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EspañolISLAMIST TERRORISM
(Redirected from Islamic terrorists)
'Islamist terrorism' (also known as 'Islamic terrorism' or 'Jihadist terrorism') is terrorism - an act of violence targeting non-combatants - done by a person or group identifiably Islamic, and/or to further the cause of Islamism as determined by the acts' perpetrators and supporters.
According to statistics gathered by the National Counterterrorism Center of the United States, Islamic extremism was responsible for approximately 57% of terrorist fatalities and 61% of woundings worldwide in 2004 and early 2005, where a terrorist perpetrator could be specified. [1]
Extremist acts have included airline hijacking, beheading, kidnapping, assassination, roadside bombing, suicide bombing, and occasionally rape.[2][3]
One of the most notable Islamist terrorist campaigns was the 9/11 attack on the United States. Less prominent Islamist attacks have occurred in France, Russia and China. France was the focus of terrorism in the mid 1990s from the Algerian civil war. Russia faced terrorist attacks stemming from its involvement in Chechnya. In 1997 the Chinese government set up the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to combat radical Islamic movements in Central Asia.[4]
Islamist terrorist activity is usually referred to as jihad (struggle). Threats, including death threats, are often issued as fatwas, (Islamic legal judgments). Both Muslims and non-Muslims have been among the targets and victims. Threats against Muslims are often issued as takfir (a declaration that someone or some thing considered Muslim is in fact an unbeliever). This is an implicit death threat as the punishment for apostasy in Islam is death, under traditional interpretations of Sharia law.
The controversies surrounding the subject include: whether the motivation of the terrorists or alleged terrorists is self-defense or offensive expansion, national self-determination or Islamic supremacy; what targets of the terrorists or alleged terrorists are noncombatants; whether Islam condones, or sometime condones terrorism; whether some attacks are Islamist terrorism, or only terrorist acts done by Muslims; how much support there is in the Muslim world for what kinds of Islamic terrorism; whether the Arab-Israeli Conflict is the root of Islamic terrorism, or simply one cause.[5]
__TOC__
Al-Qaeda is a worldwide pan-Islamic terrorist network headed by Osama bin Laden and is most famous for orchestrating the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States. It
now operates in more than 60 countries. Its stated aim is the use of jihad to defend Islam against Zionism, Christianity, the secular West, and Muslim governments such as Saudi Arabia, which it sees as insufficiently Islamic and too closely tied to America.[6][7][8][9]
Formed in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1980s by bin Laden and Muhammad Atef, Al Qaeda called for the use of violence against civilians and military of the United States and any countries that are allied with it.[10] Since its formation Al Qaeda has committed a number of terrorist acts in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Although once supported by the Taliban organization in Afghanistan, the U.S. and British governments never considered the Taliban to have been a terrorist organization.[11][12]
Main articles: Fatah al-Islam
Fatah al-Islam is an Islamist group operating out of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon. It was formed in November 2006 by fighters who broke off from the pro-Syrian Fatah al-Intifada, itself a splinter group of Fatah, and is led by a Palestinian fugitive militant named Shaker al-Abssi.[13] The group's members have been described as militant jihadists,[14] and the group itself has been described as a terrorist movement that draws inspiration from al-Qaeda.1314[15] Its stated goal is to reform the Palestinian refugee camps under Islamic sharia law,[16] and its primary targets are Israel and the United States.13 Lebanese authorities have accused the organization of being involved in the February 13, 2007 bombing of two minibuses that killed three people, and injured more than 20 others, in Ain Alaq, Lebanon,15 and identified four of its members as having confessed to the bombing.
Hamas, ("zeal" in Arabic and an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya), began support for attacks on military and civilian targets in Israel at the beginning of the Intifada in 1987. As the Muslim Brotherhood organization for Palestine its leadership was made up of "intellectuals from the devout middle class,... respectable religious clerics, doctors, chemists, engineers, and teachers.[17]
The 1988 charter of Hamas calls for the destruction of Israel,[18] although its public spokespeople do not, and its "military wing" has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in Israel. Hamas has also been accused of sabotaging the Israeli-Palestine peace process by launching attacks on civilians during Israeli elections to anger Israeli voters and facilitate the election of harder-line Israeli candidates. For example, "a series of spectacular suicide attacks by Palestinians that killed 63 Israelis and led directly to the election victory of Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party on May 29, 1996."[19]
Hamas justifies these attacks as necessary in fighting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, and as responses to Israeli attacks on Palestinian targets. The wider movement also serves as a charity organization and provides services to Palestinians.[20]
Hamas has been designated as a terrorist group by the European Union, Canada, the United States, Israel, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and Human Rights Watch. Opponents of this view claim that Israel is not a legitimate state because of the conditions of its establishment after World War II.
Hezbollah is a Shi'a militia, political party, and social services provider based in Lebanon. The United States has accused it of being responsible for the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing of French and U.S. peacekeeping troops, and the April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut. Hezbollah denies any connection to the bombings.
Throughout most of the Arab and Muslim worlds Hezbollah is regarded as a legitimate resistance movement.[21] The Lebanese government also recognized it as a legitimate resistance against occupation of Lebanese land by Israel.[22] The United States, Canada, Israel and the Netherlands regard Hezbollah as a "terrorist" organization, while the United Kingdom and Australia consider only Hezbollah's external security organization to be a terrorist organization.
Hezbollah is thought to have inspired Al Qaeda with the idea of similtaneous terror attacks.
Main articles: Islamic Jihad
Islamic Jihad is an Islamist group based in the Syrian capital, Damascus. A Shiite terrorist organisation with strong ties to Iran, Islamic Jihad aims to create a fundamentalist Islamic state in Lebanon. In the Western world, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is the organization usually meant by the term "Islamic Jihad", due to the widespread media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This organization is led by Sheikh Abdullah Ramadan.
Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba is a militant group that seeks the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. It has committed mass militant actions against Indian troops and civilian Hindus.[23]
The Lashkar leadership describes Indian and Israeli regimes as the main enemies of Islam, claiming India and Israel to be the main enemies of Pakistan.[24] Lashkar-e-Toiba, along with Jaish-e-Mohammed, another militant group active in Kashmir are on the United States’ foreign terrorist organizations list. They are also designated as terrorist groups by the United Kingdom,[25] India, Australia[26] and Pakistan.[27]
Some of these groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, have limited their acts to localized regions of the Middle East, while others, notably Al-Qaeda, have an international scope for their terrorist activities.
Main articles: Suicide attack
An increasingly popular tactic used by terrorists is suicide bombing.[28] This tactic is used against civilians, soldiers, and government officials of the regimes the terrorists oppose. The use of suicide bombers is seen by many Muslims as contradictory to Islam's teachings; however, groups who support its use often refer to such attacks as "martyrdom operations" and the suicide-bombers who commit them as "martyrs" (Arabic: shuhada, plural of "shahid"). The bombers, and their sympathizers often believe that suicide bombers, as martyrs to the cause of jihad against the enemy, will receive the rewards of paradise for their actions.[29] In addition to suicide bombings, several groups have also utilized remote car bombings as well as timed explosions in public or government buildings.
The hijacking of passenger vehicles such as cars, buses, and planes has also become a hallmark of Islamist terrorism,[30] particularly as a result of the simultaneous hijacking of the four passenger jets utilized in the September 11th terrorist attacks as well as the hijacking of a Belgian airlines jet during the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre.
