Al-qaeda and the nature of religious terrorism pdf

The al qaeda manual the attached manual was located by the manchester england metropolitan police during a search of an al qaeda members home. Al qaeda is believed to have been behind both attacks on the world trade center 1993 and 2001 and the 1998 bombings of two u. The jihadi threat isis, alqaeda, and beyond robin wright united states institute of peace woodrow wilson center j. Religious terrorism is typically characterised as acts of unrestrained, irrational and indiscriminant violence, thus offering few if any policy options for counterterrorism measures. Mark sedgwick born london, england, 20 july 1960 is a british historian specialising in the study of traditionalism, islam, sufi mysticism, and terrorism. Al qaedas ideology was islamist, but its techniques and ideas were western. He is professor of arab and islamic studies at aarhus university in denmark and chair of the nordic society for middle eastern studies. This article examines the nature of religious terrorism, principally with reference to alqaeda. Al qaeda has inspired islamic fundamentalist revolutionaries and terrorists in. This document is an archived copy of an older adl report and may not reflect the most current facts or developments related to its subject matter.

The role al qaeda plays in cyberterrorism small wars journal. Sedgwick 2004 explains that while secular terrorists infl ict harm on a system that is already good, religious terrorists seek radical changes in the. However, the fact that only a small minority of muslims around the world support or are actively involved in these kinds of attacks, raises questions of whether religion is the sole motivator behind terrorism, and. Bruce hoffman delivers a compelling lecture on the history and nature of religious terrorism, focusing on osama bin laden and al qaeda. Selected literature on terrorism and religion jstor. Nowhere is this clearer than in contemporary statements on al qaeda.

Osama bin laden and the remaining alqaeda leadership, are. Al qaeda and affiliates congressional research service 25. Several al qaeda statements have addressed the motives for the 1998 embassy bombings and other terrorist operations, but relatively few statements have been made regarding al qaedas strategic goals in planning and executing the september 11, 2001, attacks on new york and washington. While alqaeda conducted one major attack every year prior to 911, alqaeda and its associated groups have conducted one attack every three months since 911. Alqaeda is the most famous recent example of an older phenomenon. Al qaeda is not interested in any laws made by human beings. Al qaeda not only desires the sharia to be applied everywhere, but. What was the american governments response to the terrorist group alqaeda. Their ferocity as well as the ability to maintain and grow selfsustaining branches within. Al qaeda arabic for the base is a complex international islamic terrorist network made up of regional affiliate organizations and clandestine cells. The jihadi threat united states institute of peace. Alqaeda members believe that a christianjewish alliance is conspiring to destroy islam. The leader of hizbul islam, sheikh hassan aweys, who is on the u. Religious terrorism t errorism in the name of religion has become the predominant model for political violence in the modern world.

Alqaeda is a transnational extremist salafist militant organization founded in 1988 by osama. The role al qaeda plays in cyberterrorism lyda tesauro according to the united states department of state, al qaeda is a foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of the immigration and nationality act. Al qaeda and the nature of religious terrorism request pdf. Religion in the new global war mark juergensmeyer when mohammed atta boarded the airline on september 11, 2001 that soon thereafter slammed into the world trade center towers, he left behind a manual of instruction. The nature of those interventions should be informed by the systematic study of the.

Al qaeda on september 11, 2001, two hijacked passenger planes. With the re emergence of religious motivations for terrorism over the last twenty odd years it would seem logical to accept some connection between religion and terrorism. The first i call political religious terrorism, the second milleniaristic terrorism. Which of the following is the best description of the nature of terrorism. The study ends with an assessment of the possible future of terrorism alqaeda, in particular and the variables that influence it. Department of history, american university in cairo, cairo, egypt.

Al qaeda arabic for the base is a loosely knit terrorist network that facilitates the activities of likeminded militant islamic groups in more than 60 countries around the globe. What is the connection between religion and terrorism. The perfect law, gods law, is present in the quran and the hadith the sayings and deeds of muhammad and should be applied to all things. It is an era where terrorist orgs such as al qaeda aq want access to wmd in order to kill as many of its enemy us as possible. Alqaeda, an islamist terrorist network striving to undermine u. Alqaeda and the nature of religious terrorism webs. Religion can be both a primary and secondary motive for terrorist groups. This study examines why ordinary people sympathize with a terrorist network in mena. Background and issues for congress congressional research service 1 introduction since the terrorist attacks of september 11, 2001 911, domestic terrorists people who commit crimes within the homeland and draw inspiration from u.

