We are living in a world that is plagued by the global threat of terrorism (“The indiscriminant use or threat of violence to advance social, political, economic or religious objectives by creating a climate of fear”) . No country in the world is safe from the constant fear of an attack. While terrorism is not central to any one group, faction or culture; a quick survey of world news would lead one to believe the most prevalent actors in the modern terrorist scene belong to what many would call the radical, Salafist-minded sect of the Muslim faith.
This is not to say that violent acts of terror are unique to Islam. But a closer look at its practitioners both now and in the past reveals, if not a tendency towards terrorism, at the least a widespread attitude of violence. The daily suicide bombings in parts of the world; constant shelling of Israeli schools; the 9/11 highjackings; the thousands of Christians killed in Nigeria during the implementation of Sharia law which maims and kills other Muslims; the millions of people (Muslims and non-Muslims alike) killed in ethnic cleansing, genocide and civil war. The list goes on and on. While this does not suggest every Muslim is willing to kill and ultimately die for the cause, is Islam really as peaceful as many think?
History shows that violent acts are the fundamental to Muslim thought and are not just contemporary phenomena. The 21st Century does not provide the first occurrence of Muslim hatred and actions against the United States and other Christian nations. In 1784, the United States began making a series of tribute payments to the Muslim-controlled Barbary States, which consisted of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli and Morocco. The Barbary States provided a launching port for Muslim privateers who were wreaking havoc upon American and other Western nations’ merchant vessels operating in the area; in addition, between the years of the 1530 and 1780 over 1.25 million. Continued acts of piracy lead to the creation of the United States Navy. After a series of naval victories against the Barbary Coast Pirates, the United States ended tribute payments.
A current line of thinking states that the creation of Israel united the nations of Islam by providing a common enemy. Instead of constant civil war and fighting within the Arab states, they now focus their aggression on the Israeli people. Muslim leaders have openly expressed their desire to completely and entirely annihilate Israel from the face of the earth. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad stated:
“You are the heroes that guard Lebanon's sovereignty…You have proven that there no force in the world can beat you. The resistance of the Lebanese nation, drawn from faith in God, can stand up to any Israeli force – planes, tanks and ships…The Zionists planned to destroy this village, but it stood strong against the occupiers…The world should know the Zionists are mortal ... today the Lebanese nation is alive and is a role model for the regional nations…The whole world should know that the Zionists will eventually disappear and Bint Jbeil will remain alive.”
President Ahmedinejad also stated: “If the Zionist regime wants to repeat its past mistakes, this will constitute its demise and annihilation…With Allah's help the new Middle East will be a Middle East without Zionists and Imperialists.”
“It’s hard for ordinary Americans to understand the nature of the struggle when our leaders cling to a Disney version of Islam. President George W. Bush assures us that “the terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism...that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam.” If so, a large part of the Islamic world has perverted these peaceful teachings to such an extent that one wonders in the so-called deviation isn’t actually the norm.”
These are just two examples of Muslim acts of aggression against non-Muslim nations. Many more examples are given throughout history, from the very creation of the Islamic ideology to current times. When one looks at the innumerable acts committed by Muslims, it becomes hard to believe that one or two groups perverting the peaceful teachings of Islam have existed for so long and done so many cruel things.
At the same time, many others hold to the belief that terrorism is in fact perpetrated by fringe radicals.
“…Although some Muslim leaders have criticized the terrorists, and even Saudi Arabia’s rulers have distanced themselves from the militants, other Muslims in the Middle East and elsewhere have not denounced these acts, have been conspicuously silent or have indeed celebrated them. The terrorists’ strain of Islam is clearly not shared by most Muslims and is deeply unrepresentative of Islam’s glorious, civilized and peaceful past. But it surely represents a piece of Islam—a radical, fundamentalist part—that simply cannot be ignored or denied.”
This debate is one of the most central, fundamental foundations of any discussion on Islamist terror. It must first be decided if a mainstream Muslim theology promotes acts of violence? Only after this question is answered can any other question be answered or any defensive policies made. Many claim religious intolerance or bigotry at such a suggestion as a supposed radical few not actually being the culprits but more or less any Muslim, but consider this: Islam is not solely a religion. It is also a political system, a legal system (Sharia law), and an overall way of life. Making a claim of religious discrimination is really not accurate.
As to my own personal interpretation of this issue, Islam as a whole is a very turbulent and anti-Western ideology. “Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war.” (Qu’ran: 9:5) “The believers who did join the Ghazwa [Islamic raid or invasion] and those who fought are not equal in reward.” (Bukhari: V5B59N288) “Surely Allah loves those who fight in His Cause” (Qu’ran: 61:4) My research and own thought processes lead me to believe that, while obviously simply being a Muslim does not mean you are willing to murder others and become a terrorist, Muslim beliefs do preach such ideas; as evidenced many times throughout the Qur’an, in other scholarly writings and the fatwah, religious decrees given by religious and political authorities.
