Jaeho Sheem

861098726
The Afghan War and Globalization of Jihad
Growing up in the Internet Era, the number one fear instilled in our generation was
Islamic terrorist. The first truly vivid memories of Millennials are of watching the September 11th
attacks on the news and being pulled early from class. No one truly explained the definition of
jihad and the people who were suddenly our biggest fear. The Muslim people, however, have
been fighting internally with their ideas on jihad for centuries. This essay mainly focuses on the
globalization of Jihad, its relationship with the Afghan War, and how it affects people (Muslim
people in particular) in the present day.
Jihads literal meaning is struggle or effort, but it stands for much more than that. The
word Jihad actually means three very different things. The first definition refers to the internal
struggle of Islam. The phrase internal Jihad or greater Jihad is the struggle for Muslims to live
the best life they can.1 The second definition of jihad centers on the community. Both peaceful
(Sudan) and violent (Daesh) Muslims put in considerable effort to instate an Islamic state in
order to reflect this aspect of jihad. The final definition of jihad is the most popular one, the holy
war. It is a Muslims duty to defend their religion and lifestyle and violence is not forbidden.
However, this does not mean Jihad is the forceful conversion of non-believers through
domination and invasion. The Holy war refers to self-defense, religious freedom, and protection
from unwanted rulers whether Muslim or Secular. 2
1 "Jihad." BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/beliefs/jihad_1.shtml.

2 "Jihad." BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/beliefs/jihad_1.shtml.

The Jihad movements exploded in the Muslim world in the 1970s. The religious nationalists who
ruled the Jihad scene wanted to illicit change in their homelands. They were sick of the proWestern Arab rulers and wanted to create and Islamic safe haven from the top down and no
bottom up. They planned to use the military as a boost to overthrow their secular rulers and
install an Islamic state. It is important to note that the religious nationalists were not displeased
with the states institutions but the states subservience to the West. By the end of the 1990s,
however, the jihadist movement transformed from local (overthrowing the secular leaders) to
global. The evolution of the movement itself happened because of three reasons: (1) the fall of
the Soviet Union Union; (2) the American Forces on Saudi land during the Gulf War in 1991 and
(3) the subsequent losses by the religious nationalist in the 90s. This movement from nationalism
to transnationalism carried implications for the Jihadists and the Muslim collective as a whole.
The transnationalist birthed new organizations, such as Al-Qaeda, and their ideologies veered
from traditional Muslim beliefs. They wanted to attack the main superpower, the US, in order to
alleviate the entirety of struggle against the Western rulers and their practices.3
The withdrawal of troops from the Afghan War was humiliating for Russia and an indicator of
the future changes to come. American troops had invaded Kuwait in the mid-1990s, and many
Saudis felt that they had overstayed their welcome once it (Kuwait) was liberated. Osama bin
Laden was convinced that the US had hegemonic designs for their people and country.4 Osama
bin Laden was already a prominent figure before the collapse of the Soviet Union. He had made
a name for himself during Afghan War supplying Muslim warriors with machinery and money.
3 Gerges, Fawaz A. The Far Enemy Why Jihad Went Global. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2009
4 Gerges, Fawaz A. The Far Enemy Why Jihad Went Global. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2009

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in the 90s, bin Laden had offered up his aid to the Saudi royal family.
He, however, was turned down as the royal government chose to trust the American government
and troops. This angered bin Laden to the point of labeling them infidels and traitors who would
use the aid of non-Muslims. The government took noticed of his radicalization and forced him to
flee his country. bin Laden founded the World Islamic Front which was the basis for Al-Qaeda.
They announced that their organization had three goals, the annihilation of Western troops on
Muslim lands, domination of regimes they saw corrupt, and the establishment of sharia law
wherever they went. They saw the presence of Americans on the birthplace of Islam as a
struggle for control. 5
Osama bin Ladens anger is not fully unjustified. The United States imposed sanctions on Iraqs
economy during the August of 1990. The sanctions were imposed to slow down the Iraqi
invasion of Kuwait but backlashed terribly when the innocent started to starve and die by the
thousands. It was estimated by UNICEF that 1.5 million Iraqi children died as a result of the
economic sanctions. Bin Laden brought this up to the American media but got responses that
showed no remorse in return. Madeleine Albright stated in an interview that the deaths and
suffering were, worth it. In addition, al-Qaeda was extremely bitter about the creation of
Israel. Israelis and Muslims have fought over the territory and claimed it as rightfully theirs since
the United States facilitated its creation. Not only do the Muslims consider the Palestinian land
theirs, the al-Aqsa Mosque, the place Prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven from and a

