Contemporary Salafī Radicalism: Fatwās Endorsing Violence

Abstract

The religious discourse of the Contemporary radical Salafism relies on certain fatwas that justify and legitimize their violent actions. Although Jihadi Salafists share the same intellectual bases with other Salafists, violence is the distinctive feature of their political agenda. The paper reviews the role of fatwa in Islam in order to understand its authoritative function, and the specific Salafi fatwa standards. It also investigates the term of Salafiya and the characteristic of different sects of Salafists.

By understanding Salafi Jihadi Ideology and discussing how do they produce and use fatwas of violence, the paper seeks to identify the fault interpretations and miss use of fatwas by Salafi Jihadists.