Questions to Think About
Part I: Module 7 1. Not to justify terrorism in any way, shape or form, but what are some of the reasons for it that could be seen as valid complaints?

Some of the reasons used to justify terrorism are deeply roots to extremist belief that is driven by a religious passion with goals of conformity. In order to have a persuasive message one has to understand and 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 me in this class mainly because I came into the class with very little to almost no significant knowledge on Islam and its struggles. I am not so much surprised about the development of armies for God, but I am surprised at the internal conflicting factors of Muslims and their historical components. I find it interesting to know that Islam had numerous reforms and had various leaderships. Also, I find it interesting that through reforms there was a constant struggle between traditional Islamic faith and the adoption of Western cultures and beliefs. The Islamic religion is full of history and culture and that gives me a better understanding of why Muslims feel so passionate about their beliefs (Esposito, 2002 and Esposito and Mogahed, 2005).

2. Knowing more about global jihad and Islam now, are there any suggestions you have for forging roads toward peace and an end to global jihad?

I do not know if there is much to suggest since global jihad is deeply rooted in culture, politics and religion. I will suggest that some potential ways to progress into peace and end global jihad would be to motivate those involved in terrorism to seek the truth. Maybe this could help to shed some light on alternatives to violence to achieve goals such as negotiation. I do not think imprisonment all terrorists is the cure to problem. Especially, since there are suicide bombers, willing to die for the movement. I feel they perform acts of terrorism for reaction and expect imprisonment. I wonder if reactions gradually change, would terrorist feel they have failed their mission. Additionally, I feel governments should try to adequately assess and then address the needs of its people (Esposito, 2002 and Esposito and Mogahed, 2005).