While the threat that al-Shabaab poses to the West can easily be overstated, its outreach to Muslims living in Europe and the United States has been successful relative to other al-Qaeda-linked groups and warrants exploration. The organisation has recruited dozens of foreign fighters from the West. It also holds the dubious distinction of being the first jihadist organisation to recruit an American citizen to commit an act of suicide terrorism. Its recruitment strategy is therefore worthy of examination as a case study of how jihadist groups formulate strategies to lure Western Muslims.
Through a combination of primary source analysis, background interviews in East Africa and an in-depth quantitative analysis of the group’s Twitter output, this paper aims to go beyond the simple statement of this problem by explaining how al-Shabaab markets itself to Muslims beyond its borders and what methods it employs. It also explores how the group is using social media to engage its followers in ways that other actors in the global jihad movement have not yet mastered.
The article’s key findings are as follows:
- Over the last six years, approximately 1000 ethnic Somalis and 200–300 non-Somalis have been recruited to al-Shabaab from outside Somalia. While radical Islam has been present in Somalia for decades, this alone cannot account for the group’s success in recruiting Western Muslims.
- Western governments were slow to proscribe the group, allowing it to develop a sophisticated communications infrastructure and exploit nationalist, anti-Ethiopian and anti-Western sentiments within the Somali diaspora in the aftermath of the Ethiopian invasion and occupation of Somalia in 2006. As a result, al-Shabaab’s interaction with Muslims beyond its borders has not always relied exclusively on Islamist ideology.
- Al-Shabaab has become adept at producing material that provides its Western followers with an alternative to mainstream media. Relying heavily on digital video and Twitter, the group projects an image of itself as an effective and united force carrying out the will of God by implementing Shariah and fighting the enemies of Islam. Twitter has allowed the group to do much of this in real time, offering supporters instant interpretations of events and rebuttals of critiques.
- At its core, al-Shabaab has a sophisticated and diverse communications strategy aimed at influencing Muslims living in the West. This strategy is infused with culturally relevant material that resonates with members of the Somali diaspora, while also positioning Somalia as a key battleground in the struggle between Islam and the West. This is a strategy that has enticed many to embrace al-Shabaab’s cause over the years.
- In many respects, al-Shabaab has not achieved any novel innovations. Much like other jihadist groups, it repeats the traditional mantra: that it is the legitimate vanguard of Muslim interests; that it is resisting insidious attempts to undermine Islam; that it is invested with religious legitimacy and capacity; and that it is divinely mandated.
- Where al-Shabaab has achieved some noteworthy success is through its ability to find ways of ensuring that its message resonates with its target audience. In part, al-Shabaab got lucky: Somali diaspora politics and slow governmental responses helped it disseminate its message effectively. But the group has been innovative too. Its use of Twitter, which has been comprehensively catalogued above, represents an effective way of offering real-time updates on the jihad. This combination – of fortuity and ingenuity – has allowed al-Shabaab to cultivate a highly potent message which has succeeded in helping to seduce scores of Western Muslims into supporting its cause.
