By Yasmin Tagijeva
Photo Credit: Adobe Stock Images
When addressing the problem of Islamist propaganda on the internet, the public and researchers tend to focus primarily on video and text material circulated on social media and chat platforms. This concern is well-warranted as a study conducted by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue in May 2023 indicates that “official Islamic State content is being repurposed for TikTok and is not only evading the platform’s moderation efforts but seemingly getting worse.’’ While these findings are alarming, they also show that video content is currently at the center of focus of research on online radicalization. However, certain forms of propaganda bypass social media content moderation while also evading the public's and researchers' attention.
The purpose of this work is to highlight the gaps in the public’s understanding of the nature and sources of Islamist extremist material by examining radical anasheed, a less often recognised form of radical Islamist propaganda. Drawing attention to the under-detected types of radical content contributes to public awareness and allows users to recognize and report extremist messaging online, it also puts additional pressure on social media platforms to improve methods of content moderation. This work begins by defining the term nasheed, providing examples of non-radical religious text and contrasting it with lyrics of anasheed popular in jihadist circles. The paper then highlights the danger this content poses for young users on social media and shows the difficulty in tracking the source of this output. Lastly, this work highlights areas for improvement in social media content monitoring and provides examples of strategies efficiently utilized by other countries.
Nasheed (plural: anasheed) is a chant usually performed a cappella with no instruments except the occasional use of percussion. Its lyrics are often verses of the Quran or stories of the prophets meant to praise God or the Prophet Mohammed (Lahoud 42). While schools of Islamic jurisprudence disagree on the permissibility of music in Islam, the vast majority view anasheed as an acceptable form of art due to the lack of instrumentation and its goal being the worship of God (Allam). The general approval from Islamic jurists makes anasheed a viable substitution for music for pious Muslims while also serving as an extension of worship to the general Muslim population. As such, the target audience of nasheed artists are people either already identifying or familiar with Islam. The target demographic is relevant in examining youth radicalisation through Islamist anasheed.
However, it is important to understand that radical content constitutes a minority of this art form. Most anasheed are created to supplement religious practices such as prayer and do not contain violent or extremist narratives, as seen in an excerpt from “The Beauty of Existence,” one of the most popular anasheed translated from the original Arabic:
The Beauty of existence is remembering Allah,
Then life becomes pure with His guidance of light,
And the soul becomes assured in His obedience,
Then happiness reaches its utmost peak. (Al Muqit)
From this sample, it is evident that this nasheed speaks to already believing Muslims. Its author, Muhammad Al Muqit, a Saudi nasheed artist, describes his works as aiming to “inspire and uplift listeners around the globe.” With over a million monthly listeners on Spotify and regular tours across the Muslim world, he is one of the most popular nasheed performers (Al Muqit). The Beauty of Existence paints a representative picture of the content of mainstream anasheed, its producers, and its audiences. This baseline understanding of the nature of anasheed is crucial to effectively compare and identify abnormal, radical messaging.
The defining characteristic of an extremist nasheed is the substance of its lyrics. These reflect themes often used in radical Islamist propaganda such as antagonism towards the disbelievers, lamentation of oppression by Western secular powers, and glorification of martyrdom, calling believers to unite, stand up to oppressors, and die as martyrs. Martyrdom in the Islamic context refers to sacrificing one's life to protect the religion, profess one's faith or defend other Muslims. The noble interpretation of self-sacrifice emerged during the early history of Islam when Muslims contested for power in Arabia. Martyrdom does not inherently imply violent intent as those who die in natural disasters or accidents also achieve martyrdom, however, extremist content strongly emphasizes struggle and fight as means to achieve this status. (Chowdhury) Radical subtext will also often encourage forceful spread of Islam and violence against non-believers, as seen in an excerpt from a translation of “Madin Kas-Sayf” (Sharp As a Sword):
So he [the occupier] built his strongholds in fear, he raised his walls in them,So he [the mujahid] blew himself up among them in anger; he fixed his nails in them,You see him as splinters of fire; a commando makes his raid,He did not slow down his pace until he carried out his decision in death. (Al-Tamimi)
This nasheed directly calls for violence against the “occupiers,” whom it associates with the American forces in Afghanistan, as its first found usage was in a 2009 video recorded by a Somali offshoot of Al-Qaeda to pledge allegiance to Osama bin Laden (Al-Tamimi). It is also an example of the glorification of suicide bombing, martyrdom, and those who practice jihad (the mujahideen).
These anasheed can present a starting point in radicalization, being easily accessible to non-extremist and non-Muslim audiences, of which young men are at the highest risk of radicalization. Although it falls outside of the scope of this paper, gender is a key component of the extremism literature, and several aspects of radical anasheed can be more impactful to men. Young men are susceptible to feelings of emasculation and disenfranchisement by society, which can prompt them to seek out radical ideologies to restore a sense of masculinity (Kimmel). For these young men, the image of a martyr, dedicated enough to die for his ideas and brave enough to stand up to subjugation while disregarding earthly pleasures, becomes an ideal they should emulate.
