Defense Of Islam Research Articles

De-Legitimizing Terrorism: Creative Engagement and Understanding of the Psycho-Social and Political Processes Involved in Ideological Support for Terrorism

In recent years the world has witnessed a proliferation of global terrorism much of it carried out by groups ideologically connected to each other by the common reliance on a shared (although individualistically and often nationalistically expressed) militant jihadist ideology which makes use of distorted tenets of Islam. This militant jihadist ideology claims that Islam is under attack and rallies its adherents to join the global jihad – a war in defense of Islam. It makes a global call to Muslims all over the world to place their religious allegiances above all other allegiances (i.e. familial, national, etc.) and to consider themselves as the “fictive kin” or “Muslim brothers” of all Muslims everywhere. Disturbing events in conflict zones (i.e. Palestine, Iraq, Chechnya, and Afghanistan) are offered by these groups as concrete and alarming examples for advancing their ideology with its core theme that Islam is under attack and that therefore extreme and violent methods are justified to defend Islam and Islamic people and values everywhere. Promising to address the suffering they call to their adherents attention, and to not only end this suffering but to bring about a new world order – one that promises social justice and moral living in accordance with the tenets of the Quran terror groups promote a militant jihadist ideology that rallies their forces, increases their pool of sympathizers, raises funds and operational support and most importantly motivates their members and new recruits to enact suicide terrorism – the most lethal of weapons in the terrorists’ arsenal.

Essentialism, Consistency and Islam: A Critique of Edward Said's Orientalism

Since 9/11, and obviously for some considerable time before it, a question has arisen about the relationship between Islam and terrorism. Is it legitimate to prefix the term ‘terrorism’ with the ad...

Getting Religion? The Puzzling Case of Islam and Civil War

From 1940 to 2000, Islam was involved in a disproportionately high number of civil wars compared with other religions, such as Christianity or Hinduism. To help explain the overrepresentation of Islam in these wars, this article introduces a theory of “religious outbidding.” The theory holds that embattled political elites will tender religious bids when they calculate that increasing their religious legitimacy will strengthen their chances of survival. In combination with three overlapping factors—the historical absence of an internecine religious civil war similar to the Thirty Years’ War in Europe, proximity of Islam's holiest sites to Israel and large petroleum reserves, and jihad (i.e., defense of Islam as a religious obligation), religious outbidding accounts for Islam's higher representation in religious civil wars. The article includes a statistical analysis of the role of religion in civil wars and tests the logic of the argument of religious outbidding in the case of Sudan's two civil wars.

The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists

Despite President George W. Bush's assurances that Islam is a peaceful religion and that all good Muslims hunger for democracy, confusion persists and far too many Westerners remain convinced that Muslims and terrorists are synonymous. In the aftermath of the attacks of 9/11, the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the recent bombings in London, an unprecedented amount of attention has been directed toward Islam and the Muslim world. Yet, even with this increased scrutiny, most of the public discourse regarding Islam revolves around the actions of extremist factions such as the Wahhabis and al-Qa'ida. But what of the Islam we don't hear about? As the second-largest and fastest-growing religion in the world, Islam is deemed by more than a billion Muslims to be a source of serenity and spiritual peace, and a touchstone for moral and ethical guidance. While extremists have an impact upon the religion that is wildly disproportionate to their numbers, moderates constitute the majority of Muslims worldwide. It is this rift between the quiet voice of the moderates and the deafening statements of the extremists that threatens the future of the faith. In The Great Theft, Khaled Abou El Fadl, one of the world's preeminent Islamic scholars, argues that Islam is currently passing through a transformative period no less dramatic than the movements that swept through Europe during the Reformation. At this critical juncture there are two completely opposed worldviews within Islam competing to define this great world religion. The stakes have never been higher, and the future of the Muslim world hangs in the balance. Drawing on the rich tradition of Islamic history and law, The Great Theft is an impassioned defense of Islam against the encroaching power of the extremists. As an accomplished Islamic jurist, Abou El Fadl roots his arguments in long-standing historical legal debates and delineates point by point the beliefs and practices of moderate Muslims, distinguishing these tenets from the corrupting influences of the extremists. From the role of women in Islam to the nature of jihad, from democracy and human rights to terrorism and warfare, Abou El Fadl builds a vital vision for a moderate Islam. At long last, the great majority of Muslims who oppose extremism have a desperately needed voice to help reclaim Islam's great moral tradition.

Sacred and Secular in Islam: Policy implications

A simmering issue in the Islamic world’s relations with the West concerning the tension between the sacred and secular took a sudden violent turn on September 11, 2001 when Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda network launched a coordinated assault on the U.S. in the name of sacred duty. The West reacted with stunned surprise. But, given the long history of Islamic fundamentalist grievances on the issue, is the West’s surprise itself surprising? While it is clear from Bin Laden’s own pronouncements that the motivation for the attacks is sacred rage against an infidel secular West, the West, joined by several Islamic organizations, has sought to dismiss Bin Laden’s self-proclaimed sacred struggle as bogus. President Bush has, instead, moved to lay claim to that designation himself, saying the U.S. is engaged in a sacred contest with an ‘axis of evil’. The administration believes that snapping the terrorist networks by driving their members into the sharp prongs of military reprisal, and combining that with closing their financial operations at home and abroad, will be enough to dispose of the fundamentalist scourge. That view, however, is sadly mistaken. The fundamentalist challenge, rooted in religious justifications, is unlikely to go away that easily. Which then leaves us with taking the fundamentalists at their own word. In their declared aims, the fundamentalists have put up a spirited defense of Islam against an ancient foe now ensconced in the United States. We should inquire into what they mean by Islam and why for them the United States has come to be a citadel of infidels.

Remarks on Tabari‘s semi-official defence of Islam

Remarks on Tabari‘s semi-official defence of Islam

A Semi-official Defence of Islam

In cataloguing the Oriental MSS. of the John Rylands Library, I came across an unknown and semi-official defence of Islam. The MS, containing it is in some places in a bad state of preservation, but apart from about ten words which have completely faḍed away, the text has been read and translated, and it is hoped that the book, accompanied by a critical apparatus, will shortly be published by the Governors of the Library at the Manchester University Press.