As most readers of Jihadica will know, the famous Jordanian radical scholar Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi was arrested in September 2010 on suspicion of aiding terrorists and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in July 2011. Since then, however, we have rarely heard anything from the man often described as the most important radical Islamic scholar [...]
Archive for the ‘Jordan’ Category
Al-Maqdisi and the Jordanian Jihadi-Salafi Movement
Posted: 1st December 2012 by Joas Wagemakers in Arab media, foreign fighters, Jordan, Syria6
From the Pen to the Sword
Posted: 3rd January 2011 by Joas Wagemakers in Afghanistan, AQ Central, Better Know a Forum, Jordan, propaganda, terrorismOne of the things that struck me about the Stockholm bomber, Taimour Abdalwahhab, was that he was apparently active on the internet as a radical before he decided to engage in actual terrorism (see Thomas’ posts below for more details). This transition reminded me of a similar but much more serious process by someone who [...]
A Portrait of the Terrorist as a Young Man
Posted: 18th July 2010 by Joas Wagemakers in AQ in Iraq, AQ Leadership, Jordan, Palestinian Territories, terrorismOf all the jihadis we’ve seen in recent years, Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi must rank as one of the most violent. Nicknamed “the slaughtering sheikh” (al-shaykh al-dhabbah) by fellow militants, he is widely held responsible for killing hundreds of Shiites in Iraq and personally beheading the American hostage Nicolas Berg. It would therefore be interesting to [...]
Did Jordanian Intelligence Kill Abdallah Azzam?
Posted: 28th February 2010 by Thomas Hegghammer in JordanOf the many fascinating details in the Sahab interview with Abu Dujana al-Khurasani, one made my jaw drop and break my self-imposed blogging ban. Abu Dujana says his Jordanian handler named another Jordanian intelligence official as the person responsible for the assassination of Abdallah Azzam in Peshawar in November 1989: “This idiot confessed to me [...]
Is RAND in Bed with Extreme Takfiris?
Posted: 22nd February 2010 by Joas Wagemakers in Conspiracy Theories, Ideological trends, Jordan, propaganda, Western AnalystsAs regular readers of jihadi literature know, the RAND Corporation is no friend of al-Qa‘ida. Supporters of the latter have a tendency to blame RAND for trying to destroy them and the rest of the world’s Muslims into the bargain. Although RAND is not alone in being perceived by jihadis as an almost conspiratorial observer [...]
Midad al-Suyuf and al-Maqdisi: Sworn Enemies?
Posted: 1st February 2010 by Joas Wagemakers in Better Know a Forum, Jordan[Editor's note: I am proud to introduce Joas Wagemakers as our new guest contributor. Regular Jihadica readers will know Joas as the world's leading expert on Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi; but as you will discover over the next few weeks and hopefully months, Joas's expertise extends way beyond the Jordanian ideologue. A lecturer and PhD candidate [...]
Shishani on Salafi-Jihadism in the Levant
Posted: 2nd July 2009 by Scott Sanford in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, SyriaOn 29 June 2009, the Jordanian journalist Murad Batal al-Shishani published an article in al-Hayat titled “Salafi–Jihadism: A New Face in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria’s Palestinian Camps.” The article talks about the new generation of “neo-Zarqawis” and the increasing radicalization of Palestinian refugees. This radicalisation, he argues, stems from the failure to resolve the Arab-Israeli [...]
Back
Posted: 26th March 2009 by Thomas Hegghammer in AQ in Iraq, Bin Laden, China, Islamic State of Iraq, Jihadi media, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, propaganda, Somalia, Yemen, ZawahiriI have been busy the past two weeks, but the jihadis have been busier. Bin Ladin has issued two audio statements, one proposing practical steps to liberate Palestine and the other about the treacherous government in Somalia. Al-Zawahiri warned against the forthcoming Crusader attack on Sudan, while Mustafa Abu al-Yazid has addressed the people of [...]
Asad al-Jihad2, who some claim is senior AQ member Hukayma, is taking questions on Gaza. The Q&A session, modeled on that of Zawahiri, is open for four days of questions; AJ2 will give his answers soon after. Individuals are allowed to ask five question and news orgs can ask ten. One has to be careful [...]
Maqdisi Blasts Hamas
Posted: 6th January 2009 by Will McCants in Israel, Jordan, Palestinian Territories, UncategorizedTags: Maqdisi
Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, the leading Jihadi scholar in Jordan (and worldwide for that matter), has issued a statement on his website regarding Gaza. In short: Hamas has let down the Muslim community and needs to step out of the way and allow the Jihadis there and abroad to take over the fight against Israel. Maqdisi [...]