of the Martyr’, p. 217
Lost in translation? Al-Maqdisi and the Surge of Violent Jihadism, p. 224
Conclusion, p. 228

Chapter 7 – Conclusion
Making Contention, p. 230
Three Mechanisms and the Social Appropriation of Tradition, p. 231
Gramsci, Organic Intellectuals and Salafis’ Counter-Hegemony, p. 233
Quietist and Jihadi Salafism: Final Considerations on Their Politics, p. 235
A Future Project with Other ‘Cattivi Maestri’, p. 238

Bibliography

vii
1

Chapter 1 – Introduction

Intellectuals in Contention
What roles do intellectuals play in the processes of social action and political mobilization?
More specifically, in which ways do their ideological productions impact the trajectory – the kind of
mobilization and its developments - of such processes? The literature on social and political
contention has long recognized the importance of ideas in accounting for episodes of collective
action – social movements, campaigns, protests, revolutions, civil wars, clandestine political
violence, and so on. Scholars proposed terms such as frames, ideologies and discourses to
conceptualize the contribution of ideas to the emergence of social action and political contention.
However, it is rather startling how relatively few works have theorized the role of individuals and
communities at the center of the ideological production connected with social and political
mobilization.
I aim at exploring the role of intellectuals, scholars, thinkers connected to episodes of social
action and political contention. In particular I will address the role of their ideological productions,
i.e. the ideas they produced, the set of discourses in which they were embedded in the course of
their intellectual activity. I ask: how do these works spur and sustain social and political
mobilization? What is the relationship between ideological, intellectual work and the trajectory of
contention among groups and movements who claim to take cues and inspirations from such
productions? Put differently, I intend to unpack the processes by which ideas impact political
mobilization, specifically ideas formulated by recognized prominent ideologues. I address these
questions in the context of Salafism, a contemporary Islamist current.1 I contend that a specific

1 I chose the term ‘current’ to indicate Salafism in light of the most frequent way to refer to it in the Arab and Jordanian
press, where the Arabic equivalent (tiyaar) is commonly utilized.
2

process, the social appropriation of tradition,2 describes how Salafis appeal to and deploy a
traditional religious reference in order to spur social and political action. In this way we may
properly locate the intellectual efforts of prominent thinkers within a theoretical framework, parsing
out and assessing their contribution to episodes of political contention.
Salafism is a branch of Sunni Islam.3 Currently, it is arguably the most important trend
within the galaxy of political Islam. For example, groups such as Al-Qa’idah and the Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)4 are Salafi groups. However, Salafism is not confined to such episodes of
armed militancy, nor is exhaustively represented by them. It is instead an approach to Islam. It
preaches a literal reading of the Quran and the collection of ahadith,5 the only two sources it
recognizes as legitimate in the Islamic tradition (turath).6 Salafis do not admit different
interpretations or exegesis of these sacred sources. They claim the Qur’anic text and the collection
of ahadith contain an evident, clear message. It cannot be the object of different – let alone
divergent – understandings; there may not be allegorical or metaphorical readings. Because of this
literalism, Salafis espouse a rigid and uncompromising understanding of Islam, so that labels such
as radical, fundamentalist or extreme can be easily – if not always appropriately or unambiguously -
applied to them. They stand for a puritanical approach which seeks to replicate the community life
under the Prophet Muhammad and the following three generations of Muslims.7
However, while sharing the same doctrinal principles, Salafis also espouse very different
attitudes towards politics and society.8 In the context of the present study, I will focus on two such

2 I would like to thank Gavan Duffy for suggesting me this specific phrasing in one of our numerous conversations on
the issue of mechanisms and processes. In particular, he pointed out how it was possible to combine the idea of social
appropriation in the case of Islamist thinkers by adding a qualifier (tradition).
3 This brief presentation of Salafism is for merely introductory purposes. For a more elaborate introduction to Salafism
in the Muslim world and particularly in Jordan, see chapter 4.
4 See Chapter 6, fn. 12 for a brief discussion about ISIS different acronyms.
5 The ahadith (singular: hadith) stand for the deeds and the preaching of prophet Muhammad. Together, they represent
the Sunnah of the prophet.
6 See Lahoud, Nelly. Political Thought in Islam: A Study in Intellectual Boundaries. Routledge, 2005, for a discussion
of the concept of turath.
7 See Wiktorowicz, Quintan. The Management of Islamic Activism – Salafis, the Muslim Brotherhood and State Power
in Jordan, SUNY Press 2000, pp. 113-4.
8 See Wiktorowicz, Quintan. “Anatomy of the Salafi Movement.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 29.3 (2006):
207-239. p. 208.