Overview

What is Jihadi-Salafism and how does it relate to classical Islam? Scholars of Terrorism Studies argue that 'Jihadism' and Salafism are derivatives of Wahhbism and lie on the ideological margins of the Islamic tradition. This book challenges this narrative, demonstrating that concepts associated with the terms including 'divine sovereignty', 'jihad' and 'the caliphate' are utilised by Salafi Ulama in connection with the following disparate classical Islamic traditions: Shfiite legal theory during the Mongol invasions; Ottoman and Indian anti-colonial anafite thought; Mlikite and Shfiite 'political jurisprudence'; and the literalism of the Yemeni luminary Muammad al-Shawkn (d. 1834). This is the first book to disaggregate linear histories of Jihadi-Salafism by shifting the focus from Wahhbism to Sunnism, including Mturdite and Asharite doctrinal schools and the 'four schools' of law. Based on archival research and interviews, it examines the thought of diverse Ulama, ranging from Abdullah Azzm to Ab Muammad al-Maqdis. It highlights their profound commitment to the classical Islamic sciences, as well as their distinct interpretations of historical crises that befell the premodern Umma, ultimately articulating a vision for its future.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jaan Islam (Assistant Professor of Political Science, Boğaziçi University)
Publisher:   Edinburgh University Press
Imprint:   Edinburgh University Press
ISBN:  

9781399546676

ISBN 10:   1399546678
Pages:   368
Publication Date:   31 January 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Dedication Acknowledgements List of Figures Note on Translation and Transliteration 1. Proposing an Alternative History of Jihadi-Salafism 2. A Brief History of Global Jihad 3. Introducing Salafi Hermeneutics: Questioning the Myth of ‘Jihadi-Salafism’ 4. ‘Political Jurisprudence’: Theorizing the Early Caliphate (10th-13th c.) 5. The Convergence of Legal Theory and Exegesis: Shāfiʿī-Ashʿarism and the Condemnation of Secular Rulers 6. The Sharīʿa and Secularism: From the Mamlūks to Modernity 7. Sultanate and Sharīʿa in Ottoman Political Thought: From Māturīdite Exegesis to post-Caliphate Nostalgia (17th-13th/14th-20th c.) 8. Indian Ḥanafite Origins of Ḥākimiyya as a Decolonial Alternative 9. Reinventing Legal Theory: The Salafi Revival of Literalism (18th c.) and Comparative Jurisprudence Epilogue: Retheorizing Islamic Political Thought in the 21st Century Bibliography Contemporary Primary Sources Classical Primary Sources Secondary Sources Index

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Author Information

Jaan S. Islam is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul. He completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh as a SGSAH Fellow and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford. Dr Islam’s main research interests are comparative political thought, Islamic jurisprudence and decolonial theory. His recent works include Islam and the State in Ibn Taymiyya: Translation and Analysis (Routledge, 2022) and “A Jihadi Critique of the Modern State” published in Political Theory.

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