P
pthakur
Guest
Islamic terrorism and active groups
Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or Jihadist
terrorism) is religious terrorism by those whose motivations are
rooted in their interpretations of Islam.
Statistics gathered for 2006 by the National Counterterrorism Center
of the United States indicated that "Islamic extremism" was
responsible for approximately a quarter of all terrorism fatalities
worldwide, and a majority of the fatalities for which responsibility
could be conclusively determined.Terrorist acts have included airline
hijacking, beheading, kidnapping, assassination, roadside bombing,
suicide bombing, and occasionally rape.
Perhaps the most resonant, well known, and well documented incident of
terrorism was the hijacking of four passenger jets and the destruction
of the World Trade Center on the day of September 11 2001, in the
United States of America. Other prominent attacks have occurred in
Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines,
Britain, Spain, France, Russia and China. These terrorist groups often
describe their actions as Islamic jihad (struggle). Self-proclaimed
sentences of punishment or death, issued publicly as threats, often
come in the form of fatwas (Islamic legal judgments). Both Muslims and
non-Muslims have been among the targets and victims, but threats
against Muslims are often issued as takfir (a declaration that a
person, group or institution that describes itself as Muslim has in
fact left Islam and thus is a traitor). This is an implicit death
threat as the punishment for apostasy in Islam is death under Sharia
law.
The controversies surrounding the subject include whether the
terrorist act is self-defense or aggression, national self-
determination or Islamic supremacy; whether Islam can ever condone the
targeting of noncombatants; whether some attacks described as Islamic
terrorism are merely terrorist acts committed by Muslims or motivated
by nationalism; whether the Arab-Israeli Conflict is the root of
Islamic terrorism, or simply one cause; how much support there is in
the Muslim world for Islamic terrorism and whether support for terror
is a temporary phenomenum, a "bubble", now fading away.
Debate over terminology
-----------------------------------
"Islamic terrorism" is itself a controversial phrase, although its
usage is widespread throughout the English-speaking world. Bernard
Lewis believes that the phrase "Islamic terrorism" is apt, because
although "Islam as a religion" is not "particularly conducive to
terrorism or even tolerant of terrorism", Islam has had an essentially
political character ... from its very foundation ... to the present
day. An intimate association between religion and politics, between
power and cult, marks a principal distinction between Islam and other
religions. ... In traditional Islam and therefore also in resurgent
fundamentalist Islam, God is the sole source of sovereignty. God is
the head of the state. The state is God's state. The army is God's
army. The treasury is God's treasury, and the enemy, of course, is
God's enemy.
This argument is countered by Jamal Nassar and Karim H. Karim, who
contend that, because there are over a billion adherents of the
religion, the phenomenon is more precisely regarded as "Islamist
terrorism" or "militant Islamism", because Islamism describes
political ideologies rooted in interpretations of Islam. In this vein,
describing terrorism as "Islamic" may confirm "a prejudicial
perspective of all things Islamic".
Karen Armstrong contends that "fundamentalism is often a form of
nationalism in religious disguise", and that using the phrase "Muslim
terrorism" is dangerously counterproductive, as it suggests those in
the west believe that such atrocities are caused by Islam, and hence
reinforces the viewpoint of some in the Muslim world that the west is
an implacable enemy. Armstrong believes that the terrorists in no way
represent mainstream Islam, and suggests the use of other terms such
as "Wahhabi terrorism" and "Qutbian terrorism".
History
---------
According to one source, although Islamic terrorism, at least in the
form of suicide attacks - dates back to the Hashshashin sect of the
11th century, "its modern history begins with statements made by Sheik
Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah", the spiritual leader of Hezbollah, who
said in an interview published in 1983: We believe that the future
has surprises in store. The jihad is bitter and harsh, it will spring
from inside, through effort, patience and sacrifice, and the spirit of
readiness for martyrdom.
Read full report: http://infoclickindia.com/fnews.php?id=330&path_news=Islamic%20terrorism.jpg
++++++++++++++++++++++
Related Reports:
Islamic terrorists: Motivation, ideology and theology
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To what extent Islamic terrorists are motivated by religious belief is
disputed. Robert Pape, has argued that at least terrorists utilizing
suicide-homicide attacks -- a particularly effective form of terrorist
attack -- are driven not by Islamism but by "a clear strategic
objective: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces
from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland."
However a critic of Pape's theory, Martin Kramer, argues that 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.
See More: http://infoclickindia.com/article.php?art_id=1720
++++++++++++++++++++++
Examples of Islamic Terrorists attacks
-------------------------------------------------------
4 September 1972 - Munich Olympic Massacre; 18 April 1983 - U.S.
Embassy bombing in Beirut, Lebanon; 26 February 1993 - World Trade
Center bombing, New York City; 13 March 1993 Bombay bombings; 24
December 1994 - Air France Flight 8969 hijacking; 25 June 1996 -
Khobar Towers bombing; 14 February 1998 Coimbatore bombings; 7 August
1998 - United States embassy bombings; September 11, 2001 attacks; 13
December 2001 - Suicide attack on India's parliament; ....7 July 2005
- Multiple bombings in London Underground; 11 July 2006 Mumbai (India)
train bombings; 26 July 2008, Ahmedabad; ...and now 26 November 2008,
Mumbai again ...are major Islamic Terrorist Attacks.
