Anwar Al-'Awlaqi Against the Islamic Legal Tradition

Abstract

In this paper I, examine the existing Islamic justifications for perfidious violence against one's own state of citizenship, both when the target is a military one and when it is a civilian one. I show how the primary examples of such justifications, most notably in the case of the Yemeni-American Anwar al-'Awlaqi, fail to address the consensus position in the Islamic legal tradition that it is impermissible to violate a contract of mutual security with a non-Muslim state of residence. I also discuss what the phenomenon of 'Awlaqi says about the state of authority and knowledge in Islamic law and the relevance of Islamic jurisprudence for Muslim minorities.