Islamic Terror: Toward a Solution

Islam Beyond Violent Extremism, 2017

This collection of papers by Imam Dr. A. Rashied Omar provides the reader with a deeper understanding of the Islamic ethics of violence and peace and situates extremist acts within concrete socio-historical and political contexts. The papers examine the major ethico-legal principles on Peace and War in Islam and apply these to analyze the theological justifications and political motivations of contemporary Muslim extremist movements. The papers also suggest possible ways in which we can mitigate the spread of Muslim extremism by identifying Islamic resources for peacebuilding and effective strategies for social justice.

One of the “butterfly effects” of the 9/11 attacks is the notion of Muslim terrorists and “that Islam nurtures ideas about killing innocent people.” Like one of the memorable quotes of the “I love Lucy” show, the Muslim scholars “got some 'splainin' to do!” Therefore, while this paper discusses the notions of Islamic fundamentalism such as jihad and the suicide attacks in the name of Islam, it also attempts to present certain solutions to the issues in question. Indeed, a modern Turkish thinker, Fethullah Gulen, a renowned and distinguished Sunni scholar of Islam, provides some solutions to this contemporary problem.

In the contemporary period, Islam is frequently depicted as predisposed to conflict and violence. The intractable Middle East conflicts, the attacks on the United States of America in September 2001 and recent events in which Muslim extremists have been implicated in acts of terror have only served to reinforce this widespread perception. To discern the veracity of the assertion that in some special way Islam is inclined towards deadly conflict, it is important to situate the discussion within concrete socio-historical contexts. Moreover, in order to correctly understand the ethical norms of Islam represented in the Muslim sacred scripture, the Qur’an, and in the exemplary conduct of the prophet Muhammad, it is necessary to analyze the historical milieu within which such norms were negotiated.

Whenever we closely examine the timely and pressing issue of religiously-motivated violence, we see that Christianity and Islam produce very different long-term consequences. This paper will challenge the commonly held belief that Christianity and Islam, as major world religions, are essentially the same when it comes to promoting peace and protecting/advancing basic human rights. There are profound differences that play out – in every generation.

Oped News, 2008

In recent years, months, and days, Muslim “fundamentalists” or extremists excel in one thing – terrorism and violence. The recent spate of terrorist attacks and sectarian violence and atrocities has probably no parallel in modern history. Hardly a day passes by when we do not hear of a bomb blast or some form of violence taking place in some corner of the globe – Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, or some part of the developed world - with a toll of human life and immense human suffering. It is lamentable but undeniable that Muslim extremists are orchestrating much of this violence. This violence is due to the rise of religious fanaticism or fundamentalism among Muslims. But how do we combat this growing menace? How can we have real Islamic revival where there is peaceful religious co-existence and harmony? This article is an attempt to shed some light on this critical question.

2012

Many Muslims complain that the current news media focus on the proliferation of Islamic terrorist groups in the Middle East and other parts of the world unfairly portrays Islam as a religion that condones the use of terrorism. Given the fact that throughout human history conflicting religious beliefs have often been used by adherents of all of the world’s major religious faiths as a rationale for the use of terrorism, there may be some justification for these complaints. Therefore, this essay will review literature and research published from1984 to 2005, which analyzes religiously inspired violence and terrorism by Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Jewish as well as Islamic extremists. It is hoped that a broader and deeper understanding of the root causes of various different types of pseudo-religious political terrorism might open the door to more constructive dialogues between religious and political leaders of all religious faiths on ways to reduce religiously inspired violent terrorism. It should also be noted that although many books and articles have been written about religiously inspired Islamic terrorism in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, three of the works reviewed here, which examine religiously inspired terrorist attacks attributed to all of the world’s major religions, were published prior to 2001.

Since the end of the Cold War, the West has mounted a campaign against Islam as the essential source of terrorism and the Muslims as necessarily terrorists. However, the problems of violence and terror are not isolated issues but have epistemological and unspoken real causes. Violence is related to despotism, especially the despotism of hegemony. The US-led war on terrorism is not a simple struggle between good and evil. The hidden reasons behind it makes it difficult for the Muslims and others in the Third World to appreciate the efforts. Constructed mostly by reporters of such powerful TV cables like CNN, intelligence analysts and "experts on Muslim affairs," the Muslim is perceived as the terrorist, the imminent menace to civilization and the universal values of democracy and freedom. This campaign gained much momentum and became more intense with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. The untiring rhetoric associating Islam and Muslims with terrorism serves only the purpose of substantiating and reinforcing the clash of civilizations thesis which would certainly push the world into the abyss of disaster and destruction. It is ironic that all of this is being done in the name of cherished values such as freedom, self-determination and democracy. Distortion is being systematically spread on various levels and by different means to make people lose sight of the causes that have led to the strained and explosive situation the world is facing today.

2012

Many Muslims complain that the current news media focus on the proliferation of Islamic terrorist groups in the Middle East and other parts of the world unfairly portrays Islam as a religion that condones the use of terrorism. Given the fact that throughout human history conflicting religious beliefs have often been used by adherents of all of the world’s major religious faiths as a rationale for the use of terrorism, there may be some justification for these complaints. Therefore, this essay will review literature and research published from1984 to 2005, which analyzes religiously inspired violence and terrorism by Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Jewish as well as Islamic extremists. It is hoped that a broader and deeper understanding of the root causes of various different types of pseudo-religious political terrorism might open the door to more constructive dialogues between religious and political leaders of all religious faiths on ways to reduce religiously inspired violent terrorism. It should also be noted that although many books and articles have been written about religiously inspired Islamic terrorism in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, three of the works reviewed here, which examine religiously inspired terrorist attacks attributed to all of the world’s major religions, were published prior to 2001.

This article has been made to map out a way to reduce the level of radicalization of individuals of the Islamic faith into terrorist groups.

This paper seeks to critically discuss the issue of Islam as a religion that can be interpreted to justify either extremism or virtuous existence. It asserts that Islam’s essential teachings are virtuous and extremism is an aberration. Despite the fact that Islam does not promote extremism, the paper admits that extremism can and does occur among Muslims. In analysing the issue, the paper focuses on violent type of extremism. The paper suggests four reasons that explain why violent extremism occurs among Muslims.