Along with bombings and hijackings, Islamist terrorists have made extensive use of highly-publicised kidnappings and executions, often circulating videos of the acts for use as propaganda. Notable foreign victims include Nick Berg, Daniel Pearl, Paul Marshall Johnson, Jr., Eugene Armstrong, Jack Hensley, Kim Sun-il, Kenneth Bigley, Shosei Koda, Fabrizio Quattrocchi, Margaret Hassan. One Iraqi victim was Seif Adnan Kanaan. The most frequent form of execution by these groups has been decapitations, often committed while shouting the Islamic chant, "Allahu Akbar" (Arabic for God is greatest). While some targets are military, or seen as supporting the anti-Islamist forces, victims are also as varied as the Red Cross [2], the Iraqi education ministry [3] and diplomats[4].
To what extent Islamist terrorists are motivated by religious belief is disputed.
Robert Pape, author of the book '', has argued that at least terrorists utilizing suicide-homicide attacks -- a particularly effectiveFor example, according to Pape, from 1980 to 2003 suicide attacks amounted to only 3% of all terrorist attacks, but accounted for 48% of total deaths due to terrorism - this excluding 9/11 attacks, from Pape, ''Dying to Win,'' (2005), p.28 form of terrorist attack -- are driven by nationalism, not Islam. They
Critics of Pape's theory argue it explains some but not all suicide bombings. It does not account for the lack of suicide bombings in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in Israel for nearly 30 years after the occupation began, for the targeting of native, non-combatant Shia by jihadi bombers in Iraq, the prominence of British-born Pakistanis in bombings in London, or of North Africans, and especially Moroccans, in the second wave of al-Qaeda attackers.[32]
Some supporters of Palestinian political violence have claimed that citizens of Israel are legitimate military targets because Jewish adolescents are required by law to serve in the country's military.
Another author, forensic psychiatrist and former foreign service officer Marc Sageman, made an "intensive study of biographical data on 172 participants in the jihad," in his book Understanding Terror Networks. He concluded "social networks", the "tight bonds of family and friendship" rather than behavioral disorders "poverty, trauma, madness, [or] ignorance" inspired alienated young Muslims to join the jihad" and kill.[33]
Main articles: Neofascism and religion#Islam
Tenets of Islamist terrorism have been summarized by one counterterrorist as being:
★ A belief that Muslims have deviated from true Islam and must return to “pure Islam” as originally practiced during the time of the Prophet.
★ The path to “pure Islam” is only through a literal and strict interpretation of the Quran and Hadith, along with implementation of the Prophet’s commands.
★ Muslims should interpret the original sources individually without being bound to follow the interpretations of Islamic scholars.
★ That any interpretation of the Quran from a historical, contextual perspective is a corruption, and that the majority of Islamic history and the classical jurisprudential tradition is mere sophistry.[34]
Transnational Islamist ideology, specifically of the militant Islamists, assert a Western polities and society are actively anti-Islamic, or as it is sometimes described, waging a war on Islam. Islamists often identify what they see as a historical struggle between Christianity and Islam, dating back as far as the Crusades, among other historical conflicts between practitioners of the two respective religions. Osama bin Laden, for example, almost invariably describes his enemy as aggressive and his call for action against them as defensive. Defensive jihad differs from offensive jihad in being "fard al-ayn," or a personal obligation of all Muslim, rather than "fard al-kifaya", a communal obligation, which if some Muslims perform it is not required from others. Hence, framing a fight as defensive has the advantage both of appearing to be a victim rather than aggressor, and of giving your struggle the very highest religious priority for all good Muslims.
Many of the violent Islamist groups use the name of Jihad to fight against Christians and Jews. An example is Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda, which is also known as 'International Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders'. Most militant Islamists oppose Israel's policies, and often its existence.
In addition, Islamist Jihadis, scholars, and leaders opposed Western society for what they see as immoral secularism. Islamists have claimed that such unrestricted free speech has led to the proliferation of pornography, immorality, secularism, homosexuality, feminism, and many other ideas that Islamists often oppose. Although bin Laden almost always emphasized the alleged oppression of Muslims by America and Jews when talking about them in his messages, in his "Letter to America" he answered the question, "What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?," with
The role played by the Qur'an, Islam's sacred text, in opposing attacks on civilians or in encouraging them is hotly disputed.
Examples of verses from the Quran which have been quoted to justify attacks on civilians include
(These were provided by Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar as an explanation for his (unsuccessful) attempt to kill civilians.)[36]
Justification for terrorism against other Muslims by militant Islamists, in particular against Muslim regimes they consider non-Islamic, is often based on the contention that the targets are apostates.[37] Osama Bin Laden, for example, maintains that any Muslim who helps "infidels over Muslims" is no longer a Muslim,
and that Taliban Afghanistan (no longer in existence "is the only Islamic country" in the world.[39] Islamic law traditionally designates death as the penalty for apostasy (converting) from Islam.
Opinions within the Muslim community vary as to the grounds on which an individual may be declared to have apostatized. The most common view among Muslim scholars is that a declaration of takfir (designation of a Muslim as an apostate) can only be made by an established religious authority. Mainstream Muslim scholars usually oppose recourse to ''takfir'', except in rare instances. ''Takfir'' was used as justification for the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
Criticism of Islamic terrorism on Islamic grounds has been made by anti-terrorist Muslims such as Abdal-Hakim Murad:
One counter-terrorism scholar, Dale C. Eikmeier, points out the "questionable religious credentials" of many Islamist theorists, or "Qutbists," which can be a "means to discredit them and their message":
Yemeni Judge Hamoud Al-Hitar has also attacked the Islamic intellectual basis of terrorism using hujjat or proof "in theological dialogues that challenge and then correct the wayward beliefs" of terrorists or would-be terrorists.[42]
Some see a distinct difference between actions such as the September 11th attacks on the US, which most denounce, and actions such as Hezbollah's rocket attacks in response to Israeli incursions into Lebanon, which many support and don't even regard as terrorism but recognize as defensive Jihad which means legitimate resistance movement.[43][44]
In parliamentary election of January 2006, 57% of Palestinians voted for Hamas,[45] which is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, United States, Canada, and the European Union and responsible for a number of attacks against Israeli civilians. However, most Palestinians regard Hamas as a resistance movement whose attacks on Israel are a result of the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian territories, and a response to the continuing development of Israeli Settlements. In addition, observers are divided over whether the election results represent support for the organization's militia tactics, support for the organization's social programs, or dissatisfaction with the previous government which was widely seen as corrupt and incompetent. A public opinion survey released following the election, indicated that nearly three quarters of Palestinians believe that Hamas should change its policy regarding the destruction of Israel and 84% of Palestinians support a peace agreement with Israel. Among Hamas voters, 73% of respondents supported a peace agreement with Israel. However, Hamas has ruled out removing the clause in its constitution which demands the destruction of Israel.[46]
A 2005 Pew Research study that involved 17,000 people in 17 countries showed support for terrorism was declining in the Muslim world along with a growing belief that Islamic extremism represents a threat to those countries.[47] A Daily Telegraph survey[48] showed that 6% of British Muslims fully supported the July 2005 bombings in the London Underground.
