As usual over the last few years, Al Qaeda seeks to brand new jihadist tactics and successes with its imprimatur. In this case, the low level jihad described is practiced successfully worldwide, and has been for a number of years. Life is increasingly made unberable for non-Muslims, ex-Muslims and truly moderate Muslims both in Western countries and in dar-al-Islam, a shadowy confrontation is in progress and it is not the Islamist side that is making the concessions. While the number of kidnappings, murders and other forms of low-level terror are indeed increasing they are still rare in the West. More common is what I refer to as the “Grey Jihad” : beatings, threats, lawfare, growth and consolidation of no-go areas, increasing number of hijabs, niqabs and mosques, greater demands for sharia finance, sharia courts, a parallel legal system and most importantly attacks on the rights of those who would criticise these things, in parallel with extra-judicial violence or threats thereto.
This is the part of the jihad which is working splendidly while the kinetic war in going less well.
What will the political powers of the West make of this new front ?