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Researching the Activists: Understanding Methods, Data, and Approaches

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Al Muhajiroun

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Abstract

Much is written about terrorists and terrorism, but the vast majority of material comes from secondary sources which is typically not wholly accurate or lacks depth and understanding. In the case of al Muhajiroun, there are many inaccuracies. This chapter introduces al Muhajiroun and explains the methods used in this research to engage firsthand with the al Muhajiroun/Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah movement activists. A discussion on radicalism is also included so that the following chapters can be contextually understood in a normative sense rather than the limitations that come with pejorative labeling typically associated with such groups.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Home Office, CONTEST: The United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering Terrorism, Countering International Terrorism (CONTEST 2018), (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 2006), 19.

  2. 2.

    Khilafah refers to an Islamic form of governance whereby the shariah is implemented and various recognized governmental entities (courts, governors, social provisions, etc.) exist under a functioning governing body headed by a Caliph (Khalifah).

  3. 3.

    Home Office, CONTEST, 2018, 19.

  4. 4.

    The exploratory trips took place on 6 through 12 June, 27 June through 2 July, 19 through 20 July, and 28 November through 1 December, 2010. Contacts were made with the police and religious leaders.

  5. 5.

    Takbir is an invocation that elicits the response Allah hu Akbar (God is greatest).

  6. 6.

    Field notes 06 May 2011.

  7. 7.

    Field notes 06 May 2011.

  8. 8.

    Fetterman, David M, “Ethnography,” In The SAGE Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods, Leonard Bickman & Debra J. Rog (eds.), (Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA, 2009), 18.

  9. 9.

    Gillan, Audrey and Duncan Campbell, “Many Faces of Bakri: Enemy of West, Press Bogeyman, and Scholar,” The Guardian, London, 13 August 2005. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/aug/13/terrorism.syria1. [Accessed 12 June 2017].

  10. 10.

    O’Neill, Sean, “Magnificent 19 Praised by Muslim Extremist,” The Telegraph, London, 12 September 2003. Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1441270/Magnificent-19-praised-by-Muslim-extremists.html. [Accessed 12 June 2017].

  11. 11.

    Morgan, Tom, “Bin Laden Supporters Clash with EDL,” The Independent, London, 6 June 2011. Available at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bin-laden-supporters-clash-with-edl-2280160.html. [Accessed 12 June 2017].

  12. 12.

    Khilafah refers to an Islamic form of governance whereby the shariah is implemented and various recognized governmental entities (courts, governors, social provisions, etc.) exist under a functioning governing body headed by a Caliph (Khalifah).

  13. 13.

    Fiqh refers to Islamic jurisprudence derived from the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad.

  14. 14.

    Home Office. Proscribed Terrorist Organizations. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 2017. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/proscribed-terror-groups-or-organisations%2D%2D2. [Accessed 19 March 2012].

  15. 15.

    Borum, “Radicalization into Violent Extremism 1,” 14.

  16. 16.

    Borum, “Radicalization into Violent Extremism 1,” 14.

  17. 17.

    See Crenshaw, “The Psychology of Terrorism”; Silke, Andrew, “Cheshire-cat logic: The recurring theme of terrorist abnormality in psychological research” Psychology, Crime and Law Vol. 4 (1998); Hoffman, Inside Terrorism; Borum, “Radicalization into Violent Extremism 1”; Schmid, Alex P. Radicalisation, Deradicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation: A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review (The Hague: International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, 2013).

  18. 18.

    Tajfel and Turner, “An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict.”

  19. 19.

    Gurr , Ted Robert, Why Men Rebel (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1970).

  20. 20.

    Khosrokhavar , Farhad, Muslims in Prison: Challenge and Change in Britain and France. (Hampshire: Palgrave, 2005).

  21. 21.

    Dollard, John, Leonard Doob, and Neal E. Miller. Frustration and Aggression (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1939).

  22. 22.

    Several individuals appear to have contributed to the original development of SMT with origins dating back to the mid-nineteenth century.

  23. 23.

