It took a terrorist attack on our country September 11^th, 2001, for Americans to consider the Islamic people and their religion, beliefs, and world view. When two planes crashed into the World Trade Center, America realized a fear that Islamic people have known for centuries; a constant struggle for balance and stability. This tragic impasse of our culture’s, has brought Islam into the spotlight. This paper is intended to present the evolution of Islamic Jihad, from conception to present and the misconceptions and misunderstandings therein, hopefully shedding some light on the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

In order to understand the motives of today’s Islamic extremists like the September 11^thhijackers, it is critical to understand the origin of Islam. Islam is a monotheistic religion that owes its existence the prophet Muhammad. While his exact date of birth is unknown, it is commonly thought to be between 567 and 573. However, most scholars agree that it was probably 570 (Rodinson, 38). He was born in Mecca, located in present-day Saudi Arabia, into the Quraysh tribe. The Quraysh were known as a noble lineage but not particularly prosperous (Cook, 12). As an adult, Muhammad developed a yearly custom of retreating to a cave in Mount Hira, near Mecca, for the purpose of meditation and prayer (Peterson, 50). It was in this cave that the angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad and commanded him to “Recite [Iqra] in the name of thy Lord, who created, created the human being from a bloodclot! Recite! And thy Lord is most gracious, who taught by the pen, taught the human being that which he did not know (Peterson, 51, 52).” Despite what must have been an unsettling vision, Muhammad did not begin preaching until three years later (Peterson, 65). The three year delay has led some to question Muhammad’s motives, but most scholars believe that Muhammad’s experience was indubitable, if not verifiable, lending to his sincerity (Peterson 51). Muhammad would have faced a difficult choice: ignore the visions or go forth and preach. The former could invite the wrath of God, the latter the ridicule of his audience. Certainly he did not want to be labeled as “majnun,” a word that translates today as “crazy” (Peterson, 52). When Muhammad finally began preaching, the only audience he effectively reached was poor and had no political power. This posed a major problem for him; those with privilege and influence had the resources to energize his ministry and effectively promote an image of trustworthiness to potential followers. However, the Mecca upper-class rejected Muhammad’s teachings because the new religion required people to reject their infatuation with affluence; they did not want to lose their earthly spoils (Peterson 61, 62). In fact, Muhammad’s belief that people should shun wealth caused marked division between himself and the Mecca elite and led to the oppression of those following the teachings of early Islam (Spencer, 75).

In Mecca Muhammad and his followers suffered years of oppression that included several assassination attempts (Wolfe, 27). In 622, the Prophet and his followers fled Mecca for Medina (Spencer, 89). This caused a shift in Muhammad’s leadership role; he went from a spiritual leader, to the head of a religiously persecuted group. This is a pivotal event in Muhammad’s ministry because the emigration changed his image from a spiritual leader to political and military leader (Spencer, 90). Interestingly, this emigration, referred to as “Hijira,” was so important to his followers that it marks the first year of the Islamic calendar. Now that he was essentially a military leader, Muhammad began planning and executing raids on Meccan expeditions, especially those transporting wealth (Spencer, 104). These raids were designed to punish the heathen Meccans and provide resources to the new Islamic movement; these military actions effectively created a state of war with the Meccans and eventually culminated in a victorious assault on Mecca itself in 630. These battles are the earliest examples of Islamic jihad. Two years after his victory in Mecca, Muhammad died and the majority of Arabia was practicing Islam.

