A Quranic Analysis of Enemy Strategies in Hybrid Warfare, with Emphasis on Weakening Defensive Power

Document Type : Scholary

Authors

1 PhD Student in Comparative Exegesis, University of Quranic Sciences and Teachings, Qum, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Exegesis, University of Quranic Sciences and Teachings, Qum, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Exegesis, University of Quranic Sciences and Teachings, Qum, Iran

Abstract

Contemporary security developments indicate that modern threats, rather than relying solely on hard power, increasingly focus on undermining the will, beliefs, and perceptions of societies—a process that manifests within the framework of “hybrid warfare,” particularly in the form of “cognitive-media warfare.” Within this context, the defensive power of the Islamic society is a multidimensional concept that, in addition to military capability, encompasses soft, perceptual, and cognitive dimensions. The primary objective of the present study is to identify and analyze the enemy’s strategies in hybrid warfare with a focus on weakening defensive power and eroding collective will from the perspective of the Holy Quran. This research adopts a descriptive–analytical approach and employs conceptual analysis of Quranic verses alongside authoritative Quranic exegeses. The findings demonstrate that the Holy Quran, by elucidating the mechanisms of the war of wills, points to strategies such as psychological operations, rumor‑mongering, the production of despair, religious mockery, social division, cultural infiltration, political crisis‑making, and targeted economic pressure. Collectively, these strategies delineate a coherent framework of the enemy’s hybrid warfare aimed at weakening the defensive power of the Islamic society.

Keywords

References

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The Quran: Contemporary Studies
Volume 4, Issue 14
Fourth year, Number 14, Winter 2026
March 2026
Pages 87-118

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