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'''Islamist terrorism''' is ] that is carried out to further the political and religious ambitions of a segment of the ]. The term '''Islamic terrorism''' is used more commonly, especially in Western media, but some believe it to be a smear against Islam. '''Islamist terrorism''' is ] that is carried out to further the political and religious ambitions of a segment of the ]. The term '''Islamic terrorism''' is used more commonly, especially in Western media, but some believe it to be a smear against Islam.
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== Islamist ideology and theology == == Islamist ideology and theology ==

Islamist ideology often clashes with Western norms. The ] is often seen as personifying 'everything that is wrong with the modern world - and the Western secular domination of it that America has such an influence in molding'. The West is seen as inherently un-Islamic, ], ], ], and worshipping money and limitless freedom rather than God. The US, through ], ], and its perceived dominance of the ] and ], is viewed as being the greatest of the world's moral and cultural pollutants - the 'great Satan' of this modern time. Islamist ideology often clashes with Western norms. The ] is often seen as personifying 'everything that is wrong with the modern world - and the Western secular domination of it that America has such an influence in molding'. The West is seen as inherently un-Islamic, ], ], ], and worshipping money and limitless freedom rather than God. The US, through ], ], and its perceived dominance of the ] and ], is viewed as being the greatest of the world's moral and cultural pollutants - the 'great Satan' of this modern time.


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==Examples of Islamist Terrorism == ==Examples of Islamist Terrorism ==

A partial list of Islamist terrorist incidents: A partial list of Islamist terrorist incidents:


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=== Commonly used techniques === === Commonly used techniques ===

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==External links== == External links ==
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* by ], published in the ] July 26, 2005 * by ], published in the ] July 26, 2005
* report for law enforcement from the ] * report for law enforcement from the ]
* by ] And ], published in the ], September 30, 2005 * by ] And ], published in the ], September 30, 2005



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Revision as of 23:52, 1 January 2006

Part of a series on
Terrorism and political violence
By ideology
Religious
Special-interest / Single-issue
Related topics
Organizational structures
  • Methods
  • Tactics
Terrorist groups
Relationship to states
State terrorism
State-sponsored terrorism
Response to terrorism

Islamist terrorism is terrorism that is carried out to further the political and religious ambitions of a segment of the Muslim community. The term Islamic terrorism is used more commonly, especially in Western media, but some believe it to be a smear against Islam.

Use of Islamist versus Islamic

Some journalists and politicians use the terms "Islamic terrorism" and "Islamist terrorism" interchangeably, but this use is contentious; many Muslims do not accept that attacks on civilians can ever be justified by Islam. From this perspective, describing terrorism as "Islamic" is seen as insensitive, uneducated or even a slur against Islam. Although "Islamic terrorism" is commonly used by Western media to describe terror activities of a wide variety of groups, "Islamist terrorism" is perhaps a more accurate term that respects the sensitivities of Muslims in that it refers specifically to the ideology of Islamism and not to the entire religion of Islam.

The term Islamist, though often used generically for any political or militant group that uses Islam as an identity or ideology, is used by experts in a specific meaning when there is no other substitute for the word. Recently, the Western media have adopted the phrases "Islamists", "Islamic militants", and others, to refer to this.

Organizations

The first Islamist terrorist groups, as defined by the U.S., were the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and Hezbollah of Lebanon. Both organizations are also involved in a wide range of other activities from community services to mainstream political activism.

The Islamist group most closely associated with terrorism, and which has adopted terrorism as its central strategy, is Al-Qaeda. The group was formed in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan but has, as one of its primary objectives, the overthrow of the royal family of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi regime is perceived as being too closely associated with American foreign policy, particularly through granting permission to the United States to conduct military operations and establish bases on what is viewed as sacred soil. Al-Qaeda's ideology is an extreme form of Islam as a political movement, and among its ideals are pan-Islamic unity. To the group's leadership, the Saudi regime was seen as insufficiently Islamic. Such a view may seem bewildering to Westerners who often cannot imagine anything more 'Islamic' than the country's Wahhabi interpretation of Islamic law but many of the Saudi leaders are perceived as insincere and hypocritical in their practice of Islam. Also, to Al-Qaeda in particular, the world is viewed as a struggle between their extreme Islamist ideology on one hand and Zionism, Christianity and the secular West on the other.

