What is the significance of the title 'Amīr al-mu'minīn

Bibliographic Data

ID3979690
AuthorsC R Pennell (0000-0002-8057-6792, The University of Melbourne, corresponding author), Richard Pennell
Year2016
Volume21
Issue4
Pages623-644
Publication date2016-08-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of North African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1362-9387 • E-ISSN: 1743-9345
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13629387.2016.1157482
OpenAlexW2345755836
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited18

This article examines the use of the title amīr al-mu'minīn in the modern jihadist movement and sets it in the context of the history of how it was used extensively in northern Africa before colonialism. The use of the title did not necessarily signify a claim to caliphate as it is usually taken to be, but described a certain form of activist leadership which may have been attached to a caliph but also could signify a level of authority beneath that. In the modern armed jihad, the declaration of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi first as amīr al-mu'minīn and then as caliph was a staged promotion that separated his authority from that of al-Qa‘ida.11. This article uses some material from a conference paper given in Melbourne Australia in 1982 and reproduced in cyclostyled form in C.R. Pennell, ‘Amir al-Mu'minin, a Title and a Political Reality', in 2nd Conference of the Australasian Middle East Studies Association, ed. I. Herrman (Melbourne: Australasian Middle East Studies Association, 1983). Copies are available in the libraries of the University of Melbourne, La Trobe University and the State Library of Victoria

Archaeology · Caliphate · Colonialism · Context (archaeology · Declaration · Islam · Media studies · Middle East · Muslim world · Political science · Politics · Promotion (chess · Sociology · State (computer science · Computer Science · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Philosophy · Religion, Society, and Development · Religious studies · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence