Islamic Terrorism - Research Paper Example

? ISLAMIC TERRORISTS SHOULD NOT TRY TO JUSTIFY THEIR S BY USING RELIGION AS A SCAPEGOAT Islamic terrorism is an issue that is causing problems all over the world, especially the Western nations. The Islamic terrorists have utilized the opportunity of the growing rift between Islamic countries and Western nations for their terrorist attacks and for this they are using the cover of religion. But the attacks reveal more hatred for Western culture and intolerance towards other religion than any such religious preaching. Moreover misinterpretations of Islam, particularly the word jihad have been the root cause of terrorism. The Islamic terrorists and extremists have preached false religious beliefs to capture young minds. This has been proved by the review of literature of other research works as well as appropriate findings and analysis. Acknowledgement The paper is very grateful to the governmental organizations of the country who have granted permission for writing an essay on such a topic. I would like to thank my scholars and professors who have helped me out with various books and articles for writing the essay on this topic. Mention should also be made of the other members without whom my project could not have been completed. Table of Contents Page numbers 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………4 2. Belief of terrorists and misinterpretations of Islam…………………………………… 5 3. Use of Islam to spread violence………………………………………………………… 8 4. Media and others factors leading to misinterpretation of Islam………………………... 10 5. Literature Review……………………………………………………………………….. 12 Rejection of militant Islamic belief…………………………………………………….. Misinterpretations of Islam by media………………………………………………….. Islamic terrorists violating Islam………………………………………………………. Islam advocating democracy…………………………………………………………... Islam and suicidal terrorism…………………………………………………………… 9 6. Research methodology…………………………………………………………………. 15 Research Technique……………………………………………………………. Data collection…………………………………………………………………. Ethical Considerations…………………………………………………………. 7. Findings and Analysis…………………………………………………………………. 17 Religious violence……………………………………………………………………….. Hatred of western culture for terrorism……………………………………………… Islamic institutions encouraging terrorism…………………………………………. Bollywood movie……………………………………………………………………….. 8. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………. 19 9. References..…………………………………………………………………………… Introduction The intensity of terrorism has risen to such a level that it has become a global issue. The Western countries like United States have been the major victims of such attacks. Thousands of people lost their lives in the 9/11 terror attacks. The killers have been Islamic terrorist who have made it a religious issue. They follow militant Islam which has a lot of deviations from the original teachings of Islam. Islam has assumed a violent image due to such terrorists which is not really the case. Clearly the Islamic terrorists have vastly misinterpreted the religion contributing towards its violent image (Emerson). Islam has always taught maintenance of peace. But some unscrupulous religious fanatics have been molding the religion as to their desire and giving lessons of violence to millions of Muslims. That is why it has been seen that Islamic nations do not give freedom of religion to its people (Richardson, Foreword). Even if the violence of religion is assumed to be true it is never justifiable to murder thousands of people for the sake of following the religion. In that case Muslims should not blindly follow the religion but find those loopholes that need rectifications in practical life. The terrorist group Al Qaeda responsible for the 9/11 terror attacks have devoted their attack to Islam (Leyden). The 1998 Fatwa of Osama Bin Laden says: “All these crimes and sins committed by the Americans are a clear declaration of war on God, his messenger, and Muslims. And ulema have throughout Islamic history unanimously agreed that the jihad is an individual duty if the enemy destroys the Muslim countries. This was revealed by Imam Bin-Qadamah in “AlMughni,” Imam al-Kisa’i in “Al-Bada’i,” al-Qurtubi in his interpretation, and the shaykh of al-Islam in his books, where he said: “As for the fighting to repulse [an enemy], it is aimed at defending sanctity and religion, and it is a duty as agreed [by the ulema]. Nothing is more sacred than belief except repulsing an enemy who is attacking religion and life.” (AL-QAEDA’S RELIGIOUS JUSTIFICATION OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM 29) Clearly they have exploited the religion for achieving their primary goals. They have even conspired to kill thousands of Christians immersed in prayers. This militant Islam has become an issue of concern and it is also letting hundreds of other Muslims misinterpret the original religion (Richardson, 1-2). Over the years Islamic nations and Western countries have engaged in conflicts and disagreements on various occasions. This has resulted in increasing rifts and tensions between the two types of countries. The Islamic terrorists have utilized these opportunity to attack Western nations. The distinct culture has resulted in warfare which the Islamic terrorists have covered up in the name of religion. They claim their violent actions as justified under Islam religion (Bloss). Thus Islamic Terrorists have used religion as an excuse and a cover for attacking Western nations. Keeping this at the backdrop the essay intends to argue in favor of such an issue with the help of appropriate findings and analysis. It has not only been Western developed nations like United States who have been dealing with such attacks. Israel has also been encountering same kinds of trouble. The government of Israel has been planning various defensive strategies and has been in continuous fights with these terrorists to protect their homeland. Both the countries have posed a threat to the national security due to such Islamic terrorists. The biggest fear has been that these Islamic extremists trained as terrorists are ready to sacrifice their lives during such terror attacks because they feel that their deeds are as per the teachings of Islam. Clearly this concept of militant Islam has given birth to a group of fanatic Islamic terrorists who have transformed themselves into suicide bombers. While Israel is facing attacks from Palestinian terrorist focusing on national issue, America is dealing with more powerful group of Islamic fanatics known as Al Qaeda. These Al Qaeda is a global networking terrorist group which targets all the nations. Thus terrorism has become a global issue and the nations are required to join hands and fight against such a cause. It needs to be dealt internationally (Tucker). Beliefs of terrorists and misinterpretation of Islam The holy Quran which is originally written in Arabic language have been translated into English and many other languages. For some translations there have been misinterpretations of some of the Arabic words for which some of the teachings have been vastly misunderstood. For instance the verse of Quran which discusses on punishment of women has been totally misunderstood. Quran has asked the spouse not to share their beds with their partners if they sense disloyalty on part of their partners. But it is also said to forgive their partners if they realize their mistakes and return to the path of obedience. The light tapping which has been claimed for such disloyalty has been misunderstood as harsh beating of spouses. Again such punishment is applicable for women only if the wife is considered to be extremely guilty and the husband is totally innocent. But such teachings of Islam have been neglected and misinterpreted. For instance, verse 68 says, “ Allah has promised the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women and the unbelievers the fire of hell to abide therein; it is enough for them; and Allah has cursed them and they shall have lasting punishment” (Shakir 