A Critical Essay on Natana J. Delong-Bas's thesis about the Genealogy of Salafi Jihadi Groups

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Document Type : Research Paper

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1 PhD Student of theology, Department of Theology and Philosophy, Al-Mustafa International University, Qom, Iran

2 Professor of Islamic Denomination, University of Religions and Denominations, Qom, Iran

3 Associate professor, Department of Theology, Al-Mustafa International University, Qom, Iran

Abstract

Natana J. Delong-Bas, a relatively famous contemporary Islamic scholar, claims that Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was a religious reformer and intellectual and did not spawn the Jihadist culture, but rather, this culture is emanated from the ideology of Ibn Taymiyyah (1263-1328), a famous Muslim scholar who fought against the crusaders and Mongols, believing that the foundations of Islam are the Qur’an and the sword. She maintains that the current Salafi Jihadi ideologues such as Sayyed Qutb are influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah's views, and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab had his own principles and was not a sheer copier of Ibn Taymiyyah's teachings. She maintains that Abd al-Wahhab's genuine path is distorted after his death by Neo-Wahhabism. However, it seems that Natana Delong's ideas are so partial. According to the finding of this essay: not only did Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab reverberate the Ibn Taymiyyah's teachings but, by forging an alliance with the Saud dynasty, implemented his rigid teachings as well. Furthermore, the Wahabi path is not distorted, but rather the al-Saud Dynasty is currently distancing itself from the genuine Wahhabi principles, and the Salafi Jihadi groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda are trying to lead them to the Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's utopia.

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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 07 May 2024

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