Category: Articles of the Week

Sunday July 1:
Ibrahim al-Asiri: AQAP’s Colonel Sanders?? – Jarret Brachman, Cronus Global Blog: https://bit.ly/MkuY1q
Social Engineering through Sharī’a: Islamic Law and State-Directed Da’wa in Contemporary Aceh – R. Michael Feener, Islamic Law and Society: https://bit.ly/N34cVL
More on MUJWA: The Battle at Gao and Even More Questions – Kal, The Moor Next Door: https://bit.ly/MkAJMs
Purifying Islam and Combating the West: Post Mortem Analysis of the Indelible Impact of al-Qaeda’s Abu Yahya al-Libi – Aaron Y. Zelin, Jamestown Foundation’s Militant Leadership Monitor: https://bit.ly/MGwZoX
Monday July 2:
The door of Resurrection pried open – Charles Cameron, Zen Pundit: https://bit.ly/MGxnns
Tuesday July 3:
Is Nigeria the Next Front in the War on Terror? – Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Foreign Policy: https://bit.ly/P2ooNB
Friday July 6:
Creative Responses to the Rebellion in Mali: A Look at the Forum Poetry – Kal, The Moor Next Door: https://bit.ly/RuIm28

Monday June 25:
The “Malfeasance” of ‘Counter-Jihad/Creeping Shariah’ Trainers – Jarret Brachman, Cronus Global Blog: https://bit.ly/LYswNP
Tuesday June 26:
Prepare for Blackout – Yassin Musharbash, Abu Susu Blog: https://bit.ly/McMUem
Wednesday June 27:
Can we declare the war on al Qaeda over? – Mary Habeck, Shadow Government: https://bit.ly/NcaphL
Thursday June 28:
Counterterrorism 2012: No Drones, No Detention, No Intervention – Clint Watts, Selected Wisdom: https://bit.ly/NcaXEA
The Salafi Awakening – Dan Byman and Zack Gold, The National Interest: https://bit.ly/MXNvNg
What Might the Muslim Brotherhood Do with al-Azhar? Religious Authority in Egypt – Rachel M. Scott, Die Welt des Islams: https://bit.ly/MDvEuy
The Debate that Wasn’t – Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq: https://bit.ly/N8XqgU

Monday June 18: Behind the Curve: Bulliet and Conversion to Islam in al-Andalus Revisited – Alwyn Harrison, al-Masaq: https://bit.ly/NMvi8Q Wednesday June 20: Terror from Sinai: Global Jihadist Groups on Israel’s Doorstep – Aaron Y. Zelin, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy: https://bit.ly/LD6pfS Thursday June 21: Arc of Convergence: AQAP, Ansar al-Shari`a and the Struggle for Yemen – Christopher Swift, CTC Sentinel: https://bit.ly/MHcXUX The Evolution of an American Jihadi: The Case of Omar Hammami – Christopher Anzalone, CTC Sentinel: https://bit.ly/MHd5UB The Holsworthy Barracks Plot: A Case Study of an Al-Shabab Support Network in Australia – Andrew Zammit, CTC Sentinel: https://bit.ly/MHdgPI Managing donor perceptions: Contextualizing Uganda’s 2007 intervention in Somalia – Jonathan Fisher, African Affairs: https://bit.ly/M9yNG4 Drones in Yemen: Is the U.S. on Target? – Clinton Watts & Frank J. Cilluffo, Homeland Security Policy Institute: https://bit.ly/LFvx0W Friday June 22: UK Islamists and the Arab Uprisings – James Brandon and Raffaello Pantucci, Current Trends in Islamist Ideology: https://bit.ly/MOL3XE 

