MA DISSERTATION

An evaluation of the western criticism of members of Muslim community in Britain

: a case study of 7/7.
BY DAUDA OLUSHOLA MUHEEBDEEN
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE MUSLIM COLLEGE, LONDON, UNITED Kingdom IN PARTIA
L FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTERs of Arts i
n Islamic studies
NOVERMBER, 2009 Certification page I CERTIFY THAT THIS IS MY OWN WORK. I HAVE IN
DICATED BY THE USE OF QUOTATION WHE RE I USED THE WORDS OF OTHERS AND PROVIDED R
EFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ALL BO OKS AND OTHER Relevant MATERIALS THAT I LAI
D MY HANDS ON IN PREPARING THIS LONG ESSAY.
SIGNATURE: DATE:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTs

All praises and thanks are due to God, the lord of all that exists; who has sent
His Messenger Muhammad with guidance and the religion of truth [Islam]. O` Allah
: Grant your best blessings and mercy on our noble Prophet Muhammad and on his
p rogeny, companions and all those who followed him with excellence. First and fo
remost, I am most grateful to God for His mercies, without which not hing is pos
sible. He has been the one that gives me the courage and wisdom neede d in my ca
reer, as well as given me the opportunity to complete this research wo rk at Mas
ters level. I would like to express my gratitude to my able supervisor, Professor
Ali Hamid the Principal of Muslim College London, and Dr Ibrahim Derwesh for hi
s intellect ual advice and criticism that made this research a successful one. I
express my gratitude to my mentor and father, Professor D.O.S Noibi, who inspi
red this work and a role model indeed. May Allah preserve his life and give him
good health. Equally, a special appreciation goes to my sponsors, Engr. Wasiu Ad
eleke, the Executive Director of Twab Nigeria Limited, and Honourable Sodiq Aba
y omi of Lagos House of Assembly. My special thanks also go to Dr. Faisal Hameed
, the Research Co-ordinator and ot her staff of the Muslim College both teaching
and non- teaching staff, Dr Ibrahi m Derwesh., Dr Ismaheel., Dr. Muhammad, and
our indefatigable Mother, Alia Arnel . Also my appreciations go to my school fat
hers and mothers: Sheikh Taiwo. A. Ha mbali, Alhaj Lateef Ayinde, Mr and Mrs Lap
ite, and Mr and Mrs Yusuph. There is no encouragement greater than the affection
of friends and family membe rs. I, therefore place on record my appreciation of
the following: Mr and Mrs. A debolu Adewoyin, Dr Hakeem Ajongbadi, Mr Joshua, H
ajj Abiodun Kazeem, Lawyer Sah eed Sodiq, Lawyer Fatai- Dove Solicitor, Bro. Bad
irudeen, Mr Bello, Mr Razaq (my good ally), Mohammed Samani, and Ademola Surajud
een. I am highly indebted to my loving parents, Khalefah Dauda Ishola Alasia and
Alha ja Khadijah Kubrah Dauda Alasia. I remain forever grateful to them. Finall
y, I am grateful to my external supervisor. Prof. Badurin Moshood, Head of Schoo
l of Law, SOAS University of London, and Dr Raymond Ogunade, Assistant Dir ector
(Operations), Centre for International Education, University of Ilorin, Ni geri
a. May Allah help and guide you all in your endeavours. I am extremely grateful
to you. ABSTRACT After 7/7, there was a concern that some individuals could expl
oit the religious background of the bombers as an excuse for racist attacks and
abuses against me mbers of Muslim communities in British. The report confirms th
at in the immediat e period after the attacks there was a temporary and disturbi
ng increase in susp icion, discrimination, criticism and faith hate crimes acros
s the UK. Understand ably, this made British Muslims feel vulnerable and fear fo
r their safety. The s trong stand taken by political and Muslim community leader
s both in condemning t he attacks and defending the legitimate rights of Muslims
saw a swift reduction in such incidents. As a result of the strong stand by Mus
lim political, Islamic scholar and community leaders there was a largely positiv
e response from the med ia across the UK. In addition, Muslim community leaders
reacted immediately and unequivocally by condemning the bombers. These factors t
ogether were decisive in countering incidents and prejudice against minorities,
and preventing a trend o f incidents and attacks from taking shape. The real tes
t will be whether this in itial encouraging response translates into effective l
ong-term action that addre sses the wider questions posed in the aftermath of th
e London events. How to str engthen cohesion and integration in the diverse Brit
ain societies, and how to co unter the marginalisation and discrimination on the
basis of race, ethnicity, re ligion and belief in the United Kingdom is the att
empt made in this project.

TABLE OF CONTENT Title Page.....................................................

............ .................................. Certification Page..............
........................................... ................................ Ack
nowledgments............................................................ .......
.................... Abstract...................................................
................ ................................... CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.
1.1. Background to the study................................................. ..
....................... .. 1.2. Aims of the study...............................
........................ ............................ 1.3. Objectives of the stu
dy................................................. ............................
1.4. The Rationale of the study.............................................. .
........................... 1.5. Literature Review..............................
......................... ................................ 1.6. Structure of Dis
sertation............................................... .......................
...... 1.7. Research Methodology................................................
.... .......................... CHAPTER TWO: JIHAD OVERVIEW 2.0. Introduction...
......................................................... ......................
.............. 2.1. Jihad.......................................................
............ ........................................ 2.2. Misconception of Jiha
d.................................................. ............................
2.3. Misuse of Jihad......................................................... .
................................ 2.4. Conclusion................................
............................... .................................

CHAPTER THREE:
terrorism THE GLOBAL THREAT
3.0. Introduction...............................................................
........................... 3.1. Terrorism in Diverse Perspective..............
............................. ............... 3.2. Tracing the Cause of Terroris
m............................................. .............. 3.2.1. Fundamental
ism and Extremism............................................. ......... 3.2.2.
Suicide and Martyrdom.................................................... ......
........... 3.3. Conclusion.....................................................
............ ...........................
CHAPTER FOUR:
the impact of 7/7 on Muslims in Britain
4.0. Introduction...............................................................
....................... 4.1. The Britain Terrorists Attacks: An Overview of 7/7
4.2.7/7: Britain Reaction and Counterterrorism Strategy........................
. .... 4.3.7/7: The Effect on Muslims in Britain................................
....... ...... 4.3.1. CCTV Surveillance.........................................
............ .............. 4.3.2. Stop and Search..............................
......................... ............... 4.3.3. Immigration Agency.............
....................................... ............ 4.4. 7/7: The Response of M
uslims in Britain.................................... ....... 4.5. Conclusion...
.............................................................. .................
... Chapter Five: conclusion
5.0. Summary....................................................................
......................... 5.1. Conclusion......................................
........................... .......................... BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chapter one:
introduction
1.1 Background to the study July 7th 2005, will remain in the memories of Britai
n because of the terrorist violent attack against London, UK. Bombings occurred
on both the underground and over ground in Britain. The attention of many London
ers, both policy-makers and the ordinary citizens, even the foreigners has been
captured by a vision of Isl am that appears to be militant, reactionary, violent
and terrorist. Without wast ing time, the government continued to hone its resp
onse to terrorism under the U Ks anti-terrorist legislation of its "CONTEST" Coun
terterrorism Strategy. The Home Secretary has railed against the fear of civil l
ibertarians, by opened conference calling on participants to confront radical id
eology that contends t hat being British and Muslim are incompatible. But they f
ailed to respond to cri ticism of the governments airy-fairy definition of terror
ism. With this specific reference to instances of terrorism on mainland of UK, t
he British State s recor d of honestly and justly bringing the perpetrators of t
errorist attacks to justi ce is shockingly poor. The bombings provoked a wave of
Islamophobic attacks across the country, includi ng attacks on mosques, assault
s on Muslims, anti-Muslim graffiti and, for exampl e, the murder of a Muslim man
in Nottingham. Along the line, the Muslim safety F orum [MSF] a coalition of Mu
slim groups, issued a press release that announced e xamples of the backlash: Ars
on, Bomb Hoaxes, Criminal Damages, Graffiti, Assault, Abuse and Threats. In addi
tion, the Britain new arrangements, accompanied by increased surveillance measur
es for the police and intelligence agencies, allow the state to monitor a nd foc
us on Muslim than any other minority group in UK. To date, and despite the relea
se of CCTV footage purporting to be from the day of 7 July 2005, not one p iece
of evidence has been released to the public that could be legitimately used to c
onvict someone in a court of law for what happened, yet the government stil l ha
s no plan to organise an Independent Public Inquiry. There are a series of cases
of stop and search of Muslim in UK, and several issu es have been recalled for
many Foreign Muslim scholars and missionaries who face a lot of delay or even de
portation at the Immigration Unit at the UK Borders. E ven mere bearing of Musli
m names and dressing sometimes subjects them to act of suspicion, criticism and
are labelled as terrorists. However, the basic teaching of Islam is to eliminate
all sorts of immorality, in decency, ethnocentric behaviours, egoism, discrimin
ation and racism in the globa l community. Islam should not be seen as a religio
n of threat, war and terrorism . Islam is way of life. As such it encompasses al
l aspects of life be it: religi ous, political, and cultural etc. The very word I
slam means peace in Arabic. It i s the path revealed to human beings with the int
ention of presenting a peaceable life through which the infinite compassion and
mercy of God manifest on earth. According to the glorious Quran: O ye who believe
; enter into Islam wholeheartedly; and follow not the footsteps of the evil one.
(Q2:208) For Muslims, the Holy Quran and the Sunnah constitute the primary sourc
es of know ledge. It confirms what was revealed to earlier messengers of God and
serves as the criterion of what is right and wrong. In Islamic societies, the S
unnah const itutes the second most important source of jurisprudence after the Q
uran. The mos t difficult part of Islamic Law for most westerners to grasp is tha
t there is no separation of religion and state. The religion and the government
are one. Isla mic Law is controlled, ruled and regulated by Islam - the theocrat
ic control of

all public and private matters. Government, law and Religion are one. There are
varying degrees of this concept in many nations, but all laws, government and ci
vil authorities rest upon it and it is a part of Islamic religion. There are ci
v il laws in Muslim nations for Muslim and non-Muslim people, who is referred to
a s the Shariah and is based on the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad
(PB UH), and it governs all aspects of personal and collective life of the peopl
e. Religion commands love, mercy and peace. Terrorism, on the other hand, is the
op posite of religion; it is cruel, merciless and it demands bloodshed and mise
ry. This being the case, while looking for the perpetrators of a terrorist act,
its origins should be sought in disbelief rather than in religion. For this reas
on, "Islamic Terrorism" is quite an erroneous concept which contrad icts Islamic
message. This is because the religion of Islam can by no means conc ur with ter
rorism. On the contrary, "terrorism" (i.e. murders committed against innocent pe
ople) in Islam is a great sin and Muslims are responsible for prevent ing these
acts. While Jihad is the striving to the path of Allah, the struggle with the co
nscien ce over the right course of action . But the truth lies far beyond these
specula tions. The delicate blur between Jihad and terror acts has been a phenomen
on that has resulted from those unqualified in the science of arced law and Isla
mic law. The man seeking the real teaching of Islam must approach Muslim scholar
who kno ws the laws of Islamic religion. Islam lay emphasis on the peaceful coexistence in Islam and does believe in div ersity, multi-culture and pluralism.
Islam rejects the notion that God is biased or partial to a particular race or t
ribe, and that His Mercy is locked up to a certain group. Allah says, O mankind!
Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations an d tribes
so that you may know one another. Lo! The noblest of you, in the sight of Allah,
is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware. (Q49:14) With such profound
statements in the Quran, Islam was able to wipe out age-old et hnocentric notion
s of superficial superiority and exclusive nobleness of humanki nd. Challenging
the claims of the egocentric people who claimed that none shall enter paradise u
nless he belongs to their race and ethnicity, the Quran says: Br ing your proof i
f you are truthful (Q2:111). As to the true criteria for such a qualification, t
he Quran proclaims: Nay, but whosoever submits himself to Allah and he is a doer
of good, for him th ere shall be his reward with his Lord, on such shall be no f
ear nor shall they g rieve. However, in this study, I contacted academics, Journ
alists, lawyers, activists, travellers, marketers and Imams. This dissertation,
contain five chapters including summary and conclusion, is no t intended as a co
mprehensive coverage of all topic on event. Rather, it sets ou t to provide an a
ccessible and detailed account of the implications of the respo nses and reactio
n to7/7 and its aftermath, as well as the outcome or the justifi cation of the a
nti-terrorism legislation schemes against the Muslims in UK. This researched clo
sely observed the political accounts briefly with my personal exp eriences. 1.2.
THE AIMS OF THE study The aims of this research work is to critically evaluate
the 7/7event and its ef fect of suspicious, discrimination and criticism on Musl
ims in Britain and how i t lead to raise awareness of dissemination of Islamic m
essage across the Britain . 1.3 The main Objectives OF THE study: To critically
access the overview of terrorism from Islamic point of view; To critically evalu
ate the understanding of Jihad from the Western and Islamic p erspectives;

