Terrorism, I Am A Muslim And I Am Against It

“Fight in the name of God and in the ‘path of god’. Combat those who disbelieve in God.” The quote above is an excerpt from Matthew Gordon’s book, “The Rise of Islam”. Throughout the course of history, many religions have had a profound effect on western civilization. During the early 5th century a religion arose that had an extremely important impact on western civilization. The Arabic prophet Muhammad founded the religion known today as Islam. Violence, diplomacy, Arabic tradition, and public law played a vital role in the rise and conquest of Islam. These four key elements that fostered the rise of Islam helped establish one of the largest religions in western civilization.

The Islamic religion is a Middle Eastern, Arabic Peninsula, based religion that originated right around the 7th c. and is based on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. The definition of the word Islam means "submission" in Arabic, and connotes the notion of a total surrender of oneself to God, Allah in the Arabic language. Individuals who practice Islam are known as Muslims, which, again in Arabic, means "one who submits to God"

Terrorism has been conducted throughout the world on numerous occasions. The groups that perform these actions come from multiple countries from all over the world. The United States even has some forms of terrorist groups and individuals. One of the biggest terrorist attacks was the destruction of the Twin Towers carried out by Al-Qaeda. Also recently there has been attacks in Paris and Great Britain, which were ISIS’s plan. The biggest terrorist organizations include the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and quite recently ISIS. The Taliban was founded in 1994, by Mullah Mohammed Omar, and they kill people in the name of jihad. Al-Qaeda was founded by Osama Bin Laden and also kill for jihad. Finally ISIS was founded recently hand continues to grow rapidly. They kill indiscriminately and how they see fit (Ppcorn, n.d.).

To understand the religion Islam the most important thing is to understand the meaning of the name. As one can see that Islam is not named after a person like in Christianity after Jesus Christ. Islam is the true religion of Allah and as such, its name represents the main principle of Allah “God” religion the total submission to the will of Allah. Islam means the submission or surrender of one’s will to the only true god worthy of worship in Arabic. Any who does this is termed a Muslim which, the word implies peace which is the natural consequence of total submission to the will of Allah (Meaning of Islam).

My definition or impression of the word “Jihad” before I watch these videos is a struggle, or a war, or a fight between someone.

This religion stressed an importance between believers and Islamic saints. 7. Jihadiyya were slave soldiers that Muhammad Ali used to execute gold searches and invasions. They were also involved in the Mahdist revolution. Their significance was their ability to deliver support to North African countries when they wanted to gain control over the mass resource and power around societies that used the Nile

In chapter six, “The Two Jihads”, of Ruthven’s book, she describes jihad as a collective obligation for Muslims, distinct from the individual duties such as prayer. This religious doctrine was formed during a time when Islamic states were at war with multiple nations and experiencing a rapid expansion. Its standards were somewhat similar to those of Roman principles of just war, rules such as sparing women, children, the sick and the weak, and those who are “People of the Book”. On the other hand, the doctrine is split into two different sectors. The sphere of Islam, or dar al-islam, and the sphere of War, otherwise known as dar al-harb.

Jihad – a dispute or war between followers of Islam faith and those who do not follow the Islam faith; a struggle within a Muslim between good and evil (Dictionary)

"Islam" is derived from the Arabic root salaama meaning peace, purity, submission and obedience. Islam stands for making peace by submitting to the will of God and obeying His law. Jews and Christians view Islam as the latest of the world's great religions. However, worldwide Muslims (sometimes written "Moslems") understand their universal religion as the "final religion" and the "primal religion."

In a religious sense, as described by the Quran and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, jihad has many meanings. It can refer to internal as well as external efforts to be a

Jihad as a political word was first recorded during the struggle of the Meccan establishment by Prophet Mohammed. The early movement of Muslims, first under their Prophet and later his passing, advanced both religion and political dynamics. In addition to the five tenets of faith, the organizations of the community were centered on structure, movements, decision-making systems and political agendas. The five pillars of the faith are: witness, prayer, pilgrimage, alms, fasting. Jihad main interest is the global jihad and they were looking for pure jihad. They have continued to dominate the scene in South Asia and the Middle East, their influence has reduced in the western diaspora.

The connection between Islam and terrorism was not intensified until the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center that pushed the Islamic faith into the national and international spotlight (Smith, 2013). As Smith (2013) articulated, “Many Americans who had never given Islam a second thought before 9/11 now had to figure out how to make sense of these events and relate to the faith tradition that ostensibly inspired them” (p. 1). One way in which people made sense of these events was through the media channels that influenced their overall opinions by shaping a framework of censored ideas (Yusof, Hassan, Hassan & Osman, 2013). In a survey conducted by Pew Forum (2012), 32% of people reported that their opinions of Muslims were greatly influenced by the media’s portrayal of Islam that depicted violent pictorials and fundamentalist Muslims. Such constant negative depiction is likely to lead to the inevitable—prejudice and hate crime. For instance, in 2002 alone there were approximately 481 hate crimes that were carried out against Muslims (Smith, 2013). Ever since the 9/11 attacks Muslim people have been the target of “suspicion, harassment and discrimination” (Talal, n.d., p. 9).

The beauty of Jihad is hidden behind the supposed meaning which is “holy war” in actuality there is so much more to jihad, it is a way in which Muslims can struggle and strive for our creator Allah (swt). What makes me sad is the misinterpretation of the word; the media has made it look like a militaristic concept when in reality it is to struggle in the name of Allah (swt) and Islam. Hopefully reading this will help us better understand the word Jihad.

The concept of Jihad was not widely known in the western world before the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Since then, the word has been woven into what our media and government feed us along with notions of Terrorism, Suicide Bombings, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and now, Jihad. Our society hears exhortations resounding from the Middle East calling the people to rise up in Jihad and beat back the imperialist Americans. Yet, if we try to peel back all of these complex layers of information we can we attempt to find out what Jihad really means. Webster’s Dictionary defines Jihad as “a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty or a crusade for a principle or belief” (1). Often, media depicts

There are many interpretations of the word Jihad, but the most common literal translation from Arabic to English is "struggle." Many interpret the idea of a Jihad as a holy war. While holy war may be part of the struggle of Muslims, it is not the entirety of Jihad. In its primary sense, Jihad is an internal struggle to rid oneself of debased actions or inclinations and devote