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Al Qaeda And The Islamic World Essay

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Islam is one of the world’s oldest religion with over one billion followers. There are many groups of people that classify as followers of Islam (Esposito p. 222). One group that does this is called Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is a jihad group, which is an armed struggle in defense of the Muslim community or often called terrorists (Esposito, p. 243). This jihad group was created in the late twentieth century. “Al-Qaeda began as a logistical network to support Muslims fighting against the Soviet Union during the Afghan War; members were recruited throughout the Islamic world” (Al-Qaeda 2016). Al Qaeda was not always bad as one can see that they were not created as a terrorists group but to fight against the Soviet in the nineties. After the war ended they turned into a group of Muslim that started to kill innocent people (Esposito p. 222). “When the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, the organization dispersed but continued to oppose what its leaders considered corrupt Islamic regimes and foreign (i.e., U.S.) presence in Islamic lands” (Al-Qaeda 2016). The leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, moved the group to target countries that were going against the sharia (Esposito, p. 232, Class discussion, 11/2). These attacks toward other countries will start a war against terror that would take many lives. Those who are not part of Al Qaeda would say that they are not classify as an Islamic group. However, members of Al Qaeda would say they are an Islamic group. “These

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