The Root of Modern Muslim Terrorism

Modern terrorism, as deduced from this literature, is acts to violence strategically used by secular groups spanning international borders with the aim of achieving a desired outcome. Further, it can be seen as organized activity whose genesis can be traced back to the 1880’s. From then to now there are identifiable traits and patterns observed from different (terrorist) groups which have allowed for the conceptualization of the term modern terrorism. This concept therefore, can be best explained in the context of being a wave or having a life cycle. That means it is a cycle of activity demarked by phases from inception and expands along the way then eventually it declines. The world, thus far, has experienced four waves of modern

This article by Isabelle Duyvesteyn starts off by summarising the objectives that challenge the perspective of terrorism since the last decade of the twentieth century is fundamentally new. In this article certain questions have been debated regarding new aspects of terrorism and they are: “transnational nature of the perpetrators and their organizations, their religious inspiration, fanaticism, use of weapons of mass destruction and their indiscriminate targeting.” ("How New Is the New Terrorism?", 2017)In order to understand the depth of aspects of new terrorism the article talks about “national and territorial focus of the new terrorists, their political motivations, use of conventional weaponry and the symbolic targeting that is aimed in order to achieve a surprising effect.” ("How New Is the New Terrorism?", 2017)

This paper will discuss religious terrorism in particular. Religious terrorism can be defined as “the terrorism [is] carried out based on motivations and goals that have a predominantly religious character or influences.” (“Religious Terrorism”) An example of this will be the 9/11 attacks. It was “a series of four coordinated terrorist attack launched by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.”(“September 11 attacks”) This attack had led to a serious causality, “almost 3000 people dies in the attacks.” (“September 11 attacks”) Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, declared a “holy war against the United States” (“September 11 attacks”) In his “letter to America”, he stated the motives as follows: In opposition to western support for attacking Muslims in Somalia; supporting the Indian oppression against Muslims in Kashmir; the Jewish aggression against Muslims in Lebanon; the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia; U.S support of Israel and the sanction against Iraq. (“September 11 attacks”) The disastrous attack leads to a serious attention of re-constructing the old version of counter terrorism strategy, which had failed to protect the citizens against terrorism. However, ‘terrorism is far to complex for one solution to be effective in dealing with all the possible threats.” (Lygutas 146) Therefore, some of the measures have difficulties in balancing the rights of

“Terrorism's particularly heinous but highly attractive means to achieve political objectives or even radically restructure political foundations is manifest within societies in all reaches of the world. While the practical application of terrorist methodologies comes across as a relatively straightforward craft, the conceptual and ideological understanding, and subsequent evaluation of its socio-political influence, implementation, and psychological impacts present difficult questions, and in some cases conceivably insurmountable obstacles” (Romaniuk 2014, para

During the round table discussion, I learned many things about what’s really going on with Isis and the possible results of this terrorism. Some things I absorbed from Isis consist of how they want to try and pick a fight with everyone around them and how they are trying to make the end of times occur. The roots of terrorism goes back centuries. Some professors stated that Isis is only trying to get America’s undivided attention by doing all of this unnecessary damage. Dr. Parker claimed that they have enticed the use of social media to inflict fear upon the American population, and those around them. President Obama claimed in a speech that Isis had been contained, and then they attacked Paris which brought complete surprise upon everyone

I chose to read Knowing the Enemy: Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror written by Mary Habeck. This book attempts to educate the reader not only about the Qur’an and the Islamic faith, but it offers insight as to why nineteen men took it upon themselves to cause such agony to the United States. Many people around the world do not understand what would provoke these men to carry out a devious plot to cause so much harm to the American people. Habeck describes the history behind the Qur’an, how it has been interpreted, and how it has been used as a tool to justify the heinous acts that have occurred throughout time, primarily focusing on the events that unfolded on September 11, 2001. Habeck served as an associate professor in strategic studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies teaching courses on military history and strategic thought. She also taught American and European military history at Yale University. During 2006 to 2013, she was appointed by President George W. Bush to the National Council on the Humanities. During 2008 to 2009 she served as the special advisor for strategic planning on the National Security Council staff.

