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9-11 and the War on Terrorism History and Ideology Some slides and information from the work of Mary Habeck Associate Professor of Military History Yale University. Islam - Ancient religion of 1.5 billion people - Diversity of beliefs, practices, and politic
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9-11 and the War on TerrorismHistory and IdeologySome slides and information from the work of Mary Habeck Associate Professor of Military HistoryYale University
Islam • - Ancient religion of 1.5 • billion people • - Diversity of beliefs, • practices, and politic • - Modernists, traditionalist • and orthodox (80-85%?) • Islamism (salafi Islam, fundamentalism) (15-20%?) • Islam must have political power and a state • Response to European colonialism • Modernism and the turn to Islam • But no unanimity about democracy • Jihadism (salafiyya jihadiyya) (<1%?) 15 Mill. • Extremist version of Islamism • No gradual implementation or political process • Only violence can recreate an idealized Islamic state called the “Caliphate”
Kaaba (Cube) is the center of the holiest place of worship in Islam (Submission) (Quran; 2:125) We have rendered the shrine (the Ka`aba) a focal point for the people, and a safe sanctuary. You may use Abraham's shrine as a prayer house. We commissioned Abraham and Ismail: "You shall purify My house for those who visit, those who live there, and those who bow and prostrate." (Quran; 2:127) As Abraham raised the foundations of the shrine, together with Ismail (they prayed): "Our Lord, accept this from us. You are the Hearer, the Omniscient.
Early History The Prophet Muhammad • Born 570 • Orphaned as a boy – raised by his uncle Abu Talib a merchant • Married a wealthy widow/merchant (Khadijah) • The “Message” comes to him when he is about 40 years old • After overcoming his doubt and fear he begins to preach in Mecca Chosen by God, like the Hebrew prophets, to preach the oneness of God, repentance, submission to God, and a coming day of judgment
The Hijra • Persecution leads him and his followers to move to Yathrib/Medina • War rages between the cities of Mecca and Medina • Battle of Badr (624) • Battle of the Trench (627) • Conversions to Islam and war enabled him to unite the tribes. He eventually assembled such a large force that Mecca gave up without a fight. • At his death (June 8, 632) he and his followers had united the entire Arabian peninsula under Islam, and had started to expand into the areas of Syria and Iraq.
Founded by the relatives and followers of Muhammad • Solidified the political, social, and religious institutions of Islam under the Queran • Expanded the world of Islam – Arabia, Persia, Byzantium, North Africa • For many Muslims, this is the golden age of Islamic government • The only period when there was legitimate Islamic government The Salaf, as Islam was practiced during the first three generations of Muslims.
The “Rashidin” or rightly guided Caliphs Abū Bakr 632-34 Umar 634-44 Uthmān 644-656 Alī is revered by Sunni Muslims as the last of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs and an authority on the Qur'an and Islamic Law. Shi'a consider him the First Imam appointed by the Prophet Muhammad and the first rightful caliph. Ali was the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad. SHIA is short for šī at Ali "the party of Ali". Shia Muslims adhere to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and the religious guidance of his family who they refer to as Ahl al-Bayt. Ali is killed by the followers of Uthman in a Civil War and the Umayyads rule the Caliphate.
Umayyad Dynasty 661 – 750 (Battle of Karbala 680) The Caliphate grew rapidly Under the Umayyads. Damascus as its capital. This made it one of the largest unitary states in history. (Africa, Europe, and Asia).
Significance of Karbala 680 He refused to swear allegiance to Yazid, the second Umayyad Caliph. He tried to travel from Medina to Kufa but was surrounded by forces loyal to Yazid in the desert at a place now known as Karbala. Outnumbered, most of the family of Mohammad are slaughtered. Muharram, first month of the Islamic calendar. Muslims commemorate the martyrdom of Husayn, (Imam) the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad and spiritual leader of the Shi'a people. Karbala The captive women and children of the family of Mohammad are paraded in chains from town to town. This contributed to the end of Yazid's rule. The tragedy played an enormous role in the development of Shi'a identity. The story of Husayn and the killing of the family of Mohammad heavily influenced the rapid spread of Shi'a Islam. London Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram commemorating the day of the massacre.
Abbasid Dynasty 750-1258 Shifted the capital from Damascus to Baghdad. Went into decline with the rise to power of the Turkish army it had created, the Mamluks. Their rule was finally ended in 1258, when Hulagu Khan, the Mongol conqueror, sacked Baghdad. While they continued to claim authority in religious matters from their base in Egypt, the dynasty's secular authority had ended.
The Middle East, c. 1190 Saladin's empire and its vassals shown in red Territory taken from the Crusader states 1187-1189 shown in pink. Light green indicates Crusader territories surviving Saladin's death.