5 Adamson, John C. Global Jihad: AlQaeda and Its

Implications for the Global
System. June 2011. Accessed March 6, 2016. http://intldept.uoregon.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2012/12/INTL-UG-Thesis-Adamson.pdf.

prominent place of worship, is located in this region. With their holy places under threat, radical
Muslims did not believe they could do anything other than proclaim jihad.6
An important part of every revolution is the youth involved. Thousands of young Muslims left
their homes in order to support their fellow coreligionists. This was because of two main reasons.
The first was that the religious environment and atmosphere was ripe for change. The second
was the existence of rich, sheikhs and clerics who funded the youth movements and acted
somewhat as a parental figure towards them. The youth were overloaded with propaganda from
the radicals which took form during sermons and merchandise handed out to the youth. It is
important to note that many of the young Muslims who left home were not originally radical and
cannot be classified as transnationalist.7 However, going through indoctrination as well as seeing
bloodshed gave these youth a new transnationalist mindset. Various governments turned a blind
eye to the recruitment efforts of transnationalist. They were interested in getting bloodshed out of
their own countries and did not want to use any effort in creating more. This birthed a new
generation of Muslim fighters. This new generation was spectacularly unique in that it was the
first globalized generation of radical Muslims. Different Muslim youths and men met and fought
together in the name of an invisible community. They were the vanguard of the ummah, not
strangers from different parts of the world. 8

6 Adamson, John C. Global Jihad: AlQaeda and Its

Implications for the Global
System. June 2011. Accessed March 6, 2016. http://intldept.uoregon.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2012/12/INTL-UG-Thesis-Adamson.pdf.
7 Gerges, Fawaz A. The Far Enemy Why Jihad Went Global. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2009
8 Gerges, Fawaz A. The Far Enemy Why Jihad Went Global. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2009

The Afghan War was valuable to the radicals, and the youth in particular, because of what it left
them with. Young soldiers, radicalized through war, came out as seasoned veterans that were
highly mobile. The soldiers, who now have young muhadjeen who look up to him, believed that
they were strong enough to defeat super powers. They had just beat the gigantic Russia who
outnumbered their troops many times over. This led to Muslim people from different locations to
grow fiercely loyal to one another. During this time, Salafism became integrated with jihad to
form the popular version of global jihad we see today. Salafism, at its core, is the belief that the
teachings of the Quran should be understood in the context of early Islam. The rules and
regulations are strict and everything is taken quite literally. People who practice Salafism believe
that the Muslim religion has been corrupted overtime through the introduction of secularism and
expansion of scientific knowledge. This marriage between puritan Salafism and the Muslim
Brotherhood set the stages for global jihad. The Afghan jihad began as a small scale, defensive
war against the Russians, but merged with Salafism, and created a state that was made up of
those who fought in the war.9
The September 11th attacks were the accumulation of the frustration and anger felt by the radical
Muslims. The aftereffects and attitude of the largest superpower, however, affected not only
radicals, but moderate, peaceful Muslims. This is in addition to economic losses and change in
the American psyche. When stock markets opened up after the 9/11 attacks, the Dow Jones
dropped 14.3 percent. The US stock market lost 1.2 trillion dollars in value that closing week. In
addition, the mistrust of public transport, fear of going to work, and trauma from the attacks cost
various industry millions of dollars. Airline companies had to fire thousands of employees as
9 Adamson, John C. Global Jihad: AlQaeda and Its
Implications for the Global
System. June 2011. Accessed March 6, 2016. http://intldept.uoregon.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2012/12/INTL-UG-Thesis-Adamson.pdf.

people were not willing to get on planes. Immediately the effects of the attacks resonated across
the world. Former President George W. Bush announced the War on Terror by the end of 2001.
10

