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- All Subjects: Arab
- All Subjects: Radicalization
- Creators: Ali, Souad T.
- Creators: Byrd, Denise
Description
This thesis examines why young Western Muslim women from the UK are drawn to join and support ISIS in its established territories in Syria and Iraq and identifies their role within these territories. The critical role of technology, specifically social media, in facilitating the recruitment, radicalization, and mobilization of young Muslim women online to join ISIS is also explored. Females emigrating from the UK appear equally drawn to ISIS's ideology and state-building mission as Muslim men. Claims from the media suggest women serve as 'fighters,' however this research finds that women are not permitted by ISIS to participate in fighting. Using Britain as a case study, this study analyzes the social media content of eight young British Muslim women, known as female migrants, for themes motivating them to mobilize. Themes, culled from the literature, include Muslim attitudes and perceptions in the UK regarding Islamophobia or religious discrimination, the erosion of multiculturalism, identity and belonging, and finding purpose in the ummah, and measures whether these variables influence women to mobilize. Excerpts from blog posts and original tweets from their Tumblr, Twitter, and ask.fm accounts provide the actual voices of British female migrants choosing to live within ISIS territory and offers insight on their role as female migrants. Research suggests that, for British Muslim women in the UK, Muslim identity and belonging, both individually and within the ummah, along with attitudes and perceptions of religious discrimination (Islamophobia) and the failing of multiculturalism are influencing them to join ISIS. Additional motives for migration found within the study are based on the following beliefs: that the ummah is under attack, a strong desire to help build a new society, their religious duty as a Muslim, and the opportunity to belong and find purpose in the new "caliphate sisterhood." The role of female migrants residing in ISIS territory is domestic in nature, where they primarily function as wives and mothers of jihadists, as well as serve in online roles as propagandists, proselytizers, and recruiters for ISIS. The strong online presence of women demands an effective counter narrative to deter prospective female migrants from emigrating.
ContributorsPooley, Elizabeth Garcia (Author) / Parmentier, Mary Jane (Thesis advisor) / Robinson, Rebecca (Committee member) / Byrd, Denise (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This dissertation explores the various online radicalization and recruitment practices of groups like al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, as well as Salafi Jihadists in general. I will also outline the inadequacies of the federal government's engagement with terrorist / Islamist ideologies and explore the ways in which early 20th century foundational Islamist theorists like Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, and Abul ala Mawdudi have affected contemporary extremist Islamist groups, while exploring this myth of the ideal caliphate which persists in the ideology of contemporary extremist Islamist groups. In a larger sense, I am arguing that exploitation of the internet (particularly social networking platforms) in the radicalization of new communities of followers is much more dangerous than cyberterrorism (as in attacks on cyber networks within the government and the private sector), which is what is most often considered to be the primary threat that terrorists pose with their presence on the internet. Online radicalization should, I argue, be given more consideration when forming public policy because of the immediate danger that it poses, especially given the rise of microterrorism. Similarly, through the case studies that I am examining, I am bringing the humanities into the discussion of extremist (religious) rhetorics, an area of discourse that those scholars have largely ignored.
ContributorsSalihu, Flurije (Author) / Ali, Souad T. (Thesis advisor) / Miller, Keith (Thesis advisor) / Corman, Steven (Committee member) / Gee, James P (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This study is a feminist historiography of Al-Raida, a Lebanese feminist journal introduced in 1976 by the Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World at the Lebanese American University. This study recovers foundations of modern Lebanese feminist discourses as they are articulated in the journal by employing Foucauldian CDA as a means to trace discourse strands, or conversations, which include Family Planning, development, politics and narratives of the Lebanese civil war. This study explores, by situating each discourse strand within dominant and local historical contexts, the shifting rhetorical function of the journal through various historical moments. Tracing the dominant discourse strands within the first decade of the journal, this study rhetorically analyzes the ways in which arguments are positioned, research studies are presented, and methodologies are employed to forge viable solutions to Middle Eastern women's issues. First, the study traces the conversation on Family Planning in Lebanon and its relevance to the economic and social situation during the late 70s. Second, the study presents the shift in the early 80s towards a discourse on development and explores how Al-Raida presents the issue of development, attempts to define it, and in doing so outlines some of the concerns at this time, including illiteracy, access to health care, access to paid employment, and women's access to developmental opportunities. Third, the study presents the discourse in the mid-80s on the civil war in Lebanon and highlights Al-Raida's rhetorical function by documenting trauma and war narratives through personal interviews, testimonies, and ethnographies. The shift in the methodologies of the research articles published in the first decade, from quantitative studies towards qualitative studies, indicates the journal is rhetorically situated within both the dominant international discourse and within the local context, exhibiting an ability to respond to the nuances in the local Lebanese women's movement while simultaneously maintaining international visibility.
ContributorsKhoury, Nicole (Author) / Goggin, Maureen D (Thesis advisor) / Ali, Souad T. (Thesis advisor) / Roen, Duane (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Modern medicine is a wonderfully complex field of study, with several advances in both its theoretical and practical aspects being made everyday. In light of the pride modern physicians and scientists take in their vast knowledge, it is important to remember how far we have come throughout history. Many civilizations and cultures around the world have made essential contributions to medicine, both great and small, but no one can deny the impact both ancient Chinese and Islamic medical and alchemical practices have had on modern medicine. Qi was the central principle behind Chinese correlative thought, and it was believed to be the one thing that drove human life, as it occurred everywhere. Written texts took an increasingly more prominent role in the transmission of knowledge, and in no time at all, the educated yi ("physician") emerged. Other noteworthy contributions include an early conceptualization of the circulatory system, the development of pharmacies, the establishment of proper medical school systems, and the emergence of a set of standard hygienic practices that would allow people to take responsibility for their own health. The scholars of the Islamic Golden Age, for the most part, seemed to decry the mixing of the occult with science, and therefore sought to draw a clear distinction between alchemy (by limiting its application to the transmutation of metals) and what they deemed "real" science. Notable contributions of Arab-Islamic scientists include the pioneering of a hospital prototype, along with the development of the science of chemistry and the introduction of the experimental laboratory as the birthplace of new scientific knowledge. The important question that has yet to be answered is how extensive the connection was between the Chinese and Arab worlds. Trade was thriving during the medieval period, and so it is not wrong to assume that the exchange of goods would go hand-in-hand with the exchange of knowledge. We may never fully know exactly what happened, but further research on this topic may eventually bring an answer to light.
ContributorsRaban, Miranda Meriam (Author) / Bokenkamp, Stephen (Thesis director) / Ling, Xiaoqiao (Committee member) / Ali, Souad T. (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05