This final chapter summarises the book's contents and draws conclusions about both al-Maqdisi's quietist Jihadi-Salafism and broader ones that can be drawn from the preceding chapters. As such, this chapter shows that despite the book's focus on one individual ideologue, a close and detailed look at his writings and his influence makes clear that there are wider implications.

This book deals with the Palestinian-Jordanian ideologue Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, whose guiding ideology – Salafism – plays an important role throughout the book. Salafis are referred to as such because they feel the duty to emulate the first three generations of Muslims – al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ – as meticulously and in as many spheres of life as possible. They believe this can be achieved by adhering closely to a strict ʿaqīda and its correct manhaj of application in various contexts. By emphasising tawḥīd, rejecting alleged bidaʿ, advocating a literal reading of the Qurʾān and ḥadīths and dismissing taqlīd of the madhāhib in favour of ijtihād when no conclusive textual answer can be found, Salafis believe they can live up to the supposed ideal embodied by the salaf. This seemingly clear-cut ideological basis obscures huge disagreements between Salafis, however. To clarify these disagreements, three different types of Salafis have been distinguished: quietists or purists, who advocate a peaceful and non-political manhaj in society through education and daʿwa; politicos, who engage in political debates and sometimes even participate in elections; and jihadis, who combine Salafi ideology with the belief that jihad is not limited to waging war on non-Muslims but may also mean fighting against supposedly apostate Muslim rulers. This study argues that this distinction is a useful one but also that it obscures the differences within and the similarities between the individual categories, and that this does not just apply to manhaj but also to ʿaqīda. Al-Maqdisi is a prime example of this, combining a Jihadi-Salafi basic creed and method with a strong preference for sources, arguments, concepts and methodological applications rooted in the quietist tradition. This is why al-Maqdisi may be more accurately referred to as a ‘quietist Jihadi-Salafi’.