To evaluate the reaction of UK government over 7/7 toward the Muslims in Britain
; To critically demonstrate the real message of Jihad from the Islamic perspect
ive ; To critically investigate and distinguish the Islamic concept of Fundament
alism from Extremism and Martyr from Suicide; To evaluate the responses and cont
ributions of Muslim organisations towards coun terterrorism in Britain. 1.4 The
Rationale for the Study
This work is an attempt to critically evaluate the 7/7event and its effect of su
spicion, discrimination and criticism of Muslims in Britain and how it could le
a d to proper understanding of Islam across Britain. After choosing the research
t opic, there was a concern that what should be our research questions, and of
how to raise awareness of the Islamic message and how it could prevent the error
of suspicion and criticism on members of the Muslim Community in Britain. There
for e, some of the theories and ideas of Muslim experts have been considering th
e im portance that public opinion and Islamic dissemination can create a conduci
ve an d safety society. So, this dissertation will focus on the 7/7 event and it
s effe ct of suspicious and criticism on members of Muslim in Britain.
1.5
LITERATURE REVIEW
Kudos should be given to the institution of contemporary scholars of Islamic tho
ught. Their writings have been educative to the generality of the society in bot
h academic and lay terrains. Among these works are some that cent res essentiall
y on Islam, Jihad and Terrorism. To some extent, literatures on th e impact and
effect of 7/7 on suspicion, discrimination, deputation, stop and se arch and den
ial of visa to Muslim immigrants to Britain, that concern the areas of my study
have not yet been discussed. By consulting the previous works in thi s field I r
ealize that, there are a lot of flaws and deficiencies that needs to be addresse
d. I found some research work done on the topics such as, The Radical ization of
Islam in Britain, Just War, Jihad and Terrorism, Unholy War and The London Bomb
ings, Islam and Many More. But I realize that there is not much work done, match
ing the areas of my topic and research questions, especially not much attention
specifically on the effect of 7/7 and UK government reaction against the Muslim
in Britain. However, George (2001) explains the historical struggle between Isla
m and the We stern Country. In recent study, Esposito (2008) exploring the place
of religion in secular society. Suleiman Adam (2008) substantiates the comparis
on of Western and Islamic norms for the use of political violence. Another disti
nctive view o f Esposito (2002) pointed out the political violence across the co
untry is unhol y War that is terror in the name Islam. On this trend Milan Ral (
2006) investiga te the 7/7 London bombings, Islam and the Iraq War. Furthermore,
McCoy (2006) an alyse the radicalization of Islam in Britain. In another study,
Sitimekah (2006) investigate the significant of interfaith dialogue on faith ha
te crime after 7/ 7 London bomb blast 2005. Yet, the criticism, suspicion and di
scrimination have not yet been given adequate attention, this will be critical j
ustified in this research work. 1.6 STRUCTURE OF DISSERTATON Nevertheless, the s
tudy shed some light on the effect of 7/7 and UK government r

eaction towards the Muslims in Britain in the background, the Aim and Objective,
the Rationale of the research in chapter -1. The work also reviews some of the
literatures which investigate the incident and the characteristic of 7/7 and Ter
rorism. However, this dissertation is organize d as follows: Chapter 2 provides
an overview of Jihad as a concept, as well as t he misconception and misuse of t
he word Jihad. Chapter 3 reports and investigate s the diverse perspective of Te
rrorism, the causes and the measure of terrorism incidences are also reported in
this section. Chapter 4 highlight, evaluate and analyse the impact and effect o
f 7/7 on suspicion, discrimination, deputation, c riticism, stop and search and
denial of visa to Muslims into Britain. Summary an d conclusion are discussed in
Chapter 5. 1.7 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
For the purpose of achieving the set objectives of the research question, we wil
l present here the methodology which we adopted for answering our research ques
t ion, which we have formulated and will be presented in 1st chapter. The method
ol ogical approach of this study will make use of two case data strategies for c
ond ucting the research, as sources of evidence: [1] Primary data collection, an
d [2 ] secondary data collection. Data Collection: For answering our research qu
estion, we rely much on secondary data for empirica l and theoretical findings.
We adopted an exploratory approach to our research b ecause the research questio
n is such that need a qualitative approach and to whi ch there is no specific an
swer. However, primary data might not fully be used du e to time constraints and
difficulty in getting significant information from peo ple because of security
risk. We obtained the secondary data which is the theoretical approach with inpu
ts fr om different disciplines, which deal with the subject matter, including li
teratu re, mainly books, article, published journals, internet, seminars, confer
ences, official website of religion and globalisation and considered some intern
al repo rts of the state of the nation and religion dialogues and some related i
ssues . Secondary Data: Secondary data is not only useful for information to sol
ving resea rch problems but also helps to better understand the criticism. It is
mainly obt ained from books, articles, published journals and web sources. Ther
e are many a dvantages of using secondary data like good quality and reliability
, saving time and money. Begin with secondary data, and only when they are exhaus
ted, proceed with primary data.
CHAPTER TWO:
JIHAD: AN OVERVIEW
2.0 INTRODUCTION In the wake of the attacks of 7/7 London, the attention of many
Londoners, both policy-makers and the ordinary citizens, even the foreigners ha
ve been captured by a vision of Islam that appears to be militant, reactionary,
jihadist and viol ent. Too often this face of Islam is the only face that many i
n the UK actually perceive Islam as religion of Jihad synonymous to terrorism or
Holy War. The pig eonholing of the term and its range of meaning does a disserv
ice and often leads to misunderstanding of Jihad conceptualization in the world
today. The Medieval and modern commentators have examined Quran verses and the sa
yings a nd practices of Muhammad, and theyve also try to extrapolate the circumst
ances th at justify the root of jihad as violence in an Islamic tradition, or ev
en in the

Quran. Their questions have reflected the different times and places in which th
ey have asked. Historical questions have included whether jihad is an individual
or collective obligation, whether jihad as war can be waged against Islamic rul
ers, and whether jihad is a defensive war, to be waged when Islamic rule or Isl
a m is under attack? Similarly, in the western world, it has been asked whether
jihad can be justifia bly waged against Western imperialism in predominantly Isl
amic areas (Asia and t he Middle East), or as part of a national liberation move
ment. The word violent jihadist named by the western, those who claim their viol
ence from religiously motivated and legitimate in itself crucial, but does not p
reclude what Islam is all about or their motive and agenda. Interestingly, howev
er, the jihadists in t heir endeavour to root their wrath in the Quran are introd
ucing some obvious reli gious innovations. Whatsoever, the complexity of the deb
ate or questions among t he westerners and scholars may be, two points are clear
: Jihad is not one of the five pillars of Islam and it is therefore a collective
duty , under given circu mstances? But the practicability of both can be regard
ed as part of Jihad that i s striving to the good path of Allah. As a matter of
fact, the highest degree of Jihad in Islam is when a person is ma king struggle
against himself. He should not allow himself to commit any crime, any assault, o
r any type of ill doing against the law, the society or the enviro nment at larg
e. A Muslim who already submitted himself and his loyalty to God (T he Creator o
f the Universe) has to try his best to control his ego, his lusts, a nd his self
ishness. He should be humble, amicable, and friendly to all irrespect ive of col
our, nationality, ethnic background, gender, language, creed, position and relig
ion. . In addition, person who walks and behaves like an angel on this planet. H
e is to take care of poor, the needy, those who are out of jobs, and those who a
re home less. He is to sacrifice his time, money, knowledge, wisdom, effort, ene
rgy and all other capacities in order to please Allah, and harmony among themsel
ves. Th is is considered in the Book of Allah [Quran] as a true Jihad. Anyone who
makes Jihad against himself is to be rewarded by God in this world a nd in the
hereafter. One has to make sure that while he is making Jihad against himself; h
is intention should be for the love of Allah, and for the sake of maki ng people
happy, healthy and safe. He should never brag about his sacrifices; an d he sho
uld never exploit people at all. Therefore, Jihad is not a war to force the fait
h on others, as some people may think. It should never be interpreted a s a way
of compulsion of the belief on others. Muslims themselves disagree on what jihad
is supposed to mean. Many modernists i n the West deny that it has anything to
do with violence. The Council on America n-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based
group, asserts that jihad does not mean h oly war. Instead, jihad is a central and
broad Islamic concept that includes the s truggle to improve the quality of lif
e in society, struggle in the battlefield f or self-defence or fighting against
tyranny or oppression. This will be critical looked into in the following topic.
2.2 Jihad Suffice it to say that the Islamic concept of jihad and its Islamic cont
ent, it ca n refer to everything from striving which means to strive for a bette
r way of li fe, in keeping a better Islamic precepts. Other nouns are Juhd, Muja
hid, Jihad, and Ijthad . It emphasizes human struggle for progress, to lead a go
od life, to make society more moral and better, and to spread Islam through prea
ching, teach ing, or armed struggle . Jihad is a basic Quranic concept that deriv
es from the r oot-word Jahada meaning striving or making an effort. The other me
anings are en deavour, strain, exertion, effort, diligence, and fighting to defe
nd ones life, l and and religion. It appears in the Quran, the Islam s holy book,
and in other au thoritative materials to which Muslims refer. There is no consen
sus among all Mu slims about the exact definition of jihad. However, there is wi
de agreement that , there are two kinds of jihad: internal and external. The hig
hest form of jiha d in Islam jihad al Akbar regards as internal is against ones o
wn shortcomings an

