Examining the Roles of Muhajirahs in the Islamic State via Twitter

This qualitative study examines the experiences and roles of Western migrant women, muhajirahs, after their arrival to the Islamic State through their Twitter discourse. A total 763 tweets, from 2014 to 2016, were analyzed. This study found that IS women encouraged identity, sisterhood, and oneness; offered recruitment and migration information; and promoted IS ideology and celebrated violence. The muhajirahs were also highly tech-savvy, exhibited regenerative traits to maintain their online presence, and were well-versed in the use of secure communications as an alternate to Twitter. While these women embraced the IS ideology, their language, cultural memes, food, and social habits indicated that they still subscribed to western ideologies and influence. Finally, these muhajirahs experienced several hardships, such as cultural alienation, differential treatment, freedom and movement restrictions, and some even expressed a desire to return. This paper also discusses the dualities and contradiction in the muhajirahs' twitter discourses. The paper concludes by making a case for the relevance of qualitative research in an era of big data; and how the former can (and should) inform big data research.