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defense.) However, those who refuse to plead insanity some-

times seem to lack a plan to change society or achieve political

goals. Their terroristic actions seem random and pointless.

Could anyone reasonably expect to bring about political

change by charging into the street and shooting people at ran-

dom? There is no definitive answer to the question of whether

terrorists are, by the nature of their crimes, mentally disturbed,

or whether mentally disturbed individuals can also be classi-fied as terrorists.

Religious Terrorism

R eligion is one of the most powerful forces that can affect

human behavior. For centuries, religious beliefs have led to

countless murders. Whole societies have fought each other

because of different religious beliefs. People have been willing

to accept harsh treatment or even death rather than change

their beliefs.

The tactics of terrorism have been used in the name of

various religions, just as they have been used in the name of

politics or nationalism. Believers of many different faiths

have been killing innocent civilians for hundreds of years. The

names of some religious terrorists from history have entered

the English language as ordinary words.

In the period 66 to 73 C.E., Jewish nationalists who

wanted to found a country of their own fought the Roman

occupation of Palestine. These nationalists were called

"Zealots." Today, zealot means a fanatical (or intensely com-

mitted to a cause) believer. The word "assassin"" comes from

an Islamic group that fought the Christian Crusaders in Syria

and Persia between 1100 and 1270 C.E. (The Crusaders were

members of military forces from Western Europe who

184 1 Terrorism: Almanac

r

1 ig5

Words to Know

Allah: the Arabic name for God.

thrax: an infectious disease that canfatal unless a person gets treatmentsoon after he or she has been exposed.

sin, in its original meaning, a memberof an Islamic group that fought theChristian Crusaders In Syria and Persiab^etween 1 100 and 1 270 c.E.

Cell: a small group of people within a largerorganization; generally, members ofone cell do not know members anyother cells, so that If they are arrestedthey cannot reveal that information;tothe authorities.

fanatical: intensely committed to a cause.

lratwa: a legal opinion or decree handed

down by an Islamic religious leader.

Fundamentalist: a person who placesimportance on living by a strict set ofmoral principles.

invaded the Middle East to take back the city of Jerusalem

from the Muslims, or followers of the religion Islam.

Jerusalem was considered a holy city by Christians.) The

word assassin originally meant "hashish eater," because theassassins would take hashish (a drug made from hemp

plants, the same plants used to make marijuana) before going

out to murder the invaders. In India a group called "Thugs"

murdered travelers as offerings to Kali, the Hindu goddess of

destruction. (Hinduism is the chief religion of India.) The

word today is used to describe a killer or gangster.

186 Terrorism: AlmanacReligious Terrorism 187

Hashish: a drug made from hemp plants,the same plants used to make mari.Juana.

Jihad: holy war.

Mujlahideen: holy warriors.

Nationalism: the desire to found a newcountry.

Piety: devotion to religion.

Reincarnation, the belief in Buddhism andOther religions that a person's soul isbom again and again into many differ -ent lifetimes.

Satin. a poisonous gas that affects the ner-vous system of people who breathe it.

Secular. nonreligious.

Sharla: Islamic law.

Zealot: a believer who is intensely commitled to a cause.

Christianity and terrorismAt the end of the twentieth century, Islam was the reli-

gion most often associated with terrorism. In earlier centuries,

however, Christians used widespread terror against Jews and

Muslims. One period of terror was the Spanish Inquisition of

the fifteenth century. The Inquisition was an effort by the

Catholic Church in Spain to identify and punish people who

were considered enemies of Christianity-specifically Jews and

Muslims, but also Christians who had beliefs different from

those held by the Church. At least two thousand people were

burned at the stake during the Inquisition. Christians also used

terror against members of different Christian sects. The Refor-

mation was a period in the sixteenth century that saw a wide-

spread rejection of the Catholic Church, which many people

believed had become corrupted. The people who broke with

the Church were called Protestants (because they were

"protesting" against what the Church had become), and many

of them were tortured and killed for their beliefs.

A Franciscan friar holding a

crucifix in the face of an

Inca who is burning at the

stake during the period of

the Spanish Inquisition. The

Inquisition of the fifteenth

century was one of the most

notorious periods of

government-approved

terrorism against non-

Catholics. Courtesy of the

Library of Congress.

Countries with SignificantMuslim Population

Religious fervor is oftenassociated with terrorists.This map shows the manynations with Muslimpopulations, many of whichhave cells of al Qaedaterrorists within.

