Terrorism Under the Banner of Islam

J Kadhim D

Description

In the small hours of Monday morning, the 2nd of May 2011, US President Obama announced to the world that Osama bin Laden, head of al-Qaida - the most notorious terrorist group of our time - had been killed in Pakistan by an American special task force.The most sought terrorist in the world is dead, but the ideology of violence that he and his followers have embraced is still alive.It is said that terrorism is as old as history. It has operated under number of names and emerged under a variety of banners. It is a violent act that targets civilians to advance an ideological or political cause. Today terrorism is operating under the cover of Islam.Over the centuries Islam has co-existed and interacted with religions, cultures and civilizations. In general that interaction has produced multicultural colourful societies. So why is Islam now being used as an incubator of violence? What are the foundations of Islam, its message and the way it relates itself to other monotheist religions? What do we really know about Islam? More importantly, what do those young Muslims who kill themselves and devastate the lives of others know about their religion? Are they aware that suicide is considered to be a great sin in Islam? And do they know that killing an innocent soul is an unforgivable crime in Islam? Do they realize that hate preachers are promoting their own anomalous version of Islam?The answers to those questions and more are methodically explored in this book.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Islam

Informations

• Publié par: eBook Versions
• Date de parution: 20 juin 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781843960829
• Langue: English

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of this work.

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TERRORISM
UNDER THE
BANNER OF
ISLAM

The hijacking of a
peaceful religion by terrorism

D J Kadhim



WIMBLEDON EDITIONS
Contents


Cover
Copyright Credits

Title Page
Notes to the Reader
Epigraph
Introduction
Prologue

SECTION ONE - The Origins of Islam
Part One
The Place, the Time and the Man
Part Two
The Task, the Struggle and the Achievements
Part Three
The Completion, the Seed of Conflict and the Expansion

SECTION TWO - Islam from the Two Successive Arab Empires
Part One
Part Two
The Umayyad Dynasty
Part Three
The Abbasid Dynasty
Part Four
Non-Arab Dynasties and the fragmentation of the Arab Muslim Empire
Part Five
The Legacy and Relations with Christian Europe

SECTION THREE - The Ottoman Empire
Part One
The Ottoman Empire Advanced: Another Phase of Islam
Part Two
The Rise of Arab Nationalism and the Western Invaders
Part Three
The End of the Ottoman Empire and the Demolition of the Caliphate

SECTION FOUR
Part One
Islam without an Islamic Authority
Part Two
The Deception of the West: The Conspiracy and Western Tutelage

SECTION FIVE - Between the Two World Wars and Beyond
Part One
The Seeds of Fanaticism
Part Two
The Growth of Anti-Western Sentiment
Part Three
Arabism Leading the Way

SECTION SIX
Part One
Are they Muslims or Terrorists?
Part Two
The Six-Day War and its Impact on the Region
Part Three
The Extremists and the Fanatics Join Forces in Peshawar
Part Four
The Consequencies of the Communist Defeat

SECTION SEVEN - Terrorism in the Name of Allah: The Conclusion
Part One
The Fatwa that Defies the Teachings of Islam
Part Two
The Conclusion

While this Book was Awaiting Publication

Selected Bibliography

Endnotes
Notes to the Reader


1. The word Allah, wherever it appears in the text of the book, literally means God as we know it in English.
2. The words Ibin or Ibn , which are commonly used in Arabic, mean son of . Basically they are used to relate the person to his father s name or to his family name. For example, the phrase ibn Ali means son of Ali . However, when the word falls between two names it should be pronounced as bin . Hence we say, for example, Ali-bin-Abi-Talib or Husain bin Ali .
3. Al or Al- or al- in Arabic is the equivalent of The or the in English.
4. Some of the Arabic names are hyphenated, some are not. That depends on the way they were originally quoted and that does not change anything in the names.
5. The book of the Holy Koran is considered in Islam as the word of God. It is the principal source, alongside the Prophet s conduct, of the teachings of the religion. That may explain why the author has quoted extensively from the Koran to prove his argument across the book. However, the text of the Koran was gathered in the early years of Islam. It is told verbally in an eloquent, high-standard classical Arabic as it was collected and written at a later stage. It is unique in its style as it is written in prose that enshrines some characteristics of the old Arabic poetry. Hence comes the difficulty of finding the absolute accurate translation of the book.
The author went through a number of English translations of the Koran and he admires and appreciates the efforts of those scholars who tried to get as close as possible to its original meaning. However, to quote from the Koran with confidence the author obtained an authentic Arabic copy of the Koran and eventually relied on his own translation. Any similarity that might occur between the author s translation and any other existing translation in some quotations is no more than the coincidence of translating the same text.
6. In quoting from the Holy Koran, the author followed the system of putting the chapter s number first, followed by the verse number or numbers in that chapter.
In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful
The one who killed a human being,
except for just punishment for murder, or for
spreading corruption on earth, would be
looked upon as if he had killed all mankind, and
the one who saved a human being would be
looked upon as if he had saved all mankind.

