The Neojihadist Cell as a Religious Organization: A Melbourne Jema'ah Case Study
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 transcrip...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2017]
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| In: |
Journal for the academic study of religion
Year: 2017, Volume: 30, Issue: 1, Pages: 22-51 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Melbourne
/ Jemaah Islamiyah
/ Religious organization
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| IxTheo Classification: | BJ Islam KBS Australia; Oceania |
| Further subjects: | B
Neojihadism
B JEMAAH Islamiyah (Organization) B Operation Pendennis B Religious Institutions B Terrorism B Religious leaders B RELIGIOUS leadership B Australia B Religious organisations B Qaida (Organization) B terrorism in Australia |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | 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 terrorist's conversations) primary source materials, this article examines how religious authority structures and agency structures functioned within a Melbourne jema'ah (group or cell) that Australian authorities disrupted in 2004-2005. The article argues that the jema'ah was a stable vehicle for transmitting religious authority on how to conduct a theologically sanctioned attack. Through initiation and other means the jema'ah's leader controlled access to spiritual compensators, including the opportunity to die as martyrs. These attributes and processes correspond to what the sociology of religion has identified as the functions of and interactions within religious organizations. |
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| ISSN: | 2047-7058 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the academic study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/jasr.31615 |