This paper seeks to explain the roots of Islamic terrorism and why they hate western civilization. The history of the Islamic religion has influenced the cause of terrorism since most terrorist groups are linked to the Islamic religion (James 201). There is a strong belief that Islam is the cause of terrorism but the question is, is there any evidence to relate the Muslim believes with terrorism?
There are some of the Quran teachings that encourage Jihad which is said to be a Muslim holy war and they call those who do not follow the Islamic faith Kuffar which means infidel which is seen as hatred towards non-Muslim. They are various groups or organizations that are involved in terrorism. I shall be discussing the roots of Islamic terrorism and their history and why they hate western civilization. In my essay, I will also relate some of the roots of Islamic terrorism with stories about their operations.
Roots of Islamic Terrorism
When we think about the history of Islamic terrorism the first thing that comes to our mind is the Islamic religion. The true origin of Islamic religion offers no grounds to prove that it was formed on the basis of encouraging violence or hate (Daniel and Steve 62). The major cause of terrorism has been attributed to political causes like the Israel-Arab conflict, social causes, and the cultural causes that involved the conflict which resulted due to the western culture. These causes and how they came about will be discussed in this part of the paper and also some stories on how they originated and how.
One of the major causes of violence and terrorism among Muslims was brought about by the need to protect their religion and culture a good example is during the time of Hartat Mohammed who is considered a prophet by the Muslim believers. He was considered as a peaceful and very honest person he was against anybody leaving the Muslim faith in fact in his death bed he said that there should be no other religion apart from Muslim. This statement encouraged most Islam believers to engage in violence in order to protect the religion. They go to an extent of killing non-Muslims through raids and wars.
Mohammed participated in the raid of the Jewish because they did not participate in the war against the Meccans in the famous battle of trench. Another violent activity he was involved in was using violence to enter Mecca where he destroyed all the temples. This act of terrorism did not end with the death of Mohammed his successors were also involved in violence. Immediately after the death of Mohammed, most people were forced to join Muslims or forbidden to leave this religion. This provoked the violent nature among the Muslims and made them be against the non-Muslims hence inciting terrorism.
Most of the organization that is involved in terrorism emerged in the early twentieth century and late nineteen century. Their main aim was to reconcile the Islamic way of thinking and the western civilization in order to lay the intellectual foundation for modern Muslim society (George 30). Islamic terrorism is caused by the politicization of the Muslim faith due to western civilization and not the Islamic teaching.
This is evident information of the Muslim brotherhood in 1928 by Hasan Al-Banna was one of the earliest organizations formed. Al-Banna was mostly interested in the spiritual reformation in Muslim society and social-political reformation. This movement inspired many Islamic organizations that have emerged today they used the symbol of Jihad to discourage illiteracy and poverty among Muslims. Al-Banna was portrayed as a man of violence even if he encouraged spiritual struggle and purification in his teachings. The Muslim brotherhood expanded in many religions like Iraq and Palestine and brought many developments in this religion. Due to Al-Banna’s violent nature, he was assassinated in 1949 by the Egyptian secret police since he was seen as a threat to the Egyptian government.
Before the Brotherhood movement, there was the Salafi movement formed in the early nineteenth century by Muhammad Abduh an Egyptian reformer, and Seyyed Jamaluddin Afghani who met in exile in Paris where they formed the movement. They sought to reconcile the western views and the Islam views to try and bring reform. After the exile, he returned to Egypt where he became the Grand Mufti and a close friend to Lord Cromer, a British official. He criticized many Islamic views and brought politics in the education sector as well as encouraging a good relationship with the western countries. This brought an impact similar to the European renaissance to the Arabs and Muslims. Most of the top terrorism organizations known by the United States security department have their roots on the Salafi movement (ohm 136).
Another origin of terrorism is the petrodollar ideology which is generally the conflict brought about by the oil wealth found in the Arabian Peninsula. It was referred to as the Wahhabi ideology and was widely spreading among the Muslim (Jane 230). Petro means this oil wealth while dollar means western backing of the major issues of Islam. This ideology was used to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan and U.S government used this ideology to sponsor the biggest Jihad in the twentieth century.
