Al Qaeda's leader Ayman Al Zawahiri delivers a speech in 2011. Considered the mastermind behind Al Qaeda, Al Zawahiri's theory of war differs from that of the Islamic State, writes Faisal Al Yafai (AFP PHOTO/SITE INTELLIGENCE GROUP/HO/FILES)
Al Qaeda's leader Ayman Al Zawahiri delivers a speech in 2011. Considered the mastermind behind Al Qaeda, Al Zawahiri's theory of war differs from that of the Islamic State, writes Faisal Al Yafai (AFShow more

The Islamic State was born from a warped theory of war



Around the autumn of 2005, Al Qaeda’s then No 2 sent a message to the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, urging him to tone down his sectarian rhetoric and the targeting of Shiite Muslims.

Remember, he advised, in the manner of a father to a wayward son, the importance of popular support.

“The goal [of establishing a caliphate] will not be accomplished without public support, even if the movement pursues the method of sudden overthrow,” he wrote. Without a mass movement by Muslims, the “Islamic movement would be crushed in the shadows”.

Al Zarqawi didn’t listen and within a year he was dead, killed in a US airstrike – betrayed, some said, by Al Qaeda itself for disobedience.

But the disagreement between Al Zawahiri and Al Zarqawi goes to the heart of the battle of ideas within militant jihadism, a battle that still goes on, and which will set the tone for the wars raging today in the Middle East.

It can be seen in the release this week of a US journalist held by Jabhat Al Nusra in Syria, an attempt to draw a contrast between Al Qaeda and the brutal beheading of James Foley by the Islamic State.

It can be seen, too, in the way that Jabhat Al Nusra, Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, has worked hard to retain popular support and not alienate Syrians.

The strategy of Jabhat Al Nusra is a gradualist one: win Syrian hearts and minds, win the war against Assad, and then seek power in a new government. Al Baghdadi and the Islamic State, by contrast, have decided to shoot straight for the prize.

Only time will tell whether Al Qaeda’s approach or that of the Islamic State will triumph.

Militant groups are vehicles for an ideology, much like political parties. In that regard, longevity is itself a sign of success. And Al Qaeda is entering its 14th year as the foremost Islamist militant group. The Islamic State, by contrast, has already alienated most Muslims, as well as Al Qaeda itself, and may eventually face so many enemies that it will implode.

Yet even if it does, the Islamic State’s brief Icarus moment has established a key strategy for militant groups. In an arena of chaos, money and recruits can bring power as much as popular support.

The Islamic State group is uncompromising. But this very lack of compromise has drawn recruits and funds from across the world. It is noticeable that while Al Qaeda initially drew its followers from a limited range of nationalities – the “Afghan Arabs” in particular – the Islamic State has, within a matter of months, drawn recruits from all over the world.

Moreover, the group has appropriated the ideas of Al Qaeda but has taken them in surprising new directions.

The foundation of Al Qaeda’s philosophy comes from a philosopher and Islamic scholar called Ibn Taymiyyah. His ideas were born out of the chaos of war – and have thus attracted renewed interest during times of great upheaval.

Ibn Taymiyyah lived in Syria in the 13th century, a time of enormous change in the Middle East. Just five years before he was born, the Mongols sacked Baghdad, then the centre of the Islamic empire, bringing to an end half a millennium of Abbasid rule. The reverberations of that act continued for centuries and Ibn Taymiyyah’s thought was born out of that chaos. His desire for renewal in the Islamic world saw him overturn some of the classically-understood Islamic tenets of war.

In particular, the general prohibition on killing other Muslims. The Islamic State has no compunction in doing so, reinterpreting Ibn Taymiyyah’s teachings to declare that even the murder of Muslims is sanctioned when it is done for the sake of establishing the caliphate.

Al Qaeda, which was influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah but which also borrowed from the political realism of Islamism, used to declare that war against Muslim governments was legitimate because the rulers had become “corrupt”.

This was a way of separating the rulers from the ruled, allowing Al Qaeda to infiltrate and find followers within a country whose rulers it was fighting.

The Islamic State, on the other hand, has modified this doctrine to believe that all those who don’t follow its hardline philosophy – or even those who espouse and express it differently – are legitimate targets. Thus, it can expect more resistance from people on the ground, but balances this with gaining more recruits, drawn to its uncompromising attitude, allowing it to make swift gains.

Behind the gruesome theatre of beheadings and massacres and the public relations of pre-emptively declaring a caliphate stands a philosophy of war, one that, as Al Zawahiri said in his letter, believes in a “swift overthrow” more than maintaining popular support.

What can seem like an arcane debate over philosophy and military tactics is profoundly important to the wars taking place in the Middle East today. Arab governments, as well as the West, dislike both groups, but have so far failed to crush either.

That is because it is the ideology that needs to be attacked as well as the military expression of it. It is out of the swamp of jihadist thought that the weeds of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State have grown.

falyafai@thenational.ae

On Twitter: @FaisalAlYafai

Cultural fiesta

What: The Al Burda Festival
When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421,  Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day. 

Founder: Ayman Badawi

Date started: Test product September 2016, paid launch January 2017

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Software

Size: Seven employees

Funding: $170,000 in angel investment

Funders: friends

Everybody%20Loves%20Touda
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nabil%20Ayouch%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nisrin%20Erradi%2C%20Joud%20Chamihy%2C%20Jalila%20Talemsi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE SPECS

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine 

Power: 420kW

Torque: 780Nm

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Price: From Dh1,350,000

On sale: Available for preorder now

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

The five pillars of Islam
Ain Issa camp:
  • Established in 2016
  • Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
  • Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
  • Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
  • 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
  • NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
  • One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
Company profile

Name: Thndr

Started: October 2020

Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: FinTech

Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000

Funding stage: series A; $20 million

Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC,  Rabacap and MSA Capital

Unresolved crisis

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.

Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.

The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.

Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador

Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

 

 

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5