Introduction
The term religion refers to standard doctrines held by human beings in a particular society. The behavior of the individuals to ask questions that beyond understand is satisfied. Religious terrorism is defined as torture activities in which actions of terrorism are applied to achieve diverse Christian principles (Ganor, 2002, p. 289). In some countries, the freedom of worship is limited since the government supports a particular religion. This denies the citizens the opportunity to make choices on their preferred doctrines. In the societies, the kings were given divine rights of worship and were regarded as the primary decision makers. However, with the change in political ideologies, religious terrorism has taken root in most nations. This paper discusses two terrorist groups, focusing on their ideologies and method used in attacks.
Al Qaeda
This is a terrorist group that Osama Bin Laden led. The group’s roots are in the Salafist and Wahabist movements that existed in the 20th century. The movement’s main aim was to restore traditional Islam, a highly valued religion. The mujahedeen in Afghanistan were members of the guerilla groups in the 1978-1992 war, whose primary purpose was to fight the invasion of the Soviet Union from their planned activities.
Ideologies
The Al Qaeda ideologies came from the global Salafi Jihad movement. After the death of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad some years back, conflicts arose between the Shia and Sunni. Mujahideens adopted many ideologies, but Wahhabism, Salafism, and Qutbism were the most common (Ranstorp, 2010, p. 230). The Wahhabism ideology comes up with suggestions to improve the theology of Islam. This is due to concerns about the development of the beliefs developed after Prophet Mohammed’s death. This ideology’s two major reference points are the Sunnah and the Koran. Sunnah comprises Hadiths, which refers to the stories not found in the Koran but gives a narration on how the four righteous caliphs and the Prophet dealt with issues in the private and public dimensions. These, when combined with the Koran teachings, come with the basis of Sharia law.
Strict adherence to the recorded practices and sayings of the Prophet in the letter of the Koran is emphasized. The Wahhabis practice strict and puritanical views of religious rites. Polytheistic practices like the worship of dead saints and the decoration of graves for the death are held. However, the act of singing and dancing while worshipping has been prohibited. Polytheism is an ideology that has a foundation in worshipping multiple goddesses and gods.
The established and existing forces of nature can be attributed to this religion since they determine what human beings worship. In some cases, physical features such as the mountains and valleys are seen as religious since God created them. They can serve as worship places where prayers and singing services are performed divinity. Cases of henotheists are found in this ideology whereby there is an adoration of a unique deity.
Ibn Wahhab resulted from the safety of Muhammad ibn Saud and the collaboration of the Saudi family and the Wahhabi campaign. This led to this family and all the Saudi rulers adoring this belief. The Wahhabi refers to a tiny group of Sunni Muslims in Uzbekistan who are supporters of Saudi-style Islam. They strictly adhere to different schools of Sunni Islam by following the principles of the Koran and hadith.
Salafism
This refers to the idea that authentic Islamic believers can be traced to the lives of the early generations of Muslims who were known as the Salafs. They were the first three generations that came in the reign of Prophet Muhammad. They not only believed in the spirit but also in the words of the law (Maher, 2017, p. 175). In the current Arab world today, the Salafis live a life of imitating particular habits of the first Muslims, such as brushing their teeth with an honest mistake and dressing by cuffing their trousers at ankle-length like the Prophet. They believe in a Sharia law and a unified Islamic state and regard political involvement as impure and un-Islamic and are therefore politically radical.
Salafis isolate themselves from the secular world of the people around them and the influences of western culture. They do not uphold some of the beliefs and practices held by other Muslims, particularly the Shiites and Sufis (Grujic, 2019, p. 285). Absolute monotheism is a belief in place, which refers to worshipping only one God. Practices such as the worshipping of the graves of the Muslim leaders and prophets are rejected by them. Additionally, they always oppose a debate aimed at new interpretations of the Islamic practices and theologies.
Qutbism
This is a common Islamistideology that can be traced to Sayyid Qutb, the most excellent associate of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Egyptian government killed him in 1966, and he is said to be the founder of the motion of radical Islam. Qutbism has been general due to its impacts on terrorists and proactive Islamic revolutionaries, most commonly Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri of al-Qaeda. The most common dogma of the Qutbist ideology is that the Muslim neighborhood members do not obey authentic Islam. Qutb draws their political and religious views in his book Ma’alim fi-l-Tariq. The critical canons of Qutbism are obedience to Sharia as the law that protects human life, leading a life that brings peace, scientific inventions, freedom and personal serenity.