Many terrorists combine nationalism (the desire tofound a new country) and religion. The United States wasfounded on the principle that religion and politics should beseparate and that people should be free to choose their ownreligion. However, many countries think that all citizensshould have the same religious beliefs. In fact, the UnitedStates is unusual in not having an "official religion." Evenmany of the countries that accept a broad range of faiths, likeGreat Britain, have an official religion (in Britain, it is theAnglican Church). The extent to which unofficial religions areaccepted varies from country to country and from religion toreligion. Most European countries today accept many religiousbeliefs, but 350 years ago people were put to death in some ofthose countries for their religions.

Modern religious terrorismModern religious terrorism has generally been more

violent and deadlier than the political and nationalist terror-ism that came before it. Religious terrorists tend to have an

of people. For example, nationalist orpolitical terrorists usually want to setup a new form of government over apopulation. Their goal is not to kill asmany people as possible but simply touse enough violence to achieve theirgoal. But religious terrorists are actingin the name of God-or Allah, the Ara-bic name for God-and may believethat God wants them to kill "unbeliev-ers." Some religious terrorists, such asOsama bin Laden (c. 1957; the manblamed for planning the September 11,2001, attacks on the World Trade Cen-ter and the Pentagon), have called onMuslims to kill all Christians and Jews.Members of other religious groups,such as Aum Shinrikyo in Japan (seebelow), have believed that they werebringing about God's final judgment,in which everyone not belonging totheir religious group is meant to die.

Terrorists who believe they areacting on instructions from God oftenhave such confidence in the rightnessof their cause that they will have lesshesitation about killing large numbersof civilians.

The rise in religious terrorism isalso connected with the rapid spread ofWestern influence, especially in theMuslim world. Many Western ideas, those held by people indemocratic nations of the Americas and western Europe, arecontrary to Islamic beliefs and practices. Also, the wealth ofthe West, in contrast to the widespread poverty in Islamiccountries, has created a broad gap between Western andIslamic societies. While Western eyes may see some of the rulesof Sharia, or Islamic law, as inappropriate for the modernworld (for example, the treatment of women), in Muslim soci-eties these rules seem comfortably traditional and in line with

Women in the Muslim worlddo not have the freedom ofmovement given to Westernwomen. These women fromthe Middle East wear burkas,robes that cover their entirebodies, including theirfaces. Reproduced bypermission of the CorbisCorporation.

Terrorism: AlmanacReligious Terrorism 189

14711 Islam and Western Culture

basic religious teachings. Much education in the Islamic worldis provided by Muslim clerics, or religious leaders, who are lessconcerned with subjects like science and math than in drum-ming basic religious values into the minds of their young malestudents. Graduates of such religious schools may well be con-vinced that the way to heaven is through strict observance ofreligious rules and removing Western influences from theirsociety. Thus, violent terrorist acts are viewed as evidence ofreligious piety (devotion), and self-sacrifice (by carrying out asuicide bombing, for example) is praised as a way to get to par-adise.

Al QaedaOn September 11, 2001, two hijacked passenger planes

crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City andanother hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon near Wash-ington, D.C. (A fourth plane was hijacked the same day, but itcrashed in rural Pennsylvania killing all aboard. Passengers evi-dently had fought with the hijackers and forced the plane

190 Terrorism: Almanac Religious Terrorism 191

In the 1920s Islamic teachers inEgypt set up the Muslim Brotherhood tofight Western social influences. Theorganization used terrorist tactics to try todrive Western cultural influences out ofEgypt.

In 1979 the Islamic religious leaderAyatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (pronouncedkoh-MAY-nee; c. 1900-1989) founded anew government in Iran that was stronglyanti-Western. The American embassy wasattacked, and about seventy employees

were held hostage for 444 days, fromNovember 1979 to January 1981. Iran'saction was cheered by Muslims in manycountries, and it remained for two decadesa model for dealing with the West.

The Iranian revolution also wasthe start of another theme of Islamicterrorists: the overthrow of pro-Westernrulers, like !ran's Mohammad Reza ShahPahlavi (1919-1980), in favor ofgovernments that would follow Islamiclaw, called Sharia.

down, in order to avoid a fourth deadly crash in an urbanarea.) The twin towers of the Trade Center collapsed, and thePentagon was seriously damaged. About three thousand peo-ple died. It was the most lethal and shocking terrorist attack inAmerican history. U.S. officials soon blamed an Islamic orga-nization called Al Qaeda (pronounced al KAY-duh) for plan-ning and executing the attacks.