The Mongol invasions did not destroy the native Islamic faith. • The faith remained • Mongols converted • It was a major change in direction for the region Their military campaigns were brutal and their influence on Eurasian culture was significant. The Mongols destroyed the Islamic empires that existed before they came and three new imperial powers were made possible by the discovery and exploitation of gunpowder and more efficient administration.
Three Muslim Empires The Ottoman Empire (1299 to 1922 Turkish) The Safavids (1501 to 1736 Iranian) Established Shi'a Islam as Iran's official religion and united its provinces under a single Iranian sovereignty. The Mughal Empire (1526 to 1857) Indian subcontinent, then known as Hindustan, and parts of what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. By the end of the 19th century, all three had declined significantly, and by the early 20th century, with the Ottomans' defeat in World War I, the last Muslim empire dissolved.
The Europeans colonized much of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century • Completed the takeover of Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria World War I Transformed the Middle East in ways it had not seen for centuries. Maps Geoffrey Gaudreault, NPR; Source: A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani T.E. Lawrence Oxford-bred British Army officer who unites the desert-dwelling Arabian Bedouins against the Turks during World War I.
Changing Middle East Map Links to Maps of the Muslim World 661-1500 Vast Collection of Historical Maps
The Oslo Accords 1993 The Oslo accords are the foundation on which current peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are based. • Negotiated secretly by Israeli and Palestinian delegations in 1993: • Signed at a Washington ceremony hosted by U.S. President Bill Clinton • Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shook hands, ending decades as sworn enemies. • Long-term goals: • Complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and the Palestinians' right to self-rule in those territories. Oslo 2 Interim Agreement 1995 A second stage of autonomy for the Palestinians, giving them self-rule in the cities of Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Tulkarm, parts of Hebron and 450 villages, while allowing Israeli-guarded Jewish settlements to remain.
Ibn Taymiya 1263-1328 • Islam has given to idolatry and innovation • Denounced Sufi practices • First 3 generations of Islam were the best models of Islamic life • Their Sunnah, or practice, combined with a literal interpretation of the Queran constitute an infallible guide to life • Heavily influenced Abd al Wahhab
Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab 1703-1792 • Most famous scholar of the Wahhabi (Salafi) sect • Forged a pact with the chieftain Muhammad Ibn Saud ensuring that regions conquered by his tribe would follow his teachings on Islam • Ibn Saud and his heirs spread this ideology for 140 years and founded Saudi Arabia • Strong influence on bin Laden, al Zawarhiri and al Zarqawi
Salafi Fundamentalism "Salafi" is an umbrella term for adherents of a particular form of Islamic revivalism who vary amongst themselves as to its definition, but share a rejection of contemporary Islamic teachings in favor of a return to the Salaf, as Islam was practiced during the first three generations of Muslims.
Hasan al-Banna 1906-1949 • A Sufi revivalist and thinker • Founded the Muslim Brotherhood as a reaction to British occupation of Egypt • Focused on organizing followers rather than calling people to follow the way of the prophet • Promoted innovation and interpretation of the Queran • Muslim Brotherhood becomes actively involved in Egyptian politics in the 30’s Confronts Egyptian politicians and involved in assassinations – Disbanded in 1948 by Egyptian Govt. Many go to Saudi Arabia to study Becomes clandestine and lays the foundations for al-Qaeda – Innovation and Secrecy Today its outreach is world wide and politically connected
Sayyid Qutb1906-1966 • Egyptian member of the Muslim Brotherhood • US visit early 1948-50’s shocks him – Racism and openness between the sexes • Involved in assassination attempts in Egypt • Imprisoned writes Milestones. Extreme expressions of Islamic revivalism • Call for Islamic militancy and a vanguard of true believers to lead the way in jihad against unbelievers • “Western civilization is unable to present any healthy values for the guidance of mankind…It creates values and legislates rules for collective behavior…Islam is the only system which possesses these values and this way of life…” • Hanged in 1966 by the Egyptian Government
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, Ph.D. (1941–1989) Azzam galvanized the Muslim masses to wage an international holy war against all infidels and non-believers until the enemies of Islam were defeated. • Built a scholarly, ideological and practical paramilitary infrastructure for the globalization of Islamist movements that had previously focused on separate national, revolutionary and liberation struggles. • His global jihad and organized approach to recruitment and training of Muslim militants from around the world developed during the Afghan war against Soviet occupation. His strategies led to the development of the al-Qaida militant movement.
