Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya as Changing Salafi Icons 491
science either in their cells or in the recreation areas. In Guantanamo, a
half-dozen more learned detainees have served the others as a source of
religious rulings.^141
U. S. detention authorities have recently become aware of the influ-
ence of Islamic books and teaching circles in U. S. prisons. In a hear-
ing, Senator Schumer from the State of New York noted that what he
called “Wahhabi literature” was readily available in federal prisons.^142
In 2007, the Bureau of Prisons started carrying out an inventory of
books in chapel libraries and main prison libraries.^143 A “Wahhabi/
Salafi” version of the Koran in English was cited as being widely avail-
able in U. S. prisons. It had an appendix entitled “The Call to Jihad”.
Among detainees in prison, age-old conflicts between Sunnis and Shi-
ites may flare up and (re-)kindle interest especially in Ibn Taymiyya’s
harsh rhetoric against Shiite Islam and its deviances. Another popular
Salafi publication distributed among detainees was written by Saeed
Ismaeel and entitled “The Differences between the Sheeah and Mus-
lims Who Follow the Sunnah” was provided in English.^144
Conclusion
This excursion into two different settings of the Salafi “reference space
of the soul”^145 shed some light on the role major scholars such as Ibn
Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya play in the Salafi framing pro-
cess.
In both settings, the complexity and depth of their works remain
beyond reach for the Salafi laymen and -women because they require
141 Tim Golden, “The Battle for Guantanamo,” The New York Times, 17 September
2006, online: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/magazine/17guantanamo.
html?pagewanted=all&_r=0, accessed August 3, 2008.
142 Terrorism. Radical Islamic Influence of Chaplaincy of the U. S. Military and Pris-
ons. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Home-
land Security of the Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate, October
14, 2003, Serial No. J-108–44, Washington D. C. 2004, pp. 5–6; online: http://
bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/hearing/108s/93254.pdf, accessed August 3, 2008.
143 Prison Radicalization. Are Terrorist Cells Forming in U. S. Cell Blocks?; Hear-
ing before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
United States Senate; September 19, 2006, Washington D. C. 2007, p. 32;
online: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate, accessed July 20, 2008.
144 Ibid, p. 44.
145 Allievi, Islam in the Public Space, p. 10.
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