Iain Edgar
The Dreams of Islamic State
Edgar, Iain
Authors
Abstract
Previous research has shown that jihadis attach great importance to dreams, to the point of taking them into account in personal and strategic decision-making. This article asks whether the same is true of Islamic State (IS). Using evidence from social media and IS publications, I review night dream accounts by IS members and supporters, seeking to assess the prominence, main themes, and reception of such accounts. Dreams appear to be at least as important to IS as to previous jihadi groups. Like other jihadis, IS activists consider dreams a potential window into the future and use them to make sense of the world, justify decisions, and claim authority. In at least one case (that of Garland, Texas attacker Elton Simpson), a dream may have informed the decision to take violent action.
Citation
Edgar, I. (2015). The Dreams of Islamic State. Perspectives on terrorism (Lowell), 9(4), 72-84
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Publication Date | Aug 1, 2015 |
Deposit Date | Aug 20, 2015 |
Publicly Available Date | Mar 29, 2024 |
Journal | Perspectives on Terrorism (Terrorism Research Initiative TRI) |
Publisher | University of Massachusetts Lowell |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 9 |
Issue | 4 |
Pages | 72-84 |
Keywords | Jihadism, Dreaming, ISIS, Al Qaeda, Ideology. |
Publisher URL | http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/453 |
Files
Published Journal Article
(191 Kb)
PDF
Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Copyright Statement
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
You might also like
Society, Culture and Politics: Examining Education in Pakistan
(2010)
Book Chapter
Downloadable Citations
About Durham Research Online (DRO)
Administrator e-mail: dro.admin@durham.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2024
Advanced Search