Hymns (Nasheeds): A Contribution to the Study of the Jihadist Culture

This article deals with militant Islamist hymns (anasheed jihadiya; in the following simply referred to as Nasheeds) as an expression of Jihadist culture. In this context jihadism is regarded as a militant fraction within the Salafi movement, with which it shares goals but not means.¹ The Jihadist culture as a tool to create a common Jihadist identity and to mobilize new recruits is probably as important as its ideology is. In 2004 Marc Sageman made the following remarks in his book Understanding Terror Networks: “… social bonds play a more important role in the emergence of the global Salafi jihad than ideology.”² The history of Nasheeds will be traced back as well as an analysis of its contents and usage will be given.