See More: http://infoclickindia.com/article.php?art_id=1721
Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or Jihadist
terrorism) is religious terrorism by those whose motivations are
rooted in their interpretations of Islam.
Statistics gathered for 2006 by the National Counterterrorism Center
of the United States indicated that "Islamic extremism" was
responsible for approximately a quarter of all terrorism fatalities
worldwide, and a majority of the fatalities for which responsibility
could be conclusively determined.Terrorist acts have included airline
hijacking, beheading, kidnapping, assassination, roadside bombing,
suicide bombing, and occasionally rape.
Perhaps the most resonant, well known, and well documented incident of
terrorism was the hijacking of four passenger jets and the destruction
of the World Trade Center on the day of September 11 2001, in the
United States of America. Other prominent attacks have occurred in
Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines,
Britain, Spain, France, Russia and China. These terrorist groups often
describe their actions as Islamic jihad (struggle). Self-proclaimed
sentences of punishment or death, issued publicly as threats, often
come in the form of fatwas (Islamic legal judgments). Both Muslims and
non-Muslims have been among the targets and victims, but threats
against Muslims are often issued as takfir (a declaration that a
person, group or institution that describes itself as Muslim has in
fact left Islam and thus is a traitor). This is an implicit death
threat as the punishment for apostasy in Islam is death under Sharia
law.
The controversies surrounding the subject include whether the
terrorist act is self-defense or aggression, national self-
determination or Islamic supremacy; whether Islam can ever condone the
targeting of noncombatants; whether some attacks described as Islamic
terrorism are merely terrorist acts committed by Muslims or motivated
by nationalism; whether the Arab-Israeli Conflict is the root of
Islamic terrorism, or simply one cause; how much support there is in
the Muslim world for Islamic terrorism and whether support for terror
is a temporary phenomenum, a "bubble", now fading away.
Debate over terminology
-----------------------------------
"Islamic terrorism" is itself a controversial phrase, although its
usage is widespread throughout the English-speaking world. Bernard
Lewis believes that the phrase "Islamic terrorism" is apt, because
although "Islam as a religion" is not "particularly conducive to
terrorism or even tolerant of terrorism", Islam has had an essentially
political character ... from its very foundation ... to the present
day. An intimate association between religion and politics, between
power and cult, marks a principal distinction between Islam and other
religions. ... In traditional Islam and therefore also in resurgent
fundamentalist Islam, God is the sole source of sovereignty. God is
the head of the state. The state is God's state. The army is God's
army. The treasury is God's treasury, and the enemy, of course, is
God's enemy.
This argument is countered by Jamal Nassar and Karim H. Karim, who
contend that, because there are over a billion adherents of the
religion, the phenomenon is more precisely regarded as "Islamist
terrorism" or "militant Islamism", because Islamism describes
political ideologies rooted in interpretations of Islam. In this vein,
describing terrorism as "Islamic" may confirm "a prejudicial
perspective of all things Islamic".
Karen Armstrong contends that "fundamentalism is often a form of
nationalism in religious disguise", and that using the phrase "Muslim
terrorism" is dangerously counterproductive, as it suggests those in
the west believe that such atrocities are caused by Islam, and hence
reinforces the viewpoint of some in the Muslim world that the west is
an implacable enemy. Armstrong believes that the terrorists in no way
represent mainstream Islam, and suggests the use of other terms such
as "Wahhabi terrorism" and "Qutbian terrorism".
History
---------
According to one source, although Islamic terrorism, at least in the
form of suicide attacks - dates back to the Hashshashin sect of the
11th century, "its modern history begins with statements made by Sheik
Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah", the spiritual leader of Hezbollah, who
said in an interview published in 1983: We believe that the future
has surprises in store. The jihad is bitter and harsh, it will spring
from inside, through effort, patience and sacrifice, and the spirit of
readiness for martyrdom.
Read full report: http://infoclickindia.com/fnews.php?id=330&path_news=Islamic%20terrorism.jpg
++++++++++++++++++++++
Related Reports:
Islamic terrorists: Motivation, ideology and theology
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To what extent Islamic terrorists are motivated by religious belief is
disputed. Robert Pape, has argued that at least terrorists utilizing
suicide-homicide attacks -- a particularly effective form of terrorist
attack -- are driven not by Islamism but by "a clear strategic
objective: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces
from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland."
However a critic of Pape's theory, Martin Kramer, argues that 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.
See More: http://infoclickindia.com/article.php?art_id=1720
++++++++++++++++++++++
Examples of Islamic Terrorists attacks
-------------------------------------------------------
4 September 1972 - Munich Olympic Massacre; 18 April 1983 - U.S.
Embassy bombing in Beirut, Lebanon; 26 February 1993 - World Trade
Center bombing, New York City; 13 March 1993 Bombay bombings; 24
December 1994 - Air France Flight 8969 hijacking; 25 June 1996 -
Khobar Towers bombing; 14 February 1998 Coimbatore bombings; 7 August
1998 - United States embassy bombings; September 11, 2001 attacks; 13
December 2001 - Suicide attack on India's parliament; ....7 July 2005
- Multiple bombings in London Underground; 11 July 2006 Mumbai (India)
train bombings; 26 July 2008, Ahmedabad; ...and now 26 November 2008,
Mumbai again ...are major Islamic Terrorist Attacks.
See More: http://infoclickindia.com/article.php?art_id=1721