...2. Evaluate the impact on Islam of ONE significant person or school of thought. Sayyid Qutb had a seemingly minimal impact throughout his life, but his teachings and ideology have become of significant importance to the Islamic faith. However his views and thoughts of that are somewhat extreme have lead some followers to form organizations which are involved with radical, extreme and “terrorist” activities. Qutb’s teachings and commentary of Islamic teachings are seen to hold considerable authority and significance to adherents of Islam. His main and most revered teachings included: the belief in Tawhid (the oneness of God), the concept of Jahiliyya (pagan ignorance), jihad (struggle) and the need to revive Islam. Through his first book ‘Social Justice of Islam’ Qutb highlighted and upheld the importance of the Islamic idea of Tawhid. He strongly taught that everything was made with and through the Will of Allah, “So all Creation issuing as it does from one absolute, universal and active Will…” Qutb was able to reinforce this fundamental belief of Tawhid to adherents. Through this he wanted to create a society where religion and the sate were one. In this action Islamic religious laws would form the basis of the laws governing the particular society. In the contemporary world we see this in practice through Iran, in which religious laws govern the country. Therefore it appears that Qutb’s underlining focus to create a religious state did in fact become reality. Qutb’s development...
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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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...Political Islam is playing a major rule now in the current political scene; so it is important to analyze how it rose in Egypt and how it has been shaped over the years. The political Islam is mainly a set of ideologies that holds the belief that Islam can be a political ideology as much as it is a religion. Although Islamic thinkers have always emphasized the enforcement of the Islamic law (Sharia) as the main reference of the state’s political and social ideologies, they never agreed on the exact means and degree of enforcing it. This difference of course dates back to the early times of Islam when different interpretations lead to a schism in the guided Caliphate called the Great Fitna which results we have to bear with until today. As the Islamic Thinker Mohamed Abdu suggested the Holy text is “alive” in the sense that its interpretations differ greatly depending on the background of the interpreter, these different interpretations lead to the forging of different schools of thought and Madhabs. And as political Islam is directly derived from Islamic teachings and has been affected by the differences in interpretations, Political Islam has never been united under one banner. The Ex Egyptians presidents Gamal Abd El Nasser and Anwar El Sadat had their different ways in dealing with the Islamists and of course helped in shaping political Islam in Egypt. Before Gamal Abd El Nasser, Egypt’s second president, Islamist groups were largely concerned with seeking independence from...
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...Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 28, No. 1, April 2008 Islam in Britain and Denmark: Deterritorialized Identity and Reterritorialized Agendas KIRSTINE SINCLAIR Abstract This article is based on case studies of two Muslim groups: Hizb ut-Tahrir and Muslimer i Dialog (Muslims in Dialogue). In the article, basic elements in the ideology and activities of the Islamist and fundamentalist Hizb ut-Tahrir are outlined and the Danish and British sections of the group are compared in terms of agendas, members and image. Furthermore, a comparison between the Danish section of Hizb ut-Tahrir and another and more recent Danish Muslim organization called Muslimer i Dialog is made. In the article, it is argued that there are distinctive differences between the national sections of Hizb ut-Tahrir which indicate that the group is not entirely immune to national agendas (media, political or otherwise). Based on the comparison between the Danish Hizb ut-Tahrir and Muslimer i Dialog, it is also argued that a new understanding of the relation between religious, ethnic and national identity is evolving. Groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir and Muslimer i Dialog seem to thrive and recruit new members on a combination of a transnational, deterritorialized understanding of the Muslim religious community and reterritorialized agendas. Introduction In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C. in September 2001, Hizb ut-Tahrir started making headlines in Denmark. In the...
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...The religion of Islam has been in existence since the 7th-century C.E, with its founder being Muhammed. It was one of the first monotheistic religions along with Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity. Islam has always appealed to people of different backgrounds because of its universal message of paradise after death. Despite this, throughout its life, Islam has experienced changes such as the emergence of radical groups, more equality, and varying translations of the Qur'an while having continuities such as religious persecution, sect divisions, and rituals. Since the beginning, Muslims have shown religious fervor by spreading its core values to gain adherent whether voluntary or not. However, in recent years, there has been an emergence of extreme radical groups of Islam. These groups have committed terrorist attacks against U.S. and France in the name of Islam. Because of these small minority groups, Muslims are automatically seen as terrorist and extremely radical. A big step towards a change of the religion...