Religious extremism is often assumed the major cause of terrorism. This assumption became justifiable in the minds of numerous people because the terrorist groups are frequently associated with a religious organization, such as Islam. However, the focus on religion deters from other plausible explanations that cause terrorism. Although, religious extremism is a popular belief of the cause of terrorism, I pose it is not a major cause of terrorism due to the errors with misrepresented claims and support, the overlook of material interests, and the motivational incentives.

The issues pertaining to terrorism and Muslims is an issue that has been topic of conversation in many American homes, and it’s an issue that needs to be addressed. It was important to hear that Raheem is a Christian, and has pride in her country. Rheims concern was about Muslims misconceptions about Christians, and Christian’s misconceptions about Muslims, was a valid concern. People are often swayed by media opinion, and portrayal. I know for me that most of what I learned early on about Muslims was through the media.

Religion also play a big part in domestic terrorism. The media portrays that terrorism always have something to do with religion, and what comes in our mind when we think about a terrorist is their link to Islam. The bias reports by the media on this issue made us believe that domestic terrorist follows the beliefs of the Muslim religion. The white supremacist group known as Aryan Nations has always parade their beliefs on Christianity religion. According to Borgeson (2012), “ Aho (1990), in The Politics of Righteousness, focused on cultural elements of Christian Identity members and discussed the demographic characteristics that were influential in bringing people to Christian Identity, the religious beliefs of the Aryan Nations”, (p. 4).

Terrorist organizations across the globe have adapted to how the world views them, and are learning how to deter their actions from looking like anything more than political movements. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is a prime example of this, as it has won the opinions of many diplomats and state leaders to believe that ideologies and actions supported by the Brotherhood come up short of what it means to represent terrorism. The struggle to determine whether or not organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood are in fact terrorists arises when they claim that their ideologies are equal and opportunistic for all, and that violence and horrid actions are not representative of the whole group, but the simple act of deterrence does not alter the truth; however hard the group tries to claim ignorance to violence and reverence to peace, when historical evidence and

Equality and religious freedom are part of America's bedrock principles. They are embraced in our Constitution. However, recently we have seen an upward momentum of fear justifying discrimination against Muslims. This has resulted in the unreasonable surveillance, racial profiling, and immigration policies directed towards American citizens, especially Muslims. From commonplace discrimination to attacks on Islamic centers and biased congressional hearings, Muslims in America are being unjustly targeted simply for exercising their constitutional right to religious freedom

One can scarcely turn on the television, or the radio, or open up a web browser without the mention of Islamic terrorism or unrest around the world. Though the United States and the rest of the world may not be engaged in a protracted religious war, for radical Muslim fundamentalist they are. Bernard Lewis brings to light possible reasons for the issues facing the world dealing with Islamic terrorism. The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror explains these issues in historical context as well as how some of the actions professed in the name of Islam and claim to

Walter Laqueur’s book, “The New Terrorism: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction”, is empowering readers with the entire spectrum of terrorism. The reasons behind terrorism are not easy to understand, but Laqueur goes into great detail to try and bring the reader to an understanding of what the terrorist is thinking in order to justify the means to the end.

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).

After 9/11 has induced negative attitudes towards Muslim peoples who tend to be strongly associated with any act of terrorism. The media has played a colossal role in developing such negative association wherein it constantly portrays Muslim people in combination with violent terrorist acts. It does so in a way that they both go hand-and-hand. In other words, it has made it as though the Islamic religion is synonymous with terrorism. The media has perpetuated Muslim stereotypes over the years that followed the 9/11 incident. Because of this, society has developed, and still has developed, this prejudiced mindset about the Islamic religion and the Muslim communities around the world. People immediately assume that any violent act being