Posted on Sep 24, 2015
Do you know the origins of the doctrine used by radical groups?
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"Know thy enemy" Understanding your enemy can only aid in knowing how to deal with and ultimately defeat them. This is why it is important that we understand what the forces are that gave rise to radicals within the Arab community.
The doctrine of groups such as al-Qaeda is Salafism, a movement that began in Egypt and spread to Saudi Arabia where it merged with Saudi Arabia's official religion, Wahhabi.
Salafism and Wahhabism began as movements, intended to reform society. They were distinctly different from each other as Salafism promoted the use of technology while Wahhabism shirked all modernization. A cross-pollination occurred between the two resulting in more radical teaching and followers picked what they wanted to follow from each.
Wahhabism became more prominent and the followers of it began to issue threats against traditional believers, decreeing that the traditional believers would be counted among the nonbelievers (Justification for killing muslims even though it is forbidden in the Quaran). Those who resist were and are being killed or pushed out.
Wahhabi mentality asserts that Islam can be "saved" by the use of the sword. This mentality is what brought about the weaponization of it's followers and this ideology is flourishing among some groups in the Middle East.
Now we have an armed movement using religion as it's justification for enforcing rule, domination, murder, rape, enslavement, theft, "social reform", participation in the creation and selling of drugs.... They do not tolerate any one who opposes them or does not follow their brand of religion. They reject any form of compromise. They use religion in this case, Islam to justify their actions. They abuse the word Islam. They issue proclamations (Fatwa), legitimizing their illegal actions by claiming these actions help further the movement (spread of their brand of religion). They believe they have a duty and message to deliver. If the government or society of an area is weak they forcefully impose their message on the population.
In addition to their armed approach they also use a scholarly approach, infiltrating organizations, places of theological learning, and mosques, where they begin establishing themselves as leaders and indoctrinating religiously minded people with their beliefs.
To understand this movement we must understand how these ideological movements became armed and entered the psychology of muslims through the scope of Islam. To summarize this happened through force and indoctrination.
How do we counter this? Containment.
The doctrine of groups such as al-Qaeda is Salafism, a movement that began in Egypt and spread to Saudi Arabia where it merged with Saudi Arabia's official religion, Wahhabi.
Salafism and Wahhabism began as movements, intended to reform society. They were distinctly different from each other as Salafism promoted the use of technology while Wahhabism shirked all modernization. A cross-pollination occurred between the two resulting in more radical teaching and followers picked what they wanted to follow from each.
Wahhabism became more prominent and the followers of it began to issue threats against traditional believers, decreeing that the traditional believers would be counted among the nonbelievers (Justification for killing muslims even though it is forbidden in the Quaran). Those who resist were and are being killed or pushed out.
Wahhabi mentality asserts that Islam can be "saved" by the use of the sword. This mentality is what brought about the weaponization of it's followers and this ideology is flourishing among some groups in the Middle East.
Now we have an armed movement using religion as it's justification for enforcing rule, domination, murder, rape, enslavement, theft, "social reform", participation in the creation and selling of drugs.... They do not tolerate any one who opposes them or does not follow their brand of religion. They reject any form of compromise. They use religion in this case, Islam to justify their actions. They abuse the word Islam. They issue proclamations (Fatwa), legitimizing their illegal actions by claiming these actions help further the movement (spread of their brand of religion). They believe they have a duty and message to deliver. If the government or society of an area is weak they forcefully impose their message on the population.
In addition to their armed approach they also use a scholarly approach, infiltrating organizations, places of theological learning, and mosques, where they begin establishing themselves as leaders and indoctrinating religiously minded people with their beliefs.
To understand this movement we must understand how these ideological movements became armed and entered the psychology of muslims through the scope of Islam. To summarize this happened through force and indoctrination.
How do we counter this? Containment.
Theology
ISIS
War on Terror
Terrorism
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 12
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CPT (Join to see) -- It is very important to learn everything you can about your enemy.
