Research Proposal

POLITICAL ISLAM AND THE UNITED STATES OF

AMERICA BEFORE 9/11

(Tahir Yousaf)

Statement of Problem
This research paper will focus on the impacts of political Islam on United
States of America before 9/11
Problem Defined
Political Islamism is an ideology which incorporated a combination of
extremist and revolutionary elements with the passage of time. In the
contemporary period of time, political Islam is conceptualized as Islamism
or extremism. The Islamist ideology has particularly threatened the nonMuslims, the West. Islamists or extremists consider West as anti-Islam or
anti-Muslims and American being taken as the leader of West has been
placed on the top of their target list.
American played her part inn the creation of some of the elements of
political Islam. American supported Afghan Mujahiddins against USSR in
USSR-Afghan war in 1980s. After the demise of Soviet Union, USA lost
interest in Afghanistan and Mujahiddins. Emergence of Taliban was the
consequence of US neglect in 1994. Taliban took control of Afghanistan in
1996 and imposed Shariah law in the country, regarded as extremist
version of Islam.

Taliban attracted the world attention, particularly America was critical to

them. Later Taliban were joined by Al-Qaida, which was in search of
sanctuary for them. Al- Qaida continued its terrorist activities in different
parts of the world and they also provided Taliban with financial and military
support. Thus terrorism evolved as a threat for the West, particularly
America.
In order to halt the terrorist activities and to financially weaken the AlQaida, US imposed economic sanctions on Taliban. US hoped that this
would compel Taliban to expel Al-Qaida from Afghanistan but against her
expectations, this act further strengthened the hatred for USA among
Taliban. Consequently, they started planning for a terrorist attack against
USA, which ultimately took place on September 11, 2001.
This was the event which changed the world and the world under the
leadership of USA stared a war against terrorism. This paper shall focus on
the background of political Islam for USA.
Research Question
What were the impacts of political Islam on USA before 9/11?
Hypothesis

The political Islam had far-reaching impacts on USA before 9/11.USA had
become primary target of terrorism which culminated the biggest terrorist
attacks on America, on 11 September 2001, ultimately.
Objective of Research
The objective of this study is to explore and examine the impacts of political
Islam on USA before 9/11, and highlight the ways in which political Islam
affected the USA, which resulted in the event of 9/11 terrorist attacks later
on.
This study shall also critically evaluate the conditions of terrorists groups
in the immediate pre-9/11 era. This study shall also enable the students to
understand the background of 9//11 terrorist attacks.
Significance of Research
War against terrorism began at international level soon after the 9/11 attacks.
The present study shall contribute to the knowledge of students about the
conditions prevailing in USA and rest of the world before 9/11. Furthermore,
this study shall help the students to understand the impacts of political Islam
on USA.
Moreover, the present study shall enable the graduate students of social
sciences to understand the reasons that caused 9/11 attacks to happen. The

present study shall also contribute to our knowledge and understanding of

political Islam and how it became the cause 0f 9/11 attacks.
Research Methods
The research methodology that will be taken up in this project is qualitative.
It will include an analysis of many theories to explore, interpret and explain
political Islam. It will form theoretical background of the relationship
between political Islam and impacts on USA before 9/11. Mainly deductive
approach will be used for the understanding of political Islam and its
impacts on USA before 9/11. The tools for the conduct of this research shall
be library, internet, etc.
Literature Review.
Political Islam is the topic which has not been discussed much in the past but
after the Iranian Revolution and particularly after 9/11 attacks on America,
political Islam has acquired a significant place in discussion forums. It has
attracted the attention of many scholars, who search for its origin, meaning
and symptoms and then suggest remedies, but there is a need to discuss the
political Islam in detailed unified way, so there is a gap and kind of flaw in
the existing literature. However a survey of literature available on the
subject will provide us some theoretical and conceptual framework to begin
with the search.

Probably, comparatively a little subjective, but a good book on the topic is

Militant Islam Reaches America by Daniel Pipes. The first eight chapters of
Part 1 of the book provide a good account of the meaning of political Islam
as perceived by the West. The writer makes a distinction between Islam as a
religion and Islamism or militant Islam. In his views this Islamism is a real
threat for the West and America, as more then half of the Muslims fall into
the category of Islamism. Daniel Pipes has explored that militant Islam has
proved itself to the only vital totalitarian movement in the world today. He
has identified this militant Islam a real enemy of America and suggests that
America should wage a full-fledged war against it.
Azza Karam defines that there are two different approaches prevailing in
Muslim society first one is moderate Islam and the other one is the radical or
fundamental Islam. He says that moderate Islamists stress that the change
would come gradually, peacefully and with mass support. On the other hand
radical Islamists are in the view that the violence is the means to an end. He
has categorized Muslims organizations into two categories moderate and
radical. Jamaat-ul-Islami of Pakistan is called as moderate and Hammas and
Al-Qaida are called as radical.
Graham E. Fuller in his book The Future of Political Islam says that
political Islam is neither on the march nor it is anti-Western. The practice of

political Islam is Neutral in character, neither pejorative nor judgmental in

itself. Fundamentalism and Islamism are totally different, all fundamentalists
are Islamists, but not all Islamists are fundamentalists. Islam includes those
who interpret political Islam is more modern or liberal in sense as well.
Tom Lansford in his book A Bitter Harvest US Foreign Policy and
Afghanistan says that Osama Bin Ladan and Al-Qaida were becoming a
threat for USA. CIA reported that Osama and Al-Qaida were a great danger
for USA. The US government perceived that Osama and Al-Qaida would
attack against USA interest overseas, but the 9/11 attack was a great shock
for USA. So in the result USA declared that Al-Qaida was responsible for
that attack. USA first isolated the Taliban and Al-Qaida organization,
second, the administration sought to develop wide ranging coalition of
nations to support and participate in military action against the Taliban and
Al-Qaida. USA also imposed sanctions against Taliban and ultimately, USA
attacked Afghanistan.
Tentative Outline of Research
1. Introduction
2. Political Islam
3. USA before 9/11
4. Impacts of political Islam on USA before 9/11

5. Conclusion
Bibliography
Fuller, G. E. (2003). The Future of Political Islam. New York: Plagrave
Macmillan.
Karam, A. (ed.) (2004). Transnational Political Islam: Religion, Ideology
& Power. London: Pluto Press.
Lansford, T. (2003). A Bitter Harvest: US Foreign Policy and
Afghanistan. England: Ashgate Publishing Co.
Pipes, D. (2002). Militant Islam Reaches America. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company.