Another fact confirming my theory that Islamist terrorists can be recruited from anywhere in mainstream Muslim culture are the multiple elements of the foundational doctrine of jihad (a concept which roughly translates to ‘striving’, which defines any action taken in Allah’s name: be it proselytizing non-believers, making the pilgrimage to Mecca, praying daily or carrying out acts of terrorism). First, jihad is divided into both greater jihad and lesser jihad. Greater jihad refers to actions of a non-violent nature, such as spiritual education of non-Muslims. In contrast, lesser jihad refers to actions of a violent nature. Lesser jihad is further categorized as both offensive and defensive. Offensive jihad is as a volunteer-only movement aimed towards both the successful conversion of non-believers and the expansion of Islamic ideals in the world as well as the establishment of Islamic governments; however, this is still considered lesser jihad because the tactics used to accomplish the desired results are executed through violent measures. Defensive jihad is waged when an Islamic nation is threatened or invaded by outside forces, and is a mandated by the Qu’ran. All Muslims are required by Islamic tradition to participate in defensive jihad, meaning that any and all Muslims have a duty to strike back against the United States or any other nation occupying Islamic lands.
While Sageman’s Understanding Terror Networks points to the fact that the current jihad movement is aimed at a religious revival in the Muslim world and an expansion of Muslim beliefs to predominantly non-Muslim nations; his research, using all open source information, reveals some very interesting facts that change much of our previous knowledge of terrorism and those who perform terrorist acts. Contrary to traditional wisdom, most terrorists are not impoverished illiterates who spend their entire lives reading the Qu’ran. The majority of recruits are in their mid 20s, often married with children, college-educated, from middle to upper class families and were raised with a secular education/background.
In reality, terror networks operate in much the same way as a street gang. The leaders seek out younger men in the community who may have opportunity but don’t necessarily have a desirable home life and recruit them into what Sageman terms the “bunch of guys” group, whereas they meet a group of men such as themselves who quickly become family. The perceived radical beliefs are instilled in this “bunch of guys.” The individual does not necessarily come into the group with ideas of violence, but rather through spending time with their friends they, perhaps succumbing to peer pressure at times, gradually develop a group identity. Oftentimes they are told that through terrorist acts, they are able to create a utopian society where everything will be much better than even their newfound circumstances. Many Muslim terrorists who are recruited into the jihad movement are recruited in a foreign country. Here, they are even more vulnerable because, even though they may have a good home life, they are often homesick and possibly excluded in the new country due to their background, and ultimately seek companionship and acceptance in a nearby mosque.
To bring all of this information back into context, the debate between terrorists coming from a radical fringe versus terrorists being simply mainstream Muslims is a rather unsolvable one. No one will ever be to truly say with absolute certainty which idea is accurate, or if both are equally valid. Hopefully at this point, enough information has been given for one to make their own decision. The purpose is not to definitively say one way or another but to provide background on both the uncertainty of the issue and the complications which contribute.
Now that the primary question has been answered, we can move from the who and what to the why. There are several motivators behind why a person or group of likeminded individuals would commit acts of terrorism, all of which can be found exemplified in Middle Eastern terror networks.
• A political ideal, wherein an act of violence would be demonstrated to promote political change. This element can be found in every modern terrorist attack, because if the media will conceivably cover the event, the terrorist will attack. The likelihood of news exposure is very important to the planning of an attack. Examples of politically motivated groups are Hezzbolah and Hamas, who fight against the westernization and cultural change of their homeland.
• Liberation of land; when a group, calling themselves freedom fighters, commits acts of terror against a state that currently presides over land they claim as theirs. This can be seen with the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) in their continued guerilla attacks against Israel for the Gaza Strip.
• Religion, the most commonly referenced motivator behind Middle Eastern terror. Probably the best example of religious motivation in a terrorist group is Osama Bin Laden’s al Qaida.
Obviously, these are overlapping concepts. A single terrorist group cannot claim just one motivation method. Even though they may be considered as being motivated by a single factor, each element combines to make up the overall motivation of a terrorist network.
Globalization has added to the both the proliferation of terror and the ease of recruitment. Now that anyone can get onto the internet and communicate anonymously with anyone else anywhere in the world, communication is much easier. Due to the advent of advanced encryption systems such as Trucrypt and PGP, plans can be made that are virtually undiscoverable until they are executed. Anonymity is also contributed to division between the jihadists. When you are not recognizable, the tendency to use hate speech and other verbal harassment increases exponentially. Not only does this fact add to the division between groups but it is also leading us to what Sageman calls the “Leaderless Jihad.”
Islamist terror is a complex topic. A topic that is not “politically correct,” and therefore is not being discussed in many circles. Even the CIA is not allowed to train its officers on Islamist Extremism, a fact that T.J. Waters discusses in his book Class 11. We need to realize on a public stage that Islamist terrorists are in fact the main perpetrators of terrorism in the global arena. Until the US recognizes this crucial fact and takes moves to counter it, the terror threat will continue to increase.