Sunday June 10:
Sabirhan Hasanoff and Australia-Yemen jihadist connections – Andrew Zammit: https://bit.ly/MnKjMl
Is Mali the ‘next Afghanistan’?  – Andrew Lebovich, al-Wasat: https://bit.ly/MnM0t4
Monday June 11:
Sheikhs and Politicians: Inside the New Egyptian Salafism – Stéphane Lacroix, Brookings Institution: https://bit.ly/LZGpag
It’s OK to Kill Senior al Qaeda Members in Pakistan – Clint Watts, Selected Wisdom: https://bit.ly/LNRkDQ
‘Make some noise and do some dawa’ 4Sharia – Martijn de Koning, Closer: https://bit.ly/MvsFWM
Shabab Retake El Buur: glimpse of what awaits the Kenyans in Kismayo – M. Mubarak, Inside The Insurgency: https://bit.ly/LNapZ5
Foreign Fighters Trickle into the Syrian Rebellion – Aaron Y. Zelin, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy: https://bit.ly/L05822
Culture wars: Salafi attacks in La Marsa target heart of Tunisian secularism – Erik Churchill, Kefteji: https://bit.ly/Mvt4sl
Thursday June 14:
Show Me the Money – Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq: https://bit.ly/Mvu27T
Al-Qaeda loses its chief juridical voice – Christopher Anzalone, The AfPak Channel: https://bit.ly/LZIiUl

Saturday June 2: Omar Hammami and the rightness of Marisa Urgo – Charles Camerson, ZenPundit: https://bit.ly/LRW6PX Monday June 4: Beware of Imitators: Al-Qa`ida through the Lens of its Confidential Secretary – Nelly Lahoud, Combating Terrorism Center: https://bit.ly/K7xoQX Tuesday June 5: « A believer is not stung twice out of the same hole »: The longstanding issue of security within the ranks. Part 2 – Kévin Jackson, All Eyes on Jihadism: https://bit.ly/L42l6x Al-Qaida Advises the Arab Spring: Yemen – Joas Wagemakers, Jihadica: https://bit.ly/Mysahu Kill lists, Scorecards and the lack of Human Intelligence – Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq: https://bit.ly/L43Dyq Where the Salafis Go From Here: Why the Islamists Won’t Compromise – Zack Gold, Foreign Affairs: https://fam.ag/KFa9gk Wednesday June 6: Some quick thoughts on reports Abu Yahya al-Libi has been killed – Leah Farrall, The Blog Formerly Known as All Things Counter Terrorism: https://bit.ly/L43aw5 « A believer is not stung twice out of the same hole »: The longstanding issue of security within the ranks. Part 3 – Kévin Jackson, All Eyes on Jihadism: https://bit.ly/L44bnU Friday June 8: On Elephants and Al-Qaeda’s Moderation – Will McCants, Jihadica: https://bit.ly/MiEhtt The Strategy of Targeting al Qaeda’s Senior Leadership – Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Gunpowder and Lead: https://bit.ly/MiHDwq A unifying force lost – Jarret Brachman, The AfPak Channel: https://bit.ly/MSCAcf

Saturday May 26:
Children, jihad, agency, and the state of counter terrorism – Leah Farrall, The Blog Formerly Known as All Things Counter Terrorism: https://bit.ly/LltvD3
Sunday May 27:
A Study of Knights Under the Banner of the Prophet (2d ed) – Part 8 -Marisa Urgo, Making Sense of Jihad: https://bit.ly/KTAN2X
A Study of Knights Under the Banner of the Prophet (2d ed) – Part 9 -Marisa Urgo, Making Sense of Jihad: https://bit.ly/KTBgCk
Tuesday May 29:
Salafis in Kuwait – Scheherezade Faramarzi, al-Ahram: https://bit.ly/KEas8s
Spy v. Spy – Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq: https://bit.ly/Lls4o8
Wednesday May 30:
What Is Boko Haram? – Andrew Walker, United States Institute of Peace: https://bit.ly/JVScnM
Some Things We May Think About MUJWA – Kal, The Moor Next Door: https://bit.ly/KxwjPV
Thursday May 31:
Izutsu’s Study of the Qur’an from an Arab Perspective – Eisa Al-Akoub, Journal of Qur’anic Studies: https://bit.ly/KgBxBe
A Brief Look at the History and Power of Anasheed in Jihadist Culture – Behnam Said, Jihadology: https://bit.ly/KLIEPt
Exclusive: CIA Documents on 9/11 – J.M. Berger, IntelWire: https://bit.ly/Llt7EK
Friday June 1:
Chechen Adversaries Unveil Rival Concepts Of Jihad – Liz Fuller, The Caucasus Report: https://bit.ly/NnEb6i
« A believer is not stung twice out of the same hole »: The longstanding issue of security within the ranks. Part 1 – Kévin Jackson, All Eyes on Jihadism: https://bit.ly/KE8TbY
Bin Laden’s commitment to the covenant – Steven Brooke, @afpakchannel: bit.ly/L9vyhd