d weaknesses. It is an ongoing struggle to make one s self better in everyday li

fe in ethical accordance with God s precept. While the external that is jihad a
l -asghar is struggle against socials ills and injustice in any part of world bo
th Muslim and non-Muslim country. This striving can include.1 A personal struggl
e within one s self to submit to Allah, fight evil within one s self, against ev
il , injustice and oppression within one s self, family and society achieve high
er spiritual, moral, social and educational standards. 2 Jihad against all that
pre vents Muslims from servitude to God (Allah) people from knowing Islam defenc
e of Muslim society (country) retribution against tyranny. According to many peo
ple in the west equated Jihad, with holy war. Wearers, Jiha d has classified by
Islamic scholar as jihad al Akbar, the Great War of evil imp ulses, which each M
uslim believer must wage inside himself against defects, igno rance, visible ene
my and devil. The lesser holy war al-jihad-al-sagir involve figh t, is led against
those who brings violence and anger into the world, who deny b elief and truth,
who introduce lie, cruelty and intolerance, who aim at oppressi ng the peoples,
at depriving them of their freedom. Jihad is always war against all acts of ind
ecency, egoism, evil and violence. Th e sectarians-fanatics completely overturn
this concept, proclaiming the so-calle d jihad against everyone who disagrees with
them in the whole world. This has no a ny relation at all to Islam and nothing
to do with warfare. Islam allows using a ttack only as a means of last resort, a
nd only against those who clearly showed their evil intents, and this means aggr
essors, rapists, killers. In all the rema ining cases, the shariah calls for indu
lgence and exhortation. In the Qur an, however, and even in later Muslim usage,
the term jihad is usuall y followed by the expression fi- sabil- llah, which mea
ns "in the path of God." The description of violence against the enemies of the
Muslim community as regar d to jihad fi sabil llah gave a sacred meaning to stri
ve in the course of Allah. The Hadith is a collection of reports of sayings and
actions of Muhammad, and it follows the Qur an as the most important source of I
slamic law. In some of Hadi th collections, jihad in some occasion refers to arm
ed action. As an example, t here are nearly 200 references to jihad in the most
standard collection of Hadit h, Sahih al-Bukhari, and all assume that jihad mean
s warfare. It is not surprising, then, that the majority of classical theologian
s, jurists, and traditionalists understand jihad in a military sense. Contrary t
o popular p erception, jihad is not about forced conversions. It certainly may h
ave filled t hat role early on, when Islam was first try to defending the sustai
nable and sta bility against the enemy of Islam, but that hasn t been the case f
or a very long time. It is instead a political goal: bringing as much of the wor
ld under the c ontrol of Islam as is possible. This then allows for the fulfilme
nt of two other goals: promoting Islam among non-Muslims and establishing a just
political and social order (only possible under Islam). But the root meaning of
jihad simply refers to "effort," and that sense of the w ord never entirely dis
appeared. Thus, it is not unreasonable to point to jihad a s involving both inwa
rd struggle (directed against evil in oneself) and also an outward one (against
injustice in society or the world generally). A Hadith expounds upon this unders
tanding by recounting how Muhammad, returning from a victorious battle, told oth
ers that "We have returned from the lesser jih ad al-jihad al-asghar to the grea
ter jihad al-jihad al-akbar. When asked what th is "greater jihad" could be in r
elation to the battle just fought, he informed t hem that it was the struggle "a
gainst oneself." Of course, it must be noted that this particular Hadith does no
t appear in any o f the authoritative collections, and even with the idea that t
he "greater jihad" is against internal evil, it nevertheless remains true that t
he battle against external evil remains a valid form of jihad. This Hadith has,
however, been ver y influential among Sufi mystics through the centuries. The ne
xt chapter will il lustrate the three paths of jihad, as fellow: 2.I.1 THE INITI
ATING AND LIBERATING JIHAd In every society, the people have the right to be abl
e to hear the talks of thos e who invite them towards the path of Truth, and pos
sess freedom to accept their

invitation. But if some individuals desire to deprive them of their legitimate r

ight and inhibit them from hearing the talks and becoming unfettered from thei r
mental and social captivity and slavery, the followers of these divine program
mes possess the right to utilize every means at their disposal in order to achie
ve this freedom, and it is here that the necessity of the Initiating Jihad in I
s lam and other divine religions becomes manifest. Similarly, if some individual
s were to compel the believers to revert to their original religion, every means
c ould be employed for repelling such compulsions too. 2.1.2 THE DEFENSIVE JIHA
D There are lot of sudden situation whereby a battle is imposed upon an individu
al or a group of team such that they find themselves the object of a calculated
an d result to unexpected attack. In such an occasion, all divine rule and man-m
ad e laws permit the persons or a group to defend and employ every available mea
ns to protect themselves and their vicinity from danger. This kind of jihad is r
efe rred to as the defensive jihad [Al-jihad al-Dafaah], this can be referred as
bat tles of Ahzaab, Had, Mautah, Qurayzah, Khaybar, Al-Nadir, Tabuk, Qaynuqa and
Hun ayn, and some other Islamic battles are examples of this category of jihad
whic h were defensive in nature. 2.2.3 JIHAD FOR THE ERADICATION OF POLYTHEISM A
ND IDOLATRY Although Islam invites the people to select their religion as the la
st and the m ost exalted of all religions, nonetheless, it also respects the fre
edom of belie f and it is for this reason it grants the communities, who possess
Divine books, sufficient opportunity, thus, after study and reflection, they ma
y accept the r eligion of Islam. But if they do not do so it looks upon them as
a minor confed erate and by placing some specific conditions, which are neither
intricate nor d ifficult, endeavours to have a peaceful co-existence with them.
2.2 Misconception and Misuse of Jihad The contemporary situations have made an i
ll reputation on the Islamic culture, especially the word Jihad in particular. T
he people, who fully misunderstood the way of Islam, are trying to construct uni
maginable and unacceptable views and i deals about this religion. But the truth
lies far beyond their imagination. The delicate blur between Jihad and terror acts
has been a phenomenon that has resulte d from those unqualified in the science
of globalization. A very formidable misconception prevails with regards to the c
oncept of jihad in Islam, by assuming that the word Jihad is supposed to be syno
nymous with war; a nd even some of the respected research scholars of Europe hav
e not taken the pai ns to consult any dictionary of the Arabic language, or to r
efer to the Quran, t o find out the true meaning of the words, prior jump into c
onclusion of their fa llacious idea. For example of widespread misconception abo
ut fame scholar knows as A.J. Wensinck, when preparing his concordance of Hadith
, referring to jihad a s the word war, as if the two were synonymous terms. In a
nother narration goes further, beginning the article on jihad thus: The sprea d o
f Islam by arms is a religious duty upon the Muslims in General; as if jihad m ea
nt not only war but war under-taken for the propagation of Islam. Klein also m a
kes a similar statement: Jihad. The fighting against the unbelievers with the ob
ject of either winning them over to Islam, or subduing and exterminating them in
case they refuse to become Muslims and the causing Islam to spread and triumph
over all religions is considered the sacred duty of the Muslim nations. If any of
these learned scholars had consulted an ordinary dictionary of the Arabic langu
age, he could never have made such a glaring misstatement and blunder. The word
Jihad is ability, exertion or power, while muhajid means the exerting o f ones p
ower in repelling the enemy. The same authority then goes on to say: Jihad is of
three kinds; viz., the carrying on of a struggle: 1. against a visible en emy, 2
. against the devil, and 3. against self (nafs). According to another autho rity,
Jihad means fighting with unbelievers and that is an intensive form (mubal agha
h), and exerting ones self to the extent of ones ability and power whether it is b
y word (qual) or deed (fil). A third authority gives the following significan

ce: Jihad, in form, Noun, Of jahada, properly signifies the using or exerting of
ones utmost power, efforts, endeavours or ability, in contending with an object
of disapprobation. Jihad is therefore far from being synonymous with war, while
the meaning of war undertaken for the propagation of Islam, which is supposed by E
uropean writers to be the significance of jihad, is unknown equally to the Arab
i c language and the teachings of the Quran. This world, which is presently sowi
ng the seeds of doubt in an uncertainty in relations between the Muslims and the
n on-Muslims, is that of Jihad. Jihad is today portrayed as if every Muslim has clu
ng onto a sword waiting to put to it every non-Muslim who comes his way. As a re
sult Jihad is now levelled with terrorism and also as Hol y War whereas Jihad is of
legal status while terrorism is otherwise. The term "terrorism" does not exist i
n the Qur an or the teachings of the Prophe t Muhammad.[pbuh] If the terms "terr
orist or terrorism" are derived from a verb used in the Qur an, such as: The pun
ishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger, and strive with m
ight and main for mischief through the land.... Such as: describing a "Muslim s"
terrorist acts, it is in condemnation and presc ribes most severe punishment. I
slam is a religion and a way of life that does no t separate politics from relig
ion. Islam is a religion of mercy, unity and most importantly peace with one s s
elf and others, to defend not to fight. Allah said in His Book the Qur an: "God
does not forbid you from showing kindness and dealing justly with those who have
not fought you about religion and have not driven you out of your homes, t hat
you should show the kindness and deal justly with them. God loves just deale rs.
" Islam respects all humans and faiths as long as there is no religious oppressi
on , forbidding Muslims from serving God, preventing others from learning about
Isl am, and not respecting treaties. If the circumstances come for war that is t
he [Jihad asgharu] it must be perform ed according to Islamic rules and regulati
ons and only for the sake or in the se rvice of God. The physical or military Ji
had must be called by a Muslim authorit y, such as, a president or head of a Mus
lim country after due consultations for the peace with the learned leadership. N
ot every non-Muslim will be targeted wit h Jihad, rather it will be those who co
nstantly come up against the Muslims and fight against them: Quran ordered: Fight
in the cause of God against those who fight you, but do not begin aggressi on f
or God loves not aggressors." This verse restricts one from transgressing limits
. What is it that is meant by Do not transgress limits? Firstly, withhold you migh
t from those who avoid fighti ng against you. Secondly, if matters do come down
to Jihad then adhere to the b asic rules of war by sparing women, children, elde
rly, religious leaders, the ex cused and those who have sat back from partaking
in the campaign of war. 2.4 Conclusion The term jihad means to exert or to striv
e in the path of God. It does not mea n holy war . It should be emphasized that
there is no concept of holy war in Islam. Holy war was a term associated with th
e Christian Crusades which seeped into medieval European literature as it malign
ed and vilified Islam. It is true that from the early days of Islam, striving or
struggling against an aggressor or oppressor on the battlefield was regarded as
among types of jihad. But jihad also meant right at the outset striving to live
according to the will of God. Th us, the struggle of a human being to lead an h
onest life would be a jihad just a s a government s endeavour to eradicate corru
ption would be a jihad. Seen in this light it is understandable why the Prophet
Muhammad described striv ing against one s own lust as "the greater jihad" compa
red to victory in war whi ch to him was "the lesser jihad". This clarification o
f the meaning of jihad tel ls us something about Islam s attitude towards violen
ce. War is permissible only if the purpose is to repel aggression or to end oppr
essor. While defending ones elf in the face of aggression and oppression is legi
timate from a Quran perspecti

