A Quietist Jihadi
The Ideology and Influence of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi

Since 9/11, the Jordanian Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi (b. West Bank, 1959) has emerged as one of the most important radical Muslim thinkers alive today. While al-Maqdisi may not be a household name in the West, his influence amongst like-minded Muslims stretches across the world from Jordan - where he lives today - to Southeast Asia. His writings and teachings on Salafi Islam have inspired terrorists from Europe to the Middle East, including Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of al-Qa'ida in Iraq, and Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden's successor as the head of al-Qa'ida Central. This groundbreaking book, which is the first comprehensive assessment of al-Maqdisi, his life, ideology, and influence, is based on his extensive writings and those of other jihadis, as well as on interviews that the author conducted with (former) jihadis, including al-Maqdisi himself. It is a serious and intense work of scholarship that uses this considerable archive to explain and interpret al-Maqdisi's particular brand of Salafism. More broadly, the book offers an alternative, insider perspective on the rise of radical Islam, with a particular focus on Salafi opposition movements in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Introduction; Part I. Al-Maqdisi's Life and his Place in the Jihadi Ideological Spectrum, 1859–2009: 1. Wavering between quietism and jihadism; 2. Al-Maqdisi's quietist jihadi-salafi 'Aqīda; 3. Al-Maqdisi's quietist jihadi-salafi Manha; Part II. Al-Maqdisi's Influence on the Saudi Islamic Opposition, 1989–2005: 4. Saudi Arabia's post-Gulf War opposition; 5. Al-Qa 'ida on the Arabian peninsula; Part III. Al-Maqdisi's Influence on the Development of al-Walā wa-l-Barā, 1984–2009: 6. The revival of al-Isti āna bi-l-Kuffār; 7. 'Salafising' jihad; Part IV. Al-Maqdisi's Influence on the Jordanian Jihadi-Salafi Community, 1992–2009: 8. Guidance to the seekers; 9. The leader of the Jordanian jihadi-salafi community?; Conclusion.

Joas Wagemakers is an assistant professor in the Department of Islam and Arabic at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands.