Theoretical Foundations for Applied Practices within Islamic Terrorist Groups

Abstract

Islamic terrorist groups such as the Islamic State or Boko Haram have made a name for themselves by, among other things, their violent and brutal nature in managing affairs. As such, this article aims to investigate the origin of these practices. This paper investigates the particularities of radical Islamist ideology as illustrated through the prism of author Abu Bakr Naji. Also, the research at hand aims to shed light on the nature of Islamic terrorism and to provide an insight into the ideology behind this movement. Therefore, this paper aims to establish the connection between the theory presented by Abu Bakr Naji and the practical procedures applied by Islamist groups. The author presents Islamist ideology in his work, while illustrating its application through examples. It can be said that he offers instructions, thus creating a manual for putting radical Islamist ideology into practice. This paper aims to explain the actions and modus operandi of terrorist groups, researching and extrapolating from the author mentioned above. At the same time, this paper is meant to illustrate that the practices of Islamist groups are not random, but have a strong theoretical and ideological foundation. From this point of view, the present investigation covers points such as terrorist group violence, loyalty to authority, as well as propaganda and expansion. The following will present the perspective of Islamist terrorist organizations on their approach in practice to achieve their goals. From the conduct of this investigation, the similarity between the theoretical instructions formulated by author Abu Bakr Naji and the practical application conducted by organizations such as the Islamic State and Boko Haram can be seen.