Al Qaeda (an Arabic word meaning "the base") wasfirst organized to fight the occupation of Afghanistan by theSoviet Union (now, Russia and its neighboring countries) inthe mid-1980s. Bin Laden, then a wealthy Saudi Arabian busi-nessman, helped recruit Muslims from other countries to driveout the Russian forces. Thousands of Arabs becamemujahideen (holy warriors) in Afghanistan. The United States,through the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), also sent fund-ing to these warriors, in addition to many American weapons.The Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in1989, but al Qaeda was not finished. Its founder left

Leaving motorcycles behind

because of rough terrain,

members of Islamic Afghan

resistance forces set out on

horseback on a raid against

Soviet-held positions in

Afghanistan. Reproduced by

permission of the Corbis

Corporation.

The Ofigins of Al Qaeda

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Afghanistan for his native Saudi Arabiabut kept the organization going to pro-vide support for veterans of the Afghanwar. Bin Laden had a vision of a largerMuslim community that would strictlyfollow the Koran (Islam's holy book,which lays out detailed rules for every-day life). He was especially offended bythe presence of American troops inSaudi Arabia. Bin Laden started a cam-paign to drive out American influencefrom the Middle East and set up a fun-damentalist Islamic government inSaudi Arabia. (A fundamentalist is aperson who places importance on liv-ing by a strict set of moral principles.)

Bin Laden makes alliancesBin Laden allied with other

Islamic groups, among them the EOsama bin Laden lived in

Saudi Arabia, fought in

Afghanistan and Somalia,

then returned to

Afghanistan.

ian Islamic Jihad and a Pakistani group,Harakat ul-Ansar, that was fighting toset up an Islamic government in theIndian state of Kashmir. Al Qaedabecame a kind of central coordinatorfor local groups that wanted to foundIslamic governments throughout theMuslim world. The term used todescribe such groups is "Islamist." Theyare Muslims who see Islam not just as a

religion but also as a political movement. Al Qaeda organized

itself into cells, small groups of people within a larger organi-

zation whose members generally do not know members of

other cells so that if they are arrested they cannot reveal infor-

mation about other cells to the authorities. The central group

provided funding and guidance, but local chapters-sometimes

made up of only a few people-operated mostly independently.

This made Al Qaeda particularly difficult to track down.

In the early 1990s Al Qaeda began to target UnitedStates interests. In 1992 bin Laden claimed responsibility forattacks on U.S. soldiers in Yemen, a country located south of

Saudi Arabia. The next year, he claimed responsibility for

attacks on American troops in Somalia, a country in eastern

Africa. The 1993 explosion of a truck bomb in the parking

garage of the World Trade Center in New York City was also

blamed on Al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda in AfghanistanIn 1996 Sudan drove out bin Laden under pressure

from the United States and Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden moved his

headquarters to Afghanistan, where the Islamic fundamental-

ist group called the Taliban was fighting regional warlords

(independent military commanders) for control of the coun-

try. Al Qaeda recruited Afghan veterans to fight alongside the

Taliban. Their goal was to establish a government based on a

strict, fundamentalist reading of the Koran. At the same time,

bin Laden continued to direct Al Qaeda's fight against Ameri-

can interests. In 1996 a bomb at a military complex in Saudi

Arabia killed nineteen U.S. soldiers. In 1998 terrorists bombed

the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing more than

two hundred people, most of them citizens of those two coun-

tries. In 2000 terrorists attacked the warship USS Cole while it

was docked in Yemen, killing seventeen sailors. American

192 Terrorism: Almanac Religious Terrorism 193

About three thousand peopledied in the attacks, which aroused a

national fury. The United States againdemanded that Afghanistan hand overbin Laden to stand trial for planning

the attacks. The Taliban government inAfghanistan refused.

714 The USS Cole

Seventeen U.S, sailors were Wiledand thirty-nine injured when the US S

Cole was bombed in Yemen on October

12, 2000. A small boat pulled upalongside the ship while it was refueling.The boat exploded, ripping a fl-by--foot hole in the side of the Cole, killing

sailors and threatening to sink the ship.Al Qaeda was blamed for the attack. U.S.

officials immediately saw similarities with

the twin U.S. embassy bombings inKenya and Tanzania two years earlier,

which also were blamed on Al Qaeda.

The warship USS Cole was

bombed while docked in

the port of Aden, Yemen, in

October 2000. Al Qaeda was

blamed for the attack.

Reproduced by permission of

AP/Wide World Photos.

efforts to fight back-such as firing missiles at Al Qaeda camps

in Afghanistan from bombers and aircraft carriers after the

attack on the Cole-did no good, and the Taliban government

refused to hand over bin Laden to the United States.

