Ummah as an Imagined Community: How Islamic State Built a Nation?

Muhammet Emin Çifçi

Makale detayları

Ummah as an Imagined Community: How Islamic State Built a Nation?

Yazarlar:

Muhammet Emin Çifçi

Yayıncı:

Selcuk University

Ana Başlıklar:

İletişim ve Medya Çalışmaları (Diğer)

Dergi:

Selçuk İletişim Vol.18 Issue 1, pp.492-514

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

4/2025

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001344955

pISSN:

2148-2942

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 IS Islamic State, which rose to the top of the global agenda with the capture of Mosul in 2014, maintained this position for a long time. The organisations communication strategy and pragmatic policies were effective in its rapid rise in a short period of time. Foreign fighters from all over the world flocked to Iraq and Syria to join IS, which took over the leadership of the Global Jihad with its propaganda activities. After the declaration of the caliphate, the organisation focused on the goal of statehood and had to create a nation out of its members with different languages, cultures and ethnic identities. In this context, the study focuses on the discourse of ummah in Konstantiniyye, a Turkish-language publication of IS. In this study, which employs Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, all occurrences of the word ummah in the issues of Konstantiniyye magazine were scanned. Direct quotations from religious texts such as the Quran and Hadith, as well as usages that do not involve a discursive construction, were excluded from the analysis. According to the findings of the study, IS constructed the ummah in two ways: a community limited to its own members and sympathizers, and a military unit fighting together against the enemy. By doing so, the organisation has created, albeit temporarily, a nation out of a mass that cannot be united on the basis of language, ethnic identity or culture; it has positioned itself as the protector of Islam; it has united and motivated its members, who have the potential to conflict with each other, against a common enemy.

 IS Islamic State, which rose to the top of the global agenda with the capture of Mosul in 2014, maintained this position for a long time. The organisations communication strategy and pragmatic policies were effective in its rapid rise in a short period of time. Foreign fighters from all over the world flocked to Iraq and Syria to join IS, which took over the leadership of the Global Jihad with its propaganda activities. After the declaration of the caliphate, the organisation focused on the goal of statehood and had to create a nation out of its members with different languages, cultures and ethnic identities. In this context, the study focuses on the discourse of ummah in Konstantiniyye, a Turkish-language publication of IS. In this study, which employs Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, all occurrences of the word ummah in the issues of Konstantiniyye magazine were scanned. Direct quotations from religious texts such as the Quran and Hadith, as well as usages that do not involve a discursive construction, were excluded from the analysis. According to the findings of the study, IS constructed the ummah in two ways: a community limited to its own members and sympathizers, and a military unit fighting together against the enemy. By doing so, the organisation has created, albeit temporarily, a nation out of a mass that cannot be united on the basis of language, ethnic identity or culture; it has positioned itself as the protector of Islam; it has united and motivated its members, who have the potential to conflict with each other, against a common enemy.

 IS Islamic State, which rose to the top of the global agenda with the capture of Mosul in 2014, maintained this position for a long time. The organisations communication strategy and pragmatic policies were effective in its rapid rise in a short period of time. Foreign fighters from all over the world flocked to Iraq and Syria to join IS, which took over the leadership of the Global Jihad with its propaganda activities. After the declaration of the caliphate, the organisation focused on the goal of statehood and had to create a nation out of its members with different languages, cultures and ethnic identities. In this context, the study focuses on the discourse of ummah in Konstantiniyye, a Turkish-language publication of IS. In this study, which employs Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, all occurrences of the word ummah in the issues of Konstantiniyye magazine were scanned. Direct quotations from religious texts such as the Quran and Hadith, as well as usages that do not involve a discursive construction, were excluded from the analysis. According to the findings of the study, IS constructed the ummah in two ways: a community limited to its own members and sympathizers, and a military unit fighting together against the enemy. By doing so, the organisation has created, albeit temporarily, a nation out of a mass that cannot be united on the basis of language, ethnic identity or culture; it has positioned itself as the protector of Islam; it has united and motivated its members, who have the potential to conflict with each other, against a common enemy.

 2014 yılında Musulu ele geçirerek dünya gündeminin zirvesine oturan IŞİD Irak Şam İslam Devleti, uzunca bir süre bu konumunu korumuştur. Örgütün kısa sürede hızla yükselişinde izlediği pragmatist siyaset kadar yürüttüğü iletişim stratejisi de etkili olmuştur. Yürüttüğü propaganda faaliyetleriyle küresel cihatın liderliğini ele geçiren IŞİDe katılmak için dünyanın dört bir yanından yabancı savaşçı Irak ve Suriyeye akın etmiştir. Hilafet ilanı sonrası devletleşme hedefine giderek daha fazla odaklanan örgüt için farklı dil, kültür ve etnik kimliklere sahip üyelerinden ortak bir ulus yaratma zorunluluğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışma IŞİDe ait Türkçe bir yayın olan Konstantiniyye dergisindeki ümmet söylemine odaklanmaktadır. Foucaultcu söylem analizinin kullanıldığı bu çalışmada Konstantiniyye dergisinin tüm sayılarındaki ümmet kelimeleri taranmış, ayet ve hadis gibi doğrudan alıntılar ve söylemsel bir inşa içermeyen kullanımlar analizin dışında bırakılmıştır. Çalışmada elde edilen bulgulara göre IŞİD, incelenen metinlerde ümmeti kendi üye ve sempatizanlarıyla sınırlı bir topluluk ve düşmana karşı birlikte mücadele eden askeri bir birlik olmak üzere iki biçimde inşa etmiştir. Ümmetin bu şekilde inşa edilmesiyle örgüt, bir dil, etnik kimlik yahut kültür üzerinden birleştirilmesi mümkün olmayan bir kitleden geçici de olsa bir ulus meydana getirmiş, kendisini İslamın koruyucusu pozisyonuna yerleştirmiş, birbiriyle çatışma potansiyeli barındıran üyelerini ortak bir düşmana karşı birleştirmiş ve onları motive etmiştir.

Makale detayları

Ummah as an Imagined Community: How Islamic State Built a Nation?

Yazarlar:

Muhammet Emin Çifçi

Yayıncı:

Selcuk University

Ana Başlıklar:

İletişim ve Medya Çalışmaları (Diğer)

Dergi:

Selçuk İletişim Vol.18 Issue 1, pp.492-514

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

4/2025

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001344955

pISSN:

2148-2942

Islamic State

propaganda

ummah

imagined communities

nation buildingIŞİD

propaganda

ümmet

hayali cemaatler

ulus inşası

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Muhammet Emin Çifçi

Yayıncı: Selcuk University

Ana Başlıklar: İletişim ve Medya Çalışmaları (Diğer)

Dergi: Selçuk İletişim Vol.18 Issue 1, pp.492-514

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 4/2025

Belge Dili: İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.): 2001344955

pISSN: 2148-2942

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Muhammet Emin Çifçi

Yayıncı:

Selcuk University

Ana Başlıklar:

İletişim ve Medya Çalışmaları (Diğer)

Dergi:

Selçuk İletişim Vol.18 Issue 1, pp.492-514

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

4/2025

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001344955

pISSN:

2148-2942