    Borum, “Radicalization into Violent Extremism 1.”

  24. 24.

    See Borum, Psychology of Terrorism; Borum, “Radicalization into Violent Extremism 1”; Victoroff, Jeff. “The Mind of the Terrorist. A Review and Critique of Psychological Approaches,” Journal of Conflict Resolution Vol. 49, No. 1 (2005); COT Institute for Safety, Security, and Crisis Management, Causal Factors of Radicalization (The Hague: COT, 2008); Coolsaet, Rik (Ed.), Jihadi Terrorism and the Radicalisation Challenge: European and American Experience, 2nd edition (Farnham: Ashgate, 2011); Schmid, Radicalisation, Deradicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation.

  25. 25.

    COT Institute for Safety, Security, and Crisis Management, Causal Factors of Radicalization, 2008; Pisoiu, Daniela, “Coming to Believe “Truths” About Islamist Radicalization in Europe,” Terrorism and Political Violence Vol. 25, No. 2 (2013); Schmid, Radicalisation, Deradicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation; Home Office, Counter Extremism Strategy, 18; Home Office, CONTEST, 2018, 9.

  26. 26.

    Neumann , Peter R., “The Trouble with Radicalization.” International Affairs Vol. 89, No. 4 (2013) 873.

  27. 27.

    Schmid, Radicalisation, Deradicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation, 7.

  28. 28.

    Neumann , “The Trouble with Radicalization.” 876.

  29. 29.

    Mandel, David, “Radicalization: What does it mean?” In Indigenous Terrorism: Understanding and addressing the root causes of radicalisation among groups with an immigrant heritage in Europe. T. Pick and A. Speckhard (eds.) (Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2009) 102.

  30. 30.

    Home Office, Countering International Terrorism: The United Kingdom’s Strategy (CONTEST 2006), (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 2006), 1.

  31. 31.

    Home Office. CONTEST 2006, 10.

  32. 32.

    Home Office, Pursue, Prevent, Protect, Prepare: The United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering International Terrorism (CONTEST 2009), (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 2009), 40.

  33. 33.

    Home Office. CONTEST: The United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering Terrorism (CONTEST 2011), (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 2011), 36.

  34. 34.

    Silber, Michell D. and Bhatt, Arvin, Radicalization in the West (New York: New York Police Department, 2007).

  35. 35.

    Silber, Mitch. Email correspondence received by author 14 June 2018.

  36. 36.

    Silber and Bhatt, Radicalization in the West, 84.

  37. 37.

    Baran, Zeyno, “Fighting the War of Ideas.” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 84, No. 6 (2005): 68.

  38. 38.

    Borum, Psychology of Terrorism, 2.

  39. 39.

    Mandel, “Radicalization: What does it mean?” 102.

  40. 40.

    Mandel, “Radicalization: What does it mean?” 102.

  41. 41.

    Schmid, Radicalisation, Deradicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation, 8.

  42. 42.

    Sheikh, Sanah, Chih Hoong Sin, Ewan King, and Asima Shaikh, Literature of Attitudes Towards Violent Extremism Amongst Muslim Communities in the UK (London: Department of Communities and Local Government, 2010), 54.

  43. 43.

    Borum, “Radicalization into Violent Extremism 1.” 30.

  44. 44.

    Horgan, John “Lessons Learned Since the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001.” Presentation before the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. 01 September 2011. Available at https://www.c-span.org/video/?301326-1/lessons-learned-since-terrorist-attacks-september-11-2001. [Accessed 28 January 2016].

  45. 45.

    Home Office. CONTEST, 2011, 62.

  46. 46.

    Oxford English Dictionary, “Radical.” Oxford: Oxford University Press (3rd Ed), 2013. Available at http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50196101?query_type=word&queryword=radical. [Accessed April 30, 2010].

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  48. 48.

    Cameron, David, “PM’s Speech at Munich Security Conference,” 05 February 2011. Available at http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/speeches-and-transcrips/2011/02/pms-speech-at-munich-security-conference-60293. [Accessed 07 February 2011].

