Deciphering ISIS/Daesh Ideology and Conflict: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Dabiq Magazine 2014 – 2016

Abstract

The rise and fall of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been one of the most significant phenomena of the 21st Century. Replicating other extremist organizations, the ideological discourses were propagated using a multitude of platforms including electronic and social media and publications. Dabiq Magazine has been an authentic and signature source of textual and visual literature, published online by ISIS, specifically targeting Western youth. The relationship between the production of such literature by extremist organizations and its discursive implications for the masses around the globe remains unclear. Towards this end, this research is both an investigation into how the extremist organizations formulate their narrative around a particular discourse, through publications and how these discursive inconsistencies and contradictions are managed to their advantage. At the same time, this research is also, fundamentally, an inquiry into the practices and advancement of methodologically driven CDA in examining the terrorism-related literature. The primary focus of this research is methodological and theoretical, enunciated through a concern with an interface between the methodological principles and theoretical underpinnings in interpreting empirical literature under investigation. In examining fifteen issues of Dabiq Magazine, this research develops a form of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to understand the ISIS discourses ideology and conflict. The contributions of this thesis are advanced through the interface between the methodological aspects of CDA, theoretical interpretations, and philosophical underpinnings of contemporary discourse scholars. The analysis in this thesis develops in two distinct phases. In the initial chapters, methodological, analytical, and theoretical tools are developed and synthesized resulting in the crystallization of multiple themes. The primary data for these themes is collected and collated from all issues of Dabiq Magazines. In the next phase, a detailed examination of each of the selected themes has been conducted, deploying the analytical and methodological tools developed in the initial phase. The CDA of these thematic discourses construes an understanding of the ideology which has historical foundations based on a specific form of interpretation of Islam. This CDA also explicates how ISIS has made use of and legitimized Islamic text from Quean and Hadith. In so doing, they have transformed their Salafist Jihadist ideology and thought of a myopic world vision into the Islamic State’s version of Shari’ah, which they aspired to deploy xii globally. The analysis also deconstructs multiple discourses which have affected the rest of the world as a result of a sudden rise of this extremist violent organization. Some of these discourses have impacted those living in the Middle East while others had a long-lasting impact specifically on the Muslim population around the globe. This analysis concludes that in the absence of a unified response to such organizations, there is a likelihood of repetition of such phenomenon in other parts of the world for political as well as religious reasons.