Across Arabia, Islam was taking hold, not because of forceful conversion, but because people readily converted (Demant, 44). This is attributable to the fact that Islam has many similarities with other religions, particularly Judaism and Christianity-both of which were present in Arabia during Mohammad’s time. For example, Christians believe God sent Jesus to atone for the sins of Jews and Muslims (defined as practitioners of the Islamic faith) believe that Allah sent Mohammad to atone for the sins of Christians (Palmer, 10). Islam recognizes several Jewish prophets such as Noah, Abraham, Moses and Adam, but believes that Jesus was solely a prophet despite acknowledging a virgin birth (Palmer, 11). Notwithstanding different terminology, Christians and Muslims (as practitioners of a monotheistic religion) essentially worship the same God. The similarities do not end there. Christians, Jews and Muslims are individually connected by churches, synagogues and mosques, respectively. Each has their own schools and charities (Palmer, 11). However, not everyone readily submitted their beliefs to Islam. Two salient examples of this are India and Indonesia. The introduction of Islam into these two countries created division rather than assimilation. This resulted in the oppression of Muslims who were forced to pay higher taxes and were subjected to a caste system of living (Demant, 47). The failure of nationalization in these two countries can be contributed to the extreme difference between Islam and the endemic religion: Hinduism. The introduction of Islam across Arabia and beyond is referred to as the “Muslim conquests.” These conquests occurred from the time of Muhammad’s death well in to the Ottoman empire of the 1800’s. Predictably, the proactive acquisition of land to promote Islam came with resistance. In fact, there were 49 battles in the first 100 years of the Muslim conquests. The bloodshed surrounded with Islam continued into modern-times in places like Kosovo, Somalia, Bosnia and Algeria. It continues today in Darfur, Chechnya, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Since Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, preaches the importance of peace, it is difficult to understand how anyone can justify a war fought in its’ name. The Qur’an was written in the midst of war and therefore contains passages that address armed conflict that are referred to as “lesser jihad” (Wolfe, 28). Jihad is a term that derives from the Arabic word jahada, meaning “to strive”, as in to strive or struggle toward a goal. The Qur’an says “…strive hard [at Jihad] in His way that you may be successful (5:035). Furthermore, Jihad is broken down into two subcategories: the lesser jihad and the greater jihad. The greater jihad refers to a Muslim’s struggle with sin and the ongoing interpretation and understanding of God’s will (i.e. internal struggle) whereas the lesser jihad refers to physical struggle with physical environmental issues (i.e. external struggle). As a Meccan, Muhammad struggled against his society’s penchant for earthly things and persecution (greater jihad). As a military leader, Muhammad attacked the caravans belonging to the Meccans (lesser jihad). The justification of modern-day Islamic war derives from the fact that Muhammad resorted to lesser jihad to fight the Meccans. The Qur’an says: “Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not” (2:216); In terms of justifying offensive warfare, another oft-quoted Qur’an verse is “But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)” (9:5). That is exactly what Osama Bin Laden and his terror group Al Qaeda did in 2001, except we were the pagans and our soil is where they found us.

Bin Laden, who was born in Saudi Arabia, strongly identified with the Prophet Muhammad. As a child, Bin Laden chose to fast on the same days Muhammad had, wear the same type of clothes the Prophet wore and adopted the same sitting and eating postures attributed to Muhammad (Wright, 264). Bin Laden left Saudi Arabia to fight the Russians in Afghanistan, an act he compared to Muhammad’s hijira from Mecca (Wright, 263). While in Afghanistan, Bin Laden lived in caverns not unlike Muhammad’s cave on Mount Hira. Like Muhammad, Bin Laden used his hijara as a model for military leadership and therefore became a representative of oppressed Muslims (Wright, 265). On August 23^rd, 1996, Bin Laden issued his “Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places” which cited the American presence in Saudi Arabia and Egypt (Wright, 265). This proclamation was a symbolic gesture of an oppressed people. Wright says that “By declaring war on the united States from a cave in Afghanistan, Bin Laden assumed the role of an uncorrupted, indomitable primitive standing against the awesome power of the secular, scientific, technological Goliath; he was fighting modernity itself” (266). Bin Laden’s symbolic edict became a reality when, in 2001, four hijacked American passenger planes crashed into the Pentagon, World Trade Center and a field in Pennsylvania. Many people claimed that the assault by Al Qaeda was an “attack on our way of life” (Bergen, 222). This is the simply not true. As Bergen observes, the thousands of words of text released by Bin Laden has never addressed the comparable lack of morals in western society (pornography, homosexuality etcetera) but instead assails the United States for its middle-east military presence and our unquestioned support of Israel and Egypt (222). Bergen, noting that Al Qaeda was in a political (not moral) battle, reminds us that Al Qaeda attacked symbols of America’s financial and political might (222, 223). Bin Ladens

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Cook, M. (1983). Muhammad. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Rodinson, M. (2002). Muhammad: Prophet of islam. London: I.B. Tauris Publishers.
