Nuzul Imran bin Ahmad Helmi 1014551 Nadhirah binti Badardin 1010878 Afifsyahmi bin Mohd Husnin 1010905 Muammar Shabil Literature review Many studies on terrorism have been conducted after the 9/11 craze. According to Neil J. Smelser, the catastrophic event had been so dramatic that this age has been renamed as the age of terrorism. Of course, terrorism has been going on since forever in whatever way possible and favorable to the situation, but the increase in consciousness had begun after the incident in the United States about a decade ago.
DEFINITION OF TERRORISM There is no official definition on what the word terrorism means. But deriving the word from its root (terror) would mean fear. terror into a verb, it would become terrorize which basically means to cause fear. In Myra Williamsons book Terrorism, War and International Law, she explains that the term was notoriously difficult to define. Scholars in the related fields such as political sciences, law and criminology have tried to define the term and failed time and time again. It is because terrorism does not have a single definition. There can never be a single universal definition of what terrorism is.
CASE STUDY: AL-QAEDA What is Al-Qaeda? Al-Qaeda or in English, it means "the base" Established by Osama Bin Laden in 1988, towards the end of the war in Afghanistan. It was shaped out of an organization called the Services Office(Maktab al-Khidamat), whose purpose was to absorb, place, and manage the thousands of volunteers who came to Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989 from around the Muslim world in order to fight alongside the local mujahidin against the invading Soviet army. Al-Qaeda objective
Establishment of governing regimes throughout the world that functions according to Islamic law. Establish Islamic autonomies within countries with large Muslim minorities. Al-Qaeda has tried to exploit the sense of alienation sometimes felt by Muslim immigrants around the world, to convince them to return to the familiar values of Islam and in turn preach them to others. The conclusion of the vision translates into one main Muslim force, a kind of powerful Islamic caliphate, which would restore Islam to the superior status that it merited and enjoyed in the past.
Undeniably, al-Qaeda sees itself as the representative of all Muslims, who, according to them, constitute one indivisible entity (the Islamic umma). What caused Al-Qaeda into existence: Istishhadas a Unifying Organizational Value Means of warfare is part of an overall philosophy that sees active jihad against the apparent enemies of Islam as a central ideological pillar and organizational ideal. Al-Qaedas worldview, ones willingness to sacrifice his or her life for Allah and in the path of Allah (fisabilallah) is an expression of the Muslim fighters advantage over the opponent. The organization implemented suicide as the supreme embodiment of global jihad and raised Islamic martyrdom (al-shehada) to the status of a principle of faith. Willingness for self-sacrifice was one of the most important characteristics to instill in veteran members and new recruits.
Causes and effects
Solution to terrorism (Islamic view) According to Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, the present problem of terrorism is based on an ideology and an ideology cannot be countered or killed through legal action or by mere condemnation. We have to develop a counter-ideology to overcome it. Terrorism will persist in one form or another until the ideology of violence is countered with another ideology based on peace.
The Ideology of Violence Present-day terrorism is that, Islam being a political system, it is the duty of all Muslims to establish Islamic rule in the world. A large number of Muslims, and especially many easily influenced youth, have become obsessed with this ideology and are trying to establish the political rule of Islam, thinking it to be their ticket to paradise. Having failed to achieve this objective of establishing Islamic by the peaceful method, they have started resorting to suicide bombing, the idea being thatif we cannot eliminate non-Islamic rule, then let us at least de-stabilize it and pave the way for Islamic rule. The Ideology of Peace The real Islam, as followed by Prophet Muhammad and his early followers, is based upon peace, compassion and tolerance. Peace is not prevalent in the world as people the world over are acting intolerantly and indulging in acts of violence, saying, Give us justice and peace will ensue. But when people, ostensibly seeking justice, stoop to violence, peace can never prevail. Peace is always desirable for its own sake, and every other desirable state comes after peace, not along with it. Once people become tolerant and obtain peace for its own sake, what that actually does is open up opportunitiesit creates favourable conditions, which enable people to strive for their ideals, eventually attaining justice and other constructive ends. The Quran has clearly declared that no aggressive war is permitted in Islam. Muslims can engage themselves only in a defensive, not in an offensive war, irrespective of the circumstances (2:190). Similarly the Prophet Muhammad has observed:God grants to gentleness (rifq) what He does not grant to violence (unf).(Sunan Abu Dawud 4/255) The Quran states reconciliation is the best(4:128). The Quran has this to say of the mission of the Prophet Muhammad: "We have not sent you forth but as a mercy to mankind." (21:107) No wonder, then, that the Prophet Muhammad so earnestly used to entreat his Lord in his daily prayer: "O God, You are the original source of Peace; from You is all Peace, and to You returns all Peace. So, make us live with Peace; and let us enter paradise: the House of Peace. Blessed be You, our Lord, to whom belongs all Majesty and Honour! Peace in Islam