Saturday May 19:
Early Contributions to the Theory of Islamic Governance: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Awzāʿī – Anke Iman Bouzenita, Journal of Islamic Studies: https://bit.ly/LnOkT8
Monday May 21:
Wahhabi Perspectives on Pluralism and Gender: A Saudi – Indonesian Contrast – COMOPS Journal: https://bit.ly/KWL1Qs
Tuesday May 22:
Syria’s New Jihadis – Aaron Y. Zelin, Foreign Policy: https://bit.ly/JaRNxU
Al Qaeda’s London Branch: Patterns of Domestic and Transnational Network Integration – Eliane Tschaen Barbieri and Jytte Klausen, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism: https://bit.ly/JE3xym
Wednesday May 23:
On the Language of Counterterrorism – Jarret Brachman: https://bit.ly/Jd1gF5
Friday May 25:
Terrorism and Civil War: A Spatial and Temporal Approach to a Conceptual Problem – Michael G. Findley and Joseph K. Young, Perspectives on Politics: https://bit.ly/MA2hKw
American Exceptionalism and American Muslims – M. A. Muqtedar Khan, The Review of Faith & International Affairs: https://bit.ly/K3Qk0A
Counterterrorism and the New American Exceptionalism – Michael Vlahos, The Review of Faith & International Affairs: https://bit.ly/K3QDsn
Me Against the World: Omar Hammami sends word about al Shabaab’s bloody leadership wars and how he became a target – J.M. Berger, Foreign Policy: https://bit.ly/KHsvqL