• Peterson, D. C. (2007). Muhammad, prophet of god. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
• Spencer, R. (2006). The truth about muhammad: Founder of the world's most intolerant religion. Washington D.C: Regnery Publishing.
• Demant, P. R. (2006). Islam vs. islamism: The dilemma of the muslim world. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
• Palmer, M., & Palmer, P. (2007). At the heart of terror: Islam, jihadists and america's war on terrorism. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.
• Wolfe, M. (2002). Taking back islam: American muslims reclaim their faith . Emmaus, PA: Rodale.
• Bergen, P. (2001). Holy war, inc.: Inside the secret world of osama bin laden. New York: Simon and Schuster.
• Wright, L. (2006). The looming tower: Al qaeda and the road to 9/11. New York: Randon House.
• 伊斯兰极端分子
  它采取了对我国2001年9月11日，美国人的恐怖袭击，考虑伊斯兰人民和他们的宗教，信仰和世界观。当两架飞机撞向世界贸易中心，美国实现了恐惧伊斯兰的人已经知道了几百年的平衡和稳定不断的斗争。这一悲惨的僵局带来了我们的文化，伊斯兰教成为瞩目的焦点。本文旨在介绍伊斯兰圣战组织的演变，从概念提出和其中的误解和误会，希望脱落一些关于2001年9月11日发生的悲惨事件。
  为了了解今天的伊斯兰极端分子，如9月11日劫机者的动机，关键是了解伊斯兰教的起源。伊斯兰教是一神论宗教，欠它的存在先知穆罕默德。虽然他确切的出生日期是未知的，它通常被认为是在567和573之间。然而，大多数学者都认为它可能是570（ 38）罗丁森， 。他出生在位于现今沙特阿拉伯的麦加，到古莱什部落。古莱什被称为贵族血统，但不是特别繁荣（库克，12 ） 。作为一个成年人，穆罕默德开发撤退到希拉山，麦加附近的一个山洞里，冥想和祈祷的目的（彼得森，50）每年的习俗。这是天使加百列出现在这个山洞里，穆罕默德和吩咐他“背诵伊克拉]在你的主，谁创造的名称创建的人从bloodclot ！背诵！你的主是最亲切的，由笔，谁教教人，他不知道（彼得森，51，52 ） 。 “尽管必须有一个令人不安的视觉，穆罕默德没有开始说教，直到三年后（彼得森， 65） 。三个年度的延迟，导致一些穆罕默德的动机提出质疑，但大多数学者认为，穆罕默德的经验是不容置疑的，如果无法验证，他的真诚（彼得森51 ）贷款。穆罕默德将面临一个艰难的选择：忽略的异象或出去宣讲。前者可以邀请神的愤怒，后者的嘲笑他的观众。