GodsModernDayMartyr

Why is it that Islam seems to be the only world religion which consistently produces large-scale terrorism and suicide bombers who kill and die explicitly in the name of their faith? Who are the people who commit such terrorism in the name of Islam? What do they want to achieve through their violent actions, and why?

The current struggle against terrorism won't accomplish a great deal unless people understand just what it is they are fighting against. It simply is not enough to label terrorists "evil people" because few, if any, consciously set out to commit acts they regard as evil. On the contrary, they believe they are doing something justified and righteous - and if that is the case, then no military victory alone can last long. An ideological victory must quickly follow in an effort to change people's minds.

It also is not enough to understand Islam as a religion, because these events are not solely religious. Although religion plays an important role, so do a variety of cultural, political and historical factors - and all of these must be taken into account. In this book, Esposito spends a great deal of time covering the history of Islamic extremism. This is important because Osama bin Laden did not simply appear out of nowhere to capture the hearts and minds of millions of devout Muslims.

Bin Laden is a product of a long history of religious and political ideas, a convergence which may not have been predictable, but it has certainly been destructive. This highlights an important issue which people in the West must learn to understand:the degree to which past and present are deeply intertwined for the Muslim world.

For Muslims, the past is not so much a subject of academic study as it is a reality which is lived and experienced on a daily basis. Thus, European Crusades and colonialism are not parts of the past but rather current events. This is why, for example, there were such negative reactions across the Middle East when President Bush originally described the campaign against terrorism as a "Crusade."

Muslims today see the existence of Israel and most Western foreign policy as simply continuations of the Crusades and colonialism, a fact which Osama bin Laden has exploited regularly. A person like bin Laden can make vague references to historical events which occurred as part of the Crusades and colonialism and expect that the average Muslim listener will immediately know what he is talking about - it is in this context where his widespread appeal can be found and understood.

Thus, understanding Muslims' reactions to the West are key to understanding bin Laden's appeal and current events.

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