178). Verse 6 makes this clearer, “He may punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women and polytheistic men and the polytheistic women, the entertainers of evil thoughts about Allah” (Shakir, 508). So the Holy Book suggests punishment for both men and women on equal grounds and that too in the hands of Allah which indicates karmic punishment after death. For such misinterpretations Islamic teachings have faced criticisms and the entire religion is assumed to support and initiate violence (Dodge, 133). If the intentions of the teaching of Islam are to spread violence then the prophet Mohammed, if alive, would have praised Al Qaeda group or its mastermind Osama Bin Laden for their deeds as claimed by Islamic terrorists. But as per the New Testament ensuring maintenance of peace Mohammed would have taken the side of peace loving Muslims. In that case the militant Islam spreading worldwide violence is considered to be vague. The major problem is that Muslims claim their various deeds as teachings of Islam whereas some of them have never bothered to read the holy book. This claim of knowing everything without having little knowledge of the actual fact mainly contributes towards misinterpretations. Had the teachings of Islam been such violent and brutal then the peace loving rational Muslim devotees would have cancelled their daily prayers (Richardson, 4-5). Islam, instead of fuelling such violence and bloodshed, has always called for peace. It has in fact protested against violence. Performing violent acts and killing people are equivalent to violation the laws and teachings of Islam. Teachings of Quran have warned its followers not to perform any wrong doing being possessed by sheer anger and hatred. Verse 134 says, “Those who restrain (their) anger and pardon men; and Allah loves the doers of good (to others)” (Shakir, 60). verse 91 says, The Shaitan [evil] only desires to cause enmity and hatred to spring in your midst by midst of intoxicants and games of chance, and to keep you off from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer” (Shakir, 109) Thus it is certain that teachings of Islam have never encouraged terrorism as claimed by Islamic terrorists. A true Muslim is expected to help out poor and needy and care for his family rather than spreading violence (Dodge, 191-192). The word jihad used in Islamic teachings has been vastly misinterpreted. It obviously asks to fight against wrong doings but it has never issued licenses to Muslims for killing thousands of people. They have misinterpreted Jihad which indicates war only when interpreted narrowly. For instance verse 179 of The Qu’ran says, “And there is life for you in (the law) retaliation, O men of understanding, that you may guard yourselves” Now this means self defense and not murdering of thousands of people. In spiritual sense Jihad in this verse means a struggle against the “lower soul”. Some influential Muslim leaders like Imam Samudra have supported such misinterpretations which has strengthened the false beliefs of terrorists. He even justified the Bali bombing case of 2006 saying that the “deaths of innocent Muslims around the world justified the killing of Westerners in Bali” and that his actions were justified in the eye of Allah (Jones). As noted earlier, jihad never suggests such mass killings as act of vengeance; such bombing cannot be supported by Islamic teachings. Such leaders have conveyed false teachings of Islam to their followers that have contributed in shaping the violent image of Islam. Illiteracy has also contributed to the beliefs of Islamic terrorists. They have been brain washed by such influential leaders who have molded the young minds for their own profits and objectives. Thus it is important that these young people become educated and correctly understand what Islam teaches its followers rather than falling victims to such Muslim leaders. In Singapore, Pergas, an association of Muslim scholars undertook a “direct counter-ideological initiative against al-Qaeda” by arranging the Convention of Ulema or Muslim scholars in September 2003 (Gunaratna, Jerard and Rubin, 52). Public functions have also been held to discuss the issues of terrorism. Such education is expected to rescue the young minds from Islamic extremists and change the beliefs of Islamic terrorists (Gunaratna, Jerard and Rubin, 52). The opposition of Islam towards democracy and freedom is not something instructed by the religion but is something imposed by the Islamic nations for fulfilling their political interests. They have given their intentions the name of the religion. Over the years these Islamic nations have been practicing gender inequality and other such discriminations taking the cover of religion. Scholars such as Hassan and Berketay have observed that originally Islam was “women friendly” and as noted by Ahmed, “the Quran was interpreted in the particular historical period, by a particular group of people, most of who were misogynistic men” (Bhardwaj 36). As a result Islam developed anti-women nature. In fact purdah or veil system was not inherent in Muslim customs but it was prevalent amongst the aristocrat Christian women at one point of time. An Arab woman can be quoted saying, “Man tempered with God’s book to make this law” (Bhardwaj, 37). Since men have been the interpreters most of the time, women were not always aware of this and all religious instances were molded to establish patriarchy and its ugly side was revealed in the Talibanised states of Afghanistan where women were treated as “beasts” (Bhardwaj 38). In order to provide all the religions an equal opportunity, Sharia was made a part of the British legal system. However those rested with the responsibility to enact it, use their own discretion while interpreting it in order to meet their own selfish desire. This eventually translated into forced marriage, mostly directed towards the Muslim girls. This also meant that a Muslim child cannot participate in a school that does not belong to the Muslim community. Ironically such schools often heavily charged with religious teachings, have a chaotic history of intentionally encouraging communal thoughts among its people from the very beginning of their formative period of life (this might also create a perfect ambience for the future breeding ground of terrorists). Those religious extremists who represented themselves as the sole interpreter of Sharia also tried to inject prolific superstition among the Muslims living in Britain. This reflects very well into the changing medical practice among them. Prayers dethroning scientific medicine and doctors might be considered as an excellent example of the same. This also made donating organs after death forbidden for any Muslim. However, the most catastrophic effect that those religious anarchists left on the social system of the Britain is that they denied the rights of the Muslim woman and made their security extremely fragile. After the inclusion of the Sharia into British legal system Muslim male divorced their counterpart with much ease and at an alarming rate. Again honor killing also became a nightmare to the British legal system, originating from the same malady, the wrong interpretation of the Sharia (A Guide to Sharia Law and Islamist Ideology in Western Europe 2007-2009). Some of their brutal deeds have also violated the laws of human rights and have never been supported by Islam. Such practices of these Islamic nations by using religion as an excuse has downgraded the religion of Islam and at the same time have given it a violent image (Puniyani, 254). Use of Islam to Spread Violence As Islam has never supported such terrorism it is obvious that Islamic terrorists are using religion as a cover to attack non Muslim nations like the Western countries. Clearly the Islamic terrorists have used the widening gap between the Islamic nations and the Western countries to conspire against the Western developed nations like United States and perform acts of terrorism. The culture of Islam have