Methods Used by Al Qaeda
Qutbism Ideology
Osama bin Laden built al-Qaeda by examining a mixture of principles impacted by Wahhabism and Qutbism. Osama bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabism is prevalent (Soufan, 2017, p. 359). Wahhabi principles bases the Qur’an and Hadith on critical readers with doctrines analyzed based on the earliest thoughts of Islam. Bin Laden learned Qutbee’s scripts and used Qutbism tenets to explain terrorist invasions against people. Qutbism originated from the papers of Sayyid Qutb and other Islamic believers. It endorses the rationalization of terrorism and violence in the efforts to fight against infidels (Krueger, 2008, P. 150). Most Muslims in the Jihad fighting group have a common belief that they have diverted from true Islam and must revive back to the thoughts of the Prophet.
Social Media Platforms
Online platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are used to spread false information. In addition, violent acts and cyber bullying occur online where human beings are derived from their rights. Jihadist literature is also shared through online websites where harmful content is communicated to the public (Weimann, 2004, p. 9). Some people curious about this information end up recruiting for training to join the terrorist and find themselves in risky situations.
Assassination
The Al Qaeda group uses the assassination method in most situations. This tactic involves killing the leaders of organized Christian groups (Felbab-Brown et al., 2018, p. 64). When a leader who gives direction on what should occur is killed, confusion and chaos arise. This disrupts the standard worship programs, and most believers tend to avoid visiting worship places. In some cases, the followers are also killed since they have shared beliefs with their leaders.
The Iraq and Syria Islamic States (ISIS)
There have been wars between Christians and Muslims over their different beliefs in religion. Syria and Iraq remain the Islamic states facing attacks from other nations that want to eliminate the Islamic faith (Wiktorowicz, 2005, p. 25). This is possible whereby ISIS makes friends with other countries and groups for destruction. Through this, connections are made with other territories and further organized attacks occur. The history of the ISIS groups shows that the United States is one of the supporting agencies of the terror groups (Stern and Berger, 2016, p. 35). The Iraq and Syria states have been at the forefront of the fight for their religion. The ISIS leader is Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, who defends his followers in fighting for what they believe.
Countries that deny the ISIS trade permits for businesses such as smuggling products are at high risk of attacks. Nations from the west are highly targeted since they have habits of sending their armies to attack ISIS. When they discover that some countries plan to do away with their missions, they organize attacks on those nations, causing their troops to retreat (Krueger and Malečková, 2003, p. 138). ISIS also aims to target prosperous organizations and individuals who can offer them material and financial support for them to continue enforcing Islamic laws and religion.
Ideologies
This is a Sunni jihadist group that beholds a specific violent ideology known as a caliphate and claims authority in the form of religion to all other Muslims. The group worked closely with Al Qaeda but later withdrew from it (Moore, 2022, p. 405). The creed of the Islamic state, sometimes ISIS, is also called Islamic Statism. It has been referred to be a being a hybrid of, Sunni Islamist fundamentalism, Salafism, Salafi jihadism and Wahhabism (Sageman, 2008, p. 508). The central doctrine of ISIL is a belief aimed at restoring the caliphate of early Islam. This indicates that Islam must avoid committing crimes such as bloody sectarian killings. On judgment day, God will follow the rule set by Prophet Muhammed and his faithful followers.
Methods
Use of Radiological Weapons
Mass attacks of destruction by ISIS terrorists utilize radiological weapons to kill people. These radiological weapons contain radioactive components and emit dangerous and corrosive ions. Upon radiation, ionization occurs, and when people are exposed to them, they observe the elements (Shelley, 2014, p. 70). However, very few people die on the spot after being attacked since the ions take a long time before bringing the associated side effects (Silke, 2001, p. 15). After some time, individuals who might have been exposed begin to develop some types of cancers that cause more complications to their bodies. This method of attacking is therefore referred to as a silent killer since the impacts develop simultaneously (Nacos, 2019, p. 95). When the cancer cells are not detected at an early stage, their growth multiplies with time, leading to death in severe cases (Weissbrodt and Collins, 2006, p. 270). Additionally, guns are also dangerous weapons that terrorists utilize. They contain powders that, when triggered, produce hot, piercing flames which can ignite fires.
