Sacred Violence in Religious Terrorism: the Case of Central Asia

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Religious terrorism currently poses a major threat in many regions. Studying the problems associated with religious terrorism not only adds to theoretical development of the issue, but also addresses how to combat this threat. This article approaches religious terrorism through the concept of sacred violence as exemplified by the actions of proscribed terrorist organizations in the Central Asia, which have been on the rise since the late 20th century. The purpose of the study is to define the specific interpretation of sacred violence by terrorist groups using the example of the Central Asian region. To achieve this goal the authors aim 1) to systematize existing ideas about those aspects of culture on which terrorist organizations parasitize; 2) to highlight the reasons for the adherents of these organizations to turn to the concept of sacred violence; 3) using the example of the Central Asian region to establish the specifics of its interpretation in the context of Islamic terrorism; 4) to compare the neutral context of the interpretation of the concept of sacred violence with specific interpretations in Islamic religious terrorism. Since the article examines the ideological justification of Islamism and the use of religion to destabilize the political situation and legitimize violence against political opponents, the research materials were drawn from two types of sources: direct statements by the leaders of the movements under study, which are pseudo-theological constructs, and analytical materials, which are studies of such statements. The methodological basis of the study was the theory of social constructivism and approaches of comparative religious studies; the hermeneutic method and content analysis were used. The methods and approaches used helped clarify the specifics of successive political, institutional and regional changes in Central Asia that contributed to the spread of radical Islamist ideologies and their temporary popularity among some parts of the population. As a result, the study identified regional features of the interpretation of sacred violence that may contribute to its use as an integrator of group solidarity by the leaders of terrorist religious organizations. The paper shows that external influence from transnational terrorist organizations, infiltrating into the domestic political conflict, incited or directly provoked by ethno-religious terrorists, uses the ideological construction of sacred violence to attract followers, which seriously distorts traditional ideas of Islam. At the same time, it is the specific interpretation of the sacred by terrorist ideologists that can be used as a marker for distinguishing between terrorist organizations and other religious associations. The results obtained can contribute to further study of religious terrorism as a scientific problem and can also be used by competent authorities to optimize and develop appropriate anti-terrorist measures.