A 2004 Pew survey revealed that Osama bin Laden is viewed favorably by large percentages in Pakistan (65%), Jordan (55%) and Morocco (45%). In Turkey as many as 31% say that suicide attacks against Americans and other Westerners in Iraq are justifiable.[49][50]
The Free Muslims Coalition[51] rallied against terror, stating that they wanted to send "a message to radical Muslims and supporters of terrorism that we reject them and that we will defeat them."
Abdel Rahman al-Rashed, a Muslim and the general manager of Arab news channel, Al-Arabiya has said: "It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims." Statistics compiled by the United States government's Counterterrorism Center present a more complicated picture: of known and specified terrorist incidents from the beginning of 2004 through the first quarter of 2005, slightly more than half of the fatalities were attributed to Islamic extremists but a majority of over-all incidents were considered of either "unknown/unspecified" or a secular political nature. The vast majority of the "unknown/unspecified" terrorism fatalities did however happen in Islamic regions such as Iraq and Afghanistan, or in regions where Islam is otherwise involved in conflicts such as the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, southern Thailand and Kashmir.The methodology employed by the Center is sometimes disputed and the center has been accused of responding to political pressure from the Bush administration to show a decline in terrorism.[52]
Iranian Ayatollah Ozma Seyyed Yousef Sanei issued a fatwa (ruling) that suicide attacks against civilians are legitimate only in the context of war.[53] The ruling did not say whether other types of attacks against civilians are justified outside of the context of war, nor whether Jihad is included in Sanei's definition of war.
On the other hand, Fethullah Gulen, a prominent Turkish Islamic scholar, has claimed that "a real Muslim," who understood Islam in every aspect, could not be a terrorist.[54][55] There are many other people with similar points of view such as Karen Armstrong,[56] Prof. Ahmet Akgunduz,[57] and Harun Yahya[58]
Fred Halliday, a British academic specialist on the Middle East, argues that most Muslims consider these acts to be egregious violations of Islam's laws.[59]
★ 4 September 1972 - Munich Olympic Massacre.
★ 18 April 1983 - April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. 63 killed.
★ 26 February 1993 - World Trade Center bombing. 6 killed.
★ 24 December 1994 - Air France Flight 8969 hijacking in Algiers by 3 members of Armed Islamic Group and another terrorist. 7 killed including 4 hijackers.
★ 25 June 1996 - Khobar Towers bombing, 20 killed, 372 wounded.
★ 7 August 1998 - 1998 United States embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. 224 dead. 4000+ injured.
★ 11 September 2001 - September 11, 2001 attacks 4 planes hijacked and crashed into World Trade Center and The Pentagon by 19 hijackers. Nearly 3000 dead.[60]
★ 13 December 2001 - Suicide attack on India's parliament in New Delhi. Aimed at eliminating the top leadership of India and causing anarchy in the country. Allegedly done by Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist organizations, Jaish-E-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba.
★ 3 March 2002 - Suicide bomb attack on a Passover Seder in a Hotel in Netanya, Israel. 29 dead, 133 injured
★ 9 March 2002 - Café suicide bombing in Jerusalem; 11 killed, 54 injured.
★ 7 May 2002 - Bombing in al-Arbaa, Algeria. 49 dead, 117 injured.
★ 24 September 2002 - Machine Gun attack on Hindu temple in Ahmedabad, India. 31 dead, 86 injured.[61][62]
★ 12 October 2002 - Bombing in Bali nightclub. 202 killed, 300 injured.
★ 16 May 2004 - Casablanca Attacks - 4 simultaneous attacks in Casablanca killing 33 civilians (mostly Moroccans) carried by Salafaia Jihadia.
★ 11 March 2004 - Multiple bombings on trains near Madrid, Spain. 191 killed, 1460 injured. (alleged link to Al-Qaeda)
★ 3 September 2004 Approximately 344 civilians including 186 children, are killed during the Beslan school hostage crisis. name="last_casualty"> Woman injured in 2004 Russian siege dies [63]
★ 4 February 2005 - Muslim militants attacked the Christian community in Demsa, Nigeria, killing 36 people, destroying property and displacing an additional 3000 people.
★ 7 July 2005 - Multiple bombings in London Underground. 53 killed by four suicide bombers. Nearly 700 injured.
★ 23 July 2005 - Bomb attacks at Sharm el-Sheikh, an Egyptian resort city, at least 64 people killed.
★ 29 October 2005 - 29 October 2005 Delhi bombings. Over 60 killed and over 180 injured in a series of three attacks in crowded markets and a bus, just 2 days before the Diwali festival.[64]
★ 9 November 2005 - 2005 Amman bombings. Over 60 killed and 115 injured, in a series of coordinated suicide attacks on hotels in Amman, Jordan.[65][66] Four attackers including a husband and wife team were involved.[67]
★ 7 March 2006 - 2006 Varanasi bombings. An attack attributed to Lashkar-e-Toiba by Uttar Pradesh government officials, over 28 killed and over 100 injured, in a series of attacks in the Sankath Mochan Hanuman temple and Cantonment Railway Station in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi.[68] Uttar Pradesh government officials.
★ Abu Sayyaf, Philippines
★ Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, Gaza Strip and West Bank
★ Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, Egypt (also known as The Islamic Group)
★ Al-Qaeda, worldwide
★ Ansar al-Islam, Iraq
★ Armed Islamic Group (GIA), Algeria
★ Army of Ansar al-Sunna, Iraq
★ AZF, France
★ East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), China
★ Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Egypt
★ Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, Egypt
★ Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front (IBDA-C), Turkey
★ Hamas, Gaza Strip and West Bank
★ Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al-Alami, Pakistan
★ Hezbollah, Lebanon
★ Islamic Movement of Central Asia, Central Asia
★ Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan
★ Jaish-e-Mohammed, Pakistan and Kashmir
★ Jemaah Islamiyah, Indonesia
★ Lashkar-e-Toiba, Pakistan and Kashmir
★ Lashkar i Jhangvi, Pakistan
★ Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Philippines
★ Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, Morocco and Europe
★ Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza Strip and West Bank
★ Tawhid and Jihad (Al-Qaeda in the Land between the Two Rivers (Iraq)), Iraq
★ Aircraft hijacking
★ Car bomb
★ Christian terrorism
★ Criticism of Islam
★ Criticism of the Qur'an
★ Ghazw
★ Hirabah
★ Improvised explosive device
★ Islamic terrorism in Australia
★ Islamofascism
★ Islamophobia
★ Neofascism and the religion of Islam.
★ Persecution of Muslims
★ Political terrorism
★ Religious terrorism
★ Religious violence
★ South Thailand insurgency
★ Suicide bombing
★ Terrorism in Kashmir
★ Threats
★ War on Terrorism
1. http://wits.nctc.gov/reports/crot2006nctcannexfinal.pdf Report on Terrorist Incidents 2006
2. Captured Iraqi Terrorist Ramzi Hashem Abed: Zarqawi Participated in the Plot to Assassinate Baqer Al-Hakim. We Bombed Jalal Talabani's Headquarters, the Turkish Embassy, and the Red Cross, Took Drugs, Raped University Students Who "Collaborated with the Americans"
3. http://www.hrw.org/reports98/afghan/Afrepor0-04.htm#P195_40896
4. "Contemporary Islamic Terrorism", http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/2607.cfm
5. "Speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council",http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page9948.asp
6. [http://english.aljazeera.[net/NR/exeres/79C6AF22-98FB-4A1C-B21F-2BC36E87F61F.htm Complete English translation text of 2004 Osama bin Laden videotape on Al-Jazeera].
