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Origin Of Modern Muslim Terrorism

Decent Essays

In the aftermath of the September 11th 2001 suicide attacks orchestrated by al-Qaeda, the 9/11 Commission Report “chose to… adopt a neo-Orientalist approach by locating Ibn Taymiyya as the root cause of the al-Qaeda phenomenon” (Lambert, 2011: 172). With al-Qaeda claiming responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, this terrorist organisation shall be the focus of the essay to ascertain whether or not the 9/11 Commission’s suggestion is supported. Section one shall explore Ibn Taymiyya’s teachings and the context in which he was writing in the 13th Century. Section two shall analyse arguments that support the 9/11 Commission. Following this, sections three, four and five shall examine sources that challenge the notion that Ibn Taymiyya’s teachings are the root of modern Muslim terrorism, due to contradictions with al-Qaeda’s ideology. Throughout, the essay holds that the origin of modern Muslim terrorism does not stem from Ibn Taymiyya’s teachings. The basis for this position is that the organisation responsible for the 9/11 attacks, al-Qaeda, has used his writings on the Mongol invasions to justify jihad against the threat of Westernisation despite al-Qaeda and Ibn Taymiyya representing “two forms of religious consciousness” (Heck, 2004: 117).

Section one shall examine the writings of Ibn Taymiyya, a thirteenth-century scholar “who had sought to impose a literal interpretation of the Quran” (Wright, 2007: 183), and the significance of the context in which he wrote. His

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