Radical Islam and Terrorism - Research Paper Example

and Number of the Teacher’s RADICAL ISLAM AND TERRORISM Introduction Islam focuses on performing the will of God by action and on following the law. Muslims are called to act, to struggle (jihad) to carry out their belief, to lead an obedient life, to defend religion and to help develop a just Islamic society throughout the world. The spread and defense of Islam through hijra or emigration, coupled with jihad has evolved from the early community of Muslims. When Muhammed and his companions underwent continued persecution in Mecca, they emigrated to Medina which was earlier known as Yathrib. In Medina, after regrouping and strengthening the community, Prophet Muhammed started jihad to spread and defend God’s word and rule. Thus, to overcome adversity, Muslims always followed the pattern of hijra and jihad. This was integrated with ummah or the emphasis on world-wide inter-Islamic unity, and has guided Muslims through the ages including contemporary terrorists (Esposito(1) 5). Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate radical Islam, identify the terrorists’ beliefs justifying their actions, and examine their impacts on the world. Extremist Jihad: A Misinterpretation of the Islamic Struggle Islam has the second largest number of followers among the world’s religions, and as a contrast to the religious militancy and terrorism that now symbolize the religion, Islam means “peace” and submission to God’s will. Over the centuries, Jihad has had three meanings: first, the struggle of all believers to be faithful to the religion and to lead virtuous lives; second the struggle or process of understanding and interpreting Islam; and third is the sacred struggle to defend and to spread Islam through holy war, because of which aggression has been legitimated. In conventional Islam aggression was permitted only in defence of self, of Islam or Muslim territory (Esposito(2) 131). Self-styled Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran etc, followed a rigid puritannical form of Islam that emphasized literal interpretation of the Quran, and established religious and political legitimation of extremist ideologies. Earlier key leaders such as Egypt’s Sayyid Qutb and Saudi Arabia’s Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab as well as Abdulaziz created religio-political movements to promote Islam by hijra and jihad. “Un-Islamic behavior constituted unbelief (kufr) in their eyes, which must be countered by jihad” (Esposito(1) 6). The Muslims combined military might, missionary zeal and a desire for acquiring booty, to wage wars approved by their religious leaders. The Islamists’ belief was that death in battle meant martyrdom and eternal bliss in paradise; and victory was considered as a triumph of virtue, along with acquiring booty from plunder. In the 1970s, Islamic activists such as Saudi-born Dr. Abdullah Azzam, described as the Emir or Godfather of global jihad, preached a clear message of militancy: “Jihad and the rifle alone: no negotiations, no conferences and no dialogues” (Esposito(1) 7). Contemporary extremists such as the recently eliminated Osama Bin Laden draw their fanatic ideologies from militant Islamic history. Thus, terrorism is the use of violence to create fear and intimidation, to cause social and political change (Silverman 84). Terrorist attacks by Jihad organizations all over the world: in America and the West, and also in Egypt, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in South Asia as in India, with its mindless killing of “unbelievers” in the name of a holy war, have repeatedly portrayed militant Islamic fundamentalism. These attacks of religious extremism reduce Islam to an international crusade threatening global stability and security. As a result, “Islam and the vast diversity of Muslim believers are often equated simply with fundamentalism, radicalism and terrorism” (Esposito(2) 131). There are two important concerns related to the ideology of radical Islamists and its threatening features. First, it is radically separatist; Al Qaeda “seeks to preserve a puritanical, strictly fundamentalist Islam by isolating it from the destructive influences of modern, and especially Western culture” (Biddle 8). This is because western ideas are believed to be a profound threat to the proper practice of the faith. Radical Islamists see in western concepts a permissive self-indulgence that disrespects God and corrupts humanity. Hence, the conviction is that only through removing the temptation of western ideas and culture can the community of the believers in Allah serve Him properly. The second significant feature of Al Qaeda’s ideology is its commitment to violence in its quest for political empowerment. Terrorist organizations such as Hamas or Hezbollah though violent, have far more limited political aims to install fundamentalist Islamic governments in specific states (Biddle 9). The Factors that Contribute to Extremism in the Developing World Contemporary Islam is a result of religion, faith, politics, and the economic realities of Muslim societies. Believers face the challenge of relating the relevance of their faith to the demands and realities of life today. Though some Muslims restrict religion to their personal belief and practice, most believe that Islam is a comprehensive way of life. The religion lays down rules and guidelines on personal as well as public issues: “from diet, dress, women’s status, and family values to politics, economics, and international affairs” (Esposito (2) 132). All believers have to necessarily comply with the strict codes and guidelines. However, within Islam, there exist opposing viewpoints, conflicts, differences, violence and extremism; all of which are occurring simultaneously with prayer and piety. These contradictory features within the religion pose a challenge to fully comprehend the realities of Islam. Politically, despite western-oriented political and social development in Egypt and throughout the Arab world, there