Open Lecture – 10 May 2018

Title ‘Islam and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria: Evidence from its Magazine.

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Since the emergence of the Islamic State, Da’esh, considerable debate has arisen over the relationship (or lack of therein) between its ideological discourse and broader Islamic exegeses and learning. This lecture aims to connect these broader discussions to its self-defined ideological standpoint as set out in its magazine, Dabiq. The first 15 of these, published between June 2014 and July 2016, amounting to more than 900 pages, are examined to assess their authors’ (1) analysis of the Qur’an (2) use of classical scholarship and (3) engagement with contemporary readings of Islam.

Tim Jacoby is professor at the Global Development Institute and co-founder of the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute at the University of Manchester. He completed his PhD and an Economic and Social Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Department of Politics at the University of York. His research has focused on state development in Turkey as well as broader topics related to political violence, civil society, Islam, nationalism and post-conflict reconstruction.

Professor Jacoby has published more than 25 articles in international journals and acted as guest editor for Disasters, International Studies Review, Middle East Critique, Progress in Development Studies and the Journal of Peasant Studies. He is also author of Social Power and the Turkish State (Frank Cass, 2004), and Understanding Conflict & Violence: Interdisciplinary and Theoretical Approaches (Routledge, 2008). He is also co-author of Disaster Management and Civil Society: Earthquake Relief in Japan, Turkey and India (I.B. Tauris, 2005,), Peace in Turkey 2023: The Question of Human Security and Conflict Transformation, (Lexington, 2013) and The NGO-Military Complex in Afghanistan (MUP, 2016).