September 11, 2001Al Qaeda next organized the most deadly terrorist attack

ever made on the United States. On September 11, 2001, four

teams of hijackers took over planes flying from the East Coast to

California. The hijackers steered the planes into the twin towers

of the World Trade Center in New York City and into the Pen-

tagon near Washington, D.C., killing everyone aboard, includ-

ing the hijackers. Because the planes were fully loaded with fuel

for their long flights, they exploded like bombs when they hit

the buildings. A fourth hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania.

Apparently the passengers had realized the hijackers' plans and

tried to overpower them. In the struggle, the plane crashed

before it too could be used to destroy a target on the ground.

The United States responds tothe attacks

In response to the attacks Presi-dent George W. Bush (1946-) declared aworldwide "war on terrorism" andvowed to hunt down and destroy ter-rorist operations anywhere they couldbe found. He ordered the massivebombing of targets in Afghanistan,mainly aimed at knocking out Al Qaedaand the Taliban government that was

protecting it. Within a few weeks, theTaliban had collapsed, and the Al Qaeda leaders disappeared

from sight. Months after promising to capture bin Laden "dead

or alive," U.S. officials admitted they had no idea whether bin

Laden was still alive, and if so, where he was hiding.

Within six months of the September 11 attacks, the

United States also sent troops to Afghanistan; to the Philip-

pines, to help the government hunt down a small Islamic ter-

rorist band called Abu Sayyaf; and to the state of Georgia, for-

merly part of the Soviet Union, to help train local troops to

fight Islamic terrorists in nearby Chechnya.

Inside the United States officials began taking steps to

make sure that future hijackers would be kept off airplanes.

Others began looking through files of immigrants, searching

for people who may have helped the Al Qaeda hijackers. In an

act of terrorism apparently unrelated to Al Qaeda, letters con-

taining deadly anthrax spores were mailed to politicians and

the news media. (Anthrax is an infectious disease that can be

fatal unless a person gets treatment soon after he or she has

been exposed.) The letters resulted in the deaths of several

postal workers, as well as several civilians whose mail came

into contact with the anthrax letters.

194 Terrorism: AlmanacReligious Terrorism

The U.S. war on terrorismspread from the Philippinesin Asia to Chechnya nearthe southern border of the

Russian federation.President George W. Bushpromised to pursueterrorists wherever theymight hide.

Goals of Al QaedaThe goals of Al Qaeda are a mix of religion and politics.

One immediate goal is to drive out the United States, and Amer-ican influence, from the Islamic nations of the Middle East, par-ticularly Saudi Arabia. A second goal is the destruction of Israel,which was founded on Palestinian Arab land in 1948 as a home-land for Jews. A third goal is the creation of a single Islamicnation governed by Sharia. In 1998 bin Laden declared in a

religious leader) that it is the duty of every Muslim to fight theUnited States, Jews, and any Muslims who do not join his strug-gle. What he meant by "Muslim" is Muslim rulers, like those inSaudi Arabia, who have cooperated with the United States.

Al Qaeda also follows the teachings of a twentieth-cen-tury Egyptian cleric named Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966; see boxon pp. 198-99), who taught that Western civilization was basi-cally opposed to Islam and argued that a jihad was needed todefend Islam against Western influence.

Leaders of Al QaedaBin Laden is not the only leader of Al Qaeda. One of

bin Laden's top lieutenants is Ayman al-Zawahiri (1953-), anEgyptian doctor once jailed for conspiring to assassinateEgyptian President Anwar el-Sadat (1918-1981). Zawahiri wassuspected of organizing the murder of sixty-seven foreigntourists in 1997 as they visited ancient Egyptian sites nearLuxor, Egypt. He also signed a 1998 statement by Al Qaedacalling for attacks on American citizens everywhere.

INDIAN OC

fatwa (a legal opinion or decree handed down by an Islamic

8om Saudi Arabia in 1957, the sev-enteenth child (out of fifty) of a billion-

aire owner of a construction company.His mother Was from Syria, and Osamawas her only child.

Studi ed business and economics at

King Abdul A& 'University in SaudiArabia.

After the 1ttsiani Invasion of lap-:istan inr 1979 , t to Pakistan to helpfight jihad (holy war) against theinvaders. Used his fortune to establishIslamic schools in Pakistan for Afghanrefu Moved to Afghanistan in thevoid-198s to recruit Arab volunteerfighters against the Russians. Set up

laktabal-Khidimat (MAK) to recruitIslamic fighters. MAR had recruitingoffices In Detroit, Michigan, andBrooklyn, NewYork.