isolated its followers and also led to internal conflicts. Islam has two groups of followers – Shii and Sunni with differentiated beliefs. Due to such cultural differences existing between the two groups they have often engaged in disagreements and conflicts and also have developed hatred for each other. The Islamic terrorists have also utilized such an opportunity of differentiated culture to attack the other group in the name of religion (Bloss). For instance Israel has been facing troubles from Palestinian terrorists who have been fighting on national issues and have claimed for separation (Tucker). Some Islamic extremists have used religion as a cover to produce global terrorism. Islam has been broadly used by some Islamic terrorist groups to influence young minds and recruit them for terrorist attacks. Many young people are recruited from mosques and are motivated in such a way that they become prepared for suicidal attacks. Clearly such religious motivations have given birth to suicide bombers and suicidal terrorism exists under the shadow of such false religious teachings. For instance a 25 year old suicide bomber traveling in a bus suddenly blew himself up and killed many co-passengers. Not only men but women have also been motivated for such bombing attacks as a girl blew herself in a Jerusalem market killing two Israelis. The universities of Palestine have become the den of terrorism where young students are made to believe that they are fighting for their religion Islam and they should sacrifice their life for Islam (Tucker). Specific religious beliefs play a very important role in emanating religious violence. Islamic terrorists portray such beliefs to get the approval and support of the entire religious system or its followers. Some teachings and beliefs of Islam have affected the minds of believers adversely and this has contributed towards such religious violence. Such beliefs also have its impact in the political scenario and induce political conflicts. It is believed that irrational behavior of religious fanatics encourages terrorist acts causing worldwide destruction. But it cannot be termed as irrational anymore when religion is used as an instrument in the field of politics. Politicians and such Muslim leaders realize the incompatibility existing between the different groups and intentionally use the religion to fulfill their political objectives. Viewed in that sense, religious violence may contain more logic rather than being illogical (Larsson, 105-106). Clearly Islam is losing its importance and has assumed a violent image in the hands of these dirty politicians and Muslim leaders (Larsson, 18). Clearly the religious leaders whenever required had played games of communal politics and evoked hundreds of Muslims to indulge in violence thereby killing hundreds of people. Communal violence is known to be the most dangerous form of violence occurring in society. Clearly terrorism is an outcome of such communal politics. This solely occurs when individuals become over conscious about their religious identities and at the same time intolerable towards other religions (Puniyani, 17). The Islamic terrorists assume themselves to be heroes offering protection to their community people and doing something in the name of religion. They hardly realize or pretend not to realize that their attacks are killing not only the non Muslims but also hundreds of Muslims. In that sense they are murdering their own people in the name of religion which is never justifiable through Islam. These terrorists simply attack the Western nations with the fear that they might someday be attacked by them for their wrong doings (Puniyani, 12). The Islamic terrorists have also claimed their terror attacks as retaliation for American attacks on Islamic nations. They said that through such terrorist attacks Americans have paid back for the sufferings it caused to hundreds of Muslims and disturbed Islam. But their argument is not acceptable because through such terrorist attacks they have also brought misery and sufferings for the Muslims living in America. Moreover the religion has been downgraded and has suffered a loss in its reputations due to the acts of these Islamic terrorists. This form of thinking as Islamic terrorists is harmful for the entire community. Their thinking needs to be changed or they need to be destroyed for rescuing the other members of Muslim community from developing such thinking (Abdulla). The acts of the Islamic terrorists have provided evidences for the violent image of Islam globally. The misinterpretation of the word jihad is very much responsible for promoting terrorism among Muslims. Islamic extremists have claimed the meaning as physical warfare. They have even preached that spread of Islam is necessary even if it requires spreading violence and scaring people so that they accept this religion. The young minds also have been captured through spread of such Islamic belief. Islam says that any individual losing his life in battlefield for a good cause goes to heaven. All this had made Islamic terrorists believe that it is important to spread their religion over the world at any cost and by any means. Moreover they also believe that even if they die while doing all this they will surely reach paradise which has strengthened their desires for such terrorist attacks (Bukay). Thus Islamic terrorists have been successful in recruiting young people through spread of such beliefs. Clearly Islamic terrorists and extremists have been using religion as a scapegoat for terrorism. Media and others factors leading to misinterpretation of Islam Islam as the breeding ground of violence is an image that owes its origin significantly to Media. Relentless assault by Media on the true image of Islam made many to believe that Islam does encourages violence. Often the Media took the onus of misinterpreting the Islam and project it as the foremost supporter of global warfare and terrorism. At a slow but sure pace media isolated Islam from the other existing religions of the society and this isolation gradually ignited a feel of hatred among the followers of the non Muslim religions. Obviously this feeling came out of ignorance and asymmetric as well as incomplete information on the Islam. A term “Islamic terrorism” coined by media and frequently used by many eminent news channels portrays the role the Media have played blemishing an innocent religion. Such wrong portrayal eventually encouraged a total wrong belief that all the Muslims worldwide have embraced the concept of “Jihad”, which is actually followed by a handful of extremist Islamic terrorist organization. The media has portrayed the Muslims as beasts, which is far from being true. Larsson indicated that the emergence of this religion in day to day life of the common people has added to the complexity and introduced greater friction into understanding this religion in true terms. It has also led to the misinterpretation of Islam (Larsson, ix). The notion of “Political religion” in Islam also has been responsible for disturbing the peace and harmony with other religions. We are not in the middle ages anymore and development has touched almost all the shores of the modern world. Standing at this juncture putting emphasis on Sharia as the prime law and neglecting the International law at the same time might not be a healthy sign for the long run considering the entire Islamic community. Accepting Sharia in non Islamic countries for the Muslim community living there might raise a series of disturbing questions. This will lead to a situation where two persons living in same country might be subject to different justice depending upon his/her religion. Such distinction on the basis of religion might boost communal feelings and activities that should by any means avoided in a civilized society. At this point the Archbishop of Canterbury has shown excellent resilience to other religions as he remarked that considering the ever growing Muslim population in United Kingdom there is no other