E-JIHAD. INFORMATION FIGHT AL-QAEDA AND THE ISLAMIC STATE ON THE «PATH OF GOD»: SELECTED EXAMPLES

Abstract

The article deals with the issue of e-jihad (cyber-jihad) as conducting jihad using information tools. It is noted that the Warsaw University Observatory registered the word "cyber-jihad" in 2016; The Polish dictionary says that it is "actions against non-believers and followers of other religions by Islamic fundamentalists on the Internet", however, this definition is very inaccurate and even partially incorrect. Jihad is a very blurred and complex concept. The history of Jihadists‟ use of the Internet by authors is divided into three main periods. The first stage took place before the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001). First, the Internet was not yet a widespread tool, and secondly, Islamists were only growing in strength. The beginning of the al-Qaeda and Taliban conflict with the United States began the second phase. The third stage is the current situation that has changed since the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS). E-jihad is an concept that has been accepted and in use in science for some time. The purpose of the article is to check whether the activities of the Islamic State (ISIS, Daesh) and Al-Qaida on the internet are in accordance with the concept of jihad. Due to this, the concept of jihad was clarified and confronted with selected examples of activity. The authors argue that the Islamic State and A-Qaida uses new technologies for broadly understood jihad, including fighting (kital).