Terrorist groups like Al Qaeda (AQ) or the Islamic State (IS) have been pro-active in using the internet as well as traditional media formats to maintain a persistent media presence with the intention to influence their target audiences. For that purpose, they project influence based on a coherent \u2013 and thus for its target audience \u2013 credible framework. The coherent interpretation of the legacy of classical Islamic scholarship (theology, jurisprudence, and science of the Qur\u2019an and hadith) draws on various contemporary Islamic scholars and laymen. Yet its most prominent feature is that it is embedded in medieval Salafi theology, by means of which contemporary political agenda is legitimized.<\/p>\n
AQ has been a pioneer both in terms of bringing the fight into the field and mediatizing the fight as well as coherently explaining why to fight \u2013 and what for \u2013 to a global audience since the 1980s. AQ\u2019s boots on the ground in Afghanistan in the 1980s meant not only an organized force to combat the occupying Red Army but also to establish \u2013 and maintain \u2013 a coherent and persistent media output.<\/p>\n
Based on the evidence of materials collected within jihadi online networks, the Caliphate Library is a good sample of what type of writings matter to such Sunni extremist movements. The Caliphate Library is a text-only curated dataset that was set up by IS and shared within Telegram and is therefore the expression of the most modern means of communication.<\/p>\n
The Library was curated for initiated sympathizers and an Arabic speaking audience who are aware of religious elements and who \u2013 not necessarily are first and foremost interested in IS-writings. Conveying a large dataset of theological writings electronically with the possibility of re-establishing the mechanisms to re-share this dataset in case of deletion or network disruption, is what lies at the heart of \u201eCyberia.\u201c<\/p>\n
By taking a closer look at the ISIS-Library, Ali Fisher, Nico Prucha and Pavel \u0164upek meticulously examine how theological writings are appropriated and presented in modern communication networks of Islamist terrorist groups.<\/p>\n
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Dr. Ali Fisher<\/strong>\u00a0is an advisor, strategist and author who delivers strategic insight into complex information ecosystems, often containing extreme or illegal content. Ali has a dual specialism in Strategic Communication and Data Science and has worked on Strategic Communication projects for European and US Government Departments specifically focused on achieving and measuring influence.<\/p>\n Dr. Nico Prucha <\/strong>is Chief Content Curator at\u00a0Human Cognition<\/em> and Head of the Extremism Desk at T3K. He is a fluent Arabic speaking specialist in Jihadist theology and strategy.\u00a0His work has covered the use of the internet by Jihadist groups from the mid-2000s to the present and documented shifts in strategy from Forum to Twitter to Telegram. His blog is available at\u00a0www.onlinejihad.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pavel \u0164upek, PhD<\/strong>\u00a0is an assistant professor at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Charles University, Prague. He teaches and researches in the fields of Arabic and Islamic studies. His research has concentrated on teachings of the medieval scholar Ibn Taymiyya and his influence on Salafi reformism of the 19th century, as well as on the ideologization of his conception of tawhid in contemporary Salafism.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n