Transhistorical Militancy, Community-Building, and Proto-State Media Systems

Chapter 3 describes how the repeated references to historic battles and fighters in ISIS and al-Qaeda’s media products set expectations for the proto-state communities and their media systems. It explores how mentions of the past battles and fighters help define transhistorical subjectivities that frame the groups’ identity as timeless and serve as models for beliefs and behaviors for proto-state members. It also reveals how the historic references function to expose the groups’ criteria for evaluating their own proto-state media systems. The chapter examines how the two proto-states strategically positioned various battles (Badr, al-Azhab, al-Yamama, al-Qadissiyah, and Ain Jalut) and fighters (Hamza ibn Abdul Mutalib, Abu Baseer, Abu Jandal, Umm Amarah, Al-Khansa, the Pharaoh, Abdullah ibn Ubai ibn Salul, and Al-Aswad Al-Ansi) to define community and media system standards. It concludes with a discussion of how the groups’ mentions of contemporary martyrs function in similar ways.