“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril” Sun Tzu
“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril” Sun Tzu
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I think the real intel nugget is understanding that extremists always cherry pick the parts they like and mold religious beliefs to benefits their own agenda. Education is the only way to fight religious extremism. Kim Davis, that goofy clerk in Kentucky, is every bit as radical as any of those long beards -- she's just of a different flavor. Our greatest enemy is we, the American people not working to understand other cultures. We learn to fear them by watching the media who sell advertising space to keep you afraid. We suffer from national xenophobia. When we interact with other people -- chatting casually or sharing a meal or experience, we do the lowest and best form of diplomacy. I was walking across the Hippodrome plaza in Istanbul a few days ago and a street vendor called to me. I smiled and waved him off and he said "Hey! Are you Canadian?" and I said I was and asked him how he knew. He said "You smiled, Americans never smile." I shared this with the two other couples we were with. They were surprised. I came downstairs the next morning for breakfast and my wife told me another tourist had told her there was some kind of anti-American protest" and we needed to be careful. I checked it and it was in fact a pro-West anti-PKK rally in Eastern Turkey, so the tourist got it all wrong because he didn't understand what he was watching. He saw the red flags of Turkey, heard the word American, but not Europe, not United. That just told me we all need to push ourselves to increase understanding. While certainly important to understand the mindset of an enemy, it is vital to work to reduce the influence of that mindset. Everywhere I went in Turkey, every person I talked to all said pretty much the same thing: "Welcome." and "We don't like Daesh (ISIS) they are not Islam." This has also been my constant observation since 9-11. I've been all over that region repeatedly. I talk to everybody, bakers, fruit sellers, pizza delivery guy, rich folks, professors, diplomats and this is the constant message. "They ain't us!" We forget that Muslims are doing most of the dying so far. We need to understand that these criminals represent a tiny, tiny fraction of the population. We don't understand that. We can't imagine that because every single day we are told the lie that "they all hate us and want to kill us." All of us need to get out of our comfort zone and really start to think about how to meet and get to know strangers. We have to work past our national xenophobia and work to co-opt and assimilate as many new arrivals as fast as we can. Once they are in the USA the media does a great job of getting them started on assimilation. I saw some people yesterday in the airport in Boise. Mom and Dad were clearly recent arrivals, speaking mainly in Spanish. Their older teenagers were bilingual without discernible accents and the little kids were straight up American kids. It does not take long. People who come here want the American dream. I've known and served with many immigrants who became staunch defenders of America. We will get refugees from Syria. I saw bunches of them in Istanbul, trying to get to Germany. I spoke with some. They are educated, sophisticated people who were living normal, middle class lives until their world exploded through no fault of their own. Think about how you'd feel if Texas went batsh*t crazy and started a civil war and you had to go to Mexico and people threw tear gas ass you or hosed you down. These refugees are coming, that's a done deal. WE have to look for the intelligent solution. Since most speak passable English already, we can easily assimilate them. If we make them feel welcome and safe and help them transition into our society, I know we'll be doing a lot more to destroy ISIS than any use of force.
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SPC Glen "G. Warren" Johnson
I understand taking in people who need our help, but we should take care of our own BEFORE we help others. The ones who are coming in are getting EVERYTHING our own Americans are being DENIED. How is this going to HELP America? Just leaves us more wide open to be overtaken.
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The issue with the religion are those who practice the religion are not practicing in the right format. This was a good read. Knowing thy enemy is very important, can be used with peaceful negotiations, and "aggressive" negotiations.
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SPC Glen "G. Warren" Johnson
What gets me is that they teach that "their god" and the God that Jews and Christians worship....ARE THE SAME GOD. Now, I don't ever remember anything about Jews "killing in the name of God", I have with the Christians and now under "Mohammed".
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Containment??? really ??? let put this to a historical test of WW2 Germany ... how do we actually CONTAIN it???? We use the same tactic - force and indoctrination, aka military power and propaganda.
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Ignorance of Wahhabi mentality could be a very costly mistake...you have to know the elements (situation/population/culture/religion/customs) to which you are about to enter...you fail to understand, could be very costly.
Great share CPT (Join to see)!
Great share CPT (Join to see)!
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CPT (Join to see) The article you shared is a poor description of the differences (Wahabism being a direct descendent from Salafism), and ignores the Deobandi and Takfiri influence over what we view as radical Islam.
As a rule, all Wahhabis are Salafists, but not all Salafists are Wahhabis. And almost no one considers themselves Wahabi, it is a derogatory term. Salafist ideology began in the 13th Century with Tāqī ad-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyyah. The key tenet being that Islam was only pure and correct at its beginnings and rejecting more recent interpretations.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab led an effort to return to a "more Salafist" version of Islam that he viewed as having strayed. He allied himself with the secular tribal leader Muhammad bin Saud to build up both the concept of Salfism and Saudi political power. This continued until the 1930s when the House of Saud was able to consolidate power and form Saudi Arabia. They consider themselves Salafis, not Wahhabis.
This is most significant because beginning in the 60's and 70's, Saudi money has been used to establish the majority of the mosques and madrasas around not only the middle east, but the world. Most Salafis are purists and believe in peace above all else, there are also political activists striving to spread Salafi Islam, but who still believe in peace above all. The lack of political Salafist success created the need for jihadism, and a ready pool of disaffected Salafis provides a base from which to recruit new jihadists. Most Salafist consider those advocating violent Jihad as Takfir (un-muslim) committing apostasy. Jihadism is really only since the 90s, claiming Salafism, believing that jihad is the only way to advance the cause of Allah on the earth.
The Taleban, on the other hand are most closely Deobandi, which was a school of Islam developed in South Asia in response to British rule and oppression. A different topic for a different time.
