...misinterpretation of Jihad, as a form of violence. Words: 2000 Our society today faces the greatest challenge in the form of terrorism threatening countless lives and shattering those very ideals that sustain humanity. The misinterpretation of jihad is the primary cause behind many terrorist activities in the recent times. The misinterpretation of this word was first started by Ali ibn Tahir al-Sulami, He was a Damascene jurist and a pious Muslim who was the first to preach jihad against the crusaders in the aftermath of the First Crusade. He was one of the first to misconstrue jihad and preach the misinterpretation of jihad .He wrote the book Kitab Al- Jihad which means “book of the holy war”. In this book he proposes for the first time Jihad as a means of warfare against non-believers. “If he did not undertake the sending of enough troops to fight, those who are absent (must) go out, and consider as an obligation that which God (who is praised) said.” The above excerpts explicitly prove the aggressive nature of his ideology and the eventual misinterpretation of Jihad. The above statement suggests to Muslims if god didn’t send enough men to war against non-Muslims then it is the obligation of every Muslim to fight this war against non-believers. This concept was shouted through speakers in mosques and had a lot of audience hence the impact it had on Muslims was much more. His concept of jihad as warfare and fight...
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...In the article, Jihad versus McWorld author Benjamin Barber describes opposing forces that are directly impacting democracy. On one side, which he calls Jihad, refers to religious communities that have been aggravated by the American-dominated economy, and the other, McWorld, the consumer-based capital global economy that separates people from their own beliefs to regulate their own norms. This directly ties to the two stories A Poland, a Lithuania, a Galicia and My Son the Fanatic because in those stories there are opposing sides, the sons who fight for their religious beliefs and their parents can't seem to understand their sons strong views. The sons can be seen as the Jihad of the situation, while their parents could be considered the...
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...Terrorism by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad Brandin P. Lea SCTY 488 – Terrorism and Homeland Security December 26, 2010 Professor Eric Witcher Abstract It has been the case that over the duration that mankind has graced the planet there has been group’s hell bent on enacting their beliefs and values upon the rest of the world. As time has passed there have been many times that these groups have changed the face of the planet permanently. You can look at any organized religious group and see just how they pushed the belief system onto others to spread their ideology. Now, taking into consideration that fundamentalism and militant groups are nothing new, you can see that it still affects society greatly even today. Let us look at the main group I am focusing on in this paper. The Egyptian Islamic Jihad is one of the most influential fundamentalists groups in the Middle East. Similar to other terrorist groups, the religious intensity factor of a particularly violent kind is pointing solely to Islam, even when religious frenzies are spreading remarkably everywhere. A retreat into religion became the way most Islamic communities could be explained, from Saudi Arabia which, with what was supposed to be a peculiarly Islamic logic, refused to ratify the Camp David Accords, all the way to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Egypt. In this way, researchers underline that the Islamic world is differentiated, in the Western mind generally, in the United States in particular, from regions...
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...Jihad Definition: - In literal terms Jihad means to struggle or exert oneself to achieve a particular goal. In Islamic terminology, it means to struggle in the way of Allah Almighty to achieve and establish righteousness and shun evil. The scope of the terminology is very broad and is not simply restricted to fighting in the physical sense which is one method of carrying out jihad. Broadly Jihad is classified into two types: • Greater Jihad. (Jihad Al-Akbar) • Lesser Jihad. (Jihad Al- Asghar) Jihad can also be divided into following kinds: • Jihad bin Nafs. (Greater Jihad, Spiritual) • Jihad bil Lisan. (Lesser Jihad, Physical) • Jihad bil Yad. (Lesser Jihad, Physical) • Jihad bil Mal. (Lesser Jihad, Physical) • Jihad bis Saif. (Lesser Jihad, Physical) 1. Jihad bin Nafs is the greater jihad which is when a muslim makes a special effort to be a pure muslim, or fights against his or her own selfish desires. This is every Muslims personal struggle to obey Allah, follow shari’ah and become a better Muslim. It is a tough spiritual struggle, lasts a lifetime, and affects every aspect of life. The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) told warriors returning to Madina after a battle that they had returned from the lesser jihad (of warfare) to the greater jihad of struggle against one’s own heart, i.e. desires that lead to wrong doings. The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: “The greatest Jihad is to fight against the evil passions of oneself”. ...
