Jihadi Recruitment for Dummies

The Art of Recruitment

Since its ‘publication’ last year, users have been able to download a PDF called A Course in the Art of Recruitment, by the suitably named Abu-Amr al-Qaidi (al-Qaidi means ‘of al-Qaeda’), after it was made available on various jihadi websites.

The 51-page Arabic manual has been described by Brian Fishman and Abdullah Warius in the CTC Sentinel as a guide “designed to provide less-skilled jihadist recruiters operating independently of any cohesive terrorist organization the tools to effectively recruit secular and moderate Muslims into the global jihadist movement.”

Although we do not know for sure whether the techniques explained in the book are being actively applied by al-Qaeda franchises to harvest fresh recruits, it does however provide an insiders look into the, thankfully, difficult practices used to turn individuals into violent jihadis.

The manual breaks down the process into five stages for would-be recruiters of less experienced terror groups to navigate the difficulties of grooming individuals into jihadists:

Stage One: Acquaintance and Selection
Abu `Amr argues that a recruiter’s first job is to identify a suitable recruitment target. He advises recruiters to select “an old friend or a relative who happens to be not committed to Islam. Or close to your age or close to your accommodation.” Abu `Amr is critical of jihadists who only want to recruit religious people. Indeed, he warns against recruiting “Salafists and memorizers of the Qur’an” because “most Salafists hold opinions opposing to al-Qa`ida that were fed to them by their scholars.” Likewise, Abu `Amr does not trust memorizers of the Qur’an and believes that many of them are spies. He also warns against recruiting certain types of professionals, including scientists and military officials, because they are not amenable to al-Qa`ida’s message. Abu `Amr does not exclude recruiting religious people, but he focuses on secular individuals because they are more common and can generally be approached without alerting security services.

Stage Two: Building a Relationship
According to Abu `Amr, a recruiter should build a close, friendly relationship with recruits before raising political or ideological issues. He instructs recruiters to invite recruits for lunch, send them text messages, and give them gifts. Since every recruit requires personal attention, recruiters are told to only target two people at a time. According to Abu `Amr, it is important to urge recruits to embrace the ritual obligations of Islam as a way to increase their sense of obedience, writing:

The issues that you will talk about at this stage are what we call the refining issues, meaning that you try to remedy his passiveness and make him love the path of obedience and make him perform prayers on time, but nothing more than this so you will not burden or rush him.

Stage Three: Faith Awakening
In stage three, recruiters are urged to awaken passive religious sentiment in recruits. Recruiters are advised to tread carefully and avoid demanding “perfection or full commitment; you should progress gradually.” During this stage, recruiters should make recruits seriously consider the pleasures of heaven and the torment of hell. Abu `Amr argues that this dichotomy is a powerful motivator, explaining that radicalization “normally happens to those who fear the torment of the afterlife and who come to know that jihad is the salvation from eternal damnation. The result is that jihad is desired and craved.”

During stage three of the program, recruiters should ensure their recruits watch videos of Usama bin Ladin and Ayman al-Zawahiri and focus on identifying and fixing any of the recruit’s shubhat (suspicions). For example, Abu `Amr says that many Muslims blame jihadists for provoking both illustrations of the Prophet Muhammad in the Western press and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Such shubhat, even if they reflect hatred of the West, are disruptive to the recruitment process. Abu `Amr urges recruiters to address them immediately, saying, “Know my beloved brother that one suspicion only is enough to move people off the road, particularly in the beginning.”

Abu `Amr is particularly concerned about shubhat related to the rulers of Islamic states, and refers to Ibn Abbas’ argument that “there is a Kufr that is less than another Kufr.”

Ibn Abbas argued that a ruler who does not apply Shari`a should not be considered an infidel—and therefore should remain immune from attack—if he applies different rules out of ignorance or if he believes in his heart that the Islamic Shari`a is the right path yet does not know how to apply it correctly. Ibn Abbas’ concept directly contradicts Ibn Taymiyya’s more expansive understanding of takfiriyya—denouncing a Muslim, including the ruler of a state, as an infidel—that is popular with jihadists.

Stage Four: Implanting Jihadist Concepts
The purpose of stage four is to instill jihadist interpretations of traditional Islamic concepts in recruits. Abu `Amr highlights five concepts that are particularly important:
1. Adherence to the book (Qur’an) and the sunna.
2. The religious duty of jihad and the necessity to be prepared.
3. The acceptability of takfiriyya.
4. Democracy is a religion and participation in elections is unacceptable.
5. The concept of al-wala’ wa’l-bara’ (loyalty and disavowal).

Abu `Amr understands that the average recruiter will not be a theologian. Rather than master complex ideological arguments themselves, recruiters are urged to instruct recruits to use classic jihadist texts to explain and substantiate critical ideas. Among others, Abu `Amr recommends several classic jihadist writings, including `Abdullah `Azzam’s “Liberation of Muslim Lands,” the biography of Abu’l-Walid al-Ansari, the fatwa of Shaykh al-Shaykh on illegitimate rulers, and Abu Basir al-Tartusi’s “Islamic Ruling on Democracy and Multiplicity of Parties.” In addition to reading these texts, Abu `Amr recommends that recruiters teach recruits to download jihadist media and correspond on web forums. In general, however, Abu `Amr’s approach to jihadist media is very cautious; he urges recruiters to only show recruits videos when they are in a contemplative mood and are willing to internalize the political message of the propaganda.

Abu `Amr is adamant that recruits accept jihadist ideological doctrine in its entirety, and eschew all other interpretations of Islamic concepts. He argues that doubts and confusion of any kind are disastrous to the effective radicalization of a recruit. Abu `Amr is particularly concerned that new jihadists will be dismayed if their fellow fighters commit illegitimate acts, which presumably refers to the killing of Muslims in places such as Iraq and Algeria. To allay this problem, he explains that recruits must understand that their only true relationship is with God; fighters should maintain their relationships with flawed jihadists but focus on their personal religious commitment rather than worldly concerns.

Stage Five: Formation of a Cell
Forming a cell is the fifth and final stage of Abu `Amr’s recruitment course. The fifth stage begins when the recruiter is convinced that a recruit has accepted the principles of jihadist ideology and truly desires violent jihad. Abu `Amr argues that these newly radicalized recruits are ready to read Abu Mus`ab al-Suri’s book The Global Islamic Resistance Call and suggests that al-Suri’s concept of decentralized “individual jihad” is appropriate for the current struggle. Recruiters are to urge recruits to wage jihad in their home country, but to expect that recruits may be unwilling to do so and will be more interested in traveling to Iraq or Afghanistan. Abu `Amr explains that recruits are emotionally drawn to high-profile jihads and must be convinced that it is religiously legitimate and strategically wise to fight at home.

The shear quantity of reading and video material that would-be jihadis needs to work through to pass the stages to full-blown al-Qaeda operative is certainly not trivial. The reading list contains all the classics: Abdullah Azzam’s Liberation of Muslim Lands, much beloved by even non-violent Islamists, is a must read for recruits. The Global Islamic Resistance Call by Abu Mus’ab al-Suri, is saved till last. If anyone has read this text, I would love to know why it has been saved for last.

Most unreassuringly, the recruit is urged to “fight at home” although Abu-Amr is well aware, for a jihadi rookie, Iraq or Afghanistan will probably be on top of the list of destinations after having made it through all five stages of indoctrination.