The Father of Jihad: 'Abd All h 'Azz m's Jihad Ideas and Implications to National Security

367 Pages·2013·2.14 MB·English

by  Muhammad Haniff Hassan

The Father of
Jihad

'Abd Allaˉh 'Azzaˉm’s Jihad Ideas and
Implications to National Security
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Imperial College Press Insurgency and Terrorism Series
ISSN: 2335-6847
Series Editor: Rohan Gunaratna (Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore)
Vol. 1 Countering Extremism: Building Social Resilience through
Community Engagement
edited by R. Gunaratna, J. Jerard and S. M. Nasir
Vol. 2 The Father of Jihad: 'Abd Allāh 'Azzām's Jihad Ideas and Implications
to National Security
by Muhammad Haniff Hassan
Forthcoming
Wars from Within: Understanding and Managing Insurgent Movements
by Albrecht Schnabel (Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed
Forces) and Rohan Gunaratna (Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore)
The Roots of Religious Extremism
by Mohamed Bin Ali (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
Whither Southeast Asia Terrorism?
by Arabinda Acharya (S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies,
Singapore)
Volume
Insurgency & Terrorism Series 2
The Father of
Jihad

'Abd Allaˉh 'Azzaˉm’s Jihad Ideas and
Implications to National Security
Muhammad Haniff Hassan
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Imperial College Press
ICP
P902_9781783262878_tp.indd 2 21/3/14 3:25 pm
Published by
Imperial College Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Muhammad Haniff Hassan.
The father of jihad : 'Abd Allāh 'Azzām's jihad ideas and implications to national security / by
Muhammad Haniff Hassan (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore).
pages cm. -- (Imperial College Press insurgency and terrorism series , ISSN 2335-6847 ; 2)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-78326-287-8 (hard-cover)
ISBN-10: 1-78326-287-7 (hard-cover)
1. 'Azzām, 'Abd Allāh. 2. Afghanistan--Politics and government--1989–2001. 3. Jihad.
4. National security. I. Title.
DS371.33.A99M84 2014
297.7'2--dc23
2013048356
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2014 by Imperial College Press
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
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In-house Editor: Alisha Nguyen
Typeset by Stallion Press
Email: [email protected]
Printed in Singapore
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Acknowledgements
Praises be to
• the Lord for the blessings;
• my beloved wife, Faiza, and children, Usaid, Azzam, Husna, Iz,
If and Rusyda for their support and understanding;
• my parents, Hassan and Kalthom, for their constant prayers;
• my Professors for their knowledge and guidance;
• my colleagues in the International Centre for Political Violence
and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) for their friendship and
assistance;
• my friends and siblings for their encouragement;
without which I would not have been able to complete this
journey.
Very special thanks to
• Associate Professor Kumar Ramakrishna for supervising my
PhD dissertation, from which this book is based on;
• Professor Rohan Gunaratna, Head of ICPVTR, for giving me a
flexible working arrangement that allowed me to complete this
book;
• Roslinah Rasdi, Roslina Johari and Yee Ming for rendering their
much-valued technical assistance.
May the Force be with us, Amin.
Muhammad Haniff Hassan
Singapore, 2014
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Preface
This study revolves around the jihad ideas of `Abd Allah> `Azzam> —
an iconic figure in jihadist circles. To date there has been no single
work in English dedicated to the study of his jihad ideas — a fact
underscoring this study as an original academic contribution.
This study has several objectives. The first is to render an in-
depth description of his ideas by way of a review of his writing,
hitherto little referenced in the literature. The second objective is
to identify how these ideas have inspired so many to participate in
militant jihad in the Soviet–Afghan war, and indeed elsewhere. The
third objective of this study is to highlight the internal contradic-
tions and inconsistencies in `Azzam> ’s ideas, and to juxtapose these
ideas with contemporary jihadism. The fourth objective is to
identify specific aspects of `Azzam> ’s ideas in order to extract key
lessons for counter-ideology work within the framework of counter-
terrorism.
The primary approach of this study is that of a qualitative
literature review of `Azzam> ’s books, articles and transcripts of ser-
mons and speeches. In analysing the text, the study applies Snow
et al.’s framing method, used in the study of social movements as
the key analytical tool.
Upon reviewing all of `Azzam> ’s literature and other relevant
published materials, the study concludes and makes three key argu-
ments/observations on `Azzam> ’s jihad ideas. The first is `Azzam> ’s
success in mobilising Muslims for jihad in Afghanistan was not due
to his jihad ideas alone, although they mattered to him and were
important tools for mobilisation. The study identifies two other
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viii The Father of Jihad: `Abd All¯ah `Azz¯am’s Jihad Ideas and Implication
non-ideational structural factors that were critical in effecting his
mobilisation. Secondly, some aspects of `Azzam> ’s jihad ideas have
serious implications on national security. Thirdly, some of `Azzam> ’s
jihad ideas diverge from dominant ideas held by current jihadist
groups like Al-Qaeda and these could potentially be used to counter
contemporary jihad ideas and practices of jihadists.
The study then addresses the above observations and all other
issues arising from it with the objective of providing insights to
delegitimise current jihadist ideology, thereby providing a means
towards the mitigation of its threat to national and global security.
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Transliteration Table
ix