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...II. The Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement (EJIM) Eritrean separatism began in earnest during World War II, as Eritrea passed from Italian to British rule in 1941 and remained under British administration until 1950. Arab states pushed for independence given the large Muslim population and ties to the Arab world from that community. The initial constitution in 1952 was ratified by Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, but Eritrea and Ethiopia were linked through a federal system, under the sovereignty of the emperor. Eritreans resisted Ethiopian rule and began armed struggle for their independence in 1958. The Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement (EIJM) began activity in 1975 when a group of Islamist-minded guerillas split off from the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) that had been fighting since the beginning of the Eritrean independence movement. The EIJM was formally established in 1980. Since independence in 1993, the EIJM (and its factions) have been the principal Muslim opposition group in Eritrea, seeking the violent overthrow of the ELF government led by President Isaias Afewerki. EIJM claims to only target the Eritrean government and its apparatus in the country, not Western targets, and seeks the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in Eritrea. The group is based in Sudan and is made up primarily of dissidents from the ELF, conservative Eritrean (and some other Muslims from Horn of Africa countries), and a Muslim youth network. The group is also known by a variety of other names—the...
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...As time goes on, we find patterns within the actions that have occurred, or are occurring, in our society. Reading Journey to Jihad by Ben Taub, has made me aware of one specific event that continues to go on, the radicalization of teens to “extremist” groups. This is a specifically unusual topic due to the natural instinct of teenagers, to have rebellious instincts due to their lack of freedom. While most teens appear to want more freedom, it seems as though these young adults are fighting on the side of more restriction within their society. So, why do some adolescents choose to promote and fight for a more confined society? I then wondered if the idea of being apart of something had to do with their conforming. Though it is an instinct to...
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...BC607 Leading from a Global Perspective Taught by: Dr. John Theodore Assignment 7.2: Jihad vs. McWorld By: Introduction Assignment 7.2, I was asked to analyze the case of Jihad vs. McWorld applying the criteria, as defined by Barber the scientist, as follows: utilize the Jihad vs. McWorld reading assignment, define Barber’s two primary metaphors “McWorld” and “Jihad,” create the major summary issues about the nature of social, cultural, and/or religious resistance to globalization, and establish a list of “dos” of “don’ts” for global enterprises to avoid the tensions reflecting from the resistances. The Jihad has the agenda to care for and protect the community, environment, and everyone living within the parameter that the global businesses are conducting the sales to the global consumers. The McWorld had the agenda to supply the global consumers’ needs and wants as the business knows best. The two opponents head opposite directions. Nevertheless, they do not support and have anything to do with democracy. The Jihad employs violent to stir up the attention of the public or the McWorld in a way to resist or prevent globalization from successfully dominating the whole world. Alternatively, the McWorld while striving to supply or exploit the global consumers with large-volume sales, it ignores major responsibilities regarding culture, social, politics, religious, and so forth existing within the areas – countries and societies. ( Barber, The Atlantic...
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...In Benjamin R. Barber’s article “Jihad vs. McWorld”, Barber predicts and classifies the future of politics into two possible outcomes—tribalism vs. globalization. The chief goals of McWorld are not only to achieve globalization, but also to create a world without national boundaries where enterprises become transnational and cooperate with others on economy, resources, information-technology and ecology. As a result of McWorld, people from different countries go to international banks that are available everywhere, use convertible currency, eat hamburgers at McDonald, watch American—produced movies, employ English software, and trade resources freely. In fact, McWorld is gradually becoming a tendency in the world. Oppositely, Jihad is a conflicting concept with McWorld. The most significantly purpose of Jihad is to pursue isolation and nationalism. People advocate and inherit their own cultures, nations, politics and religions. Therefore, wars and revolutions might usually arise for people to form boundaries with others. Although McWorld impresses people by its peaceful and prosperous features and seems more attractive than Jihad, it does not promote democracy more successfully than Jihad does. Instead, both notions are unbeneficial to democracy since McWorld ignore the distinction between nations and Jihad excessively points out the dissimilarity of different groups. Barber believes that confederal, the system that offers local places to...
