Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism since 1979

Thomas Hegghammer presents a substantial study of jihadism and comparative political violence in Saudi Arabia in Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism since 1979. Prior to the publication of this book, Saudi Islamism has been largely underexplored. Studies on the Arabian Peninsula, particularly this one, are important because the Saudi Arabia jihadist movement differs from other counterpart’s jihadist movements. The Saudi Arabia jihadist movement is driven primarily by extreme pan-Islamism and not socio-revolutionary ideology (p. 1). Hegghammer explores the history and dynamics of violent Islamism in Saudi Arabia and the evolution of jihadism of Saudi Arabia after 1979. In order to properly understand the arguments of this book, certain terms must be understood by the reader. These important terms are jihadism, Islamism, and Pan-Islamism. Jihadism is military Sunni Islamism, and Islamism is defined as Islamic activism (p. 3). Pan-Islamism is defined as an ideology based on the view that all Muslims are one group of people who have a responsibility to help each other out during ties of crisis (p. 3). Hegghammer’s central argument in this book is that Saudi jihadism has been more Pan-Islamist than revolutionary, unlike other Arab republics (p.14). Further, Hegghammer states that the jihadist movement has developed over three phases: the mid-1980’s to the mid-1990’s with the formation of classical jihadism in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya; the mid 1990’s to 2001 with the emergence of global jihadist within the Saudi jihadist movement; and 2002–2006 when the global jihadist produced the QAP (al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula) which engaged in conflict against the Western presence in Saudi Arabia (p. 14). Chapters one, two, and three explain the rise of classical jihadism in Saudi Arabia between 1979 and 1995. These chapters examine the emergence of a classical jihadist movement at the macro, meso and micro levels (p. 14). Chapter one examines the politics engaging Saudi Arabia during the 1980’s and the 1990’s extensively. Hegghammer further examines the conflict Saudis had towards their king, King Fahd, and his authorization for the deployment of U.S. troops on Saudi soil during this time. The king’s decision was met with conflicting ideological condemnation because most Islamists saw the arrival of U.S. troops as a defilement of the Holy Land and the fear of the introduction of a second religion in the Arabian Peninsula (p. 31). Hegghammer further explores the jihadist Saudi Arabia’s role in the Bosnia and Herzegovina conflict (pp. 33–37). This needed to be explored because the “Bosnian jihad” had become the first major pan-Islamic battleground after the Afghan jihad (p. 33). Bosnia had become the new destination for members of the Arab volunteer fighters and it was the first opportunity for the Saudi state to regain pan-Islamist