Alshabani, Bayan Omar (2015) The misrepresentation of Jihad in public and academic discourse and its impact on the integration of multi-faith society. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

When a terror attack targets a multi-faith society, the rate of prejudice against the Muslim population suddenly increases. It was reported after the Oklahoma bombing in 1995 that there was a noticeable increase in prejudice against Arab Muslim Americans. Yet, it suddenly decreased after identifying the perpetrator as non-Arab/non-Muslim (Timothy McVeigh). This research argues that the misrepresentation of Islamic legal discourse, particularly jihad, participates in framing the cognitive aspect of prejudice against Muslims. It explains further that misrepresentation frames the mental representation of terrorism as 'Islamic terrorism'; an explicit crime that is committed by Muslims, motivated by jihad and targets the West.

This thesis concludes that, due to the misrepresentation of jihad, terror attacks stimulate prejudice against Muslim populations. Misrepresented discourse confuses the receivers by activating the mental representation of a criminal act when using jihad instead of a legal rule, categorises the Muslim population as the out-group that threatens the security of the in-group, mainly the West. Ultimately, misrepresentation causes the domination of radical ideology and demonises the role of legal discourse and counter terrorism policies. This thesis makes recommendations regarding these issues.

This research is library based; the researcher utilises her identity in the writing of this thesis (autoethnography). In addition to this, speech act theory is used as the main theory to reclaim the legal performative of “jihad” in Islamic international law by treating the Islamic legal discourse as an authoritative discourse. Other theories have a secondary role in examining the impact of misrepresentation on the social dynamics between the in-group and the out-group, especially after a terror attack; they are social psychology, frame theory, schema theory, discourse theory (pragmatic), and critical discourse analysis.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BP Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Jihad, Islamic law, Islam -- Press coverage, Islamophobia, Public opinion, Terrorism -- Religious aspects -- Islam, Islam and world politic, Anti-Americanism
Official Date:	September 2015
Dates:	Date Event September 2015 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Law
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Ali, Shaheen Sardar ; Saward, Michael,|d1960
Sponsors:	The King Abdullah Scholarship Program
Extent:	xi, 287 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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