当然，他不想被打成“ majnun ， ”一个字翻译为“疯狂”今天（ 52岁的彼得森） 。当穆罕默德终于开始说教，有效地达到了他全场唯一很糟糕，没有任何政治权力。这为他提出了一个重大的问题，那些特权和影响力的资源，以激发他的事工，并有效地促进诚信形象的潜在追随者。然而，麦加上层阶级拒绝穆罕默德的教诲，因为新的宗教要求人们拒绝他们的痴情与富裕，他们不想失去他们的尘世的战利品（彼得森61 ， 62） 。事实上，穆罕默德的信念，人们应顺财富造成明显区分自己和麦加精英和领导的压迫那些早期伊斯兰教教义（斯宾塞， 75 ） 。
  在麦加，穆罕默德和他的追随者遭受了多年的压迫，包括一些暗杀企图（沃尔夫，27） 。 622，先知和他的追随者逃离麦加，麦地那（斯宾塞， 89 ） 。这引起了穆罕默德的领导角色的转变，他从一个精神领袖，宗教迫害的组头。这是一个关键事件穆罕默德的事工，因为移民改变了他的形象从一个精神领袖的政治和军事领导人（斯宾塞， 90 ） 。有趣的是，这的移民，简称为“ Hijira ， ”他的追随者是如此重要，它标志着伊斯兰历的第一年。现在，他基本上是一个军事领导人，穆罕默德开始策划和执行袭击麦加远征，尤其是那些搬运财富（斯宾塞， 104 ） 。这些袭击旨在惩罚异教徒麦加和提供资源，新的伊斯兰运动，这些军事行动，有效地创造了一个国家战争与麦加，并最终以630胜利的袭击麦加本身。这些战斗是伊斯兰圣战的最早的例子。两年后，他的胜利在麦加，穆罕默德死了，大多数阿拉伯练伊斯兰教。
  在整个阿拉伯，伊斯兰被抓住，不是因为强有力的转换，但由于人们随时转换（奥迪康44 ） 。这是由于这样的事实，伊斯兰教与其他宗教，尤其是犹太教和基督教这两个目前在阿拉伯半岛在穆罕默德的时代有许多相似之处。例如，基督徒相信神差遣耶稣赎罪，犹太人和穆斯林（定义为从业的伊斯兰信仰）的罪，相信真主派遣穆罕默德将功补罪的基督徒（帕尔默，10） 。伊斯兰承认犹太先知，诸如挪亚，亚伯拉罕，摩西和亚当，但相信耶稣是唯一的先知，尽管承认一个童女生子（帕尔默，11） 。尽管有不同的术语，基督徒和穆斯林（一神论宗教从业者）基本上崇拜同一个神。相似之处还没有结束。基督徒，犹太人和穆斯林教堂，犹太教堂和清真寺，分别连接。每个人都有自己的学校和慈善机构（帕尔默，11） 。然而，并不是每个人都随时提交了他们的信仰伊斯兰教。两个显着的例子是印度和印度尼西亚。伊斯兰教传入到这两个国家建立分工，而不是同化。这导致被迫支付更高的税收，并进行生活（奥迪康47 ）种姓制度压迫的穆斯林。可以在这两个国家的国有化失败导致伊斯兰和的地方性宗教：印度教极端之间的差异。伊斯兰教传入横跨阿拉伯和其他被称为“穆斯林征服。 ”这些征服穆罕默德死后发生的时间以及到1800年的奥斯曼帝国。可以预见的是，积极收购土地，以促进伊斯兰附带阻力。事实上，有49战中的第一个100年穆斯林征服。伊斯兰教包围着的流血事件继续在科索沃，索马里，波斯尼亚和阿尔及利亚等地的现代倍。今天继续在达尔富尔，车臣，阿富汗和伊拉克。
  由于伊斯兰教，犹太教和基督教，宣扬和平的重要性等，它是很难明白，为何有人可以证明一个战争中的名字。 “古兰经”写在战争当中，因此包含通道，解决武装冲突，被称为“小圣战” （沃尔夫， 28 ） 。圣战是来自阿拉伯语单词jahada ，一个术语，意思是“努力” ，在朝着一个目标努力奋斗。 “古兰经”说： “......努力[圣战]在他的去路，你可能会成功（ 5:035 ） 。此外，圣战组织被分解成较小的圣战和更大的圣战细分为两类： 。更大的圣战是一个穆斯林的斗争与神的罪和正在进行的解释和理解（即内部斗争） ，而较小的圣战是指物理与物理环境的问题（即外部的斗争）的斗争。