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...different political ideologies. He identifies eight major civilizations: the Western (Europe and North America), Slavic (Russia and Eastern Europe), Islamic, Confucian, Hindu, Japanese, Latin American, and the African. Of particular focus in the present paper is the threat to civilization from radical Islam. Three factors that foment radicalism are described: the Islamic theology of exclusiveness, the nostalgic memory of a Muslim empire that lasted nearly 1,000 years, and the consequences of oil boom in the Middle East. Population estimates for different civilizations are provided at the end. Introduction The theory of a clash of civilizations has been with us for some time. British historian Arnold Toynbee used the term in a series of lectures he delivered in 1953. The Middle East specialist Bernard Lewis wrote in 1990 that the Muslim rage against the West is “no less than a clash of civilizations” (Lewis, 1990, p 60). Samuel P. Huntington, a Harvard University political science professor, has given new currency to the notion of a clash of civilizations. His 1993 article in Foreign Affairs has gained global audience. A few years ago, I lectured to a political science class at Pondicherry University in Southern India. I was pleasantly surprised by the extent of the knowledge that Indian students possessed on this topic. A majority of the Indian students agreed with Huntington(s conclusion. The bipolar division of the world based on political ideology (communism versus...
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...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 the Middle East (F.M.Mickolus, 1989). It would seem that the main focus of Islamic terror groups must be their ideology, and a primary topic of debate amongst scholars is if Islam is fundamentally a religion of peace, violence, or some hybrid of both. The Quran, the book by which Muslims worldwide base their way of life, is overtly ambiguous on the topic of peaceful or violent behavior, and...
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...HEZBOLLAH (حزب الله) A LOOK INTO THE HISTORY AND IDEOLOGY OF A TERRORIST GROUP TURNED POLITICAL POWERHOUSE BY DEAN M. KEMP TERRORISM (ADJ 202) DELAWARE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE BACKGROUND Hezbollah is also known as: Islamic Jihad, Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine, Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, Party of God, Revolutionary Justice Organization, and The Islamic Resistance. The name “Hezbollah” is Arabic, which translates to, “Party of God,” and whose name comes from a Koranic verse promising triumph to all those who join the Party of God. Shia clergymen founded Hezbollah in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in 1982, with the goal of driving Israel from Lebanon, and establishing an Islamic state there. Hezbollah closely coordinated its efforts with Iran, and quickly became an effective fighting force thanks to the training, weapons, and funding of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was operating in Lebanon at the time. Soon thereafter, Hezbollah began running training camps for not only its members, but for other terrorist organizations on how to conduct assassinations, kidnapping, suicide bombings, and guerilla warfare. In addition to Lebanon, Hezbollah’s security apparatus operates in parts of North and South America, Europe, East Asia, and other parts of the Middle East. Hezbollah’s current goals include the establishment of a Shiite theocracy in Lebanon, the destruction of Israel, and the elimination of Western influences from the...
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...UNCG The Islamic World Islam and Terrorism: How do you see the relationship between Islam and terrorism? Many of us Americans do impulsively equate Islam with terrorism. I can’t say that this has always been true for me. Even before I started educating myself about the Middle East and the Muslim religion I would think twice before making those knee-jerk judgments. Being an African American women in a Christian based America, I have learned about racism 1st hand, the hypocrisy of the Christian church and that things are not always one sided. Growing up in the Heart of New York City also showed me how many races of people from different cultures and religions have lived amongst each other relatively peacefully. Islam is said to be the world’s second largest religion. If Islam equaled terrorism the U.S. and other parts of the world would have been under tremendous fire by the Muslims for many years. I don’t feel that Islam equates terrorism. We all have our differences but we are all human. With that said there are moral and immoral humans, there are moral Muslims and immoral Muslims. The violence we see today stems from a radical form of Islam and I believe this to be different from the mainstream beliefs of the Islamic community. There are differences between Islam and Islamism. Islamism is said to be a complex ideology of Islam. This ideology is often identified as radical and political. Islam is a religion and associated...
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...Recommendations Contrasting of conventional warfare, where a nation is at war with another nation, this battle doesn’t involve a specific location, or nation. The U.S. along with other nations are in a fight with a radical interpretation of Islam. There are many factors appealing to individuals to join these terrorist groups, and carry out attacks on their behalf. ISIS has been the most efficacious in recruiting foreign fighters. Several Americans have traveled successful and joined this group, while others were caught before they could join. While citizens have carried out domestic terrorist attacks on behalf of these organizations. To combat the terrorist threat, it’ll have to incorporate numerous foreign and domestic actions. A continuation...