7. Michael, Maggie. ''Bin Laden, in statement to U.S. people, says he ordered Sept. 11 attacks''. The Associated Press. October 29, 2004.
8. Excerpts from the BBC. October 29, 2004.
9. Langhorne, R. (2006), "The Essentials of Global Politics", Hodder Arnold
10. "Al Qaeda", http://www.answers.com/topic/al-qaeda
11. US does not consider Taliban terrorists
12. Terrorism’s Dubious ‘A’ List
13. International Herald Tribune (March 15, 2007). "A new face of Al Qaeda emerges in Lebanon". Retrieved May 20, 207.
14. Le Figaro (April 16, 2007). "Fatah Al-Islam: the new terrorist threat hanging over Lebanon". Retrieved May 20, 2007.
15. Reuters (May 19, 2007). "Lebanese army battles militants at Palestinian camp". Retrieved May 20, 2007.
16. Reuters (May 20, 2007). "Facts about militant group Fatah al-Islam". Retrieved May 20, 2007.
17. p.154, ''Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam'' by Gilles Kepel (2002)
18. The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)
19. ''Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam'' by Gilles Kepel, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, (2002), p.331
20. Humphreys, R. (2005), "Between Memory and Desire: The Middle East in a Troubled Age", University of California Press
21. [1]
22.
Hezbollah disarmament unclear
23. Lashkar-e-Toiba
24. The jihad lives on
25. Speech by the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Tony Blair MP to the Confederation of Indian Industry Bangalore, India 5 January 2002
26. Is Lashkar-e-Toiba still operating in Pakistan?
27. current situation
28. http://www.tkb.org/documents/Downloads/2006-MIPT-Terrorism-Annual.pdf.
29. http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/week/031121.htm "Shi'i theology glorifies the act of "self martyrdom" against overwhelming odds, claiming to provide the "martyr" with a direct path to heaven. What is more, the shuhada' (martyrs) see themselves as continuing Husayn's tradition of "self martyrdom." The following Hizb`allah fighter echoes these sentiments."
30. Islamist extremists key in hijackings - SMR Online 5 April 2007. Retrieved 10 May, 2007.
31. The Logic of Suicide Terrorism
32. Suicide Terrorism in the Middle East: Origins and Response
33. Understanding Terror Networks,
Marc Sageman.
34. Qutbism, An Ideology of
Islamic-Fascism by Dale C. Eikmeier accessed July 17, 2007
35. Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America' accessed may 24, 2007
36. the Daily tar Heel- Mohammad Reza Teheri-azar letter Meditation II and III
37. Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir: Al-Zarqawi's Death Will Not End the Jihad, MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 1188, June 20, 2006
38. ''Message to the World'' p.202, from 53-minute audiotape that "was circulated on various websites." dated Feb. 14, 2003. "Among a Band of Knights." ]
39. ''Messages to the World,'' Verso, 2006, p.143, from Interview published in ''Al-Quds Al-Arabi'' in London November 12, 2001 (originally published in Pakistani daily, ''Ausaf,'' November 7), shortly before the Northern Alliance entry into Kabul.
40. Abdal-Hakim Murad, Bin Laden’s Violence is a Heresy Against Islam
41. Qutbism: An Ideology of
Islamic-Fascism DALE C. EIKMEIER From ''Parameters'', Spring 2007, pp. 85-98.
42. http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=799&p=community&a=2 Peter Willems, “The Dialogue Committee is Known Internationally,” ''Yemen Times'', 16 December 2004 to 19 December 2004
43. Statement of purpose
44. Hizbullah: Views and Concepts
45. Hamas sweeps to election victory
46. Palestinians want Hamas reform - poll
47. Islamic Extremism: Common Concern for Muslim and Western Publics
48. One in four Muslims sympathises with motives of terrorists
49. A Year After Iraq War - Mistrust of America in Europe Ever Higher, Muslim Anger Persists
50. Bin Laden more popular with Nigerian Muslims than Bush
51. Free Muslims Coalition
52. Global Terrorism Statistics Debated
53. Iran: Ayatollah Issues Fatwa Against Suicide Attacks
54. The terrorist attacks in London
55. A Real Muslim cannot be a Terrorist
56. The True, Peaceful Face Of Islam
57. A Muslim cannot be a Terrorist and a Terrorist cannot be a Muslim
58. Islam Denounces Terrorism
59. Halliday, Fred: ''Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East'' (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2003), 107
60. 2006 9/11 Death Toll
61. Akshardham attack was planned in Riyadh
62. Akshardham attack "plotted in Riyadh"
63. [5]
64. Delhi blasts toll is 59, 200 injured- rediff.com
65. Deadly Bombings Hit Jordan - TheStreet.com, November 9, 2005
66. Jordan bombings kill 57, wound 300 - Aljazeera, November 9, 2005
67. Bomber's wife arrested in Jordan - BBC, November 13, 2005
68. Hindustan Times - Terror strikes Varanasi; 28 killed, no claim yet
★ Al Qaeda Training Manual used by British member of Al Qaeda, Manchester, England (URL accessed March 2005)
★ An analysis of the word “Islamic terrorism” by Inam Abidi & concluding it to be a fundamental mistake to use it.
★ ''Onward Muslim Soldiers'' by Robert Spencer
★ ''The Legacy of Jihad'' by Andrew G. Bostom
★ '' by Paul L. Williams
★ '' by Victor Davis Hanson
★ '' by Gilles Kepel
★ ''The War for Muslim Minds'' by Gilles Kepel
★ '' by Walid Phares
★ Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam, , John L., Esposito, Oxford University Press, USA, 2003, ISBN 0-19-516886-0
★ The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, , John L., Esposito, Oxford University Press, USA, 1995, ISBN 0-19-510298-3
★ Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics of the Middle East, , Fred, Halliday, I.B. Tauris, New York, 2003, ISBN 1860648681
Seconds after American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center
'Islamist terrorism' (also known as 'Islamic terrorism' or 'Jihadist terrorism') is terrorism - an act of violence targeting non-combatants - done by a person or group identifiably Islamic, and/or to further the cause of Islamism as determined by the acts' perpetrators and supporters.
According to statistics gathered by the National Counterterrorism Center of the United States, Islamic extremism was responsible for approximately 57% of terrorist fatalities and 61% of woundings worldwide in 2004 and early 2005, where a terrorist perpetrator could be specified. [1]
Extremist acts have included airline hijacking, beheading, kidnapping, assassination, roadside bombing, suicide bombing, and occasionally rape.[2][3]
One of the most notable Islamist terrorist campaigns was the 9/11 attack on the United States. Less prominent Islamist attacks have occurred in France, Russia and China. France was the focus of terrorism in the mid 1990s from the Algerian civil war. Russia faced terrorist attacks stemming from its involvement in Chechnya. In 1997 the Chinese government set up the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to combat radical Islamic movements in Central Asia.[4]
Islamist terrorist activity is usually referred to as jihad (struggle). Threats, including death threats, are often issued as fatwas, (Islamic legal judgments). Both Muslims and non-Muslims have been among the targets and victims. Threats against Muslims are often issued as takfir (a declaration that someone or some thing considered Muslim is in fact an unbeliever). This is an implicit death threat as the punishment for apostasy in Islam is death, under traditional interpretations of Sharia law.