Terrorist view

In the view of the terrorists involved, they are defending Islam and the Ummah. They believe that what they are doing is fighting agression by the west and Israel with agression. Many state that as long as terrorism against them continues, they will retaliate.

Modern Islamist terrorist groups are often inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood, which was the prototype of the later Islamist groups. Some Islamist terrorist groups, notably Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad and Al-Qaeda have employed suicide bombers as a weapon of choice. Their use of suicide bombers occurs in spite of Islamic strictures against suicide and condemnation of suicide bombings by Muslim religious authorities not affiliated with terrorist groups. These groups refer to suicide bomber attacks as martyrdom operations and the suicides are characterized as shohada (plural of "shahid"). These groups believe that suicide bombers, as martyrs to the cause of Jihad against the infidels, and entitled to the rewards of jannah for their actions.

The members of such groups are more likely to see themselves as freedom fighters rather than terrorists, as the political origins of such groups in Israel/Palestine, Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation, Chechnya and most recently post-Saddam Iraq are often connected to demands for statehood and nationalist self-determination.

In an interview with The American Conservative magazine, Robert Pape, author of the book Dying to Win, said "The central fact is that overwhelmingly suicide-terrorist attacks are not driven by religion as much as they are by a clear strategic objective: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland. From Lebanon to Sri Lanka to Chechnya to Kashmir to the West Bank, every major suicide-terrorist campaign — over 95 percent of all the incidents — has had as its central objective to compel a democratic state to withdraw."

Other Muslim views

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 The extent of support for "Islamist terrorism" within the Muslim population is disputed. Many Muslims have denounced support for terrorism. For example, the Free Muslims Coalition rallied against terror, stating that they wanted to send "a message to radical Muslims and supporters of terrorism that we reject them and that we will defeat them," while Islamist terrorism has been condemned and rejected by the leading religious leaders and groups in the United Kingdom , Australia , Canada , France , New Zealand , the United States , Germany , the Netherlands , Russia , Spain and Saudi Arabia as well as by the Organization of the Islamic Conference .

Abdel Rahman al-Rashed, the general manager of Al-Arabiya said:

It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims.

This view is not widely accepted - there are many non-Muslim terrorist groups with various political and religious backgrounds, particularly on the Indian sub-continent, in Africa and in South America. (See also Religious terrorism)

According to journalist Johann Hari, "Two-thirds of the suicide killings committed in the past two decades were not committed by Muslims."

Muslim scholars in North America, in a statement just after the September 11, 2001 attacks, wrote:

We encourage Muslim medical professionals and Muslim relief agencies to assist in whatever possible way with humanitarian and relief efforts both locally and nationally. Moreover, we urge people of diverse religious traditions, faith groups and spiritual expressions, including Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and members of other communities, to share their grief and sorrow together as one family, the human family.

In July 2005, the Fiqh Council of North America issued a fatwa that called "all acts of terrorism targeting civilians... harām in Islam" and said that "targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is harām."

Many Muslims also share the view that Islām ("submission") comes from the same root as Salām, meaning "peace", and that terrorism in the name of Islam; Islamic terrorism, is an oxymoron. (See etymology of "Islam")

Islamist ideology and theology

Islamist ideology often clashes with Western norms. The United States is often seen as personifying 'everything that is wrong with the modern world - and the Western secular domination of it that America has such an influence in molding'. The West is seen as inherently un-Islamic, immoral, perverted, secular, and worshipping money and limitless freedom rather than God. The US, through Hollywood, television, and its perceived dominance of the United Nations and NATO, is viewed as being the greatest of the world's moral and cultural pollutants - the 'great Satan' of this modern time.

Further, democracy and freedom outside Islamic boundaries is seen as a direct threat to 'true Islam', with pornography, promiscuity, money-worship, and the acceptance of 'heretics and the immoral' (homosexuals, feminism, non-believers, etc.) seen as inevitable consequences.