Pakistan immediately allied itself with the United States fearing danger. This split the Muslim

world into two. One side was supporting the US troops and the defeat of radical Islam. On the
other hand, Osama bin Laden (in addition to Bush) claimed that Muslims either supported the
defeat of American tyranny or were traitors. Al-Qaeda saw this as direct attacks on Muslims
because they did no view themselves as terrorists. The US has bombed many different countries
where they believe Muslim radicals live. This has resulted in a ton of collateral damage and
innocent lives lost. 11The new generation who grew up listening to radical teachings and
witnessing bombings are now soldiers and fighters. In the Western world intolerance of Muslim
and people who look Muslim became so rampant that the word Islamophobia came into
existence. This is partly due to mainstream media and their portrayal of Muslims. After the
attacks, spikes in coverage of radical Muslim groups skyrocketed. Violent and aggressive
language is used when describing the actions of Muslim communities. In addition, several words
from the Arabic language have been misrepresented (such as jihad). This type of racism is new
in that attacks on the Muslim religion have been much more physical and open in the past.
However, this does not mean the goals of these social implications are not the same. This new
approach is more systematic but still mains to discriminate against Muslims. New policies such
as random checks and job discrimination are making it hard for Muslim refugees or
immigrants to find jobs.

10 Gerges, Fawaz A. The Far Enemy Why Jihad Went Global. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2009
11 Gerges, Fawaz A. The Far Enemy Why Jihad Went Global. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2009

In different parts of Europe, where high concentrations of the Muslim population reside, is
portrayed in a different way. While the US also portrays them in a negative light, the plight of the
Muslims has been driven down to second class citizenship. Muslims are portrayed as a
monolithic group that is intolerant of change. They are shown to be misogynistic, and a threat to
diversity.12 These views in addition to hate crimes, which rose from 300 to about 1500 in the
United States, have not been deemed as harmful. In fact, many citizens often see this behavior as
status quo and often encourage such behaviors, such as voting patterns that are detrimental to the
Muslims community. Examples of police brutality against the Muslim people have been found in
Germany, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom.13 Muslims in Europe are also
incarcerated at a higher rate than non-Muslims. France has seen mass arrests and deportation of
thousands of illegal immigrants, specifically from Northern Africa based on Muslim extremist
fears. Towns, such as one in Czechoslovakia and America, have denied the permit to build
religious buildings, such as mosques and Muslim schools.
Muslim women are fighting a fight all on their own. Traditional dress, such as the hijab, are
misrepresented as symbols for oppression while they (the Muslim women) claim is a righteous
symbol for modesty. Women who wear hijabs are not only the target for ridicule and violent
action, but are also barred from jobs or educational opportunities. In Western airports, hijab
wearing women are usually the one to be randomly selected and barred from boarding public
transport.14
12 "Persecution of Muslims in Europe." Persecution of Muslims in Europe. Accessed
March 07, 2016. http://mwlusa.org/topics/rights/religious_persecution_europe.html.
13 "Persecution of Muslims in Europe." Persecution of Muslims in Europe. Accessed
March 07, 2016. http://mwlusa.org/topics/rights/religious_persecution_europe.html.
14 "Persecution of Muslims in Europe." Persecution of Muslims in Europe. Accessed
March 07, 2016. http://mwlusa.org/topics/rights/religious_persecution_europe.html.

The plight of the Muslim community is still felt today. The birth of the Daesh, and its young
soldiers have shown us the continuous cycle that feeds violence into violent communities. This
process will only lead to more racism and extremist actions that resonate across both Muslim and
non-Muslim communities. From the Afghan War to the subsequent consequences that followed,
the reasons global jihad occurred are foreboding messages from the past to dictate our actions for
the future.

Works Cited
Global Jihad: Al-Qaeda and Its Implications for the Global System (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
"Madeleine Albright - 60 Minutes." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.
Gerges, Fawaz A. The Far Enemy Why Jihad Went Global. Cambridge: Cambridge UP,
2009. Print.
"Jihad." BBC. N.p., n.d. Web.
Randy T. Odle, Lt Col, Usaf. UN SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ: THEIR EFFECTS AND
THEIR FUTURE (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
Abstract. After 9/11: British South Asian Muslims, Islamophobia, Multiculturalism,
and the State (n.d.): n. pag. Web.