ve, the religion is also clear about the limits that one should observe in war.
The Prophet Muhammad had commanded that those who are not combatants in a battle
should not be harmed in any way. Children, women, the old and the infirm should
be spared in a war, however just the cause may be. Even animals and plants and
any house of worship should be protected. It is out of Islamic that some Muslims
in the name of fighting oppression deliberately target civilians. Through this
context that some called suicide bombers have brought disrepute to Islam. They h
ave tarnished the moral integrity of their cause. In which the detail will be gi
ven attention in the finding and data analyses.
CHAPTER THREE: TERRORISM THE GLOBAL THREAT 3.0 INTRODUCTION Terrorism has a very
long pedigree, however after the September 11, 2001, and 7/ 7 attacks in 2005,
has led to unflinching unity between the U.S and United kingd om, to combat agai
nst the act of extremism and terrorism. Terrorism has gained global prominence i
n both private and international discourse. Since then, the c oncept of terroris
m became so controversial and volatile that scholars, policy-m akers and the pra
ctitioners are diametrically disagreed on its exact meaning, ca use and conseque
nces. The question of what is, and what is not, terrorism has ca used academic d
ebate across the global. For example, at the political plane, te rrorism is seen
as an act committed with an intention of causing a political eff ect. Therefore
, the intended result of terrorist act usually causes a psychological e ffect of
terror on both direct victim, as well as the targeted audience. As a co ercive
measure, even where casualties or destruction are not the result of the t errori
sm operation, the threat of potential violence is what produces the intend ed ef
fect. However, when the threat of violence is not credible, the terrorist a re u
nable to implement violence effectively. However it is a common fact that t erro
rist demands change, revolution or political movement. This is because the r adi
cal world view that justified terrorism mandate act , it means that it is a p la
nned action that is intended to achieve a particular goal thus it is a rationa l
ly employed, specifically selected tactical and hence not a random act. Whichev
er way one try to perceives the terrorism the fact remains that it is a criminal
act anywhere on the globe, the violation of civil criminal laws which are self
evident in terrorists activities like murder, arson and kidnapping. More also, th
e whole subject of terrorism has the connotation of danger and it tendency of t
h e title can confer to any form of disruptive or undesirable phenomenon, leadin
g to neologisms such as bioterrorism cultural terrorism and even fashion terrori
sm . 3.1. THE TERRORISM IN DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES Terrorism has been considered as
a complicated concept. As far as definition go es, it is in considerable measur
e dependent on political view: Palestinian actio ns in the Middle East are defin
ed as terrorist by Israel and many western stat es, while they are defined as le
gitimate and necessary political actions by some or many Palestinians. Frequentl
y, an important part of the political struggle c

onsists of winning the battle over definition. Therefore, Terrorism literally me

ans the use of violence action in order to achi eve political aims or to force a
government to act on a particular direction whi ch the terrorists desire in thi
s regard. It also defined as the systematic use o f force/ terror especially in
a coercive manner in order to intimidate a group o f people or sub-national enti
ty of a state government into the terrorists demands Terrorism according to the U
nited states department of defence in the calculated use of unlawful violent, fe
ar, intended to coerce or to intimidate government o r societies in the purist o
f goals that are generally political, religious or id eological within this defin
ition, there are three key element that is, violence, fear and intimidation, eac
h of these elements produces terror in its victims. Fu rthermore, Federal bureau
of investigation (FBI) sees terrorism as the unlawful u se of force and violence
against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a g overnment, the civilian
population or any segment thereof in furtherance of poli tical and social objec
tives. The US Department of State further defines terroris m as a premeditated po
litically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combat ant targets by sub-n
ational groups or clandestine agents usually intended to inf luence an audience.
Outside the united state government there are greater variati on in what feature
s of terrorism are emphasised in definitions. For example the united nation in 1
992 define terrorism as an anxiety-inspiring method of repeate d violence action
employed by (semi) clandestine individual group or state actor s for idiosyncra
tic, criminal or political reasons, whereby in contrast to less verbose definiti
on in 1974 sees terrorism as the use of violence for political ends and includes
any use of violence for the purpose of putting the public or a ny section of the
public in fear. Terrorism is not a recent development but as old as the commenc
ement of recorded history. Terrorism has been described variously as both a tact
ics and strategy, as a crime and holly duty: as a justified reaction to oppressi
on and the inexcu sable abomination. Terrorism has often been an effective tacti
cs for the weaker side in a conflict. As an asymmetric form of conflict it confe
rs coercive power with many of the advantages of the military force at a fractio
n of the cost due to the secretive nature and small size of terrorist organisati
ons they offer opp onents no clear organisation to defend or to deter. This is w
hy pre-emption is n ow so important in some cases, terrorism has been a means to
carry on a conflict without the adversary realising the nature of the threat, m
istaking terrorism f or criminal activity consequently, terrorism has become inc
reasingly common amon g those pursuing extreme goals throughout the world, irres
pective of its popular ity Terrorism is a criminal act that influences an audien
ce beyond the immediate vic tim. The strategy of terrorist is to commit acts of
violence that draws the atte ntion of the local populace, the government, and th
e world to their cause. The t errorists plan their attack to obtain greatest pub
licity, choosing targets that symbolise what they oppose. The effectiveness of t
he terrorists act lays not in itself, but in the public government reaction to t
he act for example in 1972 at Munich Olympics, the black September killed 11 Isr
aelis. The Israelis were the i mmediate victims. But the true target was the 1 b
illion people watching the tele vised event. The black September organisation us
ed the high visibility of the Ol ympics to publicise its views on the plight of
the Palestinian refugees. Similar ly, in October 1983, Middle Eastern terrorists
bombed the marine battalion landi ng team headquarters at Beirut international
airport. Their immediate victims we re the 241 US military personnel who were ki
lled and over 100 others wounded. Th eir through target was the American people
and the US congress. Their act of vio lence influences the United States decision
to withdraw the marine from Beirut an d was therefore considered terrorist succ
ess. There are three perspective of terrorism: the terrorists, the victims and t
he re ception general public the phrase one mans terrorist is another man freedom
fighte r are a view terrorists themselves would accept. Terrorist do not see them
selves as evil. They believe they are legitimate combatants, fighting for what t
hey bel ieve in, by whatever means possible. A victim of terrorism act sees the
terroris

t as criminals with no regards for human life. The general publics view it the mo
st unstable. The terrorists take great pains to forester a Robin Hood image in
h ope of swaying the general public point of view towards their cause. This syst
em atic view of terrorism has become an integral part of their psychological war
far e and need to be countered vigorously. The term terrorism came into the Euro
pean language in the wake of the French revolution in 1789, in the early revolut
iona ry years; it was largely by violence that governments in Europe try to impo
se th eir radical new order on a reluctant citizenry. As a result, the first mea
ning o f terrorism was a system or rule of terror This historical meaning serves
as an a id memory that terror is often at its pits when used by government again
st their own citizens or other individuals; as it become war by other means, as
this sec tion of this dissertation underscores some facets of terrorism, we argu
e that th e west identify terrorist act with Islam and the Muslims, although, it
is exigen t that most of terrorist are desperate adherents to a political cause
Marc Gopin Contend that despite the legitimate western fear of terrorism, it is
time to r ecognise that there is nothing unique about Islam when it comes to th
e choice of war or peace, pluralism or authoritarianism. Gopin in his argument c
ompares Islam with other religions including Christianity , which according to h
im have gone through a period of utilizing repressive reli gions law to commit ho
rrendous acts of brutality and terror. At the same time, ho wever, he agrees tha
t in this twenty first century terrorism is employed by the west as a weapon to
exhibit the pessimistic aura of Islam and its distorted cult ural and political
principles. From recognising other factors which inflame terr orism the world re
mains misled. For these reasons the inability to define terro rism and religion
are the focus of this section. In the early human history, the national interest
of the nation-states was viewed as secondary to that of relig ion or morality.
To engage in a war, rulers needed to justifies the action, but now through build
ing the international relation, a new theory on the basis of th e national inter
est instead of religion or tradition that result political and e conomical harbo
ur. For example, after September 11 attack on the World Trade Ce ntre in the New
-York 2001, the European Union was able to organise a rapid but c oordinate resp
onse to the event within days, in which UK playing significant rol e: The Europe
an union agreed on a long and substantive counter terrorism agenda, in cluding f
or example a common legislative framework on definition of terrorism an d a -Eur
opean arrest warrant to replace national extradition procedure and Europ ean was
able to mobilise massive humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan and mov e to r
e-establish an EU presence in Kabul as soon as it became possible to do so . The
y also agreed to become the co-chairman of the international task force overs ee
ing afghan reconstruction and made the biggest single donation to Afghanistan re
construction. 3.2. TRACING THE CAUSE OF TERRORISM Terrorism has being more distu
rbing phenomenon in the international arena. Its f orm and characterized continu
ally changing. While at the surface it remains the c alculated use of unlawful vi
olence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate f ear it is rapidly becoming t
he predominant strategic tool open to distinguish cit izens in nation states. As
terrorism evolves into the principal irregular warfar e strategy of the 21st ce
ntury, it is adapting to changes in the worlds social-po litical environment. Som
e of these changes facilitate the abilities of terrorist s to operate, procure f
unding and develop new capabilities. Other changes are gr adually moving terrori
sm into difference relationship with the world at large The current issues of te
rrorism are driving by the ongoing developments in the n ature of conflict and i
nternational relations. Therefore, it is necessary to con sider some of the poss
ible causes of failure conflict in other to understand the actors and their moti
vations. Since after the Second World War, terrorism has a ccelerated its develo
pment into a contemporary conflict. Since then it has becom e a far reaching wea
pon capable of effecting changes in the global arena which t he intercontinental
bomber or missile cannot accomplish. It has thus proven to b

e a significant tool of diplomacy and international power for states inclines to

use it. The seemingly quick results and shocking immediacy terrorism has made s
ome observers to consider it as a short victory. Some revolutionaries groups no
t willing to invest their time and resources to organise political activities wo
u ld rely on this propaganda of the dead to energise mass action, this suggests th
at a tiny core of activists could topple any governments through the use of terr
or . The result of this belief by both the revolutionaries and governments all o
ver the world has led to the global war against terrorism. In order to fully app
rec iate the operations of terrorism organisation we need to learn of the purpos
e of their action and this has been identified bellow. Produce widespread fear.
Obtain worldwide, national, or local recognition for their cause by attracting t
he attention of the media Harass, weaken , embarrass government security forces
so that the government ove r reacts and repressive Steal or extort money and eq
uipment, especially weapons and ammunitions vital to the operation of their grou
p; Destroy facilities or disrupt lines of communication in order to create doubt
th at the government can provide for and protect its citizens Discourage foreig
n investments, tourism or assistant programmes that can affect the target countr
ys economy and support of the government in power Influence the government decisi
ons legislation or other critical decisions Free prisoners Satisfy vengeances an
d On that account, there are about 85 prominent ant-terrorist organisations all
ov er the world (UN 2005). And also, there is other micro terrorists organisation
op erating in different countries and in geo-political zones across the world.
Thes e prominent ant-terrorism organisations operate all over the world. The act
iviti es of these organisations have prominence in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Keny
a, Ire land, Israel, USA, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Cambodia, Fra
nce, El -Salvador Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Syria, Angola, Lebanon, M
ozambiqu e, Egypt etc in the recent times. However, thorough all these events an
d the att acks of Terrorism has led to different meanings. 3.3 Fundamentalism an
d Extremism
3.3.1 Fundamentalism. Today s media constantly invoke the term fundamentalism in
referred to militant Islam. To extent that some western scholar has "Defined fu
ndamentalism as notorious, that seen as the enemy among more liberal expressions
of Islam, that claim to win the battle for legitimacy and orthodoxy in the publ
i c sphere, that competing for the right guided interpreter of [sacred texts] af
re sh, and this led to greater radicalism and extremism in Islam. This was relat
e to the conspiracy of, Bin Ladens that struggles not only pit of Islam against Am
erica, the West as a whole and ultimately the rest of the non-I slamic world, al
so seeks to overthrow the contemporary Muslim states and mainstr eam views of Is
lamic tradition among the great majority of contemporary Muslims. As a result of
these the word Islam-phobia has coined to a new terms, distorting their actual
meanings. "Islamic fundamentalism" is one such term widely used to label the dee
ds of Islamist extremist groups. But historically the term fundam entalism is us
ed even in Christian theology with a somewhat positive connotation . During 1865
-1910 a group of Protestants in the US initiated a platform named " The World Fu
ndamentalist Association." This association was widely publicised af ter the1920
s, and their main objective was to uphold the originality of their sc ripture by
opposing its new interpretations. However, in the case of Islam, the word funda
mental is being misused in differen t ways among the media, researchers, and pol
iticians, frequently use the term de viating from its original meaning. Islamic
dogmatise theologian stresses the uph olding of the fundamental beliefs in Islam
. These five cardinal tenets of Islam,

