Item Details

The Neojihadist Cell as a Religious Organization: A Melbourne Jema’ah Case Study

Issue: Vol 30 No. 1 (2017)

Journal: Journal for the Academic Study of Religion

Subject Areas: Religious Studies Buddhist Studies Islamic Studies Biblical Studies

DOI: 10.1558/jasr.31615

Abstract:

Notwithstanding significant macro-level research into neojihadist groups like al-Qaeda and DAISh, and their theology/ideology and tactics, there is significantly less information on micro-level actors, especially how they function as religious organizations. Drawing on rare (terrorism trial transcripts) and unique (listening device and telephone intercept transcripts of recorded terrorists’ conversations) primary source materials, this paper examines how religious authority structures and agency structures functioned within a Melbourne jema’ah (group or cell) that Australian authorities disrupted in 2004-05. The paper argues that the jema’ah was a stable vehicle for transmitting religious authority, but its agency structures were under-developed. In cases wherein the two clashed, the former always prevailed. Its findings suggest that while religious organizations require strong religious authority structures, they also need effective agency structures to increase their opportunities to achieve their objectives. The study intends to contribute to new, enhanced understandings of both neojihadism and religious organizations.

Author: Pete Lentini

View Original Web Page

References :

AAP

2015. Australian Jihadists Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar Enslaved and Raped Us, Say Yazidi Women. Sydney Morning Herald, 22 January. Online: http://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-jihadists-khaled-sharrouf-and-mohamed-elomar-enslaved-and-raped-us-say-yazidi-women-20150122-12wbky.html.

al-Suri, Abu Musab

2007. The Military Theory of the Global Islamic Resistance Call (Key Excerpts), translated by Brynjar Lia, in The Architect of Global Jihad: The Life of al-Qaida Strategist Abu Mus‘ab al-Suri, 347-484. Columbia University Press, New York.

al-Suri, Abu Musab

2010. The Schools of Jihad. Inspire (Summer): 48-53.

Bainbridge, William Sims

1997. The Sociology of Religious Movements. Routledge, London.

Barkun, Michael

2003. A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. University of California Press, Berkeley, London and Los Angeles. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520238053.001.0001.

Benson, J. Kenneth, and James H. Dorsett

1971. Toward a Theory of Religious Organizations. Journal for the Scientic Study of Religion 10(2): 138-51. Doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/1385302.

bin Hassan, Muhammad Haniff

2006. Key Considerations in Counterideological Work against Terrorist Ideology. Studies in Conict & Terrorism 29: 531-58.

Bonney, Richard

2004. Jihād: From Qur’ān to bin Lāden. Palgrave, London. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230501423.

Boulton, David

1975. The Making of Tania: The Patty Hearst Story. New English Library, London.

Brown, Matt

2015. Islamic State Fighters Accused of Enslaving Yazidi Women. 7.30. ABC Network, 22 January 2015. Online: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4166965.htm.

Chaves, Mark

1993. Denominations as Dual Structures: An Organizational Analysis. Soci­ology of Religion 54(2): 147-69. Doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3712137.

Colton, Timothy J.

1979. Commissars, Commanders and Civilian Authority: The Structure of Soviet Military Politics. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Doi: https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674497443.

Cook, David

2005. Understanding Jihad. University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London.

Crenshaw, Martha

1981. The Causes of Terrorism. Comparative Politics 13(1): 379-99. Doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/421717.

DeLong-Bas, Natana

2004. Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad. I.B. Tauris, London.

Dolnik, Adam, and Anjoli Bhattacharjee

2002. Hamas: Suicide Bombings, Rockets or WMD. Terrorism and Political Violence 14(3): 9-28. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/714005624.

Esposito, John L.

2003. Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Gentile, Emilio

2006. Politics as Religion. Translated by George Staunton. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Harris-Hogan, Shandon

2012. Neo-Jihadist Terrorism in Australia: Mapping the Network and Cell Analysis Using Wiretap Evidence. Studies in Conict & Terrorism 35: 298-314. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2012.656344.

Harris-Hogan, Shandon

2013. Anatomy of a Terrorist Cell: A Study of the Network Uncovered in Sydney in 2005. Behavioral Studies of Terrorism and Political Aggression 5(2): 137-54. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2012.727096.