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...and the view promoted by free speech advocates these days,” Zafar asserts, “is the intention and ultimate goal each seeks to promote. Whereas many secularists champion individual privileges, Islam promotes the principle of uniting mankind and cultivating love and understanding among people. Both endorse freedom for people to express themselves, but Islam promotes unity, whereas modern-day free speech advocates promote individualism.” This glossy Orwellian language, “uniting mankind and cultivating love and understanding among people,” actually means “imposing Sharia upon mankind, and subjugating non-Muslims as inferiors under its rule.” That’s the unity Zafar envisions, as the Ahmadis teach Sharia supremacy even as they eschew violent jihad. Zafar makes this clear when he says that “the ultimate goal of Islam is to unite mankind under a single banner of peace.” The only unity of mankind that Islam’s core texts envision is that of the rule of Islamic law and the concomitant denial of basic rights to non-Muslims. “In order to unite mankind,” Zafar continues, “Islam instructs to only use speech to be truthful, do good to others, and be fair and respectful. It attempts to pre-empt [sic] frictions by prescribing rules of conduct which guarantee for all people not only freedom of speech...
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...AND SIGNIFICANCE OF JIHAD We all know that religion is a particular or absolute devotion and worship to God (the higher power). Every religion is meant to be peaceful and encourages its followers to be good. However, throughout human history, factors which bring about conflict and war are those related to politics, economy, society, arms race, colonialism and so on. Similarly, millions have to live and suffer in misery because of religious misunderstandings, disputes and conflicts. A great example of such misinterpretation in the day and age is the most widely discussed issues in the Muslim community is the negative image of Islam in the global media, an issue that was cause for concern even before 9/11. Nevertheless, “in this light it is wholly understandable that, in the aftermath of the brutal attacks of September 11, many in the west and in the Muslim world are appalled by the fact that the mass-murderer perpetrated on that day is being hailed by some Muslims as an act of Jihad”1. While appeals to the media for accuracy and fairness continue, newspaper headlines regularly print the words “Islam” and “Muslim” next to words like “fanatic,” “fundamentalist,” “militant,” “terrorist” and “violence.” Uses of the term “Jihad” in television programs and films are also illustrative. Therefore, this problematic subject leads to a subsequent question; what really is Jihad? After all, there is a great deal of confusion in the West regarding the meaning of Jihad and the role it is playing...
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...connect with a group’s frustrations and deeply rooted belief foundations. The movement of terrorism does this by shaping the purpose for the violent and terrorist acts in a way to make it a legitimate reasoning to perform such acts. For example, the global jihad was contributed by the government appearing to fail and not meet the needs of its people; therefore, coalitions and alliances were formed to oppose leadership and institutionalized Islam activism. Furthermore, when the government does not fully address the needs of its people, poverty and unemployment increases; therefore, making opposition against the government and crime increase (Esposito, p.26-70, 86-94). 2. How do you think the many definitions of jihad have complicated the issue of terrorism? The interpretations of jihad differentiate from non-violent to violent, which are basically extremists and terrorists. How jihad is defined does complicate the issue of terrorism, I think mainly because terrorism is viewed to be directly stemmed from an extremist movement, but just has furthered its tactics. The term jihad has been used and abused and ironically, jihad is interchangeably with terrorism, although, this is inaccurate it is counterproductive. Jihad has been conflated with a Muslim holy war against unbelievers (Esposito, 26-70; Esposito and Mogahed, p. 74-75). Part II: Module 8 1. Is there information in this class that has surprised you? Is so, why? There are several things that has surprised...
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...Islamic Terrorist Groups: A Comparative Study of Terror Jason Schrand HSM 305: Survey of Homeland Security & Emergency Mgmt Instructor: Blake Cheary October 6, 2013 The phrase "Islamic Terrorist" conjures many images for different people. Many will recollect the acts of September 11, 2001 - the act of terror that led the United States first into an invasion of the Taliban-controlled nation of Afghanistan and then into the "Second Gulf War" with Iraq. While both wars made great progress toward the initial goals, namely the overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the Hussein dictatorship in Iraq, as the years went by and the war dragged on, seemingly endlessly, the Islamic groups faced by the United States and her Allies seemed to be wearing down the civilian desire to continue to wage war. What American civilians do not seem to understand is that not only does the multitude of groups have very nearly the same goals, but they are also willing to die for their cause and will be almost impossible to defeat unless they are hunted and destroyed. A study of the Islamic terror groups must include historic examples; Islamic extremism is not a recent development, nor has the ideology of the extremist believers changed much since the Islamic Conquests began in the 7th Century. In F.M. Mickolus' work International Terrorism in the 1980's, Mickolus wrote that since 1968 alone two-thirds of the known incidents of terrorism in the world had occurred in...