way but to accept and incorporate some of the Sharia laws into the United Kingdoms’ legal system. The generosity of this great soul is beyond any compliment considering the fact that at the face of a strong debate that has been raised upon the validity of Sharia law as part of the United Kingdom’s legal body; he proceeded to state that the Sharia law is mostly misunderstood. This poses the possibility of a changing image of a religion that has been mostly misunderstood throughout the path of the history (Sharia law in UK is unavoidable). Hence all the wrong doings performed by the Islamic nations and their brutal acts have been considered to be an aspect of Islam religion. This again has led to misinterpretations of the religion of Islam (Larsson, 44). The media is also responsible for creating misunderstandings between Christians and Muslims through such misinterpretations of Islam. In fact the Britons think Islam itself poses a threat to British security (Saleem; Kirchner and Sperling, 266). In fact Poole observes that Islam is taken as a “media villain” by the media in Britain (Poole 41). Literature Review The following review of literatures would help in supporting the basic argument of the paper, that is, Islamic terrorists have used religion as an excuse for their activities. Such works also show that there have been vast misinterpretations of Islam that in turn have given birth to these Islamic terrorists. Rejection of militant Islamic belief A research study had been undertaken to capture the views and opinions of the entire Muslim community on such terrorist attacks and whether the majority supports the religious claims of the Islamic terrorists. For this the online message board receiving messages in Arabic language had been considered and the contents of the message board were considered for analysis. Such a research study was undertaken post 9/11 attacks on United States. The Islamic terrorists have claimed that they have led such terrorist attacks for their religion. As per the mass opinion 43 percent have rejected this claim of Islamic terrorists and termed such an attack as a criminal offence and expressed sorrow for the terror victims. The other 30 percent has also expressed concerns and sorrow for the 9/11 victims although they have justified such terrorist attacks on political grounds. But they too have sharply rejected any religious teaching or intention behind such attacks as claimed by Islamic terrorists (Abdulla). Thus such a research study has proved that common masses have rejected the religious claims of Islamic terrorists and have supported the argument that Islamic terrorists have been using religion as a cover for their terrorist attacks. Misinterpretations of Islam by media The way western media have portrayed the image of Islam it appears that the religion itself have been advocating such acts of terrorism and supporting the Islamic terrorists which is not really the case. These misinterpretations of Islam have been presented since the objectives and interests of the Western nations have not been fulfilled with respect to many Islamic nations like Iran. In a research study using the article ‘Image of Iran in US media’, US media had raised questions on its Islamic character. Use of such terms presents the entire religion as guilty of terrorist offence which is not the truth. Such claims of US media have downgraded the Islamic values which have never supported terrorism. Moreover such comments have also created misunderstandings between the Muslims and Christians. Study of other news articles published in New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post of United States reveals that Americans have clearly misunderstood and misinterpreted the Islamic movement led in Algeria. The movement was reported as anti women and leading to violation of human rights. But such false statements were published by media due to the existing rivalry between Christians and Muslims. The movement was also termed as against the western nations due to existence of such a rivalry (Saleem). Such misconceptions produced by media have vastly downgraded the religion and has contributed for the rift between Islamic nations and Western countries in turn helping out the Islamic terrorists to spread violence. Islamic terrorists violating Islam A research study was undertaken on the teachings of Hadith to check whether Islam really supports such warfare. It has been found that most of the people have misunderstood the meaning of jihad and have claimed to be war and violence. The original meaning of jihad is that anyone dying fighting for God goes to paradise. The way a follower can fulfill jihad has been stated is through preaching Islam and through good deeds. Such misinterpretation of jihad has contributed to the violence of Islamic terrorists who have claimed these wars and bloodshed as their way of spreading Islam. In fact many theologians have also considered the military meaning of jihad. But Islam has never supported killings as observed for these Islamic terrorists who never even spare their own people during terrorist attacks. They have chosen such a violent route for spreading Islam and frighten ordinary people so that they accept Islam (Bukay). This all have never been supported by Islam and in that The Islamic terrorists through such terrorist attacks are going against the religion itself. Islam advocating democracy Studies undertaken by Western researchers under the University of Georgetown have proved that Islam has always supported democracy and has all the contents of modern society as viewed by the Western countries. The studies have revealed that parliamentary democracy has been supported by Islamic law. Democracy has found support in the concepts of shura (The Counsel), ijma (Consensus) and ijtihad under the Muslim law. Shura essentially advocates that the judgment of the Allah reigns supreme and all the others on earth are His servants and He is the ultimate Guardian – “you shall not have a guardian or helper besides Allah” (Shakir, verse 31, p. 482). The Ijma or a common agreement is required when the Quran does not specify any rule to pass judgment on an issue. In fact the schools of law imparted a dominant authority in the final argument of any case. It was a natural way of solving problems and a restrain on individual opinion. Ijtihad on the other hand can be defined as the effort towards attaining some objectives or derive the divine law. The authority of itjihad was abolished and a kind of restricted ijtihad was permitted which implied that “one could either interpret law within one’s own school of law or compare law of different schools and find some scope for limited expansion in detail”. In the nineteenth century the reformist thinkers began to preach in favor of the right to ijtihad (Khan 90). Although many of the Islamic nations have a history of dictatorship but Islam religion has always advocated in favor of democracy as proved by the research study. Thus it is seen that the concept and teachings of Islam are quite different than that claimed by Islamic terrorist as well as some Muslims (Bukay). Clearly these leaders have molded the religion in accordance to their own interests and to fulfill their ambitions and objectives. Findings and Analysis Religious violence Religious violence occurs only when Islamic terrorists and other political Muslim leaders use religion as a scapegoat to spread violence and fulfill their ambitions. The war of Sudan in the continent of Africa can be cited as a case example of such violence. The reason cited for such warfare is solely ‘political religion’. The civil war of Sudan had claimed thousands of life. Such a civil war was a consequence of Muslim leaders using Islam to spread violence in Sudan and evoking hundreds of people through religious sentiments. The leaders realized the distinction between Islamic belief and other religious beliefs and have utilized such an opportunity to spread violence and fulfill their ambitions (Larsson, 44). In fact this war was