Soufi

The powerful story of how the War on Terror created the conditions for the emergence of a novel theory of jihad

On March 7th, 2007, three Muslim university students left their small city on the Canadian Prairies, seemingly without a trace. In the ensuing months, their disappearance raised fears among Canadian and US security agencies that the men had become ＂radicalized,＂ posing a grave threat to national security. From presidential briefings and targeted drone assassinations to a politically charged trial in a Brooklyn courtroom, the men’s story sheds new light not only on the figure of the ＂radical,＂ but also on the ＂moderate＂ Muslim, represented by a community forever changed by the men’s departure.

Homegrown Radicals offers a case study of the complex entanglements of the radical and moderate Muslim in post-9/11 North America. Youcef Soufi brings these figures together in uneasy tension, providing insight into how state violence has inextricably tied them together. Focusing on the radicalization of the three Muslim students, the book traces the general sense of affective injury among North American Muslims over the loss of Muslim life in Western military campaigns overseas.

In this context, a new theory of jihad rooted in a Muslim utopian imagination emerged, marking a significant rupture with premodern Islamic thought. The three ＂radicals＂ were among thousands of Anglophone Muslims who found this new theory compelling as both a diagnosis and a solution to the violence unleashed in the War on Terror. The book examines how and why this theory resonated, as well as its consequences for the men’s families, friends, and Muslim community.

Homegrown Radicals highlights how post-9/11 Islamophobia has operated through the conceptual blurring of the line between ＂moderate＂ and ＂radical＂ Muslims, and asks what alternative forms of solidarity may transcend the violent boundaries of the nation-state.

Youcef Soufi is Research Fellow, Institute of Islamic Studies at the University of Toronto. He is the author of The Rise of Critical Islam: 10th-13th Century Legal Debate.