Terrorism Under The Banner Of Islam

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.

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.

Fifteen years after the tragic events of 9/11, bombs are still exploding and innocent people are being killed by terrorist groups in both western and Islamic societies. Most of these sinisterly threatening events are motivated by religious claims, or are taking place in religiously affected places. Is religion the main cause of terrorism, or does terrorism still arise because of leaders who brainwash and coach future terrorists so that they kill under the banner of religion? The religious imagination seems to hold here an influential power in the creation of ‘delusion’ to orient the ‘bigot’ believers toward fulfilling their religious duty against those who are religious in a different way or are not religious at all. Religion, in this sense, is tightly allied with political aspirations. In spite of the religious justification of the act of killing, ‘enlightened’ religious leaders and religious-minded people believe and argue that religion is a source of love and affection. Therefore, the sacred texts of religious tradition must be read from a ‘humanist’ perspective because the ultimate message of religion is about the appreciation of the principle of humanity. This is a growing attitude among many religious people today who believe that God is merciful and compassionate, and never orders resentment, violence, and killing of innocent people. In addition, no true religious tradition appreciates self-serving interpretations promoting violence against others. If religion disregards love, affection, and compassion as its essence, it drops into the dire vortex of ideological dogma, as it is in the case for the Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram, and Al-Shabab. Therefore, any interpretation that admits violence and killing would be a mere provincial reading of the religious texts agitated by purposeful intentions aimed at political goals. This book investigates and addresses the root causes of terrorism from a religious studies perspective. The themes analysed and discussed here mainly include a range of religious and philosophical issues such as religious violence in scriptural monotheism, radical interpretations of religious texts, militancy and sacrifice, apocalypticism and terrorism, and religious terrorism today. The book brings together new approaches adopted by the authors to not only trace the causes of terrorism in various religious interpretations and realms, but also reach a common definition of the main religious causes beyond diverse perspectives, and advance solutions against religious-inspired terrorism.

After the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in New York, and the Madrid and London bombings, Muslim communities in the West have generated security issues and political concern. This book challenges the authenticity of popular myths about the Islamic world and examines these myths as ideological cover for the "war on terror" and Iraq war.

What changes have the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001 and the subsequent attacks in Europe brought to Western societies? In what ways have these events and their aftermath impacted on the relationships between Muslim communities and Western societies? This book explores the remaking of the relationship between Islam and Islamism, on the one hand, and security and securitization, on the other hand, by arguing that 9/11 and its aftermath have led to the opening of a new phase in Western and European history and have remade the relationship between Islam and governmental and societal approaches to security. The authors utilize case studies across the Western world to understand this relationship.

What is Islam s ultimate goal? Do all Muslims believe in Jihad? What are the goals of Islamic Jihad? How did we get such a whitewashed image of Islam? How is Islam a religion of peace? Is Islam compatible with democracy? Why is there so much resistance and revolt in the Islamic world? Why are they targeting Europe and the United States? Is it a war on terrorism or Islam? Why Muslims reject peace offers? Islam 9/11 and Global Terrorism is a brilliant exposition of a growing perception that post 9/11 more Muslims are taking to terrorism. It is a pioneering attempt to comprehensively examine this issue right from the theological origins of political Islam to Islamic faith, beliefs and tradition, from what motivates a terrorist, to the concept of Jihad versus the concept of tolerance. This book intelligently unscrambles the cross-currents of Muslim nations from the oratory of its manipulators to its actual reality. It also explores issues like historical roots of bitterness towards the West that seems to dominate these nations, and the reasons for the increasingly rigid rejection of modernity by many in the Muslim World. Nazrul Islam presents the tennets of Islam in a secular manner which unfortunately has not been very visible in the current debate over Islam and Terrorism. This is an essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the dynamics of this debate.

Sunni Islam has played an ambivalent role in Turkey's Kurdish conflict--both as a conflict resolution tool and as a tool of resistance. Under the Banner of Islam uses Turkey as a case study to understand how religious, ethnic, and national identities converge in ethnic conflicts between co-religionists. Gülay Türkmen asks a question that informs the way we understand religiously homogeneous ethnic conflicts today: Is it possible for religion to act as a resolution tool in these often-violent conflicts? In search for answers to this question, in Under the Banner of Islam, Türkmen journeys into the inner circles of religious elites from different backgrounds: non-state-appointed local Kurdish meles, state-appointed Kurdish and Turkish imams, heads of religious NGOs, and members of religious orders. Blending interview data with a detailed historical analysis that goes back as far as the nineteenth century, she argues that the strength of Turkish and Kurdish nationalisms, the symbiotic relationship between Turkey's religious and political fields, the religious elites' varying conceptualizations of religious and ethnic identities, and the recent political developments in the region (particularly in Syria) all contribute to the complex role religion plays in the Kurdish conflict in Turkey. Under the Banner of Islam is a specific story of religion, ethnicity, and nationalism in Turkey's Kurdish conflict, but it also tracks a broader narrative of how ethnic and religious identities are negotiated when resolving conflicts.