  49. 49.

    Cameron, “PM’s Speech at Munich Security Conference.”

  50. 50.

    Cameron, David, “PM: Extremism Speech,” 21 July 2015. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/extremism-pm-speech. [Accessed 23 July 2015].

  51. 51.

    For a discussion on ‘push/pull factors’ see Tore Bjørgo and John Horgan (eds.), Leaving Terrorism Behind (London and New York: Routledge, 2009) 36–39; For a discussion on ‘frame alignment’ see Quintan Wiktorowicz, “Joining the Cause: Al Muhajiroun and Radical Islam,” (Memphis, TN: Rhodes College, 2003) 1; For a discussion on ‘pop jihadism’ see Claudia Dantschke, “Pop-Jihad: History and Structure of Salafism and Jihadism in Germany,” ISRM Working Paper Series, 02/13.

  52. 52.

    See Weeks, Douglas M., Radicals and Reactionaries: The Polarisation of Government and Community in the Name of Public Safety and Security, PhD Thesis, University of St. Andrews, 2013; Weeks, Douglas M., “Barking Mosque and Quintessential Insight: Overcoming the Problematic Government/Community Counterterrorism Partnership in the UK,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2018.1425087

  53. 53.

    Demant, Froukie, Marieke Slootman, Frank Buijs, and Jean Tillie, Decline and Disengagement: An Analysis of Process Deradicalisation (Amsterdam: Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies, 2008). Also see Venhaus, John, Why Youth Join Al Qaeda (Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace (Special Report 236), 2010).

  54. 54.

    Venhaus, Why Youth Join Al Qaeda, 8.

  55. 55.

    Reuters, “IS Offers Fighters Free Honeymoon, Housing Bonus, and Cash to Start Family.” Republished on RT 27 May 2015. Available at https://www.rt.com/news/262409-isis-marriage-honeymoon-bonus/. [Accessed 3 May 2016].

  56. 56.

    Dantschke, Pop Jihad, 15.

  57. 57.

    Tarrow, Power in Movement, 6.

  58. 58.

    Silke, Andrew, “The Devil You Know: Continuing Problems with Research on Terrorism,” Terrorism and Political Violence Vol 13, No. 4. (2001): 12.

  59. 59.

    Silke, “The Devil You Know,” 12.

  60. 60.

    Sheppard, Jessica, “The Rise and Rise of Terrorism Studies,” The Guardian, London, 03 July 2007. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/education/2007/jul/03/highereducation.research. [Accessed 26 March 2016].

  61. 61.

    Ranstorp, Magnus, “Research Challenges Involved in Field Study of Terrorism in the Middle East,” Conducting Terrorism Field Research: A Field Guide. In Dolnick, Adam (ed.) (Oxon: Routledge, 2013) 46.

  62. 62.

    See Dolnick, Adam, “Conducting Field Research on Terrorism: A Brief Primer.” Perspectives on Terrorism Vol. 5 No. 2 (2011); Horgan, John, Walking Away from Terrorism: Accounts of Disengagement from Radical and Extremist Movements (Oxon: Routledge, 2009); Silke, “The Devil You Know”: Ranstorp, Magnus. “Research Challenges Involved in Field Study of Terrorism in the Middle East.”; Singh, Rashmi, “Conducting Terrorism Field Research on a Shoestring Budget: Researching suicide Terrorism in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.” In Dolnick, Adam (ed.) Conducting Terrorism Field Research: A Field Guide (Oxon: Routledge, 2013).

  63. 63.

    Crenshaw, Margaret, “The Psychology of Terrorism: An Agenda for the 21st Century. Political Psychology,” Vol. 21, No. 2. (2000): 410.

  64. 64.

    Ranstorp, “Research Challenges Involved in Field Study of Terrorism in the Middle East,” 46.

  65. 65.

    Ranstorp, “Research Challenges Involved in Field Study of Terrorism in the Middle East,” 48.

  66. 66.