described as one between the “Arab/Islamic North” and the “Christians, animists and black Africans in the South” who are long dominated. The factors originally responsible comprised the access to natural resources, ways of governance and predominance of Arabic cultural values and language. Though Christian workers and their interests were restrained owing to the imposition of Islamic law to some extent, religion has persistently been used as an excuse (Salaam and Vaal, 59). Hatred of western culture for terrorism A case study of new Arabian culture post 9/11 terrorist attacks helps to show how cultural differences between Islamic nations like Arab and western countries like United have been utilized by Islamic terrorists for their terrorist attacks. This reflects more of their hatred for the Western culture that has resulted in such attacks. The Arabian culture has been quite different from the Western culture and possesses a dynamic nature. Reforms in the Arabian culture have allowed it open for better ways of communication. Recently Arab has adopted the method of centralization for administration like that under European nations. Moreover it has also extended the protection of religious values for including the institution. The public space for non ritualistic expression has considerably been reduced. The decentralized Arabian culture has not welcomed such an adoption and has also shown fierce resistance to it. In a letter written to America by international terrorist Osama Bin Laden citing the reasons of attack, the letter reflects more hatred for Western culture and political conflicts like American support for Israel behind such attacks rather than any religious cause (Blakenhorn, 199-200). Thus it is proved that Islamic extremist has always hated and opposed such Western culture which has resulted in such terrorist attacks. They have only used religion as a cover to attacks these Western countries. Islamic institutions encouraging terrorism Council on American Islamic relations (CAIR) is an Islamic institution headquartered in United States with over 31 branches operating in Canada and elsewhere. Apparently i.e. it is an institution which fights for protection of Muslim rights and Muslim liberties in America. But this Islamic institution also has a darks side which is encouraging global terrorism. Homeland security has found out link of this institution with many suspected terrorist groups. The family of former FBI chief has also accused CAIR of having connections with some Islamic terrorist groups and initiating their attacks and criminal offences. It has also been considered to have connections with an Islamic terrorist group called Hamas. CAIR has always maintained a good relation with media and has been quite successful in hiding its dark image from public (Pipes and Chadha). Thus through the case example of such an Islamic institution it has been proved that the Islamic extremists have been encouraging terrorism and spreading violence worldwide in the name of religion and well being of Muslim community. Bollywood movies Mission Kashmir directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and released in 2000 portrays the lives of such Islamic terrorists and what have made join these terrorist groups. The story revolves round a boy named Altaf who comes to know that his foster father, a policeman has killed his original family and does joins terrorist group with the motive of revenge. The movie shows how the picturesque valley of Kashmir has been transformed into a zone of death by these terrorist groups. The movie also shows how these Islamic extremist fill the young minds with hatred for other religion by citing false beliefs of Islam for their own benefits. It is only for them that the religion has assumed a violent image and many young innocent people have transformed into terrorists growing up with false beliefs of Islam. Thus such movies on Islamic terrorists have helped to prove the fact that Islamic terrorists have used religion as a scapegoat for their acts of terrorism. Another movie, Karan Johar’s Kurbaan, follows from the point of view of Avantika, a Hindu girl who studied and worked in US and falls in love with a Muslim man named Ehsaan who moves to US with her help. However what surprises the audience along with the central character of Avantika is the mask worn by her Muslim neighbors and even her husband who is involved in a terrorist organization working against US. However Avantika is not the only victim here, even other Muslim characters like Salma, Rihanna and Riyaaz are also victims. Salma is killed as she threatens to expose their plan of bombing. Ehsaan even has a change of heart towards the end of the story and ends up sacrificing himself to save his wife. This movie shows how terrorists have killed their Muslim friends and fellows to fulfill their objectives and hence they cannot have any defined religion or religious ideology. So it might be that a group of Muslims carry out terrorist activities while the others suffer and share the blame. Conclusion The incidence of terrorism has risen to such an extent that it has become a global issue. Most of the terrorist groups contain Islamic terrorists who are citing religious beliefs and causes for their acts of terrorism. But Islam has been a peaceful religion and has opposed violence and killing of people. Thus the teachings of Islam are quite different than what the Islamic terrorists portray it to be. Clearly Islamic terrorist have been using religion as a scapegoat and a cover to spread violence across countries especially the Western countries. This is evident from the review of literature of various research works undertaken that has been included in the essay. The findings of the essay also argue in favor of this fact. Misinterpretation of teachings of Islam especially the Arabic word jihad has been the root cause of terrorism. Islam extremists and other Muslim leaders have been using religion in accordance to their own benefits to spread violence. Certain Islamic institutions are also linked in such an act. They have been capturing young minds with false beliefs of Islam and encouraging them to perform acts of terrorism including suicidal terrorism. The mosques and universities have become the targeted areas from which the Muslim individuals are recruited for terrorist Most of the people have rejected the claims of these Islamic terrorists’ citing terrorist attacks as a religious issue. Rather than religious teachings the hatred for the Western culture is more reflected in such terrorist attacks. Thus Islamic terrorist have been using religion as a scapegoat and a cover to attack Western countries. References 1. “A Guide to Sharia Law and Islamist Ideology in Western Europe 2007-2009”, islamicpluralism.org, 2009, February 18, 2012 from: http://www.islamicpluralism.org/documents/shariah-law-islamist-ideology-western-europe.pdf> 2. AL-QAEDA’S RELIGIOUS JUSTIFICATION OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM, Harvard Kennedy School, February 18, 2012 from: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/uploads/Islam_and_the_Bomb-Final-pt2.pdf 3. Abdulla, Rasha A, “Islam, Jihad, and Terrorism in Post-9/11 Arabic Discussion Boards”, Journal of Computed Mediated Communication, (2007), 12.3, January 18 2012 from: http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue3/abdulla.html 4. Bhardwaj, P.R. (2005), Gender Discrimination, Anamika Pub & Distributors This book is a compilation of different articles on the rights of women as claimed by them in different situations. The part about Muslim women has been considered here in the paper. They are treated ruthlessly in Arabs and the book also gives an account of the wrong interpretation of the Qu’ran with respect to women’s rights. 