in fact, cause no harm to any non-Muslim community in the world. Further, these
fundamental beliefs in Islamic theology have no links with terrorism. . Whereas,
Islamic theology objective is to set up a bridge between mankind and th e Creat
or, following the guidelines given in the Quran. Muslims believe they woul d achi
eve greater success in the hereafter, through the good deed in this life. But de
viating from teaching of Islam has led and even vested some quarters in Mu slim
societies in different countries to overemphasise the political aspects of Islam
rather than theology by following the required four school of fiqh in Isla m [s
chools of Shariah] are: Maliki [718-96] the first of four orthodox schools of Isl
amic jurisprudence. Hanafi, [699-767] the second orthodox school in Islam, shafii
, [768-820] and Hambali [d. 855] the fourth and last orthodox school of Isl amic
law. On many issues verdicts given by the school of fiqh contradict each ot her
in some occasions. This contradiction, in fact, is due to time and context d ep
endency of Shariah and it regard as blessing in Islam. Although this also has led
to political cohesion within the Muslim community that raised relevantly the is
sues in our contemporary Medieval that Sharia is not enough to provide appropr ia
te solutions of many problems in our present complex social structure and soci a
l relationships 3.3.2 Extremism: is defined as any attitude, action or reaction
that led to the absolute deviation from the norms that make human coexistence po
ssible. It is th e malfunction or the breaking of the valve that calibrates our
emotions, intelle ct, decency, bigotry, greed, and self-righteousness. Extremism
is the root cause of the proliferation of violence throughout the world. It is
the impetus pushin g lawlessness, gluttonous greed and downright disregarding of
human rights. It i s a massive boulder blocking the path to peace. Today extrem
ism manifests in all fronts of life. In the religious front, the pro motion of p
uritanical zealot and the moralization of hate continue to divide fai th communi
ties and set the stage for religious wars. In the socio-political fron t, tribal
ism, ethno-centrism, patriotism and such have been galvanizing brutal v iolence
and paving the way for genocide campaigns. The worse attack by al-Qaida was rega
rds has an extreme act of aggression, the reaction it generated subseque nt tren
d of violence and chaos that leading to collective suicide through the ac t and
tool of suicide. On this fact, Islam cannot be equated with extremism in a ny ci
rcumstances. Islam is a very wide culture and flexible enough to accommodat e ne
w ideas, new thoughts and new developments. In the next chapter we shall dis cou
rse view on suicide and martyrdom. 3.4 Suicide and Martyrdom 3.4.1 Suicide is ag
ainst Islam . Martyrdom is not. "Suicide bomber" is a dero gatory term invented
in the West to describe what in Islam is known as a Shahid (martyr.) The point o
f the bomber isn t suicide. The Contemporary suicide terr orists from the Middle
East are publicly deemed bent on senseless destruction th at thrives in poverty
and ignorance. While is purposefully to harm the community . Suicide bombing is
really an act of homicide. Muslims in the West of the view th at Islam is again
st such practices by pointing to the hadith that oppose killing oneself, such do
er are being disingenuous to themselves and others as well. Mu slims in the Arab
world, who are less concerned about public relations, celebrat e and revere sui
cide bombers, and knowing that martyrdom is battle glorified by the religion. I
will like to point out some Quranic point of views and prophetic traditions as we
ll. The Qur anic Points of view: Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell th
e li fe of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he s
lain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward. Quran further tha
t: Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for thei
rs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His ca use, and slay a
nd are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, an
d the Qur an: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah ? then rejoice
in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement s upreme. And t
o consider view from the Hadith perspective, narrate as fellow: O M

uhammad: "I would love to be martyred in Al1ah s Cause and then get resurrected
and then get martyred, and then get resurrected again and then get martyred and
then get resurrected again and then get martyred." Suicide is the deliberate des
truction of ones own life. It is always an internati onal act which can cause dea
th either through the individuals own deliberate acts or from his or her choice n
ot to avoid a threat to life. Modern thinker definin g suicide as all cases of de
ath resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the vict
im himself, which he knows will produce suicide. However, In the classical study,
suicide has been classified into three categori es namely: 1. Altruistic, 2. Eg
oistic, and 3. Anomie suicide. For examples in th e Muslim world, where individu
als giving their lives in time of war like what ha ppened in Pakistan and Iraq s
ociety of the 20s in order to accomplish some goals involving group values. Such
behavior is judged as suicidal by outside observer s. What has been tagged as s
uicide bombing among the Muslims is someone giving his life in attempt to destro
y or kill their targets or opponents. It is apparen tly clear from Islamic persp
ective as unacceptable. As well as egoistic suicide is not acceptable under any
guise in Islam so also the anomie suicide, in Islam , no one is allowed to take
his life because of downward social mobility as test and trials, this are part o
f the teachings which Muslims are expected to imbibe for their faith to be consi
dered genuine.
3.4.2 Martyr A martyr is the name given to those who, in fearless profession of
their religio n or in an effort of establishing or propagation it, prefer to die
rather than a bandon it or its teachings or practices. Martyrdom identified the
exemplary ethn ical model of moral action in a show of struggle (jihad) for the
sacred, manifes ted in the ultimate act of self-sacrifice and to die for ones fa
ith is the highes t form of witness to Allah . The (male) martyr (shahid) encoun
tered the scared b y fighting against the enemies of the true religion; and in t
he process giving u p his life in exchange for a higher, and celestial existence
. In this regard, it was not merely the event of death that identified martyrdom
, but the very fulfi llment of the duty of obedience to the will of God that bro
ught one to the level of sacred. Martyrdom can also signify the honorable defens
e of the faith. The c ode of honor, which reflects a Defensive derive to protect
the pietistic themes of virtue. In recent times, a violent culture of martyrdom
has arisen that glorifies suicid e terrorism as a means to salvation. In the la
st five years alone, starting with the September 11tragedy, there has been a sig
nificant increase in suicide terro rist attacks across the Muslim world. Claim t
he victim of self-destructive act i n the name of Islamic salvation, whereas the
re is no Quran evidence to support th e act. The Quran unequivocally condemns the
perpetrators of suicide to Hell: And do not kill yourselves. Surely, God is Most
Merciful to you. And whoever commits that through aggression and injustice, we
shall cast him into the Fire, and tha t is easy for God. Islam teaches that life
is a sacred trust given to human beings by the Creator. Abu Hurairah narrated t
hat the Prophet said: Whoever kills himself with an iron tool, then his tool wil
l be in his hand and h e will be stabbing himself with it in the Fire of Hell, f
orever and ever. And, Who ever kills himself with poison, then his poison will be
in his hand and he will keep taking it in the Fire of Hell, forever and ever. Wh
oever kills himself from a mountain, will keep falling in the Fire of Hell, fore
ver and ever. (Bukhari a nd Muslim)

3.5. Conclusion Suicide Bombing is not Islamic message. It must be made clear, h
owever, that wha tever the pretence, these acts are in dire violation of the tea
chings of Islam. There is no Quran support for taking ones own life to kill and ma
im innocent child ren and women, even when in a state of war with the enemy. The
re is no evidence from the life of the Prophet that such acts were encouraged or
permitted by him. Therefore, a shift in focus from external to internal, or vic
e versa, does not exonerate these mass producers of suicide bombers. Riding high
on the booty of e ternal salvation, the jihad incarnations of Osama bin Laden a
nd his group have i nfiltrated deeply into the Muslim world. Totally oblivious o
f the natural face o f Islam they are busy painting a picture tainted with the b
lood of innocents, bo th Muslim and non-Muslim. It is ironic that their acts are
beginning to transform many deeply-held notions about salvation, martyrdom, eth
ical conduct of war, and combatant, and the over all concept of jihad. Otherwise
the firm before the dominating power of the enem y, they rejoice looking at the
civilian carnage caused by suicide terror. It is the crowning affirmation of de
feat when religious scholars take it upon themselv es to defend the suicide terr
orist achieving eternal salvation through the very act of murder and mayhem. The
argument that the deprived and the dispossessed ha ve suicide as their final we
apon against the all-powerful enemy is nothing but b ankrupt logic, and crippled
morality. At one time or another, all nations have t ransgressed the rules of w
ar. What distinguishes the war waged by the suicide te rrorist from the rest is
that the combatant serves as a metaphor for a grotesque vision of Islamic doctri
ne of human salvation. The commission of sin by suicide and the vengeful murder
of innocents notwithstanding, this is the ultimate deba sement of Islamic ideals
and teaching. In the next chapter am going to examine c ritically the concept o
f Jihad in Islam content.
CHAPTER FOUR: 4.0
the effect of 7/7 on Muslims in Britain
INTRUDUCTION
One of the things that attracted a lot of attention in the clash of civilisation
was the use of the phrase the bloody borders of Islam, by looking around the Mus
lim world it realise that in the 1990s Muslim were fighting non Muslims. Huntin
gtons article titled The Clash of Civilisations... was published in 1993, the intelle
ctual community seems not to welcome the ideal dismissed it as somewhat strange
if not downright wrong then the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 media in
the USA automatically implicitly and unanimously adopted Huntingtons paradigm to
explain the terrorist attacks. Similarly, the late Pope John Paul II once obser
ved: a clash ensues only when Is lam or Christianity is misconstrued or manipula
ted for political or ideological ends in the interview given to al-jazeera in Oc
tober 2001 the month after he had