Monday April 30:
Al Qaeda Is Doing Nation-Building. Should We Worry? -Will McCants, Foreign Policy: https://bit.ly/JXHz6U
Missionary at Home, Jihadist Abroad: A Profile of Tunisia’s Abu Ayyad the Amir of Ansar al-Shari‘ah – Aaron Y. Zelin, Jamestown Foundation’s Militant Leadership Monitor: https://bit.ly/J6LKeW
Tuesday May 1:
The Lesser of Two Evils: The Salafi Turn to Party Politics in Egypt  – Will McCants, Brookings Institution: https://bit.ly/L7Kyrt
The Next Chapter of Global Jihad – Randall Blake, Brookings Institution: https://bit.ly/L7KFmF
Wednesday May 2: 
Egypt’s “blessed” Salafi votes Khalil al-Anani, Mideast Channel: https://bit.ly/IqkBas
Libyan Islamists Unpacked: Rise, Transformation, and Future – Omar Ashour, Brookings Institution: https://bit.ly/L7LOL7
Jihadism on the Rise in Azerbaijan – Emil Souleimanov, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Analyst: https://bit.ly/Kv5WvT
Xinjiang Insurgents and China-Pakistan Relations – Jacob Zenn, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Analyst: https://bit.ly/IQzBJ8
Thursday May 3:
Letters from Abbottabad: Bin Ladin Sidelined? – Combating Terrorism Center: https://bit.ly/IGkV60
Purifying Kashmir: Saudi Arabia Exports Salafism to the War-Torn Region – Tariq Mir, Boston Review: https://bit.ly/IIiX4R
Mali: More on Law-and-Order Islamism – Alex Thurston, Sahel Blog: https://bit.ly/IIjweP
Abbottabad Documents Shed Light on Al Qaeda’s Use of Internet – J.M. Berger, IntelWire: https://bit.ly/L7LcVP
The bin Laden Files – Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Foreign Policy: https://bit.ly/JGoN7d
Hajj Amin al-Husayni and the Haram al-Sharif: A Pan-Islamic or Palestinian Nationalist Cause? – Erik Freas, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies: https://bit.ly/Kv4ZE1
Redeeming Sunni Islam: Al-Qa‘ida’s Polemic against the Muslim Brethren – Meir Hatina, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies: https://bit.ly/Kv58qN
Friday May 4:
Bin Laden’s online legacy – Aaron Y. Zelin, The Conversation.edu: https://bit.ly/JGFjBL
Bin Laden Docs: A Note of Caution – Clint Watts, Selected Wisdom: https://bit.ly/J1kqjq
Al-Shabaab Split Threatens to Open New Conflict Between Somalia’s Islamists – Muhyadin Ahmed Roble, Terrorism Monitor: https://bit.ly/IQzMV0
German Trials Highlight the Role of the IMU as a Feeder for al-Qaeda Operations in Europe – Raffaello Pantucci, Terrorism Monitor: https://bit.ly/IQzPQJ
Monday May 7:
Jihadists and bushfires: let’s not go nuts – Andrew Zammit: https://bit.ly/JLb0Fw
Posthumous Awlaki Article Claims CIA, FBI Tried to Recruit Him as An Informant – J.M. Berger, IntelWire: https://bit.ly/IRzGmr
Should Captured AQ Documents Have Been Released? – Steven R. Corman & Jarret Brachman: COMOPS Journal: https://bit.ly/K6gnoC
Assessing Interpretations of the New Bin Laden Documents – Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Gunpowder and Lead: https://bit.ly/JGqyBq
Tuesday May 8: 
Ibrahim Asiri: A Unique bombmaker? – Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq: https://bit.ly/JGqLnY
Thursday May 10:
Unanswered Questions – Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq: https://bit.ly/L7NyUF
Facebook Fatwa: Saudi Clerics, Wahhabi Islam and Social Media – Jonathan Schanzer and Steven Miller, Foundation for Defense of Democracies: https://bit.ly/IN905u
Friday May 11:
Measuring Success – Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq: https://bit.ly/L7NTXf
Sunday May 13:
Rolled Up in Azawad – Kal, The Moor Next Door: https://bit.ly/JIuuw0
Monday May 14:
Warding off terrorism and revolution: Moroccan religious pluralism, national identity and the politics of visual culture – Amanda E. Rogers, The Journal of North African Studies: https://bit.ly/Ar8pd5
Sufism, Salafism and state policy towards religion in Algeria: a survey of Algerian youth – Hamidi Khemissi, Ricardo René Larémont & Taybi Taj Eddine, The Journal of North African Studies: https://bit.ly/ITOPOb
Tuesday May 15:
Abu Mus’ab al Zarqawi under influence: one mentor? – Kévin Jackson, All Eyes on Jihad: https://bit.ly/L7OxUT
Policing Strategies against Islamic Terrorism in the UK after 9/11: The Socio-Political Realities for British Muslims – Stefano Bonino, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs: https://bit.ly/L5R7tS
Principles over Prejudice: Social Dominance Theory and the Mosques’ Controversy in American Cities – Daniel Hummel, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs: https://bit.ly/Jd2h4T
The Legal Methodology of “Fiqh al-Aqalliyyat” and its Critics: An Analytical Study – Tauseef Ahmad Parray, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs: https://bit.ly/L5RsN5
Wednesday May 16:
Taking on the Persona of a Suicide Bomber:a Thought Experiment – Anne Speckhard, Beatrice Jacuch & Valentijn Vanrompay, Perspectives on Terrorism: https://bit.ly/L5QtMP
Mapping Contemporary Terrorism Courses at Top-Ranked National Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges in the U.S. – Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Perspectives on Terrorism: https://bit.ly/Jd1O2A
Riots, Ritual and Rage – ‘Salafists’ and PRO-NRW in Germany – Martijn de Koning, Closer: https://bit.ly/L7Pf4n
Thursday May 17:
Jailhouse rock. Foreign Fighters. Somalia, Syria, Sahel. – Cross the Green Mountain: https://bit.ly/L7PmNp
Omar Hamammi’s Autobiography: Intellectual Influences – Jarret Brachman: https://bit.ly/JW88uj
Syrian Jihadis: Real and Exaggerated – Aaron Y. Zelin and Andrew Tabler, The Washington Institute for Near Policy: https://bit.ly/JowPvb
Friday May 18:
Borum’s “Radicalization into Violent Extremism I” – Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Gunpowder and Lead: https://bit.ly/J6yl6T
Beyond moderation: dynamics of political Islam in Pakistan – Joshua T. White, Contemporary South Asia: https://bit.ly/L7PKvf