    Brannan, David, Philip Esler, and Anders Strindberg, “Talking to Terrorists: Towards an Independent Analytical Framework for the Study of Violent Substate Activism,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism Vol 24, No. 1 (2001) 7.

  67. 67.

    Dershowitz, Alan, Why Terrorism Works: Understanding the Threat Responding to the Challenge (New Haven: Yale University, 2002) 85.

  68. 68.

    Dolnick , Adam (ed.), Conducting Terrorism Field Research: A Field Guide (Oxon: Routledge, 2013) 3.

  69. 69.

    Kenney, Michael. “Learning From the Dark Side: Identifying, Accessing, and Interviewing Illicit Non-State Actors.” In Conducting Terrorism Field Research: A Field Guide, Dolnik, Adam (ed.) (Oxon: Routledge, 2013) 29.

  70. 70.

    Hoffman, Inside Terrorism. 282–295; also see Hoffman, Bruce, “The Myth of Grass-Roots Terrorism: Why Osama bin Laden Still Matters,” Foreign Affairs 87 (2008) 4.

  71. 71.

    Sageman, Marc. Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008) 125–146; Also see Sageman, Marc, and Bruce Hoffman, “Does Osama still call the shots? Debating the containment of al Qaeda’s leadership,” Foreign Affairs Vol. 87 No. 4 (July-Aug, 2008) 163.

  72. 72.

    Silke, “The Devil You Know,” 1.

  73. 73.

    Silke, “The Devil You Know,” 7.

  74. 74.

    Silke, “The Devil You Know,” 7.

  75. 75.

    Horgan, John, “Interviewing the Terrorists,” In Conducting Terrorism Field Research: A Field Guide. Dolnik, Adam (ed.) (Oxon: Routledge, 2013) 188.

  76. 76.

    Horgan, “Interviewing the Terrorists,” 190.

  77. 77.

    Dolnik, Conducting Terrorism Field Research, 244.

  78. 78.

    Sageman, Marc, “The Stagnation of Terrorism Research.” Terrorism and Political Violence Vol 26, No. 4 (2014): 566.

  79. 79.

    Sageman, “The Stagnation of Terrorism Research,” 569.

  80. 80.

    Sageman, “The Stagnation of Terrorism Research,” 576.

  81. 81.

    Maxwell, Joseph. Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach (London: Sage Publications, 2006), 46.

  82. 82.

    Dolnik, Conducting Terrorism Field Research, 3.

  83. 83.

    Gay-Blasco, Paloma and Huan Wardle, How to Read Ethnography (London: Routledge, 2007) 9.

  84. 84.

    Fetterman, David M, “Ethnography,” 328.

  85. 85.

    Gertz, Clifford, The Interpretation of Cultures, New York: Basic Books Inc. Publishers, 1973, 20.

  86. 86.

    Johnson, Allen G. (ed.), The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology: A Users Guide to Sociological Language (2nd Ed) (Blackwell Publishers: Malden, MA, 2000), 111.

  87. 87.

    Sageman, Marc, Turning to Political Violence: The Emergence of Terrorism (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017) xvi.

  88. 88.

    Sageman, Turning to Political Violence, 11.

  89. 89.

    Zald, Mayer N. and John D. McCarthy, Social Movements in an Organizational Society, (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1994), 2. Cited in Borum, Randy, “Radicalization into Violent Extremism 1: A Review of Social Science Theories.” Journal of Strategic Security Vol. 4, No. 4 (2011), 16.

  90. 90.

    Tarrow, Sidney, Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 6.

  91. 91.

    Della Porta, Donatella and Mario Diani, Social Movements: An Introduction (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 1999), 9.

  92. 92.

    Della Porta and Diani, Social Movements, 16.

  93. 93.

    Robinson, Glenn E., “Hamas as Social Movement.” In Islamic Activism: A Social Movement Theory Approach. Quintin Wiktorowicz (ed.), (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2004), 115.

  94. 94.

    Mazarr, Michael, “The Psychological Sources of Islamic Terrorism: Alienation and Identity in the Arab World” Policy Review Vol. 125 (2004) 14.

  95. 95.