was a prevalence of autocratic rule by authoritarian rulers, instead of the establishment of the legitimacy of the political regime, or promotion of national unity. Economically, poverty and illiteracy were predominant, although both western capitalism and marxist socialism had been adopted. Capitalism particularly resulted in materialism and conspicuous consumption rather than concern for equality and social justice. “Unemployment, housing shortages and a lack of political participation” (Esposito (3) 15) confronted young people who were disillusioned and frustrated, unable to find a way to build a future, based on their idealism, study and hard work. Frustration and hopelessness resulted from the declining economic conditions. The predominant reasons for militant Islam in Central Asia is the repressiveness of the Central Asian regimes. These include the impoverished countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. These governments do not broaden their political base, carry out basic democratic reforms, or allow any political opposition to their autocratic mode of government. From decreasing economic opportunities, along with rising poverty and unemployment emerge the debt-ridden societies of the region which are keen to accept any organization or party that offer them hope for a better life. The regimes increase their repression on the population, since they consider not only Islamic militancy but also Islamic practice as a threat to their grip on power. The problems in Central Asia have been aggravated not only by the continuing civil war in Afghanistan, but also by the growth of Islamic extremism and terrorism associated with the late Osama bin Laden and his Arab-Afghans who form the Al Qaeda, and have considerable influence with the Taliban, the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan and the Islamic Jihadi groups in Pakistan (Rashid 233). The fanaticism which dominates these terrorist groups spreads to the other youth in the general population. Suffering due to unemployment, poverty, hopelessness of ever achieving a fulfilling future, the youth are in a state of readiness for being recruited into the terror outfits. Even educated youth who find a complete lack of economic opportunities, are drawn into extremist activities through the spread of fanatic ideologies and also because of temptations of monetary benefits that are offered to them. The declining political, social and economic environment in the impoverished regions promotes the adoption of extremist ideologies. The drug trade from Afghanistan funds political activism and drugs also pay for the weapons used by the extremists and the radical Islamic movements (Rashid 228). This is supported by scholars such as Richardson who states that very often religion and politics integrate together to fuel the expansion of militant groups. In many Muslim societies there is a wide-spread feeling of failure and loss of self-esteem. Moreover, other issues of social and political injustice are: lack of social services, “maldistribution of wealth and corruption, combined with concerns about the preservation of religious and cultural identity and values” (Richardson 147). Frequently, these failures have been attributed to the following of western models of political and economic development, and for moral decline and spiritual lack. Wealthy Muslim nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Libya promoted their religious and ideological views by supporting mainstream as well as extremist movements. Further, according to Silverman (p.89), reactionary Islam is attractive to some Muslims because it is often the only version of Islam taught. Conclusion This paper has highlighted radical Islam which gave birth to terrorism, originating from developing countries where Islam is the predominant religion. It is evident that there are differences between the present-day extremist Jihad based on a fanatic interpretation of the Quran or holy book of the Muslims, and the original Islamic struggle to spread and defend God’s word and rule, as initiated by the Prophet Muhammed. The factors that contribute to extremism in the third world include economic conditions, educational inadequacies, fanaticism, lack of opportunities, inadequate housing, unavailability of jobs, and failure of governments to promote citizens’ interests. Unlike the majority of Islamists, a significant and dangerous minority of extremists and “jihad groups from Egypt to Indonesia such as the Al Qaeda believe that they have a mandate from God” reiterates Richardson (p.150), and they motivate and mobilize their followers to continue the holy war. It is concluded that there appears no light at the end of the tunnel of Islamic militancy. However, by concerted and decisive actions of governments across the globe against countries such as Pakistan that harbor and train militants, terrorism should be eliminated and peaceful coexistence promoted. Works Cited Biddle, Stephen. War aims and war termination. In Martin, John R. (Ed). Defeating terrorism: Strategic issue analyses. Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania: Strategic Studies Institute. (2002). Esposito, John L. (1). Unholy war: terror in the name of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press. (2003). Esposito, John L. (2). “Jihad: the struggle for Islam”. In Green, William S. & Neusner, Jacob (Eds.). The religion factor: an introduction to how religion matters. Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. (1996). Chapter 9: pp.130-148. Esposito, John L. (3). The Islamic threat: Myth or reality? Edition 2. London: Oxford University Press. (1995). Rashid, Ahmed. Jihad: the rise of militant Islam in Central Asia. The United States of America: Yale University Press. (2002). Richardson, Louise. The roots of terrorism. New York: Routledge. (2006). Silverman, Adam L. Just war, jihad, and terrorism: A comparison of western and Islamic norms for the use of political violence. Journal of Church and State, 44.1 (2002): pp.73-92. Read More