(HOLY KORAN 5:32)
Introduction


Islam has been misinterpreted and perverted in a shocking way: first by young Muslims who fail to grasp the real meaning of the religion and second by societies which base their knowledge of Islam on a superficial presentation, which is usually overshadowed by suicide bombings and the sinister cult of terrorism and death.

Young Muslims are confused between appreciating the values of our liberal societies and pursuing their own political aims. They fail to realize that a state s policy, in particular the foreign policy, is always a subject for debate. It is complex by its very nature and can never please every single member of the public. However, in civilized societies we have learned to object to policies by protesting, demonstrating, and by other legal means. We have learned as well that government may be changed through elections and not by violent means.

They have to realize that committing suicide and taking the lives of innocent individuals are no more than destructive acts: acts that neither serve their society nor serve their religion. Above all, they have to know that both suicide and the taking of innocent life are considered to be great sins in Islam. The Prophet Muhammad has specified this fact so vividly in his sayings and they are described as wicked acts in so many verses of the Koran, the Holy Book of Islam.

You shall not take any man s life whom Allah has forbidden you to kill except for implementing justice. (Holy Koran 17:33)

And they should know that knowledge of Islam as well as understanding the meanings of its fine terminology, such as fiqh (jurisprudence), fatwa (religious ruling) and jihad (striving against oneself for perfection) may give them great insight into their religion. The specific meanings of these terms should be sought through authorized Islamic institutions not through ignorant preachers who incite violence. It was revealed at Woolwich Crown Court on 15 January 2007, during the trial of the six alleged terrorists who plotted to attack the transport system of London on 21 July 2005, that three of the accused used to listen to fanatical hate preachers in a number of mosques in London. This is an alarming fact that should be examined with great concern.

In the meantime, non-Muslims in our society should understand Islam according to its real values as a religion of peace and social harmony not as it has been manifested by odd minorities as a religion of terror and violence. That is how we will defeat terrorism and achieve together the cohesive free society in which we all enjoy our freedom and practice our civil rights without fear or concern. That is the aim of this book.

Nevertheless, it is also useful to state that Terrorism under the Banner of Islam is not a book about history as such, neither is it a book about religion in the traditional way. It is a book that touches upon both spectrums of Islam: its history and its doctrine, as it is believed by millions of people. The book is an effort to illustrate its real values in a simple narrative way for the layman to be enlightened, and for young Muslims to distance themselves from the violence which has been wrongly associated with their peaceful, constructive religion.

THE AUTHOR
Prologue


1. The Rooster of the Millennium


In November 1999 hundreds of thousands of pilgrims were heading towards Amman, the capital of Jordan, to celebrate the millennium close to the biblical sites where Jesus was born. However, among those visitors were a bunch of plotters who travelled to Jordan with completely different objectives and with deadly plans in their minds. They had some contacts in Jordan who were waiting to help them in their ill-intended mission. One of these contacts was a man called Khadr Abu Hoshar, a Palestinian extremist, who was, because of previous convictions on terrorism charges, under close surveillance by Jordanian security.

On 30 November 1999 a Jordanian security unit had intercepted a telephone call between Abu Zubaydah, a high-ranking member of al-Qaida and a close associate of the international terrorist Osama bin Laden, and Khadr Abu Hoshar. In that telephone conversation Abu Zubaydah said to Abu Hoshar, The time for training is over. Suspecting that this was a signal for Abu Hoshar to commence terrorist attacks, Jordanian security immediately arrested Abu Hoshar and fifteen of his associates. 1

Under interrogation, the plotters confessed to their two-stage plan, firstly to attack four targets: the SAS Hotel in downtown Amman, the border crossings from Jordan into Israel, and two more Christian holy sites in Jordan, at a time when these places were likely to be packed with Americans, Europeans and pilgrims from many parts of the world. Second, their other targets would be Amman Airport and various religious and tourist attractions.

The plotters revealed, among other things, some important information about their training base in Afghanistan. Early in 1999 Abu Hoshar contacted Khalid Deek, an American citizen of Palestinian origin and a close associate of Abu Zubaydah,