Nelly Lahoud
Former Associate, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program
Experience
Former Associate, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program, 2009–2011; Former Research Fellow, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program, 2008–2009
Current Affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Senior Associate, Combating Terrorism Center, West Point, N.Y.
November 2010
The Jihadis' Path to Self-Destruction
Book
By Nelly Lahoud, Former Associate, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program
Jihadi ideologues mobilize Muslims, especially young Muslims, through an individualist, centered Islam. Appealing to a classical defense doctrine, they argue that the mandates of jihad are the individual duty of every Muslim and therefore transcend and undermine both the authority of the state and the power of parental control.
June 2009
"In Search of Philosopher-Jihadis: Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi's Jihadi Philosophy"
Journal Article, Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions, issue 2, volume 10
By Nelly Lahoud, Former Associate, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program
This article examines Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi's imprint on the intellectual capital of jihadism. It explores al-Maqdisi's religious teachings, his emphasis on the 'Religion/Community of Abraham' as a model for believers and focuses on the meanings he ascribes to tawhid and the blurry unresolved boundaries between tawhid and takfir.
December 13, 2008
"If We're Careful, Al Qaeda May Self-Destruct"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Boston Globe, Spiritual Life Column
By Rich Barlow and Nelly Lahoud, Former Associate, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program
Nelly Lahoud's recent seminar for Harvard's Islam in the West Program — "Will Al-Qaida Self Destruct?" — was the subject of the December 13, 2008, Boston Globe Spiritual Life column.
October 2008
"Islamic Responses to Europe at the Dawn of Colonialism"
Book Chapter
By Nelly Lahoud, Former Associate, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program
"Whether Renan's views of Islam were defined by a predisposition to an ideological and systematic framework or not is difficult to say, but they did nevertheless grow into an ideological worldview. Despite the numerous flaws in his ideas and the subsequent scholarship that has since discredited him, Renan's ideas have survived to the present day."
