1Reviews and everything / Islam and Terrorism
.docAlex Kvartalny @ flamedragon27.blogspot.com
Group 501
Links: http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com/usm307784.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli–Palestinian_conflict
http://www.glocaleye.org/kashmir2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Warraq
http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol18no1/181asia.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Principles_of_Peaceful_Coexistence
Islam and Terrorism: Highway to Hell or Hike to Heaven?
It’s worth killing
TO HURT IS JUST AS HUMAN AS TO BREATHE
Lack of communication and lack of understanding – how can you really talk to him, I think I have to use a
Islam encourages terrorism. The reasons and examples behind it.
Islam is the religion of peace. Why?
Message: none of the religions encourages peace because it is a set of rules and
Analysis:
Religion is the solution to political problems.
“They are an attempt to find out why it can seem as if the world inhabited largely by Muslims has now come into conflict with the world inhabited largely by non-Muslims. Islam the faith is not the answer to this question. But the history, sociology and politics of Islam are undoubtedly part of it.”
“The UNDP blamed these failures not on a lack of resources but on the survival of absolute autocracies, the holding of bogus elections, confusion between the executive and the judiciary, constraints on the media, and a patriarchal and intolerant social environment”
. “Democracy is based on the idea that men make laws. Islam contains, in the Koran, a set of God-given laws, dictated directly to Muhammad and therefore not open to revision.”
“Modern states also require many more laws than are inscribed in the unalterable Koran. In fact only about 80 of the Koran’s 6,000 verses lay down rules of public law, and not many of those have much application in the modern world. Much of what is loosely called sharia derives from other sources: the sunna (the teachings of the prophet); the ijma (the consensus of religious scholars); and the qiyas (legal reasoning). So here is ample room for interpretation (what Muslims call ijtihad). “
“Not just anybody is supposed to be able to declare a jihad; and not for just any reason. Muslim clerics who denounce Mr. bin Laden’s jihad against “Jews and Crusaders” say he had neither proper authority to declare war, nor just cause. But the concept of jihad exists.”
“That is not to say that America can avoid defending itself from the likes of al-Qaeda. Nor should it be shy to speak up for the system of democracy that has served Americans so well. But it should beware of stepping into somebody else's argument about the true meaning of Islam, and of assuming that democracy must be Islam's opposite. These are arguments for Muslims to resolve, in their own way.”
The causes of contemporary Muslim wars lie in politics, not seventh-century religious doctrines. First, one of the most significant social, cultural and political developments in the past several decades has been the resurgence of Islamic consciousness, movements and identity among Muslim peoples almost everywhere. This Islamic resurgence is in large part a response to modernization and globalization and is highly constructive in many ways. Second, throughout the Muslim world, and particularly among Arabs, there exists a great sense of grievance, resentment, envy and hostility toward the West and its wealth, power and culture. Third, tribal, religious, ethnic, political and cultural divisions within the Muslim world stimulate violence between Muslims. They also promote violence between Muslims and non-Muslims. Fourth, the Islamic resurgence has coincided with and been invigorated by birthrates in most Muslim societies, which have produced a “youth bulge” with large numbers of people between the ages of 16 and 30. The age of Muslim wars will end when its causes change or are changed.
Americans have tended to believe that their institutions and values –democracy, individual rights, the rule of law and prosperity based on economic freedom – represent universal aspirations that will ultimately be shared by people all over the world, if given the opportunity. They are inclined to think that American society appeals to people of all cultures. The millions of immigrants from countries all over the world who vote with their feet to move to America and to other developed societies seem to testify to this fact.
Culture – religious beliefs, social habits, longstanding traditions – is the last area of convergence, and also the weakest. Societies are loath to give up deeply rooted values,
if politics is based on something like religion, there will never be any civil peace because people cannot agree on fundamental religious values.
The Islamic world differs from other world cultures today in one important respect. In recent years it alone has repeatedly produced significant radical Islamist movements that reject not just Western policies, but the most basic principle of modernity itself, that of religious tolerance.
A final reason Islamo-fascism took off in the ’80s and ’90s has to do with “root causes” like poverty, economic stagnation and authoritarian politics in the Middle East that are combustible material for political extremism.
ENCOURAGES TERRORISM:
According to Ibn Warraq, the Koran is filled with exhortations to fight and kill infidels. He argues that despite the claims of Islam’s apologists, jihad is not a defensive measure but instead is defined in Islamic law as an armed struggle against unbelievers, with the ultimate goal being the establishment of a wholly Muslim world.
Throughout the Koran, the concept of Jihad is employed not to sanctify unbridled violence but to facilitate the realization of a political and social order in which peace might prevail.
The problem is: A set of beliefs concerning the cause, the nature and the purpose of the universe leads to violence. It is a problem for all who want to live peacefully bearing in mind other people’s points of view. It is a problem because it prevents people from living normal, lives and makes everyone fear, it brings insecurity, destabilizes economy and stuff like that.
Thesis: Although many believe that Islam is the religion of peace, dogmatic view of the world may be the main root of systematic use of violence.
Points:
1. Muslims have now come into conflict with the world inhabited largely by non-Muslims
2. Laws and making of the laws is one of the properties the two sides disagree about.
3. Jihad is often misinterpreted.
4. The cause of contemporary Muslim wars lies in politics, not seventh-century religious doctrines.
6. Economic problems cause terrorism
7. Islam doesn’t encourage terrorism.
Terrorists groups motivated by religious concerns are becoming more common. Of 11 identified by the Rand Corporation in 1968, none were classified as religiously motivated. By 1994, a third of the 49 international groups identified were classified as religious. Terrorism, violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror) and which are perpetrated for an ideological goal, has long been an instrument of repression by governments as well as a tool of revolutionaries trying to overthrow governments. Although many believe that Islam is the religion of peace, dogmatic view of the world may be the main root of systematic use of violence.