由于麦加，穆罕默德挣扎的反对他的社会地上的事，迫害（更大的圣战）情有独钟。作为一个军事领导人，穆罕默德攻击属于麦加（较小的圣战）的大篷车。现代伊斯兰战争的正当性源于事实上，穆罕默德较小圣战对抗麦加。 “古兰经”说： “战斗是你的处方药，你们不喜欢它。但它有可能使你们不喜欢的事情是对你有好处，你们喜欢的事情是对你不好。但真主知道，你们不知道“ （ 2:216 ） ，在进攻战的理由，另一个经常被引用古兰经经文是”但是，当禁月过去，然后争取并杀死异教徒，你们在那里发现他们，抓住他们，围攻他们，趴在等待他们千方百计（战争） “ （ 9:5） 。这正是本·拉登和他的恐怖组织“基地”组织在2001年所做的，但我们是异教徒和我们的土地上，在那里他们发现我们。
  拉登，谁是出生在沙特阿拉伯，强烈识别与先知穆罕默德。作为一个孩子，拉登在同一天内穆罕默德先知穿的衣服，穿同一类型的选择到快，并采取了同样的坐姿和饮食姿势穆罕默德（赖特， 264 ） 。拉登离开沙特阿拉伯争取俄罗斯在阿富汗，他相比，穆罕默德从麦加（赖特， 263 ） hijira行为。而在阿富汗，本·拉登住在洞穴不像穆罕默德在希拉山的山洞。穆罕默德一样，拉登用他的hijara作为军事领导的典范，并因此成为代表被压迫的穆斯林（赖特， 265 ） 。在1996年8月23日，拉登发出他的宣言“对美国人的战争占领土地的两个圣地” ，其中列举了美国在沙特阿拉伯和埃及（赖特， 265 ） 。这是一个象征性的姿态，宣布被压迫人民。莱特说： “从阿富汗的一个山洞里，美国宣战，拉登假设一个两袖清风，不屈不挠的原始站在反对世俗的，科技巨人的可怕力量的作用;他战斗现代性本身” （266 ）。拉登的象征诏书成为了现实，在2001年时， 4个被劫持的美国客机撞向五角大楼，世界贸易中心和宾夕法尼亚州中的一个字段。许多人声称，由“基地”组织的袭击是一个“攻击我们的生活方式” （卑尔根，222 ） 。这是根本就不是真实的。卑尔根指出，成千上万的拉登发表的文字的话从来没有处理比较缺乏在西方社会的道德（色情，同性恋等等） ，而是抨击美国的中东以色列的军事存在，我们毫无疑问的支持和埃及（ 222页）。卑尔根指出， “基地”组织是一个政治（道德）的战斗，提醒我们， “基地”组织袭击美国的金融和政治实力（ 222 ， 223 ）的符号。拉丹
  参考书目
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  罗丁森， M. （2002） 。穆罕默德伊斯兰教的先知。伦敦： I.B.的Tauris出版社。
  皮特森， D. （2007 ） 。上帝的先知穆罕默德。密西根州大急流市：WM 。 B. Eerdmans出版社。
  斯宾塞， R. （2006） 。穆罕默德的真相：世界上最不宽容的宗教的创始人。华盛顿D.C ： Regnery出版。
  奥迪康， ， P. R. （2006） 。伊斯兰和伊斯兰穆斯林世界的困境。旅游Westport， CT ：格林伍德出版社。
  帕尔默， M. ， ＆帕尔默， P. （2007） 。在恐怖的心脏：伊斯兰教，伊斯兰圣战者和美国的反恐战争。马里兰州Lanham ： Rowman ＆利特尔出版集团。
  沃尔夫， M. （2002） 。以伊斯兰教：美国穆斯林回收他们的信仰。马忤斯， PA ：罗戴尔的。
  卑尔根， P. （2001） 。神圣的战争，公司内部奥萨马·本·拉登的秘密世界。纽约：西蒙和舒斯特。
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