Hearst, Patricia

1982. Every Secret Thing. Doubleday Books, New York.

Houston, Cameron

2016. Ezzit Raad Funded, Fought and Recruited for Islamic State. Sydney Morning Herald, 6 September. Located at: http://www.smh.com.au/national/ezzit-raad-funded-fought-and-recruited-for-islamic-state-20160906-gra5u0.html.

Immigration Review Tribunal of Australia

1995. IRT Reference: V94/00636, no. 5198 (26 April). Online: http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/cth/IRTA/1995/5189.html (accessed 1 August 2011).

Iqbal, Muhammad, and Andrew Zammit

2013. Australian Violent Extremist Database 1.2 (July). Global Terrorism Research Centre, Monash University, Cauleld, Vic.

Israeli, Raphael

2003. Islamikaze: Manifestations of Islamic Martyrdom. Frank Cass & Co. London.

Kepel, Gilles

2002. Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam, translated by Anthony F. Roberts. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

King, Braden G., Teppo Felin, and David A. Whetten

2010. Finding the Organization in Organizational Theory: A Meta-Theory of the Organization as a Social Actor. Organization Science 20(1): 290-305. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1090.0443.

Kirby, Aiden

2007. The London Bombers as ‘Self-Starters’: A Case Study in Indigenous Radicalization and the Emergence of New Autonomous Cliques. Studies in Conict & Terrorism 30(5): 415-28. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100701258619.

Koschade, Stuart

2006. A Social Network Analysis of Jemaah Islamiyah: The Applications to Counterterrorism and Intelligence. Studies in Conict and Terrorism 29(6): 559-75. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100600798418.

Lentini, Peter

2008. Antipodal Terrorists? Accounting for Differences in Australian and Global Neojihadists. In The Globalization of Violence: Globalization’s Shadow, edited by Richard Devetak and Christopher W. Hughes, 188-210. Routledge, London.

Lentini, Peter

2011. ‘If they Know Who Put the Sugar It Means They Know Everything’: Understanding Terrorist Activity Using Operation Pendennis Wiretap (Listening Device and Telephone Intercept) Transcripts. In Terrorist Disengagement Refereed Conference Proceedings, edited by Greg Barton, Pete Lentini, Simon Moss and Gaetano Joe Ilardi. Online: http://arts.monash.edu.au/radicalisation/conferences-and-events/conference-2010/--downloads/know-sugar-know-everything-pl.pdf. Global Terrorism Research Centre, Cauleld, Vic (accessed 10 November 2013).

Lentini, Peter

2013. Neojihadism: Towards a New Understanding of Terrorism and Extremism? Edward Elgar Publishers, Cheltenham. Doi: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781781953624.

Lia, Brynjar

2008. Doctrines for Jihadi Terrorist Training. Terrorism and Political Violence 20: 518-42. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/09546550802257226.

Mishal, Shaul, and Moaz Rosenthal

2005. Al Qaeda as a Dune Organization. Studies in Conict and Terrorism 28(4): 275-93.

McAllister, Brad

2004. Al Qaeda and the Innovative Firm: Demythologizing the Network. Studies in Conict & Terrorism 27(4): 297-319. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100490461123.

Melton, J. Gordon, and David G. Bromley

2002. Prologue: September 11, Religion and Violence. In Cults, Religion & Violence, edited by David G. Bromley and J. Gordon Melton, xii-xx. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Moghadam, Asaf

2003. Palestinian Suicide Terrorism in the Second Intifada: Motivations and Organizational Aspects. Studies in Conict & Terrorism 26(1): 65-92. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100390145215.

Mullins, Sam

2011. Islamist Terrorism in Australia: An Empirical Examination of the ‘Home Grown’ Threat. Terrorism and Political Violence 23(2): 254-85. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2010.535717.

Pape, Robert

2005. Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Bombing. Random House, New York.

