40Though they do certainly believe in martyrdom,
they also believe in the “evils” of Western imperi-
alism. Likewise, they believe that they’re living
under Arab dictators. The grievance narrative kicks
in, as I said, prior to the point of recruitment. But
at the point of recruitment this grievance narrative
is fossilized by ideological dogma, which then be-
comes the vehicle through which they express
themselves. So it’s not one or the other. But cer-
tainly the cosmic strug gle is a consistent ele ment
for all Islamists.
Another difference between jihadists and Is-
lamists is that Islamists will seek martyrdom ac-
cording to their own theory. So in Hizb ut- Tahrir
we were taught that martyrdom is achieved by
being killed while holding a despotic ruler to ac-
count or spreading the ideology. We were taught
that if the regime kills you while you’re attempting
to recruit army offi cers, you’ll be a martyr, and you
should embrace that. But we were also taught that
you’re not a martyr if you blow yourself up in a mar-
ketplace, because you’re killing civilians and other
Muslims.
Now, whereas Hizb ut- Tahrir was attempting to
incite coups by the existing army, jihadists simply
said, “Why don’t we create our own army? Why are
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