"Is this the end of political Islam?" asks @NYTBen. Count me a skeptic.

The obituary of Islamism has been written many times, and the deceased always rises from the grave. A quick thread: (1/6) In 1963, speaking of the battle between secular nationalism & Islamism, political scientist Manfred Halpern declared "There will still be battles, but this particular war is over in the great majority of Middle Eastern states"--just years before regional Islamic resurgence (2/6)

Today is the launch date for "Wahhābism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement"! Many thanks @PrincetonUPress & to Profs. Michael Cook and David Commins for the kind blurbs! Copies available here (amazon.com/Wahh%C4%81bism…) & here (press.princeton.edu/books/hardcove…) 1/10 The book is a comprehensive reexamination of the Wahhābī movement from its origins in the mid-18th century to the present day, when Saudi Arabia is turning away from this heritage as the jihādī movement embraces it. Today, ISIS postures as the true heir of Wahhābī tradition 2/10

New audio message from Islamic State spokesman Abu 'Umar al-Muhajir, "Fight them, and God will chastise them at your hands" (Q. 9:52), his second since death of caliph Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi & spokesman Abu Hamza al-Qurashi in February (1/7) Summary of main points:

Abu 'Umar congratulates Muslims on beginning of Ramadan & announces campaign of revenge for the two shaykhs (ghazwat al-tha'r lil-shaykhayn). This is followed by 5 "messages" (2/7)

I’ve never seen this before: AQ and ISIS supporters on Telegram agreeing to a civil debate. Which jihadi group is deviant?

The showdown between Jild al-Qa’idin (team ISIS) and Abu Sayf Afghan (team AQ) begins The first topic is the Taliban, to which AQ swears allegiance.

According to Jild, the Taliban ("the commanders of al-Qaida") consider the Shia and the apostate rulers of Muslim countries (tawaghit) to be Muslims, as is clear from their public statements

For those curious about Abu Muhammad al-Masri’s status in Iran before his death:

In 2015 Iran & al-Qaida agreed to a prisoner exchange (referred to at end of this article) to which al-Masri was part (1/6) nytimes.com/2020/11/13/wor… Details of the deal were revealed in a 2017 written exchange between Abu ‘Abdallah al-Shami & Sami al-‘Uraydi, jihadis in Syria disputing Jabhat al-Nusra's decision to leave AQ. The deal, for an Iranian diplomat captured in Yemen, affected 6 AQ members (2/6)