authorised the most notorious terrorist atrocity of all time, Osama bin Laden to
ok it as axiomatic that Huntingtons idea was correct; there is no doubt about t h
is the people of Islam had awoken, he asserted, that they were the main target o
f the Zionist and the crusaders; and decided to fight back. When on 16th Septe m
ber 2001 on the south lawn of the White House, George W Bush declared the war on
terror a crusade he took the words out of Osamas mouth according to bin laden him
self. In an address in Atlanta Georgia on 8th November 2001, President Bush defi
ned his war to save civilisation itself as a campaign against terrorist operati
n g in more than sixty different countries, and for that, this struggle has been
c alled a clash of civilisation. In truth, it is a struggle of for civilisation
. Increasingly, voices in America and Europe proclaims, the Muslims are coming, t
he Muslims are coming! not only as a political but as a demographic threat. Simil
ar attitudes lay behind the initial response of those experts who saw the Oklaho
ma bombing as the handiwork of Middle East terrorists or Islamic fundamentalists
. What is the source of such fears? Tremendous questions have been raised about
t he explanation for the alleged propensity of Muslims for violence. Whatsoever
th ese has nothing to do with the Quran and any other traditional religious teach
ing . I think it is largely a response to unsuccessful modernisation in most Mus
lim societies, a product of the absence of pluralism and liberty and open politi
cs i n those societies. It is also a product of historic resentment, particularl
y amo ng Arabs, over what they feel have been great injustices imposed on them b
y the west. This also confirmed the statement of Osama bin Laden: The American p
eople have chosen, consented to, and affirmed their support for th e Israeli opp
ression of the Palestinians, the occupation and usurpation of their land, and it
s continuous killing, torture, punishment and expulsion of the Pale stinians.. t
he freedom and democracy that you call for is for yourselves and for the white r
ace only, as for the rest of the world, you impose upon them your m onstrous, de
structive policies and government, which you call the American fri ends. Yet you
prevent them from establishing democracies... In which president George Bush als
o affirmed in his speech remarks to the Air fo rce academy in 2004, that: Histor
y is once again witnessing a great clash. This is not a clash of civilisat ions.
The civilisation of Islam, with its humane traditions of learning and tole ranc
e, has no place for this violent sect of killers and aspiring tyrants. This is n
ot a clash of religions. The faith of Islam teaches moral responsibility tha t e
nnobles men and women, and forbids the shedding of innocent blood. Instead th is
is a clash of political visions. And it is also result to fragmentation under th
e impact of sectarian or tribal a llegiances of division within Islam itself. (S
unni and shia) Having critically looked at the issue of terrorism from a diverse
perspectives, including the diplomacy, and clash of civilisation, these has beyo
nd any doubt t hat the influencing on the methods, techniques or approach at whi
ch each countri es had been adopting in combating the act of terrorism, either c
ollectively as a group within a geographical zones, or as an individual countrie
s. Hence, in ord er to streamline our concern within the scope of this dissertat
ion, we need to l ook at the record of the terrorist attacks, issues and the app
roaches which Unit ed Kingdom as been using in combat the issues of terrorism wi
thin the Muslim sym bolic metropolis. 4.1. 7/7: The Britain Terrorist Attacks Ov
erview
In the late 1990s, established terrorism legislation was reviewed by the British
government as it considered the new requirements of international terrorism. Co
ming as the review did end, another watershed in 2005 of the worst Qaida terror
i st violence attack against London, UK on 7 July, a fatal experience. Bombings
oc curred on the underground in Algate, Edgware Road and Russell Square, and on
a b us in Tavistock Road. In December, a jury at Woolwich Crown Court in South L
ondo n convicted Bilal Abdullah, a doctor who had been practicing medicine in Sc
otlan

d, of conspiracy to murder and conspiring to cause explosions in the June 30, 20

07 car bomb attack at Glasgow International Airport and in failed car bomb atta
c ks in London. He was sentenced to life in prison and is expected to serve at l
ea st 32 years before being eligible for release. Abdullah was accused of planni
ng two attacks in London and Glasgow just days after Prime Minister Gordon Brown
to ok office. A paramedic became suspicious of the contents of one of the vehic
les, (the other had already been towed away for parking illegally), which led to
the discovery of the plot. Neither vehicle detonated as police managed to defus
e th em. The following day, two terrorist suspects, Abdullah and Kafeel Ahmed, b
eliev ed to have fled from London, attempted to drive a vehicle filled with gas
cylind ers into an entrance of Glasgow airport. The vehicle caught fire and did
limited damage to the building. The driver, Ahmed, died later as a result of inj
uries s ustained at the scene, while an airport employee apprehended Abdulla as
he exite d the vehicle. Abdulla, who is of Iraqi origin, had associated with a S
unni terr orist cell in Baghdad before returning to Britain to plan the 2007 att
acks. Similarly, In December, Manchester Crown Court convicted Rangzieb Ahmed of
being a member of al-Qaida (AQ) and directing a terrorist organization in Brita
in. He was sentenced to life in prison and is expected to serve a minimum of ten
years . A co-defendant, Habib Ahmed, was also found guilty of belonging to AQ.
Rangzie b was accused of leading a three-man terrorist cell that was planning a
terroris t attack overseas, and his conviction marked the first of its kind in t
he United Kingdom since directing terrorism became an offense under the Terroris
m Act of 2000. The prosecution presented evidence that Rangzieb was in contact w
ith senio r AQ members. Both men s arrest and the disruption of their cell was t
he result of a three-year international investigation by police. More so, on Nov
ember 8, police re-arrested radical cleric and terrorist suspect Abu Qattara at
his home in west London after a Special Immigration Appeals Commi ssion revoked
his bail over concerns that he was a flight risk and was in danger of breaching
his bail conditions. This was suspected of being Osama bin Ladin s "right-hand m
an in the UK" and an AQ recruiter in Europe, Qattara had been rele ased from pri
son to house arrest in June after successfully contesting UK plans to deport him
to Jordan where he was convicted in absentia of planning terrorist attacks. Bet
ween his release in June and his re-arrest in November, Qatada had been living u
nder strict bail conditions, including a 22-hour per day curfew and a ban from u
sing mobile telephone and the Internet. The Home Office continued a ttempts to s
ecure his deportation to Jordan. The government was forced to throw out one prov
ision of the Act which would have extended the detention period for terrorist su
spects before being charged to 42 days. A heavy defeat in the House of Lords vot
ed down the controversial measure 309 to 118 in October. In the wake of defeat i
n the House of Lords, Home Secret ary Jacqui Smith indicated that new legislatio
n would be brought forward to allo w the director of public prosecutions to appl
y to the courts for the right to qu estion terrorist suspects for up to 42 days
if necessary. All this was led to " CONTEST" Counterterrorism Strategy, and Isla
m-phobic provocation. This will be d iscoursed detail in the net chapter. 4.2. 7
/7: Britain Reaction and Counterterrorism Strategy
The moral panic that consumes the US as constant reflected ally with UK, which b
oth took a serious potential target on policies and actions. They continued to
h one its response to terrorism under its CONTEST and Counterterrorism Strategy.
D avid Blunkett, Home Secretary, introduced the governments Anti-terrorism, Crim
e a nd Security Bill into the Commons on November 12. It was a big Bill, contain
ing 118 pages, 126 clauses and 8 Schedules. After a protracted House of Lords sa
vagi ng, it became law on December 15. The CONTEST strategy divides government r
esou rces under four thematic response areas: Prevent Pursue, Protect, and Prepa
re. I n December the government hosted its second annual "Prevent" conference, d
rawing together over 700 participants from national and local government, commun
ity an d civil society organizations, law enforcement agencies, and social servi
ce prov iders to review progress in the government s counter-radicalization effo
rts at t

he local level. The conference was an opportunity for stakeholders to take stock
of efforts to d evelop and implement local government-funded programs aimed at
countering extrem ism in communities throughout the United Kingdom. Participants
shared informatio n on best practices and discussed programs as varied as cultu
ral and sports work shops, discussion forums, and joint police-social service pa
rtnerships focused o n identifying young people vulnerable to messages of extrem
ism. The Home Secreta ry opened the conference by calling on participants to con
front radical ideology that contends that being British and being Muslim are inc
ompatible. Following the London bombings on 7 July 2005 with the aim of getting
to the trut h about what really happened on the day that 56 people were killed a
nd over 700 injured on London transport. Initial train operating company reports
on the day announced the devastation on the Underground was the result of a pow
er surge , and this continued to be reported until shortly after the explosion o
f a number 30 seater buses in Tavistock Square at 9.47am. After the bus incident
a very dif ferent version of events began to unfold, involving everything from
military gra de explosives with timers or remote detonators, placed on, or under
, train floor s, right through to highly-volatile, home-made explosives allegedl
y carried by f our young British men. From four years on, the events are sort of
endeavours to examine and debate about 7/7event is now hinges on whether or not
there should b e an independent public inquiry. Or, whether a Birmingham pub bo
mbings flimsy, s hoddily researched, factually incorrect, and anonymously penned
and published do cument that sketches should suffice as an explanation for how
56 lives were take n. Several notable precedents exist in which the State and po
lice colluded in at le ast one of the following despicable acts: the deliberate
manufacture of evidence to secure a conviction; the suppression of evidence that
would clear the accuse d; the extraction of false confessions through violence
and intimidation. Some o f those that have fallen victim to such underhand tacti
cs include the Birmingham 6 in the case of, the Guildford 4 with respect to the
Guildford pub bombings, t he Maguire 7, Danny McNamee and Judith Ward, among oth
ers, the latter of whom su ffered 18 years imprisonment for a conviction that th
e appeal court quashed, con cluding that the conviction had been "secured by amb
ush". Another act of terrori sm for which nobody has ever been charged, much les
s justly and honestly prosecu ted, is the Manchester Andale Centre bombing of 19
96, about which Greater Manche ster Police Deputy Chief Constable Dave Wharton m
ade the announcement, shortly b efore the tenth anniversary of the bombing, that
there was "no realistic possibi lity of a prosecution". History more than amply
demonstrates that there exist a concerning number of terrorist attacks in Brita
in from which much political and legislative capital has been made by the State
for which the actual perpetrators have never been arrested, charged, prosecuted
or brought to justice. In order to address these issues and to try and get to th
e truth about what happened on 7 July 2005, J7 have one simple demand, that the
government release the evidence which serve as conclusively proves or disproves,
beyond reasonable doubt. Despit e this, some argue that we know what happened o
n 7/7, and that a Public Inquiry is an unnecessary waste of money. Former Britis
h Prime Minister, Tony Blair, sha mefully dismissed the early calls for an inqui
ry as a "ludicrous diversion". Oth ers argue that we know exactly what happened
but that we still need a public inq uiry to discover why the attack wasn t preve
nted. So, whatever way the story pla ys out, the guilt of the accused is automat
ically and implicitly assumed, in a w ay quite contrary to a fundamental tenet o
f British law, the presumption of inno cence. The 7/7 inquiry being called for b
y everyone other than J7 is not an inquiry int o what actually happened, how it
happened and who made it happen, but instead a proposed inquiry into the possibl
e failings of government, police and intellige nce services that resulted in the
m being unable collectively to prevent what ha ppened. On the basis those charge
d with crimes are "innocent until proven guilty ", J7 are the only group that ha
s proposed the notion of a public inquiry into t he events of 7 July 2005 in whi
ch the guilt of the four accused is not implicitl y assumed, particularly not wi
thout any judicial or public scrutiny of all the e