5. Blakenhorn, David. The Islam/West debate: documents from a global debate on terrorism, U.S Policy and the Middle East, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2005 6. Bloss, William P, “Culture Clash: Investigating the Nexus Between Western-Muslim Ideological Dissonance and Islamist Terrorism”, Journal of The Citadel Foundation, 4.1, January 18 2012 from: http://www.erces.com/journal/articles/archives/volume4/v01/v04.htm 7. Bukay, David, “Can There Be an Islamic Democracy?”, Middle East Quarterly, (2007), 14.2, 71-79, January 19 2012 from: http://www.meforum.org/1680/can-there-be-an-islamic-democracy 8. Bukay, David, “The Religious Foundations of Suicide Bombings”, The Middle East Quarterly, (2006), 13.4, 27-36, January 19 2012 from: http://www.meforum.org/1003/the-religious-foundations-of-suicide-bombings 9. Dodge, Christine Huda. The Everything Understanding Islam Book, United States: Everything books, 2009 10. Emerson, Steven, Third public hearing of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon United States, January 18 2012 from: http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing3/witness_emerson.htm 11. Fine, Jonathan, “Contrasting Secular and Religious Terrorism”, Middle East Quarterly, (2008), 15.1, 59-69, January 19 2012 from: http://www.meforum.org/1826/contrasting-secular-and-religious-terrorism 12. Gunaratna, Rohan, Jerard, Jolene and Rubin, Lawrence. Terrorist rehabilitation and counter-radicalisation: new approaches to counter terrorism, New York: Routledge, 2011 13. Khan, Sarfraz, Muslim reformist political thought, Routledge, 2003 14. Kirchner, Emil Joseph and James Sperling, Global security governance, Taylor & Francis, 2007 15. Johar, Karan (director), Kapoor, Kareena and Saif Ali Khan (performers), Kurbaan, Dharma Production, 2009 16. Jones, Tony, “Bali bombings justified, Samudra tells court”, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC, 2003, February 18, 2012 from: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2003/s903807.htm 17. Larsson, JP. Understanding religious violence: thinking outside the box on terrorism, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2004 18. Leyden, Joel, “How Al-Qaeda Justifies Terrorism and Genocide”, Israel News Agency, February 18, 2012 from: http://www.israelnewsagency.com/al-quaedaterrorismus10012.html 19. Chopra, Vidhu Vinod (director), Dutt, Sanjay and Hrittik Roshan (performers) Mission Kashmir, Vinod Chopra Productions, 2000 20. Pipes, Daniel and Sharon Chadha, “CAIR: Islamists Fooling the Establishment”, Middle East Quarterly, (2006), 13.2, 3-20, January 20 2012 from: http://www.meforum.org/916/cair-islamists-fooling-the-establishment 21. Poole, E. (2002). Reporting Islam: Media representation of British Muslims. London: B. Tauris Publishers. 22. Puniyani, Ram. Communal politics: facts versus myths, London: Sage Publications,2003 23. Richardson, Don. The Secrets of the Koran: Revealing Insights Into Islam's Holy Bible, California: Regal, 2003 24. Salaam, A.H. Abdel and Alexander de Vaal, The Phoenix State, The Red Sea Press, 2001 25. Sharia law in UK is unavoidable, (2008), BBC News, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7232661.stm (accessed on April 15, 2011) 26. Shakir, M.H. The Qu’ran: Arabic Text and English Translation, TTQ INC, 1996 27. Salem, Noshina, “U.S. Media Framing of Foreign Countries Image: An Analytical Perspective”, Canadian Journal of Media Studies, (n.d), 2.1, January 19 2012 from: http://cjms.fims.uwo.ca/issues/02-01/saleem.pdf 28. Tucker, Jonathan B, Strategies for Countering Terrorism:Lessons from the Israeli Experience, Homeland Security Organizations, January 18 2012 from:http://www.homelandsecurity.org/journal/articles/tucker-israel.html Outline of Thesis Essay 1. Introduction: Islamic terrorists have led those disastrous terrorist attacks and cited religious causes for such attacks. This has downgraded the religion and given it a violent image. Islam is a peaceful religion and has never supported such violence as claimed by terrorists. Thus Islamic Terrorists have used religion as a scapegoat and a cover for attacking Western nations. The essay supports this argument with appropriate findings and analysis. That is why it has been seen that Islamic nations do not give freedom of religion to its people. Even if the violence of religion is assumed to be true it is never justifiable to murder thousands of people for the sake of following the religion Beliefs of terrorists and misinterpretation of Islam: Translation of holy Quran into English and other languages have led to misinterpretations of certain Arabic word and Islam itself. Such misinterpretations have made some believe that Islam calls for violence and is also the root cause of terrorism. Islam instead has always called for peace. Illiteracy is thought to be another reason for such beliefs of Islamic terrorists. This section will show that beliefs of Islam are quite different than what terrorists claim it to be and thus it is necessary that their views should be changed. Verse of Quran which discusses on punishment of women has been totally misunderstood. The opposition of Islam towards democracy and freedom is not something instructed by the religion but is something imposed by the Islamic nations for fulfilling their political interests. They have given their intentions the name of the religion. Over the years these Islamic nations have been practicing gender inequality and other such discriminations taking the cover of religion 2. Use of Islam to Spread Violence: political conflicts and cultural differences have widened the gap between Islamic nations and Western nations. Islamic terrorists have utilized such rifts for terrorism citing religious reasons. These Islamic terrorists and some Muslim leaders have molded the teachings of Islam and preached false beliefs to fulfill their own interests and political objectives. Some Islamic extremists have used religion as a cover to produce global terrorism. Islam has been broadly used by some Islamic terrorist groups to influence young minds and recruit them for terrorist attacks. Many young people are recruited from mosques and are motivated in such a way that they become prepared for suicidal attacks. Clearly such religious motivations have given birth to suicide bombers and suicidal terrorism exists under the shadow of such false religious teachings 3. Media and others factors leading to misinterpretation of Islam: media can be blamed for giving Islam a violent image. Western media has misinterpreted Islam and some movements of Islamic nations since their objectives regarding such nations were not fulfilled. Many have themselves have hardly read Quran and believed those misconceptions. Often the Media took the onus of misinterpreting the Islam and project it as the foremost supporter of global warfare and terrorism. At a slow but sure pace media isolated Islam from the other existing religions of the society and this isolation gradually ignited a feel of hatred among the followers of the non Muslim religions. Obviously this feeling came out of ignorance and asymmetric as well as incomplete information on the Islam 4. Literature review: the review of literature of various research works have been undertaken to support the argument of the essay. Rejection of militant Islamic belief Most of the people have rejected the Islamic terrorists’ claim that terrorist attacks are for religious cause. Instead they have shown sympathy towards the 9/11 victims. Such studies has proved that common masses have rejected the religious claims of Islamic terrorists and have supported the argument that Islamic terrorists have been using religion as a cover for their terrorist attacks. Misinterpretations of Islam by media The way media have portrayed certain instances like the Algerian movement have vastly led to misinterpretations of Islam and have created a rift between Christians and Muslims. These misinterpretations of Islam have been presented since the objectives and interests of the Western nations have not been fulfilled with respect to many Islamic nations like Iran. Research studies have been carried out to confirm on the issues. Islamic terrorists violating Islam There has been vast misinterpretation of the word jihad which has contributed to such terrorism. Islamic terrorists have been spreading violence which is strictly opposed by the religion. And the true muslin followers have even raised oppositions against those carrying out violence in the sake of the religion. And thus it has been made clear that the Islamic terrorist have themselves violated the religion. Islam advocating democracy Islam has always promoted democracy which has not been accepted by Islamic leaders and terrorist groups to nurture their own motives and benefits. Studies undertaken by Western researchers under the University of Georgetown have proved that Islam has always supported democracy and has all the contents of modern society as viewed by the Western countries. Though some of the Islamic countries have carried out dictatorship but majority of them have supported democracy. Islam and suicidal terrorism Islam has no connection and has never encouraged suicidal terrorism. Suicidal bombings are inspired by other factors. Nothing has been mentioned in the religious books glorifying the suicidal terrorism. 