Iteturned to Saudi Arabia in 1989 after

the Rtans withdrew from Afghanistan.Founded another organization to help

veterans the war in Afghanistan and torecruit fighters for Islam c causes in

osama bin Laden. Reproduced by permission the

Corbis Corporation.

Bosnia, Chechnya, Somalia, and thePhilippines.

After allegedly organizing the Septem-ber 11, 2001, attacks on the World

Trade Center and the Pentagon,became America's most-wanted terror-ist. Disappeared during the Americanbombing campaign in Afghanistan.

0sarna bin Laden (c.1957-

Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966)

Although not widely known in the

disapproved of the "looseWest, Sayyid Qutb has been highlyinfluential in the Muslim world as asupporter of a "holy war" against Westerninfluences. His writings in favor of violentopposition to Muslim political leaders whodo not follow a fundamentalist version ofIslam have had an impact on terroristleader Osama bin Laden, among others.

Qutb was born in a small Egyptianvillage and became a school inspector forthe Egyptian government. He also wrote anovel and published literary criticismduring the 1930s and 1940s. A turningpoint in his life came in 1948, when theEgyptian Ministry of Education sent him tolive in the United States to studyeducation. Qutb encountered hatred ofArabs in the United States, and he

ways ofAmerican women (traditional Arabicwomen are covered from head to toe). Onhis return to Egypt in 1951, he joined theMuslim Brotherhood, a group that hadstarted as a religious social club in 1928and gradually turned into a politicalorganization that used violence to achieveits goals.

In 1954 Qutb was one of aboutfour thousand Muslim Brotherhoodmembers who was arrested after anassassination attempt on Egyptian PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970). Qutbremained in prison for ten years, wasreleased briefly in 1964, and then wasrearrested after the Muslim Brotherhoodmade yet another attempt to assassinateNasser. He was executed in 1966.

During his time in prison, Qutbwrote a work titled in the Shadow of the

Koran, consisting of thirty volumes ofcommentary on the Muslim holy book.Qutb wrote about the strict demands Islammakes on believers, and on the fate ofnon-Muslims, particularly Christians andJews, who will end up in hell. AlthoughQutb attacked non-Muslims, he was evenmore critical of Muslims who did notstrictly follow Sharia, or Islamic law. Therulers of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two ofthe largest Muslim states, failed to followSharia Instead, Qutb wrote, they wereinfluenced by the West. Qutb insisted thatsuch governments had to be resisted andovercome.

Qutb's writings were similar to theteachings of a much earlier Islamic scholar,

Ibn Taymiyah (1263-1328). Taymiyahopposed almost everything not mentionedspecifically in the Koran. Taymiyah wrotethat if an Islamic ruler did not follow all theteachings of Islam, he should be fought ina holy war. Qutb's vision for the future wasa sort of religious community of all peoplewho observe the teachings of the Koran.

The writings of Qutb andTaymiyah were cited by the terrorists whoassassinated Anwar el-Sadat in 1981 (afterthe Egyptian president signed a peacetreaty with the Jewish state of Israel) andhave been used to justify opposition to therulers of Saudi Arabia. Qutb's writings alsoinfluenced the Taliban, which founded astrict Islamic government in Afghanistan inthe 1980s, as well as bin Laden, founder ofthe Al Qaeda terrorist organization.

198

Another leading figure in Al Qaeda is Muhammad Atef,bin Laden's second in command. Atef is suspected of planningthe bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

Al Qaeda became the single most influential Islamistgroup throughout the Muslim world, creating alliances withsimilar groups as far away as the Philippines, Indonesia, andMalaysia.

Algerian Armed Islamic GroupIn 1992 an organization in Algeria called the Armed

Islamic Group (GIA, the initials of its name in French) began aseries of attacks on non-Algerians, government officials, jour-

Terrorism: Almanac

nalists, artists, and government buildings. The GIA wanted torid the country of all foreign influences and set up a funda-mentalist Islamic government. The GIA emerged after Algeria

held its first multiparty elections in 1991. An Islamic politicalparty, the Islamic Salvation Front, won the first round of elec-tions, after which Algeria's military government declared theresults void, banned the Islamic party, and arrested thousandsof its supporters.

The GIA's campaign against the secular (nonreligious)government of Algeria has been particularly violent. Estimatesof the number of people killed in ten years of conflict range upto one hundred thousand. Foreign tourists, workers, andCatholic priests have been murdered, seemingly at random. Inaddition, the organization has attacked entire villages in Alge-

Religious Terrorism 199