The “Falluja Think Tank” recently published the “Special Strategic Study of the Global Battle and the Jihadi Movement’s Place in It.” Like Thomas, I had high expectations, but was disappointed in the end because the study amounted to little more than general summaries of U.S. and jihadi history. However, the author did state that divine [...]
Archive for the ‘Islamic War Doctrine’ Category
The Non-Strategic “Special Strategic Study”
Posted: 22nd July 2009 by Scott Sanford in Islamic War Doctrine, Nuclear, propaganda, Strategy, WMD6
Jihadi Explains Iranian Realpolitik
Posted: 6th August 2008 by Will McCants in Conspiracy Theories, Hezbollah, Iran, Islamic War Doctrine, Motivations, Shia, StrategyTags: Conspiracy Theories, Hezbollah, Iran, Israel, Shia, Sunnis
Abu `Abd al-Rahman `Atiyyat Allah (possibly this person) has written a new booklet titled Ru’ya kashifa in which he tries to convince his Jihadi brethren that Iran and Hezbollah are not working with the U.S. and Israel as part of a grand conspiracy to subjugate Sunnis. Rather, he argues, Iran and its cat’s paw Hezbollah [...]
Prophetic Precedents for Various Types of Warfare
Posted: 5th August 2008 by Will McCants in Islamic War Doctrine, Strategy, tacticsTags: Islamic Doctrines of Warfare, Strategy, tactics
This one is for all those who believe that Jihadis act strictly according to the Qur’an and the Sunna. It’s a detailed study by Abu al-Harith al-Ansari of the various types of warfare and the prophetic precedents for each. There are 41 kinds in all, including “media warfare,” “economic warfare,” “secret warfare,” “war of attrition,” [...]
Al-Qaeda’s Ethics in War
Posted: 14th June 2008 by Will McCants in Islamic War Doctrine, tacticsTags: Islamic Doctrines of Warfare
An English-speaking woman, Umm Saad, has been translating some documents for the members of Ekhlaas. One of them is a story recounted by `Abd al-Rahman al-Faqir, a popular member of al-Hesbah. Faqir argues that what sets al-Qaeda apart from other insurgents is its obedience to Islamic law, even during warfare. To prove his point, he [...]
Qur’an Verse 9:29
Posted: 4th June 2008 by Will McCants in Islamic War DoctrineTags: Islamic Doctrines of Warfare
The moderators at the Middle East Strategy at Harvard blog kindly allowed me to post some comments on Raymond Ibrahim’s article. Since they have now closed the thread, I’ll finish my thoughts here. Ibrahim has been arguing that the Qur’an contains very clear doctrines on warfare. I disagree; this is where the Qur’an is most [...]
Islamic Warfighting Doctrine and Jihadi Behavior
Posted: 31st May 2008 by Will McCants in Islamic War Doctrine, UncategorizedTags: Islamic doctrine of warfare
There is a well-worn rut of thinking which holds that Islamic doctrines of warfare determine Jihadis’ violent behavior. The doctrine functions like software on a computer: if you can identify the doctrines/software, you can predict behavior. Raymond Ibrahim has posted a version of this argument at the MESH blog. Ibrahim is right to say that [...]