vidence. Should the evidence corroborate the official story, and prove conclusiv
ely the case against the accused, then we would be perfectly happy to accept th
a t conclusion; if the official story is true, then there should be no problem w
it h making all the evidence available for public scrutiny. However, with specif
ic reference to instances of terrorism on mainland Britain, the British State s
rec ord of honestly and justly bringing the perpetrators of terrorist attacks to
jus tice is shockingly poor. . 4.3 7/7: THE EFFECT ON MUSLIMS IN BRITAIN The bo
mbings provoked a wave of Islamophobic attacks across the country, includi ng at
tacks on mosques, assaults on Muslims, anti-Muslim graffiti and, for exampl e, t
he murder of a Muslim man in Nottingham. Along the line, Muslim safety Forum [MS
F] a coalition of Muslim groups, issued a press release announced examples o f t
he backlash: Arson, Bomb hoaxes, Criminal Damages, Graffiti, Assault, Abuse, T hr
eats. After the 7/7 attacks, there was a large of increase in Faith Hate and R a
ce Hate crime. It was recalled nationally, that the figure for hate incidents d
irected at Muslims has passed 1,200 as a backlash continues. Similarly, In Octob
er, the Home Secretary announced new measures aimed at streng thening the govern
ment s power to exclude foreign extremists from entering Brita in. The so-called
"preachers of hate" rules are expected to extend to anyone sus pected of advoca
ting illegal activity to stir tensions in the UK. The new rules will give the Ho
me Office new powers to "name and shame" extremists blocked from entering Britai
n and to share their details with other countries. The rules, wh ich could apply
equally to radical clerics as well as animal-rights protesters a nd far-right g
roups, are expected to see an increase in the number of people ban ned from ente
ring Britain and will shift the burden of proof from the government to suspected
individuals, by demanding that they refute accusations made agains t them by pu
blicly denouncing or retracting their reported views. By year s end, it was not
clear whether the measures had been applied to anyone will be a fina l solution,
nor was it clears whether the measures would survive a court challen ge of huma
n right. In testimony to the House of Commons Defense Committee in October, gove
rnment Se curity Minister Lord West warned that Britain faced a 30-year struggle
to counte r radicalization among extremist elements of the country s young Musl
ims. West p raised the government s efforts to open dialogue with young British
Muslims, ins isting that engagement was beginning to pay dividends, but cautione
d that there was still a long way to go, and that it would take decades to win t
he battle of ideas against terrorism and extremism. Lord West s testimony before
the committ ee investigating Britain s preparedness to defend itself against te
rrorism drew strong reaction when West, a former Royal Navy admiral and First Se
a Lord, raise d concern over the UK s ability to monitor all the vessels enterin
g British wate rs and to patrol the 11,000 miles. In October, the Secretary of S
tate for Schools announced plans to issue guidance to UK primary and secondary s
chools requiring teachers and school administrator s to play a key role in getti
ng young people to reject extremism. The goal was t o empower young people to ex
pose and refute extremist ideology through classroom discussions, short courses,
and anti-hate seminars. The guidance would require teachers to report students
to the police if there is suspicion of them being dr awn to violent extremism. S
imilarly, in November, the Home Office requested in N ovember that universities
monitor the attendance and movements of international students in an attempt to
counter student visa scams. This gradually led direc tly to how, in the current
crisis, the Britain had constructed terrorism measure , both as a network and as
well as identity all in the name of security. The fo llowing topic we more deta
il. 4.3.1 CCTV Surveillance The general negative action of Britishs attitude towa
rd the Muslims in the UK, bo th the media and general public viewed British Musl
im as intolerant. Britain new arrangements, accompanied by increased surveillanc
e measures for the police and intelligence agencies, allow the state to monitor
and focus on Muslims and othe rs in UK. Since 7/7 events most Muslims in UK have
faced a series of socio- pol

itical marginalisation, condemnation and discrimination, assault, abuse and thre

at. The finger of suspicion has been pointed to Muslims as being responsible fo
r the atrocity, to the extent that the so call counterterrorism measures on Musli
m s has caused the denial or lock up people indefinitely, stop and search people
i ndiscriminately, make them go along with identity cards for one group in the
soc iety only, state has further institutionalised xeno-racism against Muslim .
In v iew and adapt one of our Prime ministers own comment, we need to be tough on
terr orism, and tough on the causes of terrorism. All these led to massive surv
eilla nce CCTV cameras program, conjuring up the bogeymen of terrorists, Muslims
envir ons, surveillance CCTV in mosques vicinity, tracking Muslim people online
paedop hiles and their cyber installation. In the UK a comprehensive surveillan
ce law allows "the interception of communica tions, carrying out of surveillance
, and the use of covert human intelligence so urces" to help prevent crime, and
to cause restriction for Muslim on their socio - political and religious lives.
To date, and despite the release of some CCTV footage purporting to be from the
day of 7 July 2005, not one piece of evidence has been released to the public th
at could be legitimately used to convict someone in a court of law for what hap
p ened, yet the government still has no plans to organise an Independent Public
In quiry. Four years on and the inquests into the 56 deaths that occurred have n
ot been held, and it is unclear whether full inquests will ever be held, giving
ris e to concerns that "families of July 7 bombing victims fear they may never l
earn the truth. Similarly, there was occasion of Police and media accused of dou
ble standards ov er anti-Muslim violence, in Journal Entry by Martin Sullivan on
June 21,2009 A S cottish man who describes himself as a "proud racist" has admi
tted threatening t o bomb Glasgow Central Mosque and engage in targeted killings
of Muslims. Neil M acgregor has been convicted of a breach of the peace but the
re has been surprise in some quarters that he was not charged with terrorist. Br
itain is more suspic ious of Muslims than Americans and other Europeans nation.
4.3.2 Stop and Search There are a series of cases of stop and search of Muslims
in UK, to mention a vi ew of it, in fact the use of counter-terrorism stop and s
earch powers has increa sed sevenfold since the July 7 attacks on Britain, with
Asian people bearing the brunt of the increase. People of Asian appearance were
five times more likely t o be stopped and searched than white people. Secondly,
Police use of anti-terror stop and search powers trebled, prompting fears that t
he policy is alienating L ondon s Muslim communities. Officers in England and Wa
les used Terrorism Act pow ers to search 124,687 people in 2007/8, up from 41,92
4 in 2006/7, figures. Third ly Hazel Blears, the minister responsible for counte
r-terrorism, that Muslims wi ll have to accept as a "reality" that they will be
stopped and searched by the p olice more often than the rest of the public. Last
ly, the head of Scotland Yard s anti-terrorist branch admitted that police use o
f controversial stop and searc h powers under the terror laws needs to be much m
ore tightly focused. Peter Clar ke told a London conference of security experts
there had been difficulties with the use of powers under counter terrorism. 4.3.3
Immigration Agency Several issues have been recalled for many Foreign Muslim sc
holars and missionar ies who face a lot of delay or even deported on their way c
oming to UK. There is critical scrutiny in Muslim documentation whenever they ap
ply for any necessary visas, through immigration rules in UK. Please let me reit
erate briefly a personal experience, on my first trip to Unite d Kingdom at Gatw
ick Airport, September 16th 2006 to Muslim College London. I wa s stopped and as
ked about my course of study, once they heard about intention to study Islamic S
tudies they flared-up immediately and asked series of embarrassi ng questions an
d tried to equate Islamic Studies with terrorism. Sadly to say, t hat I was deta
ined for three days for no just cause. I was released at the inte rvention of Pr
of. Noibi, OBE, and my mentor. Similarly, one Muslim from Libya m et me there up
on arrival, after his country have already paid his school fees he was detained,
fingerprinted and deported, after they claimed that he cannot spe

ak English. There also a case of Prof Zaki Badawi, who has travelled throughout
the World o ver 30years without trouble, a world recognised Islamic scholar on h
is trip to U S for international conference he was denied at boarder of entry an
d deported, a ll in the name of Islam. Islam is now regarded in the west as the
epidemic, a d angerous disease in the universe. Immigration after theyve achieve
what they tent to, then they are fun of apologizing for their profusely. Daniel
Webster, parli amentary officer of the Evangelical Alliance, said the new immigr
ation regulatio ns had been introduced last November to counter illegal immigrat
ion and the thre at of terrorism. The scholars and missionaries Alliance are wor
king on a full scale to help Musli ms have better understanding of the laws and
regulations, so that they can live comfortable in the society. This main concern
of misinterpretation and misapplic ation of immigration law has resulted in man
y Muslims being refused to come to t he UK in the future, because Muslims are no
w regarded as objects of ridicule and criticism. Consequently, immigration polic
ing became a major source of suspicio n and mistrust between the police and Musl
im minority communities. 4.4. 7/7: THE RESPONSE OF MUSLIMS IN BRITAIN
Islam has been made into an elephant into the universe. Some have grabbed its tr
unk, others its legs, tail or ears, and each thinks that they are in sole posse
s sion of Islam and have no idea of its totality. So with all the prayers being
of fered every day in the mosques in Britain and many other rituals of Islam bei
ng followed, we shall able to consolidate and triumph the so called Islam phobia
at titude of west towards us and as well evacuating the scorpion at within Isla
mic set-up in Britain, that is the extremism.[AL- Qaida]. Muslim need to stand a
s indefatigable Ummah (united Islamic communities) in Isla m in order to exposes
a sense of security and the real content of Islam to the g lobal. Any Muslim ca
n pray five times a day but if he or she does not have a str ong sense of belong
ing with the community then they lack an understanding of the spirit of faith. I
n fact the prophets understanding of community (Ummah) was suc h that he stated: M
uslims are like one body; if one part of the body hurts, the w hole become sick.
The message here is clear: that principle of unity is not onl y essential but c
rucial to the survival of the Muslim community in Britain. Therefore, there are
two components that very important in Islamic community: th e Leadership and fol
lowers. While leadership is the most important unity in the development of a com
munity, without leadership, a community is like a ship witho ut a rudder. While
the ship is like followers without it, the leadership cannot function. Meanwhile
both are twin brother of each other in state of progress and security. During t
he formidable event of 7/7, Islamic groups and Muslim organizations aros e and q
uickly build a basis of response among the masses. The response from Musl im org
anisations to the bombings was swift. The Muslims community in Britain [MC B] st
ated propagate and utter a total condemnation towards discriminate acts of terro
r in London. Both scholars and the Mosque leaders and their media teams aro und
the country started brainstorming ideas to counter a rise in Islamophobia, a nd
started condemning the attacks and calling for a rethink in the root cause of th
ese horrific incidents that affect our country. The UKs Muslim community, MAB [Mu
slim Association of Britain] and including MAN [Muslim Association of Nigeria n)
in Britain was uncompromising in its condemnation of the attacks, and was con c
erned to address the need for more emphasis to be placed on tackling the causes
of terrorism. They work collectively as British Muslims, with a great responsib
ility on them, by uniquely placed roles in the global fault line between Islam a
nd the west, to help bridge this gap. They acknowledged the fully understanding
of the psychology event and background both of this country and the Muslim worl
d . A MAB spokesman, Osama Saeed, rejected the idea that mosques and community o
rga nisations have tolerated extremism in their midst: the position of Muslim or
gani

sations and mosques has been consistent for years. Killing civilians is murder,
and a crime in Islam. Similarly, A former Chairman and the chief missioners of M
AN in person of Prof. Noibi Dawuud, and the present one known as professor Mosh
ood badurin, in series of Friday sermon, and as well as professor Ali Ahmid in s
eries of his academic lectures at Muslim college London consistently condemn th
e awful act of terrorism attacks in London. They all regards it mischievous beha
viour in the land and must dealt with in all way to stand as deterrent to other
in the world. Interestingly, the generation gap in British Muslim society react
ions of 7/7 was best expressed in the response of MPAC. MPAC enjoining all mosqu
es to educate t heir youth, and lay more emphasising the need to educate them ag
ainst undefined extremism; it demanded that mosques educate their youth in the B
ritish political process as a way of addressing issues of concern. Since 7/7 MPA
CUK has carried out a survey of over a hundred Mosques to check if Mosque leader
s had in fact ta ken any serious steps to stop this happening again by educating
the youth and ch annelling their anger into a mere constructive route. Working
in the anti-Islam ic context the Muslims to have to adopt various sophisticated
ways of social pro grammes, educational programmes: such as seminars, conference
and political part icipation. So that Muslims in Britain can be well active in
the following strate gies: 1. Active participation in local councils. 2. Active
participation in British political parties at local and national level s. 3. Act
ive work with political parties to learn mobilisation and participation ta ctics
. 4. Attempts to get Muslim candidates into various political positions. 4.5. CO
NCLUSION Undoubtedly, Muslims living in British, a secular society for that matt
er, are l iving in a more vulnerable position, because the whole of society is c
hallenging at every step. For that, Islamic education must open the door of know
ledge for both sexes. They must be able to learn any skill, vocation or professi
on in the secular context and not only be competent but also excel in them. So t
hat the na me and meaning of Islam as the religion of peace and the compendium o
f all knowl edge must be proclaimed and symbolised in Ummah united Muslim commun
ity in an equally manner with self-sufficient package of a civilisation within u
niverse wh ich that comprises much more than five pillars of Islam.
CHAPTER FIVE Summary and Conclusion
5. 0 5.1. Conclusion The religion of Islam: It defines itself in terms not of fr
eedom but of submissi on to God. Islam, salm, and salaam submission, peace, and safet
y- all derive from t verb salima, whose primary meaning is to be secure, unharmed or b
lameless, but which