5. Research Methodology: An appropriate research design has been adopted to cover all the objectives of research. Research Technique The essay has adopted a quantitative technique for research to capture the opinions about Islamic terrorist and the beliefs of the Islamic followers. Data collection Data for research has been from secondary sources like journal articles and books on similar topic. Bollywood movie also has been used for analysis. Thus an effective use of secondary data has been used for the purpose. Ethical Considerations The essay does not contain any instances that may hurt the sentiments of any community. And no false representation of facts have been made to reach a solution to the research. 6. Findings and Analysis: The argument has been supported through appropriate case studies Religious violence The case study of Sudan civil war helps to illustrate how Islam has been used to generate religious violence and have also confirmed on the fact how misrepresentation of religion has caused such serious consequences all through and has resulted in causing a downfall of a country. Hatred of western culture for terrorism The case study of new Arab culture facing oppositions and the letter from Osama Bin laden reflects hatred for religious culture rather than religious issues for such terrorist attacks. It clearly identified the fact that certain terrorist groups had difference of views to other culture sand to suppress their views such attacks were carried out in the sake of the religion. Islamic institutions encouraging terrorism The case study of Islamic institution CAIR shows how such Islamic institutions have been encouraging terrorism in the name of religion and well being of Muslims. Bollywood movie The Bollywood movie Mission Kashmir and Kurban has shown how Islamic extremists have been capturing young minds and encouraging terrorism citing false Islamic beliefs. 7. Conclusion: The Islamic terrorists have been spreading violence in the name of religion whereas Islam has opposed such terrorism. The Islamic extremists have been capturing young minds with false beliefs of Islam and transforming them into terrorists. The essay thus argues that Islamic terrorists have been using religion as a scapegoat and suggests more seminars on global terrorism to save young people from preaching of Islamic extremists. Capstone Project: ISLAMIC TERRORISTS SHOULD NOT TRY TO JUSTIFY THEIR COURSES BY USING RELIGION AS A SCAPEGOAT Prospectus 1. Introduction The terrorist who have planned severe terror attacks on American soil are known to be victims of misguidance. They have misinterpreted the teachings of the Islamic religion. Thus these terrorists have made excuses like racism for attacking United States. The Islamic religion has always been a peaceful one directed to giving spiritual comfort. But these terrorists’ misinterpretations of religion and using those false beliefs on behalf of their deeds have downgraded the religion itself. But some unscrupulous religious fanatics have been molding the religion as to their desire and giving lessons of violence to millions of Muslims. That is why it has been seen that Islamic nations do not give freedom of religion to its people. Even if the violence of religion is assumed to be true it is never justifiable to murder thousands of people for the sake of following the religion Thesis Statement: Thus Islamic Terrorists have used religion as a scapegoat and a cover for attacking Western nations The essay will argue against the use of Islamic religion as scapegoat by the terrorists with the help if appropriate findings and analysis. 2. Beliefs of Terrorists and Misinterpretation of Islam The Islamic terrorists firmly believe that Islam calls for war against all the non Muslims nations. Questions are raised on such beliefs. Even if they are assumed to be true this does not give licenses to Islamic terrorists to attack Western countries like United States and murder thousands of people. If teachings of Islam are known to fuel violence then terrorists and other Islamic people require counseling to change their views. Use of Islam to Spread Violence The way Islamic terrorists have portrayed Islam, it appears that Islam calls for violence. The essay will show how for these fanatics the religion has lost its innocence and has assumed a violent image. The term jihad has a different meaning from the one portrayed by terrorists. In the modern world Islam has fallen in the hands of some dirty politics and ridiculous terrorists performing all wrong doings under the shadow of religion and Islam laws. 3. Media and others factors leading to misinterpretation of Islam Media has frequently played a strong role in down grading a religion. Religion has been presented as initiating violence and warfare. They have many a times shown that Islam is in favor of such terrorism which is not the case. It is in fact media which has isolated Islam from other existing religions. Media have always tried to portray Islamic forces as evil and harming the innocent Western countries. Moreover the number of casualties that has been found in recent terrorist attacks has portrayed the entire religion as a threat to national security. 4. Literature Review The essay intends to perform a review of research works and studies undertaken on a similar topic. For this various books and journals have been chosen on the topic of Islam and terrorism. Most of them have been found to support the claim that Islamic terrorists have used religion as a scapegoat and an excuse for attacking Western nations. 5. Research Methodology The methodology opted for research in this topic will be based on an appropriate research technique that will cover the objectives of research. Here the research objective is to show how Islamic terrorists have pledged global terrorism in the name of religion. The essay will show that Islamic terrorists have been using religion as a cover to terrorist acts which has spoiled the reputation of Islam Research Methodology Obtaining desirable outcomes from the research study depends a lot on the methodology opted for the research. The methodology chosen for research on this topic contains an appropriate research design that covers the objectives of research. In this case the essay wants to argue in favor of the fact that Islamic terrorists are using the religion of Islam as a scapegoat and a cover to attack the Western nations and spread violence everywhere. The essay also wants to point out the fact that Islam and teachings of Quran has been misinterpreted by most of the Muslims which has downgraded the religion and is also the root cause of terrorism. The pros and cons of the research methodology have been considered before using it for the essay. The review of literature of different research works undertaken on a similar topic has been included in the essay. Research Techniques The essay adopts qualitative approach involving review of literatures and some Bollywood movies to portray the representation of the religious ideals by the terrorist organizations. Such a technique has been considered suitable for the essay to capture the opinions of Muslim community about those Islamic terrorists and whether they accept their claims. Such a technique also helps to have a better knowledge about the beliefs of the majority of Muslims and the actual image of Islam. Hence this technique has been adopted to justify the argument in the essay. Data collection Data for the research study has been collected from secondary sources like journal articles and books based on a similar topic. The case studies which portray misinterpretations of Islam and also certain incidents have been highlighted to show how the Islamic terrorists have been using religion as a scapegoat and a cover to attack Western nations. Bollywood movies portrayed on a similar topic have also been utilized for the purpose of analysis. Ethical Considerations The essay does not contain any writings or instances that may hurt the sentiments and beliefs of any community. 