Abstract

Albeit sharing “Salafism” in name, Jihadi Salafist movement is different from the mainstream Salafism in multiple respects. Among others, it’s Fiqh distinguishes it from other Salfi strands, since Jihadi Salafist established their own underlying fiqh principles. To put it into perspective, their understanding of Salafist jurisprudence principles is characterized by three main features: firstly, it serves collective actions and social agitation; secondly, it excuses its proponents’ autonomous actions: and finally, it theorizes individual instead of institutionalized actions. This study hypothesizes that the Jihadi Salafist movement tends to advance these actions in the light of revisiting the all-important principles of ijtihad, tawhid, iman, tazkya. While complying with official institutes issuing fatwa and dominant social and political order and its gradual amendment is prescribed by Salafism fiqh, Jihadi Salafism demands abiding by Quran and Sunna, and encourages abolishing official institutes in favor of collective and violent actions. The current paper aims to explore Salafists’ atypical understanding of main Salafist theoretical principles and its impact on proceedings and violence in Jihadi Salafist movement.