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...Case study of terrorist group “Egyptian Islamic Al-Jihad” Name Course Instructor Paper due date Abstract The Egyptian Islamic Jihad, commonly abbreviated as EIJ is an Islamic terror group seeking to overthrow the Egyptian government and install an Islamic state. More recently, the EIJ has broadened its goals to debilitating and attacking the capabilities and interests of U.S and Israel, in Egypt and in other countries. EIJ is led by Ayman al-Zawahiri since 1991, and the group has carried out numerous terror attacks through its militant cells. EIJ’s most prominent attack is the assassination of former Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat in 1981. EIJ is considered a foreign terrorist group by the U.N. In the late nineties, EIJ had largely been eradicated from Egypt, but in 2001, the group merged with al-Qaeda, and it is now known as Qaeda al-Jihad. The command structure of al-Qaeda Jihad is centered on nine leadership seats. EIJ’s former leader al-Zawahiri is an acting commander of al-Qaeda. The group has been behind some of the most horrific terror attacks of the last two decades; the group has engineered many bombings and assassinations, which have killed many, most of them innocent people. The EIJ, in its turbulent wake leaves behind a legacy of wrath, pain and bloodshed. Main Body The Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) is also known as al-Gihad al-Islamic and Tanzim al-Jihad. Mhuammad Abd al-Salam Farraj founded EIJ in 1979 in Cairo, Egypt. Other notable...
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...Courtney Friedman Term Paper: International Terrorism (Due Week 10) Professor Smith 5/23/14 CRJ 440 Terrorism, it is a well-known term, every person has all heard of it, but yet do we really know what it is. Terrorism is in the eyes of most, a meaningless hate crime, which has no true reason behind it. The terrorism mindset is people who want to create terror among civilization. They are trained to disturb peace, and to break social harmony. Terrorism is also a horrible threat to the modern world and modern society. It has become a problem around the world, not just in the United States. Many innocent people are killed by terrorist and their acts of terrorism. An individual can see terrorism in multiple forms, but not limited to: Bombing, hijacking, cross border terrorist activities and massacres on a massive scale, in addition to many others not listed. Its consequences are very frightening. Though much effort is put into eliminating terrorism, it is impossible to get rid of it until some strict laws are devised. Whenever and wherever society is victim to brutality, injustice, wrongs and intolerance, terrorism cannot be eradicated. There are many terrorist groups out there, of many different origins and sects. The group that will be discussed is Al Qaeda, which is the most well-known out of the groups listed. The questions and statements that will be answered and debated are: 1.) A brief explanation of Al Qaeda and the summarization of its origins, 2.) Al Qaeda's major...
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...Al-Qaeda From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search al-Qaeda القاعدة Participant in the Persian Gulf War, the Global War on Terrorism, the War in Afghanistan, the Iraq War, and the Syrian Civil War Active 1988-present Ideology Sunni Islamism[1][2] Islamic fundamentalism[3] Takfirism[4] Pan-Islamism Worldwide Caliphate[5][6][7][8][9] Qutbism Wahhabism[10] Salafist Jihadism[11][12] Leaders Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1988-1989) Osama bin Laden (1989-2011) Ayman al-Zawahiri (2011-present) Area of operations Worldwide (predominantly in the Middle East) Strength In Afghanistan – 50–100[13] In Egypt –Unknown In Iraq – 2,500[14] In the Maghreb – 300–800 In Nigeria –Unknown In Pakistan – 300[15] In Philippines – Unknown In Saudi Arabia – Unknown In Somalia – Unknown In Syria Unknown In Thailand -Unknown In Yemen –500–600[16] Allies Taliban Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan East Turkestan Islamic Movement Al-Shabaab Islamic Courts Union (dis) Jundallah Lashkar-e-Taiba Jaish-e-Mohammed Jemaah Islamiyah Boko Haram Abu Sayyaf Iraqi insurgents Caucasus Emirate FARC[17][18] Syria (alleged)[19][20] Qatar (alleged)[21] Opponents United States of America Israel International Security Assistance Force Syria Iran Afghanistan Pakistan Turkey Yemen Egypt Algeria Colombia Al-Qaeda...
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