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Abu Yahya al-Libi: Profile of an Ideologue

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Today I published a new study, along with my associate Cindy D. Tan at FDD's Center for Terrorism Research, that thematically examines the ideas of prominent al-Qaeda ideologue Abu Yahya al-Libi. This paper is the first in what will be a series of studies produced by the Center for Terrorism Research profiling the contemporary jihadist movement's most prominent thinkers.

An excerpt:

[Al-Libi] also views interfaith dialogue, particularly the conference that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah sponsored in Madrid, Spain, in July 2008, as part of the internal threat. Al-Libi issued a video on July 28, 2008, describing interfaith dialogue as "a new step in the crusader war." In it, he charges that the call for "fraternization of the three religions" was "not spontaneous or impromptu," but rather that the aim of this dialogue was to create a new religion that would represent the convergence of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Al-Libi said: "They want us to lose our personality and identity under the banner of reform, fraternity, coexistence, and peace." Indeed, al-Libi paints a picture of a stark future where only the practice of this new, hybrid religion will be allowed....

An interfaith convergence would corrode Islam's monotheism, making "monotheism a brother to polytheism and deprecation. It raises the mosque next to the church and synagogue and places the Koran on equal footing with falsified books like the Torah and the Bible."

It is worth noting that al-Libi's argument is based on a logical fallacy: that dialogue between the faiths is designed to create, or will inevitably lead to the creation of, a new "consensus" faith that bridges Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. One participant in a jihadist Web forum called him on this, writing: "Al-Libi has distorted the call for [interfaith] dialogue by using expressions such as ‘creating a new religion' and ‘convergence of the three religions'. These are lies and fabrications."

Nonetheless, interfaith dialogue is to al-Libi one of the internal threats to Islam. This idea of internal threat is also tied to his Salafi methodology: those who advocate a "moderate Islam" or otherwise seek to undercut the jihadists' message are following their own desires rather than authentic Islamic teachings. In doing so, they use numerous ploys--ranging from their use of the media to adoption of a secularized vocabulary to such institutions as interfaith dialogue--to distort the true interpretation of Islam.

To read the full study, click here.

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