Most of the Islam-dominated countries have a large oil mine that brings in large amount of revenue these countries. In Arabia this wealth was used to pay royalties to the citizens and promoting the image of Islam in other countries on the other hand the westerner used this opportunity to promote the invasion of Afghanistan. Most Muslim organization believes that the westerners are after their oil and that why they fund those who are against the Muslim society so that they can be able to access the oil at a lower cost.
Why the Islam Terrorist Hate Western Civilization
Islamic culture contradicts that of the west especially on the Quran teaching which encourages good morals that are supposed to be observed. The main reason why they hate western civilization is because they consider it evil and they believe that the west is corrupt. Muslims extremist do not like their people to adopt this western culture like their dressing which is considered not decent and use of drugs among others. They believe that their souls will be unclean if they embrace some of this culture. Another major reason why the terrorist hate the western civilization is because of what the do to them therefore they consider them their enemies (Ohm 164).
It has also been noted that the terrorist do not like the west because of their prosperity which has been denied from them. The economic oppression of the Middle East has largely contributed to the rising of terrorism. It is clear that the leaders in the countries found in the Middle East do not value freedom for their citizens and there has never been any revolution to encourage freedom in these countries this is because they do not recognise any individual right. They hate the western culture because it advocates freedom and the rights of the citizens their major interest is for the west to lose their freedom and rights.
Organizations Involved In Islamic Terrorism
They are several organizations that are involved in terrorist activities in the world they usually have a specific target and are operated by a specific leader. An example of this organization is the Al Qaeda which generally focuses on the United State of America and it is operated by Osama Bin Laden who comes from Saudi Arabia. His ideology is that any non-Muslim activities in Muslim-dominated regions should be abolished.
He is also against the American troupes being in Saudi Arabia and that Israel should be destroyed. He believes that these two issues are the ones that are blocking the Islamic principles and their elimination will bring harmony among the Muslims. In his activities he formed an international terrorist network involved in assisting other Islamic terrorist groups and carrying out their activities which involved training fighters, providing trained fighters to well established groups and inciting propaganda through the use of videos and pamphlets and other possible means.
They have been involved in the bombing of U.S embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and also the hijacked aircraft that destroyed the twin towers in united state. These actually are among many attacks that were made by the Al Qaeda movement against the United State. It is the most strong and dangerous terrorist organization that existed in the world. The leader of this organization Osama Bin Laden has not yet been captured though he has appeared on the top of the most wanted for years (George 30).
The other Islamic terrorism is the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan which was formed in 1998 by a paratrooper Juma Namangani. They are closely linked to Al-Qaeda and they embrace Bin Laden’s agenda on US terrorism. They were involved in overthrowing the Uzbekistani President Islom Karimov government and embarked on establishing the Islamic state in the country. They have been involved in attacks on United States facilities in Central Asia.
The militants are found in Tajikistan, South Asia and Iran. As stated earlier this movement has the support of the Al Qaeda and therefore they are basically a branch of Al Qaeda and get a lot of support from Bin Laden (George 30). They are many Islamic terrorist organization that are found in the world this is the major ones others include Islamic Jihad in Egypt and Harakat ul-Mujahidin in Pakistan.
They are various terrorist organizations that are present today, their major reason for existing is the western civilization. But do we need to blame the Muslim religion for the terrorist attacks that have been happening? The Muslims believe in the holy war known as the Jihad but the issue is whether they are the promoters of the terrorist attacks. In this essay it has been noted that the Islamic terrorist organization use the Islamic religion to do violent activities.
They are criminals that hide in the Islamic religion using their culture and social practices to promote violence. The origin of this terrorism is the misinterpretation of Islamic believes this is seen during the time of Muhammad when he attacked the Jewish for failure to participate in the war. Politics have contributed to the evolution of the terrorism activities through the ideologies of the political leaders. The need to protect there culture from west interference has also contributed to today cases of terrorism. Terrorism is a criminal activity that should be well addressed in the most appropriate way possible.
Works Cited:
Daniel, Benjamin and Steven, Simon. The Age of Sacred Terror: Radical Islam’s War against America. New York: Random House, 2002.
George, Crile. Charlie Wilson’s War. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003.
James, M. Henslin. Essentials of sociology: A down-to-earth approach. Washington: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
Ohm, Esposito. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.