“The love of jihad [holy war] took Shaikh Azzam over my life, my soul, my sensations, my heart and my emotions. If preparing [for jihad] is terrorism, then we are terrorists…” • BA Syria 66 -MA Egypt 68 – PhD Egypt 73 • Teaches at the University of Jordan, but his radical views were suppressed there. • Moved to Saudi Arabia and lectures at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah • Osama bin Laden had grown up in Jeddah, and was enrolled as a student in the university there between 1976 and 1981 and he probably first made contact with Shaikh Azzam at that time. • Azzam in Afghanistan – Recruitment, organization, training. Local to Global Jihad • Bin Laden in Afghanistan – Financing and logistics. Since the 1960s, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia had welcomed exiled teachers from Syria, Egypt, and Jordan, so that by the early 1970s it was common to find many Saudi high school and university teachers who had become involved with exiled dissident members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Hamas poster, taken from a CD distributed by the Islamic Block, the Hamas student movement at the American University in Jenin – West Bank 2003 Hamas -Palestinian Sunni Islamist organization that currently forms the majority party of the Palestinian National Authority "God is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Qur'an its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of God is the loftiest of its wishes."
Basic ideology of jihadism • Aberrant definitions of jihad and tawhid (Monotheism) • Believe that only they are the true believers (the saved sect); all others are merely “Muslims” • Hostile unbelievers control the world and desire the destruction of Islam • Therefore war against them and their puppets is justified • An Islamic state is necessary not only to implement Islamic law correctly, it will also wage eternal war with the • unbelievers
Islam There is only one God Only he has the right to be worshiped - Anyone who worships another god is sinning and after death, he will be judged by God. Jihadism There is only one God Only he has the right to be worshiped and obeyed - Anyone who obeys the laws created by a human being is committing idolatry and must be killed. Contrasting definitions between Islam and jihadism TAWHID – THE ONENESS OR UNITY OF ALLAH
Islam Struggle and war Jihad as an “internal individual duty” and “external communal duty” Today: jihad is an internal struggle and defensive (just) war Jihadism Jihad as primarily fighting Jihad has become an “individual duty” for all Muslims The internal jihad is a Sufi fraud Today: jihad is individual duty; Tomorrow: jihad will be a communal duty Contrasting definitions of jihad
Jihadism’s war with other Muslims • Ideological: Aimed at converting other Muslims to jihadism or to supporting their jihads • Jihadism is the only authentic Islam • Participation in jihad is necessary for salvation • Political: Creating a Caliphate • Controlling territory and implementing Islamic law (promoting virtue and preventing vice) • No other state has any legitimacy • Military: Must fight Muslims who actively oppose jihadism or who actively support the unbelievers • Liberal and secular Muslims • “Apostates” such as Sufis, Shi‘a, Ahmadis or political leaders
Jihadism’s appeal to other Muslims • Authentic Islam • Sacrificing lives for the community • Revenge and retribution • Jihad as participation in liberation and salvation • Attach immoral/evil societies both at home and abroad • The conspiratorial vision of history
Jihadism’s war with non-Muslims • Prioritizing enemies: • The “near enemy” (occupiers and apostates) then the “far enemy” (all other unbelievers) • The “greater unbelief” (the eternal enemy) then the “lesser unbelief” (apostates and all other unbelievers) War plans (following the sira or life of Muhammad): • Mecca (da‘wa, the call to Islam, the vanguard of true believers) bin Laden leaves Saudi Arabia for the Sudan • Hijra (migration to safety and securing land following Muhammad’s journey from Mecca to Medina) bin Laden goes to Afghanistan • Medina (creating an Islamic state, jihad for defense and offense, conquering and winning allies) the Taliban in Afghanistan
Gama‘a al-Islamiyya: From tourists as occupiers and polluters to attacking the “greater unbelief” Implicated in the 1981 assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. Killed dozens in series of attacks on tourists in 1992-1993. Claimed responsibility for the 1992 assassination of an outspoken critic of militant Islam. Suspected in failed June 1995 attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Mubarak in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Killed 9 German tourists in a September 1997 ambush in front of Cairo's Egyptian Museum. Militants associated with the group killed 62 western tourists and Egyptian nationals in a November 1997 attack on southern town of Luxor.
Jama‘ah Islamiyah:Tourists as occupiers and polluters On December 24, 2000, a series of explosions took place in Indonesia, which were part of a high-scale terrorist attack by the Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist networks. The attack involved a series of coordinated bombings of churches in Jakarta and eight other cities.
Why 9/11? • Strike a stunning blow to the US to: • Convince US to leave all Islamic lands • Convince all other Muslims to join al-Qa‘ida’s war with the US and the apostate puppets • Without the support of the US, its apostate puppets would soon fall to the energized jihadist movement
al-Qa‘ida and the War on Terror • The loss of Afghanistan was not expected. • Afghanistan was the object of hijra and the starting point for the Caliphate. • It was also the training ground and sanctuary for jihad around the world. • The invasion of Iraq was also not expected. • It is now seen as both a danger and an opportunity. • A danger if democracy succeeds. • An opportunity if it fails. If al-Qa‘ida could attack the U.S. it would.