We wrote a pretty in depth white paper for MNF-I and Congress that I will try to dig up for you.
As a rule, all Wahhabis are Salafists, but not all Salafists are Wahhabis. And almost no one considers themselves Wahabi, it is a derogatory term. Salafist ideology began in the 13th Century with Tāqī ad-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyyah. The key tenet being that Islam was only pure and correct at its beginnings and rejecting more recent interpretations.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab led an effort to return to a "more Salafist" version of Islam that he viewed as having strayed. He allied himself with the secular tribal leader Muhammad bin Saud to build up both the concept of Salfism and Saudi political power. This continued until the 1930s when the House of Saud was able to consolidate power and form Saudi Arabia. They consider themselves Salafis, not Wahhabis.
This is most significant because beginning in the 60's and 70's, Saudi money has been used to establish the majority of the mosques and madrasas around not only the middle east, but the world. Most Salafis are purists and believe in peace above all else, there are also political activists striving to spread Salafi Islam, but who still believe in peace above all. The lack of political Salafist success created the need for jihadism, and a ready pool of disaffected Salafis provides a base from which to recruit new jihadists. Most Salafist consider those advocating violent Jihad as Takfir (un-muslim) committing apostasy. Jihadism is really only since the 90s, claiming Salafism, believing that jihad is the only way to advance the cause of Allah on the earth.
The Taleban, on the other hand are most closely Deobandi, which was a school of Islam developed in South Asia in response to British rule and oppression. A different topic for a different time.
We wrote a pretty in depth white paper for MNF-I and Congress that I will try to dig up for you.
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CPT (Join to see)
MAJ (Join to see) My intent was not to write a book but to simply explain the basic premise. My intent was not to give the history of the evolution of the spread of the ideology as a result of the Saud family I could write one more in depth but I was afraid that I would loose the reader. As in giving too much detail and explaining the complete background would be dull and not hold interest. I can include Dobandi and Takfiri influence as well as explain in depth the background of Wahhabi and Salafism again it all depends on the target audience and what their knowledge is. All Salafists are Wahhabi but all Wahhabi are not Salafists. Abd al Wahhab wanted to return Islam to it's purist form. Salsifism is a term applied to several forms of puritanical Islam, however I was only addressing the specific form Wahhabi as perpetuated in the Saudi school of thought. The pact between Wahhab and Saud, is what helped to create the dynasty as we know it that continues to rule Saudi Arabia and continues to support this ideology. The descendants of Abd al Wahhab continue to dominate the ulama in the Saudi State and it's clerical institutions.
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MAJ (Join to see)
CPT (Join to see) I guess my only real point would be that "Know Thy Enemy" should include using sources that are correct. Salafism/Wahhabism is not violent and the vast majority of followers consider those that advocate violence Takfir. Not understanding that is very common on RP. Not understanding that makes work with our allies very difficult.
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Any time I am about to go to another country one of the things I do is get a translation dictionary for that country. Another is I read up on the history, culture, and religions prominent there. I have taken classes on Islam, Buddhism, African and Arabic History. They are very helpful to understanding cultural context.
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CPT (Join to see) Very interesting information and i didn't have to research it myself.
Thank you,Ma'am.
Thank you,Ma'am.
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Great info, captain. Thanks. Like some others here, I'm going to add an opinion on your last word, "containment".
Regarding the actual ideas of wahhabism, my opinion is (probably) similar to yours. You cannot kill an idea, but you can provide an alternative idea. I have little hope that the Muslim Clerics around the world have any interest in doing so. The US is perceived by the Arabs as a "Judeo-Christian" nation, and I don't think anything we say will be considered. That is the second biggest reason that I have so little confidence that we can persevere in the long run. The first is "our" lack of strength to do all that is necessary to survive as a culture (I mean the classic American culture).
I do believe, however, that ISIS/ISIL/IS/Whatever CAN be militarily defeated. Unlike other threats, they have occupied territory, have established supply "lines" and a quasi-governmental city. We CAN treat ISIS as a conventional enemy state and destroy it.
Of course, that doesn't do anything to the underlying ideas that created it.
Regarding the actual ideas of wahhabism, my opinion is (probably) similar to yours. You cannot kill an idea, but you can provide an alternative idea. I have little hope that the Muslim Clerics around the world have any interest in doing so. The US is perceived by the Arabs as a "Judeo-Christian" nation, and I don't think anything we say will be considered. That is the second biggest reason that I have so little confidence that we can persevere in the long run. The first is "our" lack of strength to do all that is necessary to survive as a culture (I mean the classic American culture).
I do believe, however, that ISIS/ISIL/IS/Whatever CAN be militarily defeated. Unlike other threats, they have occupied territory, have established supply "lines" and a quasi-governmental city. We CAN treat ISIS as a conventional enemy state and destroy it.
Of course, that doesn't do anything to the underlying ideas that created it.
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