Jihad at Home or Leaving for Syria and Iraq: Understanding the Motivations of Dagestani Salafists

Drawing on a case study of the Dagestan contingent of foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq, and based on a series of interviews with local jihadists, Salafists, and foreign fighters, this article investigates why law-abiding Salafists have mobilized only minimally to support the local Salafi-jihadi insurgency in Russia, but have massively joined the Syrian jihad and the Islamic State. This article shows that religiosity and socio-cultural codes help explain why the Islamic State’s message has resonated amongst law-abiding Salafists in Dagestan. Socio-cultural codes and highland traditions in the Caucasus have acted as powerful reinforcing factors for the foreign fighter contingent. Challenging the homogeneous depiction of Salafists in Dagestan, it is shown that calls for jihad and hijra issued by the Islamic State have resonated differently with urban and rural Salafists. The former have focused on showing solidarity with Sunni Muslims under attack in Syria, whereas the latter have seen the jihad in Syria as an opportunity to enhance their devotion to Islam in line with local socio-cultural codes. Fighting in Syria has offered an acceptable alternative to the socio-cultural limitations otherwise imposed on jihad in the North Caucasus.