Al Qaida, Apologist and Agents: Narratives and Counter Narratives of Violence

Abstract

The study aims to test the hypothesis that the conflict between the militants and the west being inherently ideological involves three parties which include, the militants, the apologists and those whom Al-Qaida label as agents of the west. The conflict has serious implications internalized to the Muslim societies in terms of even changing the boundaries of faith through the interplay of socio-political variables. Though, violence emerged in the Muslim societies in terms of a means of emancipation or identity when the state became irrelevant to deal with the conflict situation. The failure of state apparatus resulted in codification of violence at individual or group level and sometimes between the states as well. The grounds for codification were secured from juxtaposition of socio-political variables with the religious beliefs. Since, the paradigms of codification were largely provided by socio-political variables, thus, these variables continued to be relevant to the espousal of the codes of war by the militants. However, the militants have always looked towards religion to seek legitimacy to their acts of violence. The study exposing the fallacy of the narratives offered by the militants, the apologists and Al-Qaida labeled agents, offers a counter narrative to unmask their true facets. The counter narrative will reinterpret the primary sources, unravel the historical and socio-political constructs, unmask the heroes and enemies, challenge the theories and dichotomy of practices, re-establish the boundaries between heresy and faith and attempts to transform the current ideological discours