Weapons of the Weak: How African States Counteract Homegrown Jihadi Salafism

Abstract

Abstract Why has homegrown jihadi Salafism emerged as a major security challenge in some African countries, but not in others? This article draws attention to the organizational playing field in which Islamic activity manifests itself. It argues that states with institutional regulatory mechanisms in the Islamic sphere—state-led national Islamic associations—can counteract jihadi propaganda and recruitment. State-led national associations are organizational entities through which state elites delegate the authority to monitor religious practice to those Islamic leaders who are most accommodating of state authority. Cooperation with local Islamic leaders allows state elites to react to jihadi recruitment and mobilization at an early stage. It further enables state actors to target potential security challenges without alienating their Muslim community. States that fail to create steering capacity in the Islamic sphere instead react to jihadi Salafism with indiscriminate violence, thereby provoking the further radicalization of the Muslim faithful. Using a small to medium-N research design, this article provides empirical evidence supporting this claim from two East African countries and seven additional countries from across the African continent.