Islam in a September 11, 2001 Perspective

Abstract

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 that took place in the United States (New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania) have been linked with Ben laden, a Muslim Saudi Arabian extremist leader, acting in the name of Allah and Islam. More recent news linked these events with Saddam Husein, a Muslim Iraqi head of state. For the purpose of this essay, it is not important to prove that some Muslim individuals were the true and efficient authors of the above-mentioned tragedy in order to conclude that if violence is correctly linked with some Muslim individuals, it must also be linked with Islam as a source of violence. Instead of tracing the recent September violence back to Muslim authorities, who may have commended such violence, it would be more fundamental to investigate whether Islam truly teaches the violence associated with the concept of jihad (Holy War) and then investigate whether jihad is likely to imply violence similar to that of September 11.