Use of Explosives
ISIS has invented a new device that can cause massive destruction to innocent citizens. This is a homemade bomb that is timed and placed strategically, mainly where gatherings occur (Hamm, 2013, p. 70). This can be in churches, markets, places and even on roads where vehicles carrying passengers pass. The explosions cause fires that spread over some distances, which leads to the death of the people within the targeted place (Moore, 2022, p. 67). For instance, in the terrorist act of 2000, higher bombing led to the loss of lives of many people (Fekete, L., 2001, p. 102). The extent of damage caused by the bomb is determined by its construction, size, and placement.
Conclusion
The ISIS and Al Qaeda terrorist groups’ main aim is to kill and torture people. This results in their failure to follow their religious beliefs instead of adoring Christianity. This creates tension and fear among the citizens who prefer to stay indoors to avoid death cases. Weapons of mass destruction have claimed the lives of many individuals since the attacks, mainly in gatherings. The social media platforms form a favorable arena where information concerning terrorism is shared widely. Some people can develop an interest in such organizations and apply for the posts. After training, they are sent to other countries to organize attacks with the aim of killing. Most terrorist activities are continuously operating since, in some cases, the ruling governments offer support for their missions (Zdanowicz, 2004, p. 54). They are given the money needed to purchase destruction weapons and sustain their life.
Reference List
Fekete, L. (2001) ‘The Terrorism Act 2000: An interview with Gareth Peirce’, Race and Class, 43(2), pp.95-103.
Felbab-Brown, V., Trinkunas, H. and Hamid, S. (2018) Militants, criminals, and warlords. Brookings Institution Press, pp.57-76.
Ganor, B. (2002) ‘Defining terrorism: Is one man’s terrorist another man’s freedom fighter?’, Police Practice and Research, 3(4), pp.287-304.
Grujic, V. (2019) Evidence-based work with violent extremists: International implications of French terrorist attacks and responses. Lexington Books, pp.230-300.
Hamm, M., 2013. Spectacular few: prisoner radicalization and the evolving terrorist threat New York: New York University Press, pp. 46-80
Krueger, A. (2008) What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the roots of terrorism. 10th ed. United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, pp.140-175.
Krueger, A. and Malečková, J. (2003) ‘Education, poverty and terrorism: Is there a causal connection?’ Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(4), pp. 119-144.
Maher, S. (2017) Salafi-jihadism: The history of an idea. Oxford University, pp.172-179
Moore, A. T. (2022) ‘Humans and monsters: Reintegrating perpetrators of mass violence to society’, In Mitigating Mass Violence and Managing Threats in Contemporary Society (pp. 154-168.
Narcos, B. (2019) Terrorism and Counterterrorism. 6th ed. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis Group, p.286.
Ranstorp, M. (2010) Understanding violent radicalization: Terrorist and jihadist movements in Europe. Routledge. pp. 215-240.
Sageman, M. (2008) ‘Leaderless Jihad: Terror networks in the twenty-first century’, Policing, 2(4), pp. 508-509.
Shelley, L.I., 2014. Dirty entanglements: Corruption, crime, and terrorism. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge University Press, pp.60-90.
Soufan, A. (2017) Anatomy of terror: From the Death of Bin Laden to the rise of the islamic state. WW Norton & Company. 1st ed. New York: Norton and Company, p.359.
Silke, A. (2001) ‘The devil you know continuing problems with research on terrorism’, Terrorism and Political Violence, 13(4), pp.1-14.
Stern, J., & Berger, J. M. (2016) ISIS: The state of terror (First ECCO paperback edition). p. 15-57
Weimann, G. (2004) How modern terrorism uses the Internet (Vol. 31). United States Institute of Peace. pp. 1-1
Weissbrodt, D. and Collins, C. (2006) Extraordinary Rendition: A Human Rights Analysis 28(1), pp. 245-276.
Wiktorowicz, Q. (2005) Radical Islam is rising. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, pp.17-35.
Zdanowicz, J. (2004) ‘Detecting money laundering and terrorist financing via data mining’, Communications of the ACM, 47(5), pp. 53-55.