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...During the 1980s, the military attempted to re-bolster its authoritarian rule. The 1961 coup, one that attempted to clamp down on politicians collaborating with religious groups, had not produced the pristine secular regime the military desired, nor prevented the political gridlock between partisan political authorities. In order to defend itself from the Marxist threat, an ideology promoted during the Cold War by the Soviet Union, the military began to relegate more funds towards building up conservative Islam as a bulwark against leftist ideology. Due to the alienation of minorities in Turkey, the military became nervous of a communist takeover (Taspinar 137). During this decade, Kurdish unrest expressed itself as a rebellious Kurdish Separatist movement known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which threatened threaten Turkish sovereignty. Ironically, Kemal’s ethnic nationalist agenda would serve as a role model for the PKK, which has sought to unify Kurds and establish a Kurdish state. In order to regain control in Turkey, the military relegated more funds towards building up conservative Islam as a bulwark against leftist...
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...joining the Nation of Islam and subsequently converted to Sunni Islam in 1975. Mr. Ali was not only known for being the world best boxer but also being known for being a familiar face in the civil rights movement. Pre-war struggles and the events of the Second World War set the conditions for a mass civil rights movement, beginning in the early 1950’s, which would last nearly three decades. It brought about a lot of struggles, particularly for African Americans. Although Ali didn't deal with the majority of the issues that most lower class African Americans had to deal with, Ali still felt the need to defend his people using his celebrity status as a way for people to listen. (Pierre) Minority groups within the United States struggled for nearly a century to gain racial equality. In the mid 1940s a movement began assembling that would later bring about change, it was known as the Civil Rights movement. It reached its apex in the mid 1960s, around the same time a heavy-weight fighter named Cassius Clay was making his bid for a belt. In 1964, the young boxer shocked the world, making his conversion to Islam and his new name public. He announced that he had become a member of the Nation of Islam, a group that would influence his ideology and involvement with Civil Rights. (Pierre) It is widely believed that Ali joined the Nation of Islam because of his friendship with another Civil Rights activist of the time, Malcolm X. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam urged blacks not to cooperate...
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...Is Islam a religion of violence or non-violence? An examination of misconceptions in the Western World? The world is full of acts of violence and acts of peace and non violence. We as people try to comprehend these acts by establishing whys. The why that we will examine is one of consistent misunderstanding and misrepresentation specifically in the Western world. When a suicide bombing occurs why is it if you asked most individuals in the west what the offending individual’s religion was their almost instant response is they were a Muslim. Does Islam automatically mean every Muslim is willing to attack peoples who do not believe as they do. Does it mean they espouse killing all Jews? Or is the truth that a majority of all Muslims would consider themselves peace loving individuals, that you would more likely see them working alongside Jews and Christians in a nature of acceptance and love for them. But yet when we look at history we see Islam in wars against Arab peoples, in the Crusades, and in the more recent conflicts in the Middle East. So does the Quran allow for wars against others or are they more of the outcome of societal problems and conflicts in the region. We will most likely see that circumstances beyond their control contribute to the rise and the necessity to defend themselves in these various conflicts through out history. Overall it will probably be a surprise to most Westerners the...
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...Erica Broussard Ms. Caitlyn James English 1301-12 November 19, 2013 Chauvinism We live in times of proclaimed tolerance towards a wide variety of world-outlooks, religion, occupations and other activities in which modern people are engaged. To some extent, it simplifies communication as well as facilitates freedom and understanding between people. However, many ideas that were once considered normal are now misperceived as inappropriate, especially if they break from the smooth picture that the ideology of general tolerance cultivates. On the other hand, lots of radical concepts find their place in the public mind. One such concept is chauvinism-a term used to characterize a number of negative social phenomena. Chauvinism is synonymous with prejudice of almost any kind. The term has its origins in the times of the Napoleonic war. Its appearance in language goes back to a French soldier named Nicolas Chauvin, who was known for his exaggerated patriotism. He remained a zealous supporter of Bonapartism, despite the fact that it had become quite unpopular during the Bourbon Restoration. Chauvin idolized the deposed Emperor, even being poor and disabled. His last name was to create a term defining a specific outlook which he shared. However, later the term’s meaning broadened. Thesaurus.com defines chauvinism as an “Extreme devotion to a belief, or nation.” According to Merriam-Webster online, chauvinism is an “Excessive or blind patriotism; undue partiality or attachment...
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...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 of the world to which terrorism analysis could...
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