Muslims have now come into conflict with the world inhabited largely by non-Muslims. Some of the most vivid examples that illustrate the point are: Afghanistan Extreme radical Fundamentalist Muslim terrorist groups & non-Muslim Osama bin Laden’s terrorist group called Al Quada, Kashmir Conflict, Israeli–Palestinian conflict and Russia’s Chechnya muslim war. Ibn Warraq, an author of Pakistani origin, said, ‘to pretend that Islam has nothing to do with [September 11] is to willfully ignore the obvious and to forever misinterpret events’. It is claimed that Islam which is not only religion but also a way of life and a unique world view is not to blame for the fact that fanatics, or “black sheep” exist. The idea is backed by the Muslim authorities who do not support terrorism, or “unholy war”. However, the evidence suggests the situation is different: the fact that Muslims are unwilling to intergrate themselves into the Western society while actually living in democratic states and that people of other religions are converted into Islam and become members of terroristic organizations implies that there is more to the problem under the skin. Some of the causes for such an attitude can be the wish to preserve one’s identity in the face of globalism, to find the real way to spirituality that only the Muslim religion can offer and others. At the same time the basic principles of spirituality and the way to live purposefully are not the only things Christianity and Islam disagree about.
Making of the laws and laws themselves is what the two sides argue about. This demonstrates that perhaps Islam the faith is not the answer to the question of the reason to the conflict but the history, sociology and politics of Islam are part of it. Democracy is based on the idea that men make laws. Islam contains, in the Koran, a set of God-given laws, dictated directly to Muhammad and therefore not open to revision. But if one thinks about this view it becomes evident that societies have been able to coexist peacefully throughout the history. If we take the present situation the relations between Asia and Africa can be cited as an example, the interaction between Senegal and India for instance. The answer to this point is found in the fact that the western world violates one of the principles of peaceful coexistence, that is Mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs, which provokes a negative response from the victims who are Muslims. America, currently being the world’s only superpower, should beware of stepping into somebody else's argument about the true meaning of Islam, and of assuming that democracy must be Islam's opposite. These are arguments for Muslims to resolve, in their own way, experts suggest. And trying to solve the problem for the Islamic world will only add fuel to the fire. In addition to that, modern states also require many more laws than are inscribed in the unalterable Koran. In fact only about 80 of the Koran’s 6,000 verses lay down rules of public law, and not many of those have much application in the modern world. Much of what is loosely called sharia derives from other sources: the sunna (the teachings of the prophet); the ijma (the consensus of religious scholars); and the qiyas (legal reasoning). So here is ample room for interpretation (ijtihad).
The notion of Jihad, or holy war, is often misinterpreted. Many account Jihad, the war with the infidels, for the ongoing terrorism around the world. In fact Ibn Warraq thinks that despite the claims of Islam’s apologists, jihad is not a defensive measure but instead is defined in Islamic law as an armed struggle against unbelievers, with the ultimate goal being the establishment of a wholly Muslim world. Though the concept exists, not just anybody is supposed to be able to declare a jihad; and not for just any reason. In fact terrorism has nothing to do with jihad because it’s an “unholy war”, or hiraba. Muslim clerics who denounce Mr. bin Laden’s jihad against “Jews and Crusaders” say he had neither proper authority to declare war, nor just cause. Osama bin Laden has not succeeded in mobilizing Muslims everywhere for his jihad and kill Americans vigorously partly because of the many divisions within Islam that interpret the notion of the holy war in different ways.
The cause of contemporary Muslim wars lies in politics, not seventh-century religious doctrines. The experts are saying that one of the most significant social, cultural and political developments in the past several decades has been the resurgence of Islamic consciousness, movements and identity among Muslim peoples almost everywhere. This Islamic resurgence is in large part a response to modernization and globalization and is highly constructive in many ways. Throughout the Muslim world, and particularly among Arabs, there exists a great sense of grievance, resentment, envy and hostility toward the West and its wealth, power and culture. However, one might argue that the traditional way of life that is passed from generation to generation reinforces violence, the Islamic culture being an excellent mediator of this and the reason for resurgence of Islamic consciousness. The truth is that tribal, religious, ethnic, political and cultural divisions within the Muslim world stimulate violence between Muslims and they also promote violence between Muslims and non-Muslims, but not the religion itself. And one must also bear in mind that the Islamic resurgence has coincided with and been invigorated by birthrates in most Muslim societies, which have produced a “youth bulge” with large numbers of people between the ages of 16 and 30. Young males are thought to be the principal perpetrators of violence in all societies; they exist in overabundant numbers in Muslim societies. The age of Muslim wars will end when its causes change or are changed.
There are many things the Muslims and the Christians and in fact Muslims and Muslims disagree about, but the fact that the representatives of the Islamic culture have now come into conflict with the world inhabited largely by non-Muslims may have to do with the politics, not seventh-century religious doctrines. At the same time, faith can be the catalyst for the wars since, as primatologist Robert Sapolsky once said, ‘… faith requires that faith persists in the face of the impossible, and that humans have the capacity to simultaneously believe in two contradictory things”, and “the less it is possible that something can be, the more it must be”.