The controversies surrounding the subject include: whether the motivation of the terrorists or alleged terrorists is self-defense or offensive expansion, national self-determination or Islamic supremacy; what targets of the terrorists or alleged terrorists are noncombatants; whether Islam condones, or sometime condones terrorism; whether some attacks are Islamist terrorism, or only terrorist acts done by Muslims; how much support there is in the Muslim world for what kinds of Islamic terrorism; whether the Arab-Israeli Conflict is the root of Islamic terrorism, or simply one cause.[5]
__TOC__
Organizations
Marchers in London hold signs expressing Islamist extremist sentiments
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a worldwide pan-Islamic terrorist network headed by Osama bin Laden and is most famous for orchestrating the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States. It
now operates in more than 60 countries. Its stated aim is the use of jihad to defend Islam against Zionism, Christianity, the secular West, and Muslim governments such as Saudi Arabia, which it sees as insufficiently Islamic and too closely tied to America.[6][7][8][9]
Formed in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1980s by bin Laden and Muhammad Atef, Al Qaeda called for the use of violence against civilians and military of the United States and any countries that are allied with it.[10] Since its formation Al Qaeda has committed a number of terrorist acts in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Although once supported by the Taliban organization in Afghanistan, the U.S. and British governments never considered the Taliban to have been a terrorist organization.[11][12]
Fatah al-Islam
Main articles: Fatah al-Islam
Fatah al-Islam is an Islamist group operating out of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon. It was formed in November 2006 by fighters who broke off from the pro-Syrian Fatah al-Intifada, itself a splinter group of Fatah, and is led by a Palestinian fugitive militant named Shaker al-Abssi.[13] The group's members have been described as militant jihadists,[14] and the group itself has been described as a terrorist movement that draws inspiration from al-Qaeda.1314[15] Its stated goal is to reform the Palestinian refugee camps under Islamic sharia law,[16] and its primary targets are Israel and the United States.13 Lebanese authorities have accused the organization of being involved in the February 13, 2007 bombing of two minibuses that killed three people, and injured more than 20 others, in Ain Alaq, Lebanon,15 and identified four of its members as having confessed to the bombing.
Hamas
Hamas, ("zeal" in Arabic and an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya), began support for attacks on military and civilian targets in Israel at the beginning of the Intifada in 1987. As the Muslim Brotherhood organization for Palestine its leadership was made up of "intellectuals from the devout middle class,... respectable religious clerics, doctors, chemists, engineers, and teachers.[17]
The 1988 charter of Hamas calls for the destruction of Israel,[18] although its public spokespeople do not, and its "military wing" has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in Israel. Hamas has also been accused of sabotaging the Israeli-Palestine peace process by launching attacks on civilians during Israeli elections to anger Israeli voters and facilitate the election of harder-line Israeli candidates. For example, "a series of spectacular suicide attacks by Palestinians that killed 63 Israelis and led directly to the election victory of Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party on May 29, 1996."[19]
Hamas justifies these attacks as necessary in fighting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, and as responses to Israeli attacks on Palestinian targets. The wider movement also serves as a charity organization and provides services to Palestinians.[20]
Hamas has been designated as a terrorist group by the European Union, Canada, the United States, Israel, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and Human Rights Watch. Opponents of this view claim that Israel is not a legitimate state because of the conditions of its establishment after World War II.
Hezbollah
Hezbollah is a Shi'a militia, political party, and social services provider based in Lebanon. The United States has accused it of being responsible for the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing of French and U.S. peacekeeping troops, and the April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut. Hezbollah denies any connection to the bombings.
Throughout most of the Arab and Muslim worlds Hezbollah is regarded as a legitimate resistance movement.[21] The Lebanese government also recognized it as a legitimate resistance against occupation of Lebanese land by Israel.[22] The United States, Canada, Israel and the Netherlands regard Hezbollah as a "terrorist" organization, while the United Kingdom and Australia consider only Hezbollah's external security organization to be a terrorist organization.
Hezbollah is thought to have inspired Al Qaeda with the idea of similtaneous terror attacks.
Islamic Jihad
Main articles: Islamic Jihad
Islamic Jihad is an Islamist group based in the Syrian capital, Damascus. A Shiite terrorist organisation with strong ties to Iran, Islamic Jihad aims to create a fundamentalist Islamic state in Lebanon. In the Western world, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is the organization usually meant by the term "Islamic Jihad", due to the widespread media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This organization is led by Sheikh Abdullah Ramadan.
Lashkar-e-Toiba
Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba is a militant group that seeks the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. It has committed mass militant actions against Indian troops and civilian Hindus.[23]
The Lashkar leadership describes Indian and Israeli regimes as the main enemies of Islam, claiming India and Israel to be the main enemies of Pakistan.[24] Lashkar-e-Toiba, along with Jaish-e-Mohammed, another militant group active in Kashmir are on the United States’ foreign terrorist organizations list. They are also designated as terrorist groups by the United Kingdom,[25] India, Australia[26] and Pakistan.[27]
Tactics
Some of these groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, have limited their acts to localized regions of the Middle East, while others, notably Al-Qaeda, have an international scope for their terrorist activities.
Bombings
Main articles: Suicide attack
An increasingly popular tactic used by terrorists is suicide bombing.[28] This tactic is used against civilians, soldiers, and government officials of the regimes the terrorists oppose. The use of suicide bombers is seen by many Muslims as contradictory to Islam's teachings; however, groups who support its use often refer to such attacks as "martyrdom operations" and the suicide-bombers who commit them as "martyrs" (Arabic: shuhada, plural of "shahid"). The bombers, and their sympathizers often believe that suicide bombers, as martyrs to the cause of jihad against the enemy, will receive the rewards of paradise for their actions.[29] In addition to suicide bombings, several groups have also utilized remote car bombings as well as timed explosions in public or government buildings.
Hijackings
The hijacking of passenger vehicles such as cars, buses, and planes has also become a hallmark of Islamist terrorism,[30] particularly as a result of the simultaneous hijacking of the four passenger jets utilized in the September 11th terrorist attacks as well as the hijacking of a Belgian airlines jet during the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre.
Kidnappings and executions
Along with bombings and hijackings, Islamist terrorists have made extensive use of highly-publicised kidnappings and executions, often circulating videos of the acts for use as propaganda. Notable foreign victims include Nick Berg, Daniel Pearl, Paul Marshall Johnson, Jr., Eugene Armstrong, Jack Hensley, Kim Sun-il, Kenneth Bigley, Shosei Koda, Fabrizio Quattrocchi, Margaret Hassan. One Iraqi victim was Seif Adnan Kanaan. The most frequent form of execution by these groups has been decapitations, often committed while shouting the Islamic chant, "Allahu Akbar" (Arabic for God is greatest). While some targets are military, or seen as supporting the anti-Islamist forces, victims are also as varied as the Red Cross [2], the Iraqi education ministry [3] and diplomats[4].
Motivation, ideology and theology
To what extent Islamist terrorists are motivated by religious belief is disputed.
