Islamic View on Terrorism
1. Introduction
Islamic View on Terrorism
The events of September 11th, 2001 brought the issue of terrorism to the forefront of world affairs in an unprecedented manner. The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon forced a new and aggressive campaign to combat terrorism worldwide. The US declared a war on terrorism. On October 7th, a war against Afghanistan was launched by the US and Britain supported by many nations in the world. The US declared list of suspects of the September 11th terrorist attacks carry Muslim names. Further, the US declared that the attacks were related to Osama Bin Laden’s organization (Al-Qaeda) and the ruling power in Afghanistan, the Taliban. In the midst of the bloody war of terrorism and counter terrorism, the religion of Islam became a center of attention for many around the world. Muslims rose to the defense of Islam in order to cleanse it from any attachments to terrorism. American top politicians from the president down to local officials rushed to insist that Islam is not the target of the war on terrorism. Various scholars (Muslims and non Muslims alike) rushed to draw similarities and/or differences between Jihad in Islam versus terrorism. Politicians worldwide, called for a distinction between terrorism and freedom fighters, experiencing success and disappointments. Many international organizations (UN, Organization of Islamic States, Organization of African Nations, League of Arab Nations, NATO) rushed to include the fight on terrorism on its agenda. Along the same line, this lecture continues to address the evil of terrorism. However, the objective of this lecture is to demonstrate how Islam resolves the issue of terrorism; how Islam defines the causes of terrorism; how Islam provides an environment that inhibits the growth of terrorism; and how Islam deals with those who commit and stand behind terrorism. This lecture
Islamic View on Terrorism
The events of September 11th, 2001 brought the issue of terrorism to the forefront of world affairs in an unprecedented manner. The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon forced a new and aggressive campaign to combat terrorism worldwide. The US declared a war on terrorism. On October 7th, a war against Afghanistan was launched by the US and Britain supported by many nations in the world. The US declared list of suspects of the September 11th terrorist attacks carry Muslim names. Further, the US declared that the attacks were related to Osama Bin Laden’s organization (Al-Qaeda) and the ruling power in Afghanistan, the Taliban. In the midst of the bloody war of terrorism and counter terrorism, the religion of Islam became a center of attention for many around the world. Muslims rose to the defense of Islam in order to cleanse it from any attachments to terrorism. American top politicians from the president down to local officials rushed to insist that Islam is not the target of the war on terrorism. Various scholars (Muslims and non Muslims alike) rushed to draw similarities and/or differences between Jihad in Islam versus terrorism. Politicians worldwide, called for a distinction between terrorism and freedom fighters, experiencing success and disappointments. Many international organizations (UN, Organization of Islamic States, Organization of African Nations, League of Arab Nations, NATO) rushed to include the fight on terrorism on its agenda. Along the same line, this lecture continues to address the evil of terrorism. However, the objective of this lecture is to demonstrate how Islam resolves the issue of terrorism; how Islam defines the causes of terrorism; how Islam provides an environment that inhibits the growth of terrorism; and how Islam deals with those who commit and stand behind terrorism. This lecture