6. Findings and Analysis Here the essay intends to use the data collected during research for the purpose of analysis. Certain empirical data or incidents of terrorism may be used to show the severity of terror attacks and how Muslims have used religion as a scapegoat to cover their deeds. 7. Conclusion The essay intends to show that what Islamic terrorists belief and portray about Islam and its teachings are only half truth. The religion has lost its reputation as well as its innocence in the hands of these terrorists. Even if the beliefs of terrorists are assumed to be true they possess no right to murder thousands of people. The essay conclusion will be in support of the argument that Islamic terrorists have used religion as a scapegoat and a cover for attacking Western countries. Annotated Bibliography   1. Abdulla, Rasha A, “Islam, Jihad, and Terrorism in Post-9/11 Arabic Discussion Boards”, Journal of Computed Mediated Communication, (2007), 12.3, January 18 2012 from: http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue3/abdulla.html About the journal: The article used from the journal for analysis shows that most of the Muslims have rejected the claim of terrorists that 9/11 terror attacks have been supported by Islam religion. Many of them have looked upon such terrorist attacks as a political conspiracy. Hence the article supports the claim that Islamic terrorists have used religion as a scapegoat 2. AL-QAEDA’S RELIGIOUS JUSTIFICATION OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM, Harvard Kennedy School, February 18, 2012 from: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/uploads/Islam_and_the_Bomb-Final-pt2.pdf About the article: This article gives an account of AlQaeda’s justification for their activities on religious grounds, especially citing the Q’uran and the idea of jihad. A part of one such jihadist’s speech has been quoted in the paper. It has been a fight against the West and the terrorist associations have been using the name of God to show the validity of their actions. 3. Blakenhorn, David. The Islam/West debate: documents from a global debate on terrorism, U.S Policy and the Middle East, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2005 About the book: the book emphasizes on an open letter that defended the military attack on the terrorist group Al Qaeda. The pages used from the book (199-200) for analysis focuses on the Arabian culture and the letter from Osama Bin Laden citing the reason behind 9/11 terrorist attack. The letter reflects deep hatred for American culture that resulted in such an attack 4. Bhardwaj, P.R. (2005), Gender Discrimination, Anamika Pub & Distributors About this book: This book is a compilation of different articles on the rights of women as claimed by them in different situations. The part about Muslim women has been considered here in the paper. They are treated ruthlessly in Arabs and the book also gives an account of the wrong interpretation of the Qu’ran with respect to women’s rights. 5. Bloss, William P, “Culture Clash: Investigating the Nexus Between Western-Muslim Ideological Dissonance and Islamist Terrorism”, Journal of The Citadel Foundation, 4.1, January 18 2012 from: http://www.erces.com/journal/articles/archives/volume4/v01/v04.htm About the journal: The article used from the journal for analysis has highlighted the rising discrepancy between the Islamic and Western countries in terms of socio economic and political matters and how terrorists have utilized such opportunities to attack Western nations citing Islam religion. 6. Bukay, David, “Can There Be an Islamic Democracy?”, Middle East Quarterly, (2007), 14.2, 71-79, January 19 2012 from: http://www.meforum.org/1680/can-there-be-an-islamic-democracy About the journal: The article chosen from the journal for analysis focuses on the fact that Islam has always supported democracy although Islamic nations have always experienced dictatorship. In this way it shows that the teachings of Islam are quite than that is claimed by Islamic terrorists and some Muslim leaders. 7. Bukay, David, “The Religious Foundations of Suicide Bombings”, The Middle East Quarterly, (2006), 13.4, 27-36, January 19 2012 from: http://www.meforum.org/1003/the-religious-foundations-of-suicide-bombings About the journal: The article used from the journal for analysis gives instances of various aspects if Islamic religions whose misinterpretations have given rise to acts like suicide bombings. It also deals with interpretation and its role in giving birth to suicide bombers. 8. Dodge, Christine Huda. The Everything Understanding Islam Book, United States: Everything books, 2009 About the book: The book throughout claims that there has been misunderstanding of the Islamic religion for which it has faced worldwide criticisms. The author has also cited instances of such misinterpretations of the verses of Quran. The page used from the book (133) for analysis cites such an instance of misinterpretation of punishment of disloyalty in marriage where a light tapping has been misinterpreted as harsh beating contributing to the violent image of Islam. 9. Emerson, Steven, Third public hearing of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon United States, January 18 2012 from: http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing3/witness_emerson.htm About the article: The article has been drawn from a report by National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon United States. The article traces out the reason behind 9/11 terror attacks and claims it to be a religious issue due to misinterpretations of Islamic religion by Terrorists 10. Fine, Jonathan, “Contrasting Secular and Religious Terrorism”, Middle East Quarterly, (2008), 15.1, 59-69, January 19 2012 from: http://www.meforum.org/1826/contrasting-secular-and-religious-terrorismAbout the journal: The journal picked up from the article for research claims that there exists no relation between suicide bombing and Islam and some other factors have contributed to such suicidal attacks. The author cites examples of non Muslim groups to justify his claim 11. Gunaratna, Rohan, Jerard, Jolene and Rubin, Lawrence. Terrorist rehabilitation and counter-radicalisation: new approaches to counter terrorism, New York: Routledge, 2011 About the book: The book shows the needs to rehabilitate terrorism. It also focuses on new strategies that have been adopted to counter terrorism. The page used from the book (52) for analysis shows how misinterpretations of word ‘jihad’ have led Muslim leaders like Imam Samudra support terrorism and the need to educate young minds to save them from such Islamic extremists 12. Jones, Tony, “Bali bombings justified, Samudra tells court”, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC, 2003, February 18, 2012 from: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2003/s903807.htm About the article: This article is just another example of how the terrorists justify their Read More