Pedahzur, Ami

2005. Suicide Terrorism. Polity Press, Cambridge.

Porter, Louise E., and Mark R. Kebbell

2010. Radicalization in Australia: Examining Australia’s Convicted Terrorists. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law 18(2): 212-31. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2010.482953.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004a. Recording Transcript 1 TI 4 July: 1-8.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004b. Recording Transcript LD 7 September: 56-96

R v Benbrika and ors

2004c. Recording Transcript 40 LD 10 September: 179-208.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004d. Recording Transcript 42 LD 12 September: 211-38.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004e. Recording Transcript 45 LD 17 September: 245-77

R v Benbrika and ors

2004f. Recording Transcript 46 TI 17 September: 279-80.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004g. Recording Transcript 51 19 September: 365-78.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004h. Recording Transcript 52 LD 19 September: 379-92

R v Benbrika and ors

2004i. Recording Transcript 53 LD 21 September: 393-414.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004j. Recording Transcript 56 TI 24 September: 463-66.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004k. Recording Transcript 59 LD 24 September: 487-98.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004l. Recording Transcript 62 LD 25 September: 507-24.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004m. Recording Transcript 128 LD 24 November: 996-1012

R v Benbrika and ors

2004n. Recording Transcript 129 TI 24 November: 1013-24.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004o. Recording Transcript 135 LD 29 November: 1051-78

R v Benbrika and ors

2004p. Recording Transcript 137, LD 1 December: 1099-1108

R v Benbrika and ors

2004q. Recording Transcript 142 LD 5 December: 1141-86.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004r. Recording Transcript 143 LD 5 December: 1187-94.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004s. Recording Transcript 185 TI 12 December: 1305-18.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004t. Recording Transcript 186 TI 12 December: 1319-24.

R v Benbrika and ors

2004u. Recording Transcript 200 LD 29 December: 1415-26.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005a. Recording Transcript 251 TI 25 January: 1829-32.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005b. Recording Transcript 251 TI 7 February: 1947-53.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005c. Recording Transcript 262 LD 11 February: 2083-2102.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005d. Recording Transcript 297 LD 25 February: 2283-300.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005e. Recording Transcript 301 LD 27 February: 2331-42.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005f. Recording Transcript 313 LD 11 March: 2427-50.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005g. Recording Transcript 341 LD 18 April: 2651-56.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005h. Recording Transcript 357 LD 3 May: 2747-58.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005i. Recording Transcript 377 LD 31 May: 2921-82.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005j. Recording Transcript 396 LD 17 June: 3147-58.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005k. Recording Transcript 406 LD 5 July: 3211-18.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005l. Recording Transcript 411 LD 13 July: 3267-3306.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005m. Recording Transcript 418 LD 23 July: 3401-06.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005n. Recording Transcript 423 LD 3 August: 3421-94.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005o. Recording Transcript 432 LD 19 August: 3545-58.

R v Benbrika and ors

2005p. Recording Transcript 441 LD 17 September: 3623-68.

Riegel, Klaus-Georg

2005. Marxism-Leninism as a Political Religion. Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions 6(1): 97-126. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14690760500099788.

Rumiyah

2016. Among the Believers Are Men: Abu Mansur al-Mujahir. Rumiyah 1: 14-17.

Saeed, Abdullah

2002. Jihad and Violence: Changing Understandings of Jihad among Muslims. In Terrorism and Justice: Moral Argument in a Threatened World, edited by Tony Coates and Michael O’Keefe, 72-86. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.

2004. Muslims in Australia: Their Beliefs, Practices and Institutions. Depart­ment of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and Australian Multicultural Foundation, Canberra.

Saeed, A., and S. Akbarzadeh (eds.)

2001. Muslim Communities in Australia. University of New South Wales Press, Sydney.

Sageman, Mark

2004. Understanding Terror Networks. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.

2008. Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.

Scheilte, Christopher P., and Kevin D. Dougherty

2008. The Sociology of Religious Organizations. Sociology Compass 2(3): 981-99. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2008.00113.x.

Silber, Mitchell D.

2012. The Al Qaeda Factor: Plots against the West. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. Doi: https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812205220.

Silvester, John, Rania Spooner and Bianca Hall

2016. How Police Moved on a Threat to the City’s Heart. The Age, 24 December: 2-3.

Speckhard, Anne, and Ahmet S. Yayla

2015. Eyewitness Accounts from Recent Defectors from Islamic State: Why they Joined, What They Say, Why They Quit. Perspectives on Terrorism 9(6): 95-118.

Stark, Rodney, and William Sims Bainbridge

1985. The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival and Cult Formation. University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London.

