The Al-Naba’ Project is the work of a very small team that collectively has over three decades’ experience in the Middle East working in Arabic-English translation, media and counter extremism.
Why Al-Naba’?
Al-Naba’ weekly newsletter is the single largest body of written propaganda produced by arguably the most significant terrorist organization of our times. Since edition number 1 in October 2015, it has been published every week without fail, reaching its 300th edition in August 2021.
As Islamic State’s principle Arabic-language vehicle, Al-Naba’ targets an audience of core support. It remains understudied, however, and strikingly so when compared to ISIS’ English-language magazines Dabiq and Rumiyah, which ceased publication in 2016 and 2017 while reaching 15 and 13 issues respectively. (See also the Glossary entry for النبأ).
The reasons for this are obvious. Al-Naba’ is in Arabic, requiring language skills that many researchers do not have access to. Additionally, for researchers with Arabic-language skills, Al-Naba’ poses numerous problems. In terms of vocabulary, the reader needs to be acquainted with a range of highly localised and political vocabulary related to Iraq, Syria and other countries, as well as an array of religious and military language that falls outside the domain of the average competent non-native user.
Most importantly, when it comes to Islamic State’s ideology or jihadi ideologies in general, the inexperienced reader may not even recognise that certain words they are reading carry a significance far more loaded than they appear. (To that end, we recommend that users of the Glossary click also on the links for words that they already know the meaning of. The purpose of the project is to reveal how Al-Naba’ (and hence ISIS) understands such words or terms, not to provide objective understandings of linguistic units.) The Al-Naba’ Project hopes to go some way in helping to address those problems.
Additionally, as a contained body of propaganda, Al-Naba’ is an excellent introduction to the language and ideology of contemporary jihadist terrorist organizations, and despite their differences, a vast amount of the language, style, concepts and references found in Al-Naba’ are recognisable across the jihadist spectrum. An understanding of how they play into the beliefs, identities and thinking of Islamic State necessarily enables insight into the propaganda output of other jihadi groups.
Potential
Our resources are extremely limited (to say nothing of our limited tech skills), but with added assistance the content of the project as it stands could grow considerably faster. More significantly, the Glossary could be expanded to include translations into other major languages such as French or German. Additionally, the same concept could be applied to other major publications from the likes of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, thereby adding Urdu to Arabic as the primary source languages.
Content from the Glossary and Analysis sections could also be used as the basis for drawing up a language course with a special focus on the Arabic of Islamic extremism. Analysis content could be targeted upon request to serve specific needs identified by researchers or CVE organisations. A list of key words and phrases could be updated weekly to assist efforts in the removal of content from social media platforms. Content could be collected to expose narratives that counter the ones jihadists use to target vulnerable persons. Similar content could be used in prevention campaigns in vulnerable communities…
These are just a handful of the myriad ways in which we imagine the value of the project increasing. The most valuable uses, however, will be those identified by users themselves, and to that end we welcome all ideas, suggestions and enquiries at info@alnabaproject.com.