Asharq Alawsat: "The Contemporary Godfather of Islamic Extremist Ideology"

The author is Mshari Al-Zaydi, Saudi Journalist, "expert on Islamic extremism" and "Asharq Al-Awsat’s opinion page Editor." One does not have to agree with all his conclusions, but this is informative:

The truth is we did not, or at least personally I did not, need an American study to prove that the Jordanian fundamentalist Abu Mohammed al Maqdesi is the most important ideological source and influence for the Salafi Jihadist followers. This is a known fact that many of us have echoed before, not to say that al Maqdesi is the ‘creator’ of this phenomenon, but rather to regard him as representative of the theoretical and doctrinal depth that frames the deeds of the violent and terrorist Sunni trends.

Needless to say, the reference here is to the ideological, theoretical, and doctrinal support used by members of the Salafi Jihadist trend to dispute and argue with the sheikhs and scholars who oppose their ideology – whether traditional Islamic sheikhs or contemporary ones such as al Qaradawi and al Hawali, among others. The focus lies on illustrating the thread of influence that al Maqdesi is responsible for, rather than stressing the prevailing political and social climate, among other factors.

According to the news, the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point has compiled a book entitled ‘The Militant Ideology Atlas’ which states that despite Osama Bin Laden being considered the most prominent symbol of Islamic extremism worldwide that his influence on Islamic ideologies is rather limited in comparison to other Islamic thinkers and scholars of lesser renown. The study also revealed Abu Mohammed al Maqdesi to be the most influential living Islamic thinker, and that Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s number two man, appears to be of no significance in this intellectual network despite being portrayed as a driving force in the al Qaeda network.

Responsible for the Middle East operations, General John Abizaid, the chief of the US Central Command said in a lecture entitled “The Long War”, which he recently delivered at Harvard University that he worried about the possibility of a third world war erupting because of the growing Islamic extremist ideology in the Middle East, and the Islamic world in its entirety. He said, “if we do not have enough courage to confront this today, we will enter into a third world war tomorrow”. What was interesting though was his comparison of the dominating surge of radicalism today to the surge of Nazi ideology before the Second World War.

It was commendable of General Abizaid to resume his talk about the nature of the huge problems that consume this afflicted part of the world. He added to the dangers of fundamentalism, the incapacity to resolve the Arab-Israeli struggle, and the problem posed by Iran with its ambitions and nuclear weapons. It goes without saying that the general speaks from the perspective of the American assessment of the strategic dangers. To add a third point; it was one that I stumbled across in the Asharq Al Awsat archive, published November 17th 2005, about the disciples of the famous extremist who is one of the stars of ‘Londonstan’ – Omar Bakri. The report says that Najm Chaudhry, Bakri’s successor in London, amidst efforts of reviving the fundamentalist group [Al Muhajiroun] under the new name ‘Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ said of his party, “We will become a part of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa that is spread throughout the world. Among our sheikhs and mentors are Omar Bakri, Abu Mohammed al Maqdesi and Abu Qatadah al Filesteeni.”

The rest is worth reading.

Tags: Islam, Jihad, alMaqdesi, Islamism, Omar Bakri, Najm Chaudhry