Terrorism is not an ideology, and alqaedas ideology of seeking a talibanlike world order is its source of weakness in the muslim world, not its source of strength. Terrorist organisations are all different in their nature and purpose but they all require resources for selfmaintenance, facilitation and funding of attacks. The attached manual was located by the manchester england. Defining and distinguishing secular and religious terrorism. The nature of extremism and the future of terrorism. The fact that the most notorious instances of contemporary terrorism have a religious dimension, notwithstanding their political aims, should serve to remind us that this has also been true historically of most forms of terrorism, such as that of the jewish zealots of the. It argues that a distinction must be made between the ultimate aims and the immediate objectives of religious terrorists, and that while the ultimate aims will be religiously formulated. The rise of religious radicalism in the arab world.

The evolving, protean nature of terrorism is precisely why relatively com mon, and on. Berger international centre for counter terrorism the hague william braniff start consortium, university of maryland cole bunzel incepr ton univ ersity daniel byman brookings institution and georgetown university jennifer cafarella. Apparently prepared by his colleagues in the al qaeda network, it instructed him and his fellow activists how to. Terrorism scholars are divided over whether terrorism is an effective tactic. Ramifications for a centralized international system 27 hierarchal terrorist organizations such as hamas and hezbollah have much different leadership roles than those of al qaeda. Religious terrorism it is important to realize that while, many view religious terrorism as a new phenomenon, it is one of the oldest sources of conflict and terrorism in the world. Since its founding in 1988, alqaeda has played a role in innumerable terrorist attacks, and is most notoriously responsible for the multiple attacks on. It is the very core of the groups political, social, and revolutionary agenda. In the modern era, religious terrorism has increased in its frequency, scale of. It is commonly believed that religion is what motivates terrorist organizations such as alqaeda and its associated organizations, to perpetrate deadly attacks against civilians. It is the incarnation of an organised violence and an act of brutality leading to massive killing of innocent human beings.

Disagreement derives from the fact that the objectives of terrorist groups are often highly contested. Defining terrorism the task of defining terrorism is complicated, but absolutely necessary in. It argues that a distinction must be made between the ultimate aims and the immediate objectives of religious terrorists, and that while the ultimate aims will be religiously formulated, the immediate objectives will often be found to be almost purely political. Al qaeda activists both enhanced this new decentralized nature and contributed to the emergence of. Riyadh forum on countering extremism and fighting terrorism 2017 5 the nature of extremism and the future of terrorism following the recent surge of terrorist activities worldwide, the kingdom of saudi arabia, along with 41 islamic countries, has formed the islamic military counter terrorism. It focuses on the function that religion plays in legitimising violence. The moral logic and growth of suicide terrorism spring 2006 pdf. Alqaeda defector alfadl, who was a former member of qatar charity, testified in court that abdullah mohammed yusef, who served as qatar charitys director, was affiliated to alqaeda and simultaneously to the national islamic front, a political group that gave alqaeda leader osama bin laden harbor in sudan in the early 1990s.

In contrast to the terrorism of the 1960s and 1970s, new terrorism had cultural and religious matrices. Thus, violent terrorist acts are viewed as evidence of religious piety devotion, and selfsacrifice by carrying out a suicide bombing, for example is praised as a way to get to paradise. However, religious extremism has become a central issue for the global community. Sedgwick, m alqaeda and the nature of religious terrorism. An increasingly concerted international war on terrorism. This is not to suggest that it is the only model because nationalism and ideology remain as potent catalysts for extremist behavior. Even though its immediate objectives are political rather than religious, alqaeda is a distinctively islamic group. It argues that a distinction must be made between the ultimate aims and the immediate objectives of religiousterrorists, and that while the ultimate aims will be religiously formulated, the immediate objectives will often be found to be almost purely political. In the wake of 911, the world struggles to understand religious terrorism its motivations, its aims, and the degree of the danger it poses. Osama bin laden founded alqaeda during the latter stages of the sovietafghan war with the goal of waging global jihad. Although it is the most hunted terrorist group in history, the campaign of holy war unleashed by alqaeda is likely to outlive itself and the current generation of islamists. Defining and distinguishing secular and religious terrorism jstor.

The manual was found in a computer file described as the military series related to the declaration of jihad. Holding literalist religious outlook resonating with alqaedas marginal interpretation of islam constant, it is maintained that antiamericanism and its varieties. But, in fact, the al qaeda terrorists were psychologically. After the 1993 attack, the symbolism of the world trade center took on a significance far beyond itself. Al qaeda ideologies, aims, beliefs and motivations.