TERRORISMShia Militarism Upstages Salafi Jihadism in West Asia
It is curious to note that the ‘jihadist’ tag is almost exclusively given to violent Sunni extremists. In fact, the Arabic term of “muqawama” (resistance) is now replacing jihad across West Asia. Deriving its resonance from the Shia ideology of resistance against the ‘oppression’ of Islam’s larger Sunni community, the term is now getting applied to rising pan-Islamist opposition towards the US-Israeli sway over the region.
It is curious to note that the ‘jihadist’ tag is almost exclusively given to violent Sunni extremists.1 In fact, Western experts usually use the term ‘militias’ when referring to Shia violent non-state actors and just a few journalists like Danny Postel ever employ the term ‘Shia jihad’.2 In fact, the Arabic term of muqawama (resistance) is now replacing jihad across West Asia and the neologism muqawamist is being used by English-speaking Arab commentators while referring to Iran-backed militancy.3 Deriving its resonance from the Shia ideology of resistance against the ‘oppression’ of Islam’s larger Sunni community, the term is now getting applied to rising pan-Islamist opposition towards the US-Israeli sway over the region.4
The recent popularity and support for Iran-backed Shia groups in the Arab world is remarkable, because it seems to have significantly reduced the intense hate and animosity generated by the Syrian civil war and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s (ISIS) hostilities over the last decade between the Sunni and Shia communities. Today, Sunni states like Salafi Qatar and the Deobandi Taliban regime are coming closer to Shia Iran and have apparently turned away from their old allies—the Salafi jihadists.5 No wonder, ISIS and its global affiliates are now targeting Iran, Russia and Shia groups out of sheer spite and desperation.6
