Abstract
In this chapter we discuss one event, the so-called Battle of Hondius and one person, Abu Muhammed, to analyse how new modes of care of the self, new subjectivities, were created (and in the end collapsed) in and through the interaction with media and the Dutch state. We show that the activists viewed themselves as being in the midst of a hostile world supposedly engaged in a war against Islam. Both local and global political contexts but also the incarceration of their friends triggered a reflection among people to such an extent that it produced a sense of something needs to be done. And a better alternative was available for them in their vision of Islam which for some came true in Syria.
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Notes
- 1.
As-salamu alaykum wa-rahmatu-llahi wa-barakatuh: May the peace, mercy, blessings of God be upon you.
- 2.
Vandaag.be: ‘Sharia4Belgium denkt aan naamsverandering’, 30 August 2013.
- 3.
An Islamist political movement that rejects democracy and strives for the establishment of a caliphate.
- 4.
Omroep West: ‘Omstreden moslimvlag roept vooral veel vragen op’, 3 September 2013.
- 5.
AD.nl: ’Haagse club schrikt van jeugd met al-Qaeda-vlag’, 3 September 2013.
- 6.
Spitsnieuws: ‘PVV stelt Kamervragen over jihad-vlag. 4 September 2013.
- 7.
Geenstijl.nl: ‘Foto! Haagse voetballers met terroristenvlag’. 4 September 2013.
- 8.
TK, 28 oktober 2013 Onderwerp Antwoorden Kamervragen over jihad-vlag op een Haags veld. Ref. 2013Z16466. The answers to these questions were given after the police intervention on 8 September 2014.
- 9.
AD.nl ‘Haagse club schrikt van jeugd met al-Qaeda-vlag’, 3 September 2013.
- 10.
Geert Wilders on his Twitter account @GeertWildersPVV: https://twitter.com/geertwilderspvv/status/374519135700791296. Jozias van Aartsen was then mayor of the city of The Hague and Lodewijk Asscher was Minister of Social Affairs and Employment and responsible for policies regarding integration.
- 11.
Regio15.nl, Politie beëindigt moslimbijeenkomst, 10 September 2013.
- 12.
In order to maintain the anonymity of the person who gave us the police file as well as the anonymity of the police officers, some of the quotes have been adjusted.
- 13.
Source: conversations with Abu Muhammed. Parts of the description of this case study are taken (sometimes slightly edited) with permission from M. de Koning and J. Kostense, ‘Oh Aleppo – Hoe Abu Muhammed een Syriëganger werd’. De Groene Amsterdammer, 17 September 2014.
- 14.
AD, ‘Moskee: Toenemende radicalisering jongeren’, 26 September 2008.
- 15.
From the Hadith collection of Muslim b. al-Hajjaj (c. 821–875): “Islam began as something strange and will revert to being strange as it began. Tuba (glad tidings) to the Strangers!” From the Hadith collection of Al-Bukhari: “Abdullah b. Umar said: ‘the messenger of God took me by the shoulder and said: ‘be in this world as if you were a stranger or traveller’”
- 16.
Of course an attempt to be a good father can also be part of the effort to a pious Muslim, and vice versa.
- 17.
There were, and still are (including the Dutch Public Prosecution Services), some doubts as to whether he is really dead.
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de Koning, M., Becker, C., Roex, I. (2020). The Production of ‘Radicals’: ‘Steadfast Warriors’ in the Netherlands. In: Islamic Militant Activism in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42207-3_5
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