Sunday April 22:
On Reading Zawahiri – Marisa Urgo, Making Sense of Jihad: https://bit.ly/Jpx8e9
Examining Gaidi Mtaani, Al-Qaida Swahili-language magazine Issue 1 – Aaron Weisburd, Internet Haganah: https://bit.ly/I6S7C8
Al-Qaida Advises the Arab Spring: Egypt – Joas Wagemakers, Jihadica: https://bit.ly/Ixx3SB
Another day, another dead al Qâ’idah leader – Mr. Oranges’ War Tracker: https://bit.ly/I2zhcM
AUMF and Yemen – Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq: https://bit.ly/JrzF6n
More on Islamist Performance in Algeria – Kal, The Moor Next Door: https://bit.ly/I4NKHY
Monday April 23:
North Caucasus Insurgency Leader Predicts ‘Results’ From Spring Offensive – Liz Fuller, Caucasus Report: https://bit.ly/I4NPeK
Knowing what you’re doing – Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq: https://bit.ly/JrAKLh
Boko Haram Escalates Attacks on Christians in Northern Nigeria – David Cook, CTC Sentinel: https://bit.ly/JrAMCW
French Counterterrorism Policy in the Wake of Mohammed Merah’s Attack – Pascale Combelles Siegel, CTC Sentinel: https://bit.ly/IkQiAs
Revisiting Shaykh Atiyyatullah’s Works on Takfir and Mass Violence – Christopher Anzalone, CTC Sentinel: https://bit.ly/HWi2ZE
Taking the Place of Martyrs: Afghans and Arabs under the Banner of Islam – Darryl Li, Arab Studies Journal: https://bit.ly/Ib044R
Locating the Secular in Sayyid Qutb – Mohammad Salama and Rachel Friedman, Arab Studies Journal: https://bit.ly/Ib044R
Tuesday April 24:
Reply Delete Favorite · OpenCombating Terrorism in the New Media Environment – John Curtis Amble, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism: https://bit.ly/Ipueo7
Cooking the Books: Strategic Inflation of Casualty Reports by Extremists in the Afghanistan – Chris Lundry, Steven R. Corman, R. Bennett Furlow & Kirk W. Errickson, Conflict Studies in Conflict & Terrorism: https://bit.ly/K5zo5e
Analysis of Jihadi Terrorism Incidents in Western Europe, 2001–2010 – Javier Jordan, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism: https://bit.ly/K5ztpt
In short supply: The Britain-Pakistan jihadist trade flow – Raffaello Pantucci, The AfPak Channel: https://bit.ly/I8MNPt
Gaidi Mtaani – Jonah Ondieki and Jake Zenn, Jihadology: https://bit.ly/InjTIN
Wednesday April 25:
“Mystery solved” on the oldest member of al Qa’ida – Kévin Jackson, All Eyes on Jihadism: https://bit.ly/JBIoVL

Tuesday April 17: 
Struggle for reform: contested conceptualizations of iṣlāḥ in the Maghreb – J. Amoretti & J. Fuentes, The Muslim World: https://bit.ly/IiC1CG
Islam in China: From Silk Road to Separatism – Melanie Jones-Leaning and Douglas Pratt, The Muslim World: https://bit.ly/JaheSW
al-Shabaab & al-Qaeda Merger: An AQAP-Yemen Exit Strategy for Godane? – Clint Watts, Selected Wisdom: https://bit.ly/J783zS
Wednesday April 18: 
AQAP’s Big Dilemma – Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq: https://bit.ly/IthpYr
Thursday April 19: 
Qur’ānic cosmography in its historical perspective: some notes on the formation of a religious worldview – Damien Janos, Religion: https://bit.ly/J7UQu3
A Balancing Act: Ennahda’s Struggle with Salafis – Aaron Y. Zelin and Erik Churchill, Sada Journal: https://bit.ly/I5fzye
A Net Assessment of al-Qaeda – Will McCants, Jihadica: https://bit.ly/JOZtp8
Signature Strikes in Yemen – Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq: https://bit.ly/JsDkAi
Heaven On Earth: A Non-Hysterical History of Shari’ah – Haroon Moghul interviews Sadakat Kadri, Religion Dispatches: https://bit.ly/JpkBCT
Islamists and Education in the Arab World – Muhammad Faour, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: https://bit.ly/IroTLI
Friday April 20:
New kid on the block: An al-Qaeda leader ascends – Christopher Anzalone, The AfPak Channel: https://bit.ly/HVNnPP