The Crusades still loom large in the mind of the Islamist. They see conflict with Christianity, today personified by the US-dominated West, as inevitable, and the latest chapter in a historic struggle between the two faiths. More recently the Ottoman defeat by 'Christian European armies' in the First World War, and subsequent abolition in 1924 of the Khalifa (the Islamic ruling system established since 632) are viewed as a temporary setback for Islam that has to be rectified as priority. However, many Christians share the view that modern Western culture is perverted.

The Israel issue is actually part of the broader context related to the Islamist view of Jews, based on the conviction that there is historic conflict between Judaism and Islam similar to the one with Christianity. Bin Laden's umbrella network is more correctly called the 'International Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders'. As Binyamin Netanyahu alleged in a speech to Congress on September 20th:

"The soldiers of militant Islam do not hate the West because of Israel, they hate Israel because of the West - because they see it is an island of Western democratic values in a Muslim-Arab sea of despotism. That is why they call Israel the Little Satan, to distinguish it clearly from the country that has always been and will always be the Great Satan - the United States".

The Qu'ran

The Qur'an, the highest source of authority in Islam, vehemently denounces the killing of any person who is not guilty of at least one of two crimes:

"Whosoever killed a person – unless it be for killing a person or for creating disorder in the land – it shall be as if he killed all mankind; and whoso saved a life, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind."

According to this verse of the Qur'an, if one human being is killed who is neither guilty of murdering another person nor guilty of causing disorder/strife, it would be equivalent of massacring the entire human race, which is an inconceivably barbaric crime, and a monumental sin. Some Islamist terrorists interpret the phrase "or for creating disorder in the land" as justification for the use of violence against those they view as creating disorder or disunity.

Some Islamist terrorists also use the following verse as justification for killing members of other Islamic sects:

And there are those who put up a mosque by way of mischief and infidelity - to disunite the Believers - and in preparation for one who warred against Allah and His Messenger aforetime. They will indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good; But Allah doth declare that they are certainly liars.

Hence it is possible for Islamist terrorist to justify killing fellow Muslims by first using the practise of Takfir to declare them as kafir.

Other possibly relevant Qur'anic verses include:

2.190-1: "Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loveth not transgressors. And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith."

This verse is traditionally interpreted (for example by Ibn Kathir) as forbidding attacks on non-combatants; see al-Baqara for further details.

With reference to the Hypocrites (munafiqin), a group at Medina, who are said to have pretended to be Muslims while secretly supporting their enemies, the Qur'an says:

"They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper. Except those who reach a people between whom and you there is an alliance, or who come to you, their hearts shrinking from fighting you or fighting their own people; and if Allah had pleased, He would have given them power over you, so that they should have certainly fought you; therefore if they withdraw from you and do not fight you and offer you peace, then Allah has not given you a way against them. You will find others who desire that they should be safe from you and secure from their own people; as often as they are sent back to the mischief they get thrown into it headlong; therefore if they do not withdraw from you, and (do not) offer you peace and restrain their hands, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them; and against these We have given you a clear authority."

Allegations of concealing intentions

According to The Australian, "the message the fundamentalist clerics are delivering to their supporters—mostly in Arabic—is in dramatic contrast to their public statements":

Last month, Sheik Zoud told about 400 followers in Arabic: "God grant victory to the mujaheddin in Kashmir and Chechnya, and Palestine and Afghanistan." Sheik Zoud, head of the Sydney arm of the Melbourne-based organisation Ahlus Sunnah Wal-Jamaah declared: "Inshallah (God willing), dark days will descend upon America soon."

But during a newspaper interview last year, Sheik Zoud said: "I'm against all terrorism over the world. I'm against all terrorists who kill civilian people.

"Let the Australian people relax. Why everyone make the Australian people scared from the Muslims?

Examples of Islamist Terrorism

A partial list of Islamist terrorist incidents:

U.S. State Department's list of Islamist terrorist groups

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items.

See also


religious articles

terrorism articles

Islamic Concepts

Commonly used techniques

Books on the subject of Islamist terrorism

Al Qaeda Training Manual

http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/trainingmanual.htm

External links

Links critical of the topic

Categories: