Al-Wala wa-l-Bara and the Western Foreign Fighters of the Islamic State by Hamid Durrani A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfilment of the thesis requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2019 © Hamid Durrani 2019 AUTHOR’S DECLARATION I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. Date: April 22, 2019 Name (printed letters): Hamid Durrani Signature: i ABSTRACT Addressing the question of the Islamic State’s foreign fighters not only necessitates a thorough understanding of their state of mind or psychology, but also the firm ideological beliefs in their hearts and minds. There are many studies that focus on the earthly pursuits of the Islamic State’s Western fighters but they tend to fall short because they do not adequately address the religious aspects. As it appears, Salafi- jihadism and Wahhabism are the central philosophies of the Islamic State’s religious roots. Heavily relying on qualitative data, this study aims to unveil whether hijrah to the Caliphate or rallying to its cause at home correlates with the Islamic State’s emphasis on the distinctly Salafi and particularly Wahhabi doctrine called al-Wala wa-l-Bara. This study first explains the historical and theological contexts of the doctrine. Second, it examines the extent to which the doctrine was preached by the Islamic State to sway Muslims to support its cause. Third, it examines the statements of some Western foreign fighters of the Caliphate to trace the significance of the doctrine. Finally, through interviews with imams & muftis, it introduces the understanding of the doctrine among Muslims living in Western society. The study reveals that the doctrine was directly introduced or quoted to Muslims living in the Western societies in thirteen of fifteen issues of Dabiq, and in eight of the twelve available issues of Rumiyah. The examined statements of the Western fighters, who fought in the Caliphate, tried to travel to the Caliphate, or raised arms at home, clearly indicated the influence of the doctrine and its importance to their decision-making process and its significance to their everyday life in the West. According to all the imams & muftis interviewed, hijrah to the Islamic State, and terrorist attacks in the West were highly driven by the teachings of al-Wala wa-l- Bara. All the interviewed participants argued that the doctrine is considered a threat, if misinterpreted or misunderstood by an individual. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Professor Lorne Dawson who was not even from the Political Science department and yet so kindly agreed to supervise me on this important topic. When at times during the research I got carried away, his familiarity and knowledge on the subject helped me stay on track. I couldn’t have asked for a more dedicated and expert supervisor for this topic. I also would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to rest of my thesis committee members, Dr. David Welch, Dr. Hongying Wang, and Dr. Heather Whiteside whose thought-experiment questionings during the research process really assisted my thought process that helped shape some important aspects of the claims made in the thesis. A special thanks to Robert Quehl who assisted me in editing (grammar) this writing on a short notice. iii In memory of my father who was taken away from us iv “we stopped looking for monsters under our beds when we realized that they were inside us.” –Charles Darwin v Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 INTRODUCTION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 PURPOSE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 ASSUMPTIONS, LIMITATIONS, DELIMITATIONS ------------------------------------------------------- 9 CHAPTER 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 LITERATURE REVIEW ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 SECTION ONE—THE PUSH FACTORS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 NEWFOUND SENSE OF BELONGING ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 ISLAMOPHOBIA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 POLITICAL GRIEVANCES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 21 SECTION TWO—THE PULL FACTOR ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 A CALIPHATE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 SECTION THREE—ROOTS OF THE DOCTRINE --------------------------------------------------------- 31 Part—I ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 Part—II --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 Part—III ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 42 CHAPTER 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 59 METHOD --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 59 Part—I ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61 PROCEDURES & DESIGN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 61 DATA ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 61 Part-II -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62 METHODOLOGY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 62 PROCEDURE & DESIGN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62 DATA ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 63 Part—III ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 64 PROCEDURES & DESIGN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 64 DATA ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 64 vi CHAPTER 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 66 PART-I RESULTS--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 66 CONTENT ANALYSIS OF DABIQ & RUMIYAH --------------------------------------------------------- 66 PART-II RESULTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 71 THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF WESTERN FIGHTERS’ STATEMENTS ------------------------------- 71 PART-III RESULTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 79 ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEWS WITH IMAMS & MUFTIS ---------------------------------------------- 79 CHAPTER 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 91 DISCUSSION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 91 CONCLUSION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 93 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 95 REFERENCES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 97 APPENDIX ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 111 GLOSSARY OF ISLAMIC TERMS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 129 vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter introduces the question posed by this thesis, explains the purpose of this study, provides a statement of the problem, and then briefly describes the method applied in this study to explain the phenomenon in question. Furthermore, the chapter will clarify how the terms Western foreign fighters, terrorism, the Islamic State, Salafism, and Wahhabism are defined in this study. These terms are controversial, and policymakers and academics use different language. Finally, the chapter will acknowledge that there are certain limitations that are beyond the control of the researcher, and these shortcomings place some restrictions