Stewart, Cameron

2014. Benbrika Urging Terrorists. The Australian, 11 October. Online: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/benbrika-urging-terror-recruits/news-story/5830522c35b7d8e302ce89247622f294.

Supreme Court of Victoria, Criminal Jurisdiction, Melbourne

2008a. The Queen v Benbrika et al. (108431) Transcript of Proceedings: Wednesday 13 February 2008 (Seventh Day of Hearing), 107-88. Victorian Government Reporting Service, Melbourne.

Supreme Court of Victoria, Criminal Jurisdiction, Melbourne

2008b. The Queen v Benbrika et al. (108431) Transcript of Proceedings: Wednesday 27 February 2008 (Seventeenth Day of Hearing), 693-760. Victorian Government Reporting Service, Melbourne.

Supreme Court of Victoria, Criminal Jurisdiction, Melbourne

2008c. The Queen v Benbrika et al. (108431) Transcript of Proceedings: Thursday 28 February 2008 (Eighteenth Day of Hearing), 761-857. Victorian Government Reporting Service, Melbourne.

Supreme Court of Victoria, Criminal Jurisdiction, Melbourne

2008d. The Queen v Benbrika et al. (108431) Transcript of Proceedings: Wednesday 12 March 2008 (25th Day of Hearing), 1259-1356. Victorian Government Reporting Service, Melbourne.

Supreme Court of Victoria, Criminal Jurisdiction, Melbourne

2008e. The Queen v Benbrika et al. (108431) Transcript of Proceedings: Thursday 13 March 2008 (26th Day of Hearing), 1357-1462. Victorian Government Reporting Service, Melbourne.

Supreme Court of Victoria, Criminal Jurisdiction, Melbourne

2008f. The Queen v Benbrika et al. (108431) Transcript of Proceedings: Tuesday 15 April 2008 (39th Day of Hearing), 1839-1901. Victorian Government Reporting Service, Melbourne.

Supreme Court of Victoria, Criminal Jurisdiction, Melbourne

2008g. The Queen v Benbrika et al. (108431) Transcript of Proceedings: Wednesday 30 April 2008 (48th Day of Hearing), 2276-2335. Victorian Government Reporting Service, Melbourne.

Supreme Court of Victoria, Criminal Jurisdiction, Melbourne

2008h. The Queen v Benbrika et al. (108431) Transcript of Proceedings: Thursday 1 May 2008 (49th Day of Hearing), 2336-2431. Victorian Government Reporting Service, Melbourne.

Supreme Court of Victoria, Criminal Jurisdiction, Melbourne

Vidino, Lorenzo

2007. The Hoffstad Group: The New Face of Terrorist Networks in Europe. Studies in Conict & Terrorism 30(7): 579-92. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100701385933.

Supreme Court of Victoria, Criminal Jurisdiction, Melbourne

2009. Homegrown Jihadist Terrorism in the United States: A New and Occasional Phenomenon. Studies in Conict & Terrorism 32(1): 1-17. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100802564022.

Wiktorowicz, Quentin

2006. Anatomy of the Sala Movement. Studies in Conict & Terror 29(3): 207-39. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100500497004.

Zammit, Andrew

2011. Who Becomes a Jihadist in Australia? In Terrorist Disengagement Refereed Conference Proceedings, edited by Greg Barton, Pete Lentini, Simon Moss and Gaetano Joe Ilardi. Online: http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/radicalisation/les/2013/03/conference-2010-who-jihadist-australia-az.pdf. Global Terrorism Research Centre, Cauleld, Vic (accessed 26 August 2013).

Zammit, Andrew

2012. The Holsworthy Barracks Plot: A Case Study of an al-Shabab Support Network in Australia. CTC Sentinel, 21 June.

Zammit, Andrew

2013. Explaining a Turning Point in Australian Jihadism. Studies in Conict & Terrorism 36(9): 739-55. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2013.813264.

Zammit, Andrew

2014. New Developments in Australian Foreign Fighter Activity. CTC Sentinel, 29 September.

Zanini, Michele, and Sean J.A. Edwards

2001. The Networking of Terror in the Information Age. In Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime and Militancy, edited by John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, 29-60. RAND, Santa Monica, CA.