Robert Pape, author of the book '', has argued that at least terrorists utilizing suicide-homicide attacks -- a particularly effectiveFor example, according to Pape, from 1980 to 2003 suicide attacks amounted to only 3% of all terrorist attacks, but accounted for 48% of total deaths due to terrorism - this excluding 9/11 attacks, from Pape, ''Dying to Win,'' (2005), p.28 form of terrorist attack -- are driven by nationalism, not Islam. They
"are not driven by religion as much as they are by a clear strategic objective: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland. From Lebanon to Sri Lanka to Chechnya to Kashmir to the West Bank, every major suicide-terrorist campaign — over 95 percent of all the incidents — has had as its central objective to compel a democratic state to withdraw."[31]
Critics of Pape's theory argue it explains some but not all suicide bombings. It does not account for the lack of suicide bombings in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in Israel for nearly 30 years after the occupation began, for the targeting of native, non-combatant Shia by jihadi bombers in Iraq, the prominence of British-born Pakistanis in bombings in London, or of North Africans, and especially Moroccans, in the second wave of al-Qaeda attackers.[32]
Some supporters of Palestinian political violence have claimed that citizens of Israel are legitimate military targets because Jewish adolescents are required by law to serve in the country's military.
Another author, forensic psychiatrist and former foreign service officer Marc Sageman, made an "intensive study of biographical data on 172 participants in the jihad," in his book Understanding Terror Networks. He concluded "social networks", the "tight bonds of family and friendship" rather than behavioral disorders "poverty, trauma, madness, [or] ignorance" inspired alienated young Muslims to join the jihad" and kill.[33]
Islamist ideology
Main articles: Neofascism and religion#Islam
Tenets of Islamist terrorism have been summarized by one counterterrorist as being:
★ A belief that Muslims have deviated from true Islam and must return to “pure Islam” as originally practiced during the time of the Prophet.
★ The path to “pure Islam” is only through a literal and strict interpretation of the Quran and Hadith, along with implementation of the Prophet’s commands.
★ Muslims should interpret the original sources individually without being bound to follow the interpretations of Islamic scholars.
★ That any interpretation of the Quran from a historical, contextual perspective is a corruption, and that the majority of Islamic history and the classical jurisprudential tradition is mere sophistry.[34]
Transnational Islamist ideology, specifically of the militant Islamists, assert a Western polities and society are actively anti-Islamic, or as it is sometimes described, waging a war on Islam. Islamists often identify what they see as a historical struggle between Christianity and Islam, dating back as far as the Crusades, among other historical conflicts between practitioners of the two respective religions. Osama bin Laden, for example, almost invariably describes his enemy as aggressive and his call for action against them as defensive. Defensive jihad differs from offensive jihad in being "fard al-ayn," or a personal obligation of all Muslim, rather than "fard al-kifaya", a communal obligation, which if some Muslims perform it is not required from others. Hence, framing a fight as defensive has the advantage both of appearing to be a victim rather than aggressor, and of giving your struggle the very highest religious priority for all good Muslims.
Many of the violent Islamist groups use the name of Jihad to fight against Christians and Jews. An example is Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda, which is also known as 'International Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders'. Most militant Islamists oppose Israel's policies, and often its existence.
In addition, Islamist Jihadis, scholars, and leaders opposed Western society for what they see as immoral secularism. Islamists have claimed that such unrestricted free speech has led to the proliferation of pornography, immorality, secularism, homosexuality, feminism, and many other ideas that Islamists often oppose. Although bin Laden almost always emphasized the alleged oppression of Muslims by America and Jews when talking about them in his messages, in his "Letter to America" he answered the question, "What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?," with
We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling's, and trading with interest ... You separate religion from your policies, ... You are the nation that permits Usury, which has been forbidden by all the religions ... You are a nation that permits the production, trading and usage of intoxicants ... You are a nation that permits acts of immorality ... You are a nation that permits gambling in its all forms. ... You use women to serve passengers, visitors, and strangers to increase your profit margins. You then rant that you support the liberation of women. ...[35]
Interpretations of the Qur'an
The role played by the Qur'an, Islam's sacred text, in opposing attacks on civilians or in encouraging them is hotly disputed.
Examples of verses from the Quran which have been quoted to justify attacks on civilians include
Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.
The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;
But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.
Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!
(These were provided by Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar as an explanation for his (unsuccessful) attempt to kill civilians.)[36]
Justification for terrorism against other Muslims by militant Islamists, in particular against Muslim regimes they consider non-Islamic, is often based on the contention that the targets are apostates.[37] Osama Bin Laden, for example, maintains that any Muslim who helps "infidels over Muslims" is no longer a Muslim,
... the believer ... should boycott the goods of America and her allies, and he should be very wary that he does not support falsehood, for helping the infidels over Muslims -- even with a single word is clear unbelief, as the religious scholars have decreed.[38]
and that Taliban Afghanistan (no longer in existence "is the only Islamic country" in the world.[39] Islamic law traditionally designates death as the penalty for apostasy (converting) from Islam.
Opinions within the Muslim community vary as to the grounds on which an individual may be declared to have apostatized. The most common view among Muslim scholars is that a declaration of takfir (designation of a Muslim as an apostate) can only be made by an established religious authority. Mainstream Muslim scholars usually oppose recourse to ''takfir'', except in rare instances. ''Takfir'' was used as justification for the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
Criticism of Islamist terrorist ideology
Criticism of Islamic terrorism on Islamic grounds has been made by anti-terrorist Muslims such as Abdal-Hakim Murad:
Certainly, neither bin-Laden nor his principal associate, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are graduates of Islamic universities. And so their proclamations ignore 14 centuries of Muslim scholarship, and instead take the form of lists of anti-American grievances and of Koranic quotations referring to early Muslim wars against Arab idolaters. These are followed by the conclusion that all Americans, civilian and military, are to be wiped off the face of the Earth. All this amounts to an odd and extreme violation of the normal methods of Islamic scholarship. Had the authors of such fatwas followed the norms of their religion, they would have had to acknowledge that no school of mainstream Islam allows the targeting of civilians. An insurrectionist who kills non-combatants is guilty of baghy, “armed aggression,” a capital offense in Islamic law.[40]
One counter-terrorism scholar, Dale C. Eikmeier, points out the "questionable religious credentials" of many Islamist theorists, or "Qutbists," which can be a "means to discredit them and their message":
With the exception of Abul Ala Maududi and Abdullah Azzam, none of Qutbism’s main theoreticians trained at Islam’s recognized centers of learning. Although a devout Muslim, Hassan al Banna was a teacher and community activist. Sayyid Qutb was a literary critic. Muhammad Abd al-Salam Faraj was an electrician. Ayman al-Zawahiri is a physician. Osama bin Laden trained to be a businessman.[41]
Yemeni Judge Hamoud Al-Hitar has also attacked the Islamic intellectual basis of terrorism using hujjat or proof "in theological dialogues that challenge and then correct the wayward beliefs" of terrorists or would-be terrorists.[42]
Muslim attitudes toward terrorism
Some see a distinct difference between actions such as the September 11th attacks on the US, which most denounce, and actions such as Hezbollah's rocket attacks in response to Israeli incursions into Lebanon, which many support and don't even regard as terrorism but recognize as defensive Jihad which means legitimate resistance movement.[43][44]
In parliamentary election of January 2006, 57% of Palestinians voted for Hamas,[45] which is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, United States, Canada, and the European Union and responsible for a number of attacks against Israeli civilians. However, most Palestinians regard Hamas as a resistance movement whose attacks on Israel are a result of the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian territories, and a response to the continuing development of Israeli Settlements. In addition, observers are divided over whether the election results represent support for the organization's militia tactics, support for the organization's social programs, or dissatisfaction with the previous government which was widely seen as corrupt and incompetent. A public opinion survey released following the election, indicated that nearly three quarters of Palestinians believe that Hamas should change its policy regarding the destruction of Israel and 84% of Palestinians support a peace agreement with Israel. Among Hamas voters, 73% of respondents supported a peace agreement with Israel. However, Hamas has ruled out removing the clause in its constitution which demands the destruction of Israel.[46]
A 2005 Pew Research study that involved 17,000 people in 17 countries showed support for terrorism was declining in the Muslim world along with a growing belief that Islamic extremism represents a threat to those countries.[47] A Daily Telegraph survey[48] showed that 6% of British Muslims fully supported the July 2005 bombings in the London Underground.
