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'''Islamist terrorism,''' also ], is ] carried out to further the political and religious ambitions of ] ]. '''Islamist terrorism,''' also ], is ] carried out to further the political and religious ambitions of ] ].

==History==
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==Organizations involved in Islamist Terrorism== ==Organizations involved in Islamist Terrorism==
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In an interview with ] 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." In an interview with ] 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."

==Concealment of intentions by Islamists==
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==Muslim opposition to terrorism== ==Muslim opposition to terrorism==

Revision as of 13:45, 13 January 2006

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Terrorism and political violence
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Islamist terrorism, also referred to as Islamic terrorism, is terrorism carried out to further the political and religious ambitions of militant Islamists.

Organizations involved in Islamist Terrorism

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Al-Qaeda is defined by most nations as an Islamist terrorism group. Formed in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, it has commited terrorism against Saudi Arabia and under the command of its founder, Osama bin Laden, orchestrated the September 11th attacks against the United States. Militantly pushing for pan-Islamic dominance, the group opposes the Saudi regime that it sees as insufficiently Islamic and too closely tied to America. Al-Qaeda claims it is engaged in a struggle against Zionism, Christianity, and the secular West.

Hamas is also known for terrorism against Israel's citizens and military. It is recognized as a terrorist group by the European Union, Canada, the United States, Israel, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and Human Rights Watch.

The United States, Israel, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia designate the Lebanese Shia Islamist organization Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The European Union designates Hezbollah's External Security Organization wing as "terrorist". The United Nations has called for the disbandment of the party's military wing. Designations of the party as "terrorist" are rejected by the Lebanese government and across the political spectrum in Lebanon.

Ideological and strategic justification for terrorism

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Islamist terrorists claim they are defending Islam and the Ummah (the Muslim community). Islamic terrorists also claim that their aggression is retaliatory to what they see as agression against Muslims coming from Israel and the United States.

Modern Islamist terrorist groups are often inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood, which was the prototype of the later Islamist groups. Some Islamist groups, notably Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad in Palestine and Al-Qaeda have used suicide bombers against civillians, soldiers, and government officials of the regimes that they oppose. Their use of suicide bombers is seen by many Muslims as contradictory to Islam's teachings. Groups who support Islamist terrorism in the form of suicide bomings often refer to such attacks as "martyrdom operations" and the suicide-bombers who commit them as "martyrs" (Arabic: shuhada, plural of "shahid"). Islamist terrorists, and their sympathisers often believe that suicide bombers, as martyrs to the cause of jihad against the infidels, are entitled to the rewards of paradise 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. Opponents of this view claim that it is wrong to kill civilians to further a political cause.

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."

Muslim opposition to terrorism

See also: Religious terrorism and Political terrorism

The extent of support for Islamist terrorism within the Muslim population is disputed. Many Muslims have denounced terrorism in all of its forms. 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."

Condemnation of Islamist terrorism is varied in scope. While the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States include Hamas and Hezbollah in their condemnation of terrorism, many Muslim leaders, as well as non-Muslims in the Middle East, do not always view such groups as terrorists. The following internet links point to denunciations of Islamist terrorism by Muslim leaders in different countries:

Abdel Rahman al-Rashed, a Muslim and the general manager of Arab news channel, 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." While statistics do show that most recent terrorist attacks were committed by Muslims, there are several active non-Muslim terrorist groups, varying in their political and religious aims.

According to journalist Johann Hari, "Two-thirds of the suicide killings committed in the past two decades were not committed by Muslims." , . Critics of this argument claim that it is misleading because Hari is referring only to to "suicide killings", and not "suicide terrorism" or "terrorism" specifically. In addition, critics often point out that Muslims commit more terrorism than any group in proportion to their fraction of the world population(estimated to be between 13% to 23%). In addition, critics also claim that Hari's statement is misleading because Islamic terrorism has been the most common form of terrorism in recent years, even if it has not been in the last two decades.

Several Muslim leaders have issued fatwa's (declarations) that declare terrorism in any form to be harām (forbidden) by Islam. However, Islamic terrorists have also issued their own fatwa's in support of Islamic terrorism.

Many Muslims claim that Islām (literally translated as 'submission') comes from the same root as 'Salām', meaning 'Peace', and that Islamic terrorism, despite its claims of martyrdom, goes against the essence of Islam. According to this view, Islamic terrorism is an oxymoron. (See also: etymology of "Islam")

Islamist ideology and theology

Islamist ideology, specifically of the militant breed, often positions itself in opposition to Western society. The United States, specifically, is greatly opposed by most Islamist terrorists, scholars, and leaders. In addition to criticizing the United States for what they see as immoral secularism, many Islamists claim that Western society is actively anti-Islamic. The cultural products of western societies, and specifically of the United States, are often criticized by Islamists for the same reasons.

The lack of authoritarian restrictions on free speech is a common Islamist criticism of western democracies. Islamists have claimed that such unrestricted free speech has led to the proliferation of pornography, immorality, secularism, homosexuality, feminism, and many other ideas that Islamists often oppose.

Islamists are often opposed to the (practitioners of) Christianity and Judaism. Some Islamists identify what they see as a historical struggle between Christianity and Islam, dating back as far as the Crusades, among other historical conflicts between practioners of the two respective religions. Many of the existant Islamist terrorism groups have as their central cause a Jihad (holy war) against Christians and Jews. An example is Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda, which is also known as 'International Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders'. Most militant Islamists oppose Israel's policies, and often its existence.

Interpretations of the Qur'an

The Qur'an, Islam's sacred text, 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."

However, the definition of "human being" becomes an issue in the interpretation of this verse. Many fundamentalist and/or militant Muslim scholars argue that the term applies only to Muslims, and that "infidels" are subhuman. Many Islamists interpret the phrase "or for creating disorder in the land" as a justification for Islamist terrorism.

Some Islamists also use the following verse as justification for terrorism against Muslims 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.

Militant Islamists sometimes justify terrorism against fellow Muslims, in particular against regimes they consider non-Islamic, on the basis that their enemies are apostates. Islamic law traditionally designated death as the penalty for apostacy from Islam. Opinions within the Muslim community vary as to the grounds on which an individual may be declared to have apostacised. The most common view among Muslim scholars is that a declaration of takfir (designation of a Muslim as an apostate) can only be made by an established religious authority. Mainstream Muslim scholars usually oppose recourse to takfir, except in rare instances. Islamist terrorists cited takfir as justification for the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Another relevant Qur'anic verse reads:

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 interpreted by Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir as forbidding attacks on non-combatants.

Use of 'Islamist' versus 'Islamic'

The use of the phrase 'Islamic terrorism' in place of 'Islamist terrorism' is contentious, with supporters of the former phrase arguing that unnecessary political correctness is the basis of the latter, and critics arguing that the second term is more specific than the first, and less offensive.

Examples of Islamist terrorist attacks

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

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

See also

Islamic terms/concepts

Commonly used techniques

Books about Islamist terrorism

External links

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