as a derived from meaning to surrender. The Muslim is the one who has surrendered,
submitted, and so obtained security. All Muslim should aspire to please God by
performing good deeds, and as well to observe the fundamental principles of the
Five Pillars of Islamic faith:1) Shahadah: bearing witness that there is no deit
y but God and Muhammad is His messenger; 2) Salat: performing the prescribed fi
v e daily prayers; 3) Sawm: observing fast throughout the month of Ramadan;4) Za
ka t: contributing to regular charity to help the poor; 5) Hajj: going on pilgri
ma ge to Makah at least once in a lifetime. Similarly, Good Muslim were to obey
a number of additional mandates by abstainin g from alcoholic, maintaining sexua
l fidelity within the bounds of polygamy, yie lding all fealty to authority, and
observing certain dietary restrictions, but t he crux of Islamic piety was conc
entrated in these five signs of submission to A llah. Islam is the religion of p
eace, morality, humility and tolerance, more so. Islam is a huge array of comple
x and sometimes contradictory layers amidst a re ligion that permeates all areas
of life: political, social, education, economic and religious. Islam is a sociocultural and religio-economic political system. T oday it has approximately a qu
arter of the worlds population, already boasting ne arly 1.5 billion adherents wo
rld-wide, who represent perhaps as many races, nati onalities, and ethnic groups
as any world religion. Islamic civilisation involves a common religious belief,
based on a sacred text whose application of law may be distinguish within the s
chool of thought but nev er altered the goal and objective of Islamic teaching.
The contemporary situatio ns have made an ill reputation on the Islamic culture,
norm and civilisation. Th e people, who fully misunderstood the way of Islam, a
re trying to construct unim aginable and unacceptable stories about this religio
n, While Jihad is the emphas izing of human struggle for progress, to lead a goo
d life, to make society more moral and betterment, and to spread Islam through p
reaching, teaching, or armed struggle, that means to exert or to strive in the p
ath of God. It does not mean holy war . It should be emphasized that there is no
concept of holy war in I slam. Holy war was a term associated with the Christia
n Crusades which seeped into medieval European literature as it maligned and vil
ified Islam. It is true that from the early days of Islam, striving or strugglin
g against an aggressor o r oppressor on the battlefield was regarded as among ty
pes of jihad. But jihad a lso meant right at the outset striving to live accordi
ng to the will of God. Thu s, the struggle with the conscience over the right co
urse of action of a human b eing to lead an honest life would be a jihad just as
a government s endeavour to eradicate corruption in society can also regards as
jihad in Islam. But the tru th lies far beyond these speculations. The delicate
blur between Jihad and terror acts has been a phenomenon that has resulted from t
hose unqualified in the scien ce of arced law or Islamic law. Whoever seeking th
e real concept of Islam should try to approach an original Muslim or Islamic sch
olar who knows the laws of Isl am. Islam is the comprehensive way of human life.
Similarly, the lack of understanding of Islamic theology, Islamic fundamentalis
m and political Islam in the media, even the researchers, politicians, and acade
m ics frequently use the term deviating from its original meaning has contribute
d much toward creating a negative impression in the very psychology of the secul
ar world towards Islam today. Consequently most of the average people from Musli
m and Non-Muslim communities view fundamentalism in context of religion as a for
m of terrorism. Whereas, fundamentalism in Islam stresses the upholding of the f
un damental beliefs in the five cardinal tenets of Islam, in fact, cause no harm
to any non-Muslim community in the world. Further, these fundamental beliefs in
Is lamic theology have no links with terrorism. So there is nothing wrong if an
y gr oup from Islamic communities advocates for Islamic fundamentalism. Muslims
should strive to achieve greater success in this life and hereafter, thr ough th
e good deed in this life. But by deviating from real teaching of Islam ha s led
and even vested some quarters in Muslim societies in different countries t o ove
remphasise the political aspects of Islam rather than theology that led man y Mu
slim to radical Islamism or extremism. As a matter of fact, today extremism mani
fests in all fronts of life. In the rel igious front, also continue to divide fa
ith communities and set the stage for re

ligious wars. In any event, extremism is not based on Islam. This is because Isl
am is a very w ide culture and flexible enough to accommodate new ideas, new tho
ughts and new d evelopments. It is fundamentally wrong to equate Islam with extr
emism or radical fundamentalism in any circumstances. Therefore whosoever among
the Muslims who commit acts of violence and terror in the name of Islam will fin
d ample justific ation for their actions based on the teachings of Islam? Martyr
is the name given to those who, in fearless of their religion or in an ef fort
of establishing or propagation it, prefer to die rather than abandon it or its t
eachings or practices. In that complex etymological knot is tied a vision of soc
iety and its rewards fa r different from anything that has prevailed in modern E
urope, Middle East and A merica. For the general public in America, Britain and
Europe today, Islam is new s of a particularly unpleasant sort. The media, the gov
ernment, the geopolitical strategists, and although they are marginal to the cul
ture at large, the academi c experts on Islam are all in concert: Islam is a thr
eat to western civilisation . Now this is by no means the same as saying that on
ly derogatory or racists car icatures of Islam are to be found in the west, I me
an the negative images of Isl am are very much more prevalent than any others, a
nd that such images correspond not with what Islam is but to what prominent sector
s of a particular society take it to be: Islam and the west: a clash of civilisa
tion? Those sectors have the p ower and the will to propagate that particular im
age of Islam, and this image th erefore becomes more prevalent, more present, th
an all others. War does not mean terror. Islamic teachings, and more specificall
y Islamic law, regulate the cond uct of warfare, requiring respect for the laws
of war and humane treatment of wo men, children, and other non- combatants. They
do not countenance actions of the type now designated as terrorism. Islam doctr
ine and law forbids suicide, which is regarded as a major sin, earnin g eternal
damnation. The suicide, according to Islamic teaching, even if he has lived a li
fe of unremitting virtue, will forfeit paradise and will go to hell, w here his
punishment will consist of the eternal repetition of the act by which h e commit
ted suicide. Muslims, and also many of their non-muslin compatriots, did not see
it that way, but thought of toleration in somewhat different terms. When Muslim
immigrants c ame to live in Europe they had a certain expectation, a feeling th
at they were e ntitled to at least the degree of toleration which they had accor
ded to non-musl ins in the great Muslim empires of the past. Both their expectat
ions and their e xperience were very difficult. Coming to European countries, th
ey got both more and less than they expected. More in the sense that they got th
eory and often in practise equal civil rights, equal access to the professions,
welfare, freedom of expression, and other benefits. The Western diplomacy throug
h which they introduce democracy of their own belief to be the best form of gove
rnment made them to invade or intervene in the affai rs of other civilisations e
specially of an Islamic country to force it to adopt democratic reforms is democ
ratic imperialism. Is probably the single most danger ous source of instability
and potential global conflict in a multi-civilization world today? This is belie
ved to be mismanagement of concept of diplomacy which equally gradu ally contrib
uted to the wake of terrorism attacks of 7/7. In fact, this is another watershed
in 2005 of the worst Qaida terrorist violence attack against London, UK. Bombin
gs occurred on both the underground and over g round in Britain. The attention o
f many Londoners, both policy-maker and the ord inary citizens, even the foreign
ers has been captured by a vision of Islam that appears to be militant, reaction
ary, violence and terrorism. Without wasting tim e, the government continued to
hone its response to terrorism under its "CONTEST " Counterterrorism Strategy. T
he Home Secretary opened the conference by calling on participants to confront r
adical ideology that contends that being British a nd being Muslim are incompati
ble. With this specific reference to instances of t errorism on mainland Britain
, the British State s record of honestly and justly bringing the perpetrators of
terrorist attacks to justice is shockingly poor.

About their amply demonstration that there exist of a concerning number of terro
rist attacks in Britain from which much political and legislative capital has b
e en made by the State for which the actual perpetrators have never been arreste
d, charged, prosecuted or brought to justice. Both the police and intelligence s
ervices that resulted in them being unable collectively prevent what happened.
U pon all, the bombings provoked a wave of Islamophobic attacks across the count
ry , including attacks on mosques, assaults on Muslims, anti-Muslim graffiti and
, f or example, the murder of a Muslim man in Nottingham. Along the line, Muslim
saf ety Forum [MSF] a coalition of Muslim groups, issued a press release announ
ced e xamples of the backlash: Arson, Bomb Hoaxes, Criminal Damages, Graffiti, As
sault, Abuse and Threats. Similarly After the 7/7 attacks, there was a large of
increa se in Faith Hate and Race Hate crime. It was recalled nationally, that th
e figur e for hate incidents directed at Muslims has passed 1,200 as a backlash.
To date, and despite the release of some CCTV footage purporting to be from the
day of 7 July 2005, not one piece of evidence has been released to the public t
h at could be legitimately used to convict someone in a court of law for what ha
pp ened, yet the government still has no plans to organise an Independent Public
In quiry. The demand of the inquests into the 56 deaths that occurred have not
been held, and it is unclear whether full inquests will ever be held, giving ris
e to concerns that "families of July 7 bombing victims fear they may never learn
the truth. There are a series of cases of stop and search of Muslim in UK, and
seve ral issues have been recall for many Foreign Muslim scholars and missionari
es wh o face a lot of delay or even deported on their way coming to UK. to exten
t that the so call counterterrorism measures on Muslims has cause the denied or l
ock up people indefinitely, stop and search people indiscriminately, make them g
o alon g with ID cards. Even mere their name and dressing as symbolise the act o
f terro rising, suspicious and criticism. Anyway, the solid basis teaching of Is
lam is for eliminating all sorts of immor ality, indecency, ethnocentric behavio
urs, egoism, discrimination and racism in the global, and call for one ummah and
the nation, through shaping of a pluralis t, just, and inclusive society, all t
hese aforementioned should not only be in p ersonal convictions or morality, but
also the need to establish good atmosphere and an ethical public order consiste
nt with Islams role as a faith in public real m, so that Islam would not seen as
a religion of war or terrorism. Muslims states have not recently posed threat to
the west. If they seem to do so , it is only cause and engineer by some who for
m shield around some crazy tyrant , whose power reaches no further than his weap
ons. Islam came as a guiding light into a dark world, a world that needed a ligh
tning bolt to wake up from its dee p slumber. It came in an age of truth-defying
ignorance when the worship of one true God from China and Japan in the East to
Morocco, and Island in the West was replaced by worship of myriads of demigods,
and worship hallowing in the United Kingdom. Whatever the psychological, social
and political factors that trigger violence i n the fringe or mainstream of terr
orism, the religious mindset is itself an impo rtant factor that needs to be ack
nowledged and understood if durable solutions a re to be found for many current
conflicts. In this context, Islam is more than j ust a tool for protest or usefu
l marketing and political ploy, to mobilise recru it more worldly cause. In addi
tion Islam is not is a passive agent waiting to be ignited into a political by s
ome unscrupulous, political, tribal, and religious extremist chauvinists.
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