A 2004 Pew survey revealed that Osama bin Laden is viewed favorably by large percentages in Pakistan (65%), Jordan (55%) and Morocco (45%). In Turkey as many as 31% say that suicide attacks against Americans and other Westerners in Iraq are justifiable.[49][50]
The Free Muslims Coalition[51] rallied against terror, stating that they wanted to send "a message to radical Muslims and supporters of terrorism that we reject them and that we will defeat them."
Abdel Rahman al-Rashed, a Muslim and the general manager of Arab news channel, Al-Arabiya has said: "It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims." Statistics compiled by the United States government's Counterterrorism Center present a more complicated picture: of known and specified terrorist incidents from the beginning of 2004 through the first quarter of 2005, slightly more than half of the fatalities were attributed to Islamic extremists but a majority of over-all incidents were considered of either "unknown/unspecified" or a secular political nature. The vast majority of the "unknown/unspecified" terrorism fatalities did however happen in Islamic regions such as Iraq and Afghanistan, or in regions where Islam is otherwise involved in conflicts such as the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, southern Thailand and Kashmir.The methodology employed by the Center is sometimes disputed and the center has been accused of responding to political pressure from the Bush administration to show a decline in terrorism.[52]
Following the 7 July 2005 London bombings, emergency services surround the wreckage of the number 30 bus in Tavistock Square.
Iranian Ayatollah Ozma Seyyed Yousef Sanei issued a fatwa (ruling) that suicide attacks against civilians are legitimate only in the context of war.[53] The ruling did not say whether other types of attacks against civilians are justified outside of the context of war, nor whether Jihad is included in Sanei's definition of war.
On the other hand, Fethullah Gulen, a prominent Turkish Islamic scholar, has claimed that "a real Muslim," who understood Islam in every aspect, could not be a terrorist.[54][55] There are many other people with similar points of view such as Karen Armstrong,[56] Prof. Ahmet Akgunduz,[57] and Harun Yahya[58]
Fred Halliday, a British academic specialist on the Middle East, argues that most Muslims consider these acts to be egregious violations of Islam's laws.[59]
Examples of attacks
The outer skin of World Trade Center Tower Two that remained standing after an Islamist terrorist attack orchestrated by Al-Qaeda.
★ 4 September 1972 - Munich Olympic Massacre.
★ 18 April 1983 - April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. 63 killed.
★ 26 February 1993 - World Trade Center bombing. 6 killed.
★ 24 December 1994 - Air France Flight 8969 hijacking in Algiers by 3 members of Armed Islamic Group and another terrorist. 7 killed including 4 hijackers.
★ 25 June 1996 - Khobar Towers bombing, 20 killed, 372 wounded.
★ 7 August 1998 - 1998 United States embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. 224 dead. 4000+ injured.
★ 11 September 2001 - September 11, 2001 attacks 4 planes hijacked and crashed into World Trade Center and The Pentagon by 19 hijackers. Nearly 3000 dead.[60]
★ 13 December 2001 - Suicide attack on India's parliament in New Delhi. Aimed at eliminating the top leadership of India and causing anarchy in the country. Allegedly done by Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist organizations, Jaish-E-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba.
★ 3 March 2002 - Suicide bomb attack on a Passover Seder in a Hotel in Netanya, Israel. 29 dead, 133 injured
★ 9 March 2002 - Café suicide bombing in Jerusalem; 11 killed, 54 injured.
★ 7 May 2002 - Bombing in al-Arbaa, Algeria. 49 dead, 117 injured.
★ 24 September 2002 - Machine Gun attack on Hindu temple in Ahmedabad, India. 31 dead, 86 injured.[61][62]
★ 12 October 2002 - Bombing in Bali nightclub. 202 killed, 300 injured.
★ 16 May 2004 - Casablanca Attacks - 4 simultaneous attacks in Casablanca killing 33 civilians (mostly Moroccans) carried by Salafaia Jihadia.
★ 11 March 2004 - Multiple bombings on trains near Madrid, Spain. 191 killed, 1460 injured. (alleged link to Al-Qaeda)
★ 3 September 2004 Approximately 344 civilians including 186 children, are killed during the Beslan school hostage crisis. name="last_casualty"> Woman injured in 2004 Russian siege dies [63]
★ 4 February 2005 - Muslim militants attacked the Christian community in Demsa, Nigeria, killing 36 people, destroying property and displacing an additional 3000 people.
★ 7 July 2005 - Multiple bombings in London Underground. 53 killed by four suicide bombers. Nearly 700 injured.
★ 23 July 2005 - Bomb attacks at Sharm el-Sheikh, an Egyptian resort city, at least 64 people killed.
★ 29 October 2005 - 29 October 2005 Delhi bombings. Over 60 killed and over 180 injured in a series of three attacks in crowded markets and a bus, just 2 days before the Diwali festival.[64]
★ 9 November 2005 - 2005 Amman bombings. Over 60 killed and 115 injured, in a series of coordinated suicide attacks on hotels in Amman, Jordan.[65][66] Four attackers including a husband and wife team were involved.[67]
★ 7 March 2006 - 2006 Varanasi bombings. An attack attributed to Lashkar-e-Toiba by Uttar Pradesh government officials, over 28 killed and over 100 injured, in a series of attacks in the Sankath Mochan Hanuman temple and Cantonment Railway Station in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi.[68] Uttar Pradesh government officials.
U.S. State Department list
★ Abu Sayyaf, Philippines
★ Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, Gaza Strip and West Bank
★ Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, Egypt (also known as The Islamic Group)
★ Al-Qaeda, worldwide
★ Ansar al-Islam, Iraq
★ Armed Islamic Group (GIA), Algeria
★ Army of Ansar al-Sunna, Iraq
★ AZF, France
★ East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), China
★ Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Egypt
★ Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, Egypt
★ Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front (IBDA-C), Turkey
★ Hamas, Gaza Strip and West Bank
★ Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al-Alami, Pakistan
★ Hezbollah, Lebanon
★ Islamic Movement of Central Asia, Central Asia
★ Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan
★ Jaish-e-Mohammed, Pakistan and Kashmir
★ Jemaah Islamiyah, Indonesia
★ Lashkar-e-Toiba, Pakistan and Kashmir
★ Lashkar i Jhangvi, Pakistan
★ Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Philippines
★ Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, Morocco and Europe
★ Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza Strip and West Bank
★ Tawhid and Jihad (Al-Qaeda in the Land between the Two Rivers (Iraq)), Iraq
See also
★ Aircraft hijacking
★ Car bomb
★ Christian terrorism
★ Criticism of Islam
★ Criticism of the Qur'an
★ Ghazw
★ Hirabah
★ Improvised explosive device
★ Islamic terrorism in Australia
★ Islamofascism
★ Islamophobia
★ Neofascism and the religion of Islam.