The circulation of anasheed promoting martyrdom through violence on TikTok is difficult to monitor since this content is uploaded anonymously. Combating this type of propaganda effectively requires knowing the identity of the original authors and producers of these anasheed. The melody of the aforementioned “Madin Kas-Sayf” was composed by Abu Ali, a well-known Saudi artist who claims to have no connection to terrorist groups, despite it being attributed to him by jihadists and the general Muslim public (Lahoud 52). However, the same melody used in the nasheed is notably used in a different one titled “It Blew Like The Wind,” which bares no extremist messaging and only encourages followers to assist each other and to search for knowledge (Al-Tamimi). Therefore, Abu Ali may be the author of the melody of “It Blew Like The Wind,” which was lyrically modified by Al-Qaeda to include a radical message. The unclarity of the authorship of anasheed is quite prevalent and has allowed for the co-optation of mainstream versions by jihadists. Al-Qaeda is a prime example of this since most of their propagandistic anasheed were not produced by their own media outlets, with lyrics often taken from authors not affiliated with the terrorist group and then modified to spread radical messages (Lahoud 53). This authorship confusion complicates monitoring and removing this content from the Internet. The radical “Madin Kas-Sayf,” which openly glorifies suicide bombers, is available on YouTube and Spotify, with the artist credited as Abu Ali even though he most likely did not write the text. This further complicates the attempts to censor such content as it cannot be traced to a specific source such as an artist on Spotify, or a channel on YouTube. Instead, the audios are uploaded to these platforms by multiple users, often in sped-up, slowed down or otherwise edited form to prevent the algorithm from deleting all these recordings in case one of them is flagged and removed. This has occurred on TikTok, where a section of “Madin Kas-Sayf”' became especially popular amongst young male Muslims in 2020 as background audio for their videos (Ayad). While many who used the audio were unfamiliar with the lyrical content of the nasheed, as they were not Arabic speakers, and the portion of the chant used was not particularly radical, this incident showcases the need for better content moderation on social networking sites, to combat the spread of radical ideologies to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Online propaganda such as radical anasheed often bypasses the established content moderation system by keeping the names of the recordings and the authors vague and non-problematic. Since the name of the track and its author are never directly linked to a terrorist group or a violent message, this content manages to pose as an inoffensive religious hymn. Therefore, it is necessary to dedicate more attention to the contents of these tracks, especially those popular on social media with a younger audience. The ability to recognize less common types of extremist propaganda plays a crucial role as individual users are less likely to engage with content if they deem it as radical. Moreover, knowledgeable users are more likely to report extremist material that was not detected by the built-in algorithm of the social media network. Public awareness helps prevent the spread of radical content and pressures social media networks and legislative authorities to adjust the regulations on producing media such as anasheed. An example of such a strategy is Saudi Arabia, whose Ministry of Information now prohibits independent media production companies from publishing anasheed to prevent potential jihadists from co-opting these works and influencing mainstream Muslim culture. (Lahoud 52) This decision was a result of public concern over the fact that many authors of radical anasheed proved to be Saudi citizens and shows that raising awareness for covert forms of extremist content can lead to positive legislative changes.
Works Cited
Al Muqit, Muhammad. “The Beauty of Existence .” YouTube, YouTube, 1 July 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrsCej6SVxM.
Al Muqit, Muhammad. “YouTube Music Profile.” YouTube, YouTube, music.youtube.com/channel/UCI4Qvd1VU_M1cwbMB_UuPzA. Accessed 13 Feb. 2024.
Allam, Shawki. “What Is the Ruling Concerning Music?” Egypt’s Dar Al Iftaa , 2013, www.dar-alifta.org/en/fatwa/details/4866/what-is-the-ruling-concerning-music.
Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad. “Famous Anasheed: ‘Madin Kas-Sayf’ by Abu Ali.” Pundicity, 2013.
Ayad, Moustafa. “Caliphatetok: TikTok Continues to Host Islamic State Propaganda.” ISD, 26 Sept. 2023, www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/caliphatetok-tiktok-continues-to-host-islamic-state-propaganda/.
Ayad, Moustafa. “Islamogram: Salafism and Alt-Right Online Subcultures.” Institute for Strategic Dialogue, 2021.
Chowdhury, Rashed. “Martyrdom and Jihad - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.” Carnegie Endowment, 1 Mar. 2004, carnegieendowment.org/2004/03/01/martyrdom-and-jihad-event-684.
Kimmel, Michael. “Almost All Violent Extremists Share One Thing: Their Gender.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 Apr. 2018, www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/08/violent-extremists-share-one-thing-gender-michael-kimmel.
Lahoud, Nelly. “A Cappella Songs (Anashid) in Jihadi Culture.” Jihadi Culture: The Art and Social Practices of Militant Islamists. Ed. Thomas Hegghammer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. 42–62. Print.
“Muhammad Al Muqit.” Spotify, open.spotify.com/artist/4kpoYPOSgCl2jYvCm6Cp05?si=mMkVt2CGTwSidWxILws25Q. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
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