    Tajfel, Henri, and John Turner, “An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict,” In The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations, William Austin and Stephen Worchel (eds.), (Monterey, CA: Crooks/Cole Publishing, 1979).

  96. 96.

    Tajfel and Turner, “An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict,” 33–39; Also see Sageman, Turning to Political Violence, chp 1.

  97. 97.

    Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books Inc. Publishers) 37.

  98. 98.

    Borum, Randy, “Understanding the Terrorist Mindset,” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 2003. Available at http://works.bepress.com/randy_borum/7. [Accessed 6 April 2012], 8.

  99. 99.

    Sageman makes a similar assessment. See Sageman, Turning to Political Violence, xiv.

  100. 100.

    Dolnik, Conducting Terrorism Field Research, 240.

  101. 101.

    A TPIM is an administrative order that can be placed on individuals believed to involved in terrorism but where there is insufficient evidence for prosecution. It is issued for 1 year with the possibility of renewal for an additional year. TPIMs replaced the former Control Order scheme after they were found by the European Court of Human Rights to be in conflict with Article 5 which guarantees an individual the right of privacy. See A. and others v. the United Kingdom ECHR, 19 February 2009.

  102. 102.

    Snowballing techniques refers to a research process whereby one individual puts you in touch with another who in turn puts you in touch with another and the process continues to repeat.

  103. 103.

    Field notes: 12 May 2012, 02 June 2012, 09 June 2012, 13 October 2013, 29 March 2014, 05 July 2014, 09 August 2014, 15 July 2014.

  104. 104.

    Wiktorowicz, Quintan, Radical Islam Rising: Muslim Extremism in the West (Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005).

  105. 105.

    Baxter, Kylie, British Muslims and the Call to Global Jihad (Clayton: Monash University Press, 2007).

  106. 106.

    Kenney, Michael, The Islamic State in Britain: Radicalization and Resilience in an Activist Network (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018).

  107. 107.

    Horgan, Walking Away from Terrorism.

  108. 108.

    See Raymond, Catherine Zara, Al Muhajiroun and Islam4 UK: The Group Behind the Ban. (London: International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, 2010); Vidino, Lorenzo, “Sharia4: From Confrontational Activism to Militancy.” Perspectives on Terrorism Vol. 9, No. 2 (2005); and Kenney, Michael. “A Community of True Believers: Learning as Process Among “The Emigrants”.” Terrorism and Political Violence, (2017). Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2017.1346506; Kenney, Michael. John Horgan, Cale Horne, Peter Vining, Kathleen M. Carley, Michael W. Bigrigg, Mia Bloom, and Kurt Braddock, “Organizational Adaption in an Activist Network: Social Networks, Leadership, and Change in al-Muhajiroun.” Applied Ergonomics, Vol. 44 No. 5 (2013): Kenney, Michael, Stephen Coulthart, and Michael Martin, From Scale Free to Small World: Network Structure, Collective Action and Power in a Dark Transnational Advocacy Network. Workshop Paper (The New Power Politics: Networks, Governance and Global Security, 2013); and Michael Kenney, Stephen Coulthart, and Dominick Wright, “Structure and Performance in a Violent Extremist Network: The Small World Solution.” Journal of Conflict Resolution Vol. 61, No. 10 (2016).

  109. 109.

    Wiktorowicz, Radical Islam Rising. 5–6.

  110. 110.

    Baxter, British Muslims and the Call to Global Jihad.

  111. 111.

    Kenney, The Islamic State in Britain. 252.

  112. 112.

    Kenney, The Islamic State in Britain.

  113. 113.

    A legal opinion or Islamic ruling issued by an Islamic scholar.

  114. 114.

    Willis, Paul and Matt Trondman, “Manifesto for Ethnography.” Cultural Studies Critical Methodologies. Vol. 2 No. 3 (2002): 394.

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  1. School of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Emergency Management, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA

    Douglas Weeks

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Weeks, D. (2020). Researching the Activists: Understanding Methods, Data, and Approaches. In: Al Muhajiroun. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35840-2_1

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