★ Persecution of Muslims
★ Political terrorism
★ Religious terrorism
★ Religious violence
★ South Thailand insurgency
★ Suicide bombing
★ Terrorism in Kashmir
★ Threats
★ War on Terrorism
References
1. http://wits.nctc.gov/reports/crot2006nctcannexfinal.pdf Report on Terrorist Incidents 2006
2. Captured Iraqi Terrorist Ramzi Hashem Abed: Zarqawi Participated in the Plot to Assassinate Baqer Al-Hakim. We Bombed Jalal Talabani's Headquarters, the Turkish Embassy, and the Red Cross, Took Drugs, Raped University Students Who "Collaborated with the Americans"
3. http://www.hrw.org/reports98/afghan/Afrepor0-04.htm#P195_40896
4. "Contemporary Islamic Terrorism", http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/2607.cfm
5. "Speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council",http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page9948.asp
6. [http://english.aljazeera.[net/NR/exeres/79C6AF22-98FB-4A1C-B21F-2BC36E87F61F.htm Complete English translation text of 2004 Osama bin Laden videotape on Al-Jazeera].
7. Michael, Maggie. ''Bin Laden, in statement to U.S. people, says he ordered Sept. 11 attacks''. The Associated Press. October 29, 2004.
8. Excerpts from the BBC. October 29, 2004.
9. Langhorne, R. (2006), "The Essentials of Global Politics", Hodder Arnold
10. "Al Qaeda", http://www.answers.com/topic/al-qaeda
11. US does not consider Taliban terrorists
12. Terrorism’s Dubious ‘A’ List
13. International Herald Tribune (March 15, 2007). "A new face of Al Qaeda emerges in Lebanon". Retrieved May 20, 207.
14. Le Figaro (April 16, 2007). "Fatah Al-Islam: the new terrorist threat hanging over Lebanon". Retrieved May 20, 2007.
15. Reuters (May 19, 2007). "Lebanese army battles militants at Palestinian camp". Retrieved May 20, 2007.
16. Reuters (May 20, 2007). "Facts about militant group Fatah al-Islam". Retrieved May 20, 2007.
17. p.154, ''Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam'' by Gilles Kepel (2002)
18. The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)
19. ''Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam'' by Gilles Kepel, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, (2002), p.331
20. Humphreys, R. (2005), "Between Memory and Desire: The Middle East in a Troubled Age", University of California Press
21. [1]
22.
Hezbollah disarmament unclear
23. Lashkar-e-Toiba
24. The jihad lives on
25. Speech by the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Tony Blair MP to the Confederation of Indian Industry Bangalore, India 5 January 2002
26. Is Lashkar-e-Toiba still operating in Pakistan?
27. current situation
28. http://www.tkb.org/documents/Downloads/2006-MIPT-Terrorism-Annual.pdf.
29. http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/week/031121.htm "Shi'i theology glorifies the act of "self martyrdom" against overwhelming odds, claiming to provide the "martyr" with a direct path to heaven. What is more, the shuhada' (martyrs) see themselves as continuing Husayn's tradition of "self martyrdom." The following Hizb`allah fighter echoes these sentiments."
30. Islamist extremists key in hijackings - SMR Online 5 April 2007. Retrieved 10 May, 2007.
31. The Logic of Suicide Terrorism
32. Suicide Terrorism in the Middle East: Origins and Response
33. Understanding Terror Networks,
Marc Sageman.
34. Qutbism, An Ideology of
Islamic-Fascism by Dale C. Eikmeier accessed July 17, 2007
35. Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America' accessed may 24, 2007
36. the Daily tar Heel- Mohammad Reza Teheri-azar letter Meditation II and III
37. Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir: Al-Zarqawi's Death Will Not End the Jihad, MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 1188, June 20, 2006
38. ''Message to the World'' p.202, from 53-minute audiotape that "was circulated on various websites." dated Feb. 14, 2003. "Among a Band of Knights." ]
39. ''Messages to the World,'' Verso, 2006, p.143, from Interview published in ''Al-Quds Al-Arabi'' in London November 12, 2001 (originally published in Pakistani daily, ''Ausaf,'' November 7), shortly before the Northern Alliance entry into Kabul.
40. Abdal-Hakim Murad, Bin Laden’s Violence is a Heresy Against Islam
41. Qutbism: An Ideology of
Islamic-Fascism DALE C. EIKMEIER From ''Parameters'', Spring 2007, pp. 85-98.
42. http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=799&p=community&a=2 Peter Willems, “The Dialogue Committee is Known Internationally,” ''Yemen Times'', 16 December 2004 to 19 December 2004
43. Statement of purpose
44. Hizbullah: Views and Concepts
45. Hamas sweeps to election victory
46. Palestinians want Hamas reform - poll
47. Islamic Extremism: Common Concern for Muslim and Western Publics
48. One in four Muslims sympathises with motives of terrorists
49. A Year After Iraq War - Mistrust of America in Europe Ever Higher, Muslim Anger Persists
50. Bin Laden more popular with Nigerian Muslims than Bush
51. Free Muslims Coalition
52. Global Terrorism Statistics Debated
53. Iran: Ayatollah Issues Fatwa Against Suicide Attacks
54. The terrorist attacks in London
55. A Real Muslim cannot be a Terrorist
56. The True, Peaceful Face Of Islam
57. A Muslim cannot be a Terrorist and a Terrorist cannot be a Muslim
58. Islam Denounces Terrorism
59. Halliday, Fred: ''Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East'' (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2003), 107
60. 2006 9/11 Death Toll
61. Akshardham attack was planned in Riyadh
62. Akshardham attack "plotted in Riyadh"
63. [5]
64. Delhi blasts toll is 59, 200 injured- rediff.com
65. Deadly Bombings Hit Jordan - TheStreet.com, November 9, 2005
66. Jordan bombings kill 57, wound 300 - Aljazeera, November 9, 2005
67. Bomber's wife arrested in Jordan - BBC, November 13, 2005
68. Hindustan Times - Terror strikes Varanasi; 28 killed, no claim yet
External links
★ Al Qaeda Training Manual used by British member of Al Qaeda, Manchester, England (URL accessed March 2005)
★ An analysis of the word “Islamic terrorism” by Inam Abidi & concluding it to be a fundamental mistake to use it.
Further reading
★ ''Onward Muslim Soldiers'' by Robert Spencer
★ ''The Legacy of Jihad'' by Andrew G. Bostom
★ '' by Paul L. Williams
★ '' by Victor Davis Hanson
★ '' by Gilles Kepel
★ ''The War for Muslim Minds'' by Gilles Kepel
★ '' by Walid Phares
★ Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam, , John L., Esposito, Oxford University Press, USA, 2003, ISBN 0-19-516886-0
★ The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, , John L., Esposito, Oxford University Press, USA, 1995, ISBN 0-19-510298-3
★ Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics of the Middle East, , Fred, Halliday, I.B. Tauris, New York, 2003, ISBN 1860648681
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