Islam Religious violence

sketch eye-witness of massacre of armenians in sasun in 1894

islam has been associated violence in variety of contexts, in context of jihad. in arabic, word jihād translates english struggle . jihad appears in qur , in idiomatic expression striving in way of allah (al-jihad fi sabil allah) . context of word can seen in usage in arabic translations of new testament such in 2 timothy 4:7 st. paul expresses keeping faith after many struggles. person engaged in jihad called mujahid; plural mujahideen. jihad important religious duty muslims. minority among sunni scholars refer duty sixth pillar of islam, though occupies no such official status. in twelver shi islam, however, jihad 1 of ten practices of religion. quran seem endorse unequivocally violence. on other hand, scholars argue such verses of quran interpreted out of context.

according study gallup, muslims understand word jihad mean individual struggle, not violent or militaristic. muslims use word in religious context refer 3 types of struggles: internal struggle maintain faith, struggle improve muslim society, or struggle in holy war. prominent british orientalist bernard lewis argues in qur , ahadith jihad implies warfare in large majority of cases. in commentary of hadith sahih muslim, entitled al-minhaj, medieval islamic scholar yahya ibn sharaf al-nawawi stated 1 of collective duties of community whole (fard kifaya) lodge valid protest, solve problems of religion, have knowledge of divine law, command right , forbid wrong conduct .

indonesian military forces evacuate refugees ambon during maluku sectarian conflict in 1999

islam has history of nonviolence , negotiation when dealing conflicts. instance, muslims experienced 83 conflicts non-muslims , 4 of these ended in armed conflict.

terrorism , islam

in western societies term jihad translated holy war . scholars of islamic studies stress these words not synonymous. muslim authors, in particular, tend reject such approach, stressing non-militant connotations of word.

islamic terrorism refers terrorism muslim groups or individuals motivated either politics, religion or both. terrorist acts have included airline hijacking, kidnapping, assassination, suicide bombing, , mass murder.

the tension reached climax on september 11th, 2001 when islamic terrorists flew hijacked commercial airplanes world trade center in new york city , pentagon in washington, d.c. “war on terror” has triggered anti-muslim sentiments within christendom , throughout rest of world. al-qaeda 1 of known islamic extremist groups, created osama bin mohammed bin awad bin laden. al-qaeda s goal spread “purest” form of islam , islamic law. based on interpretation of quran, bin laden needed “good” inflicting terror upon millions of people. following terrorist attacks on september 11, bin laden praised suicide bombers in statement: “the great action did first , foremost grace of allah. guidance of allah , blessed fruit of jihad”. in contrast, echoing overwhelming majority of people interpreted these events, president bush said on september 11, freedom attacked morning faceless coward... , freedom defended. make no mistake, united states hunt down , punish responsible these cowardly acts. despite interpretations of islam espoused few militant sects, islam not fundamentally violent religion. groups hold view quran should interpreted literally, while others believe changing course of history, interpretation of should change.

wounded people following bomb attack boko haram in nigeria, in april 2014

controversies surrounding subject include disagreements on whether terrorist acts self-defense or aggression, national self-determination or islamic supremacy; whether islam can ever condone targeting of non-combatants; whether attacks described islamic terrorism merely terrorist acts committed muslims or terrorist acts motivated nationalism; whether zionism , arab-israeli conflict @ root of islamic terrorism, or 1 cause of it; how support islamic terrorism exists in muslim world , whether support of terrorism temporary phenomenon, bubble , fading away.