Source/Credit: The Muslim Sunrise - Pakistan's Black Friday May 28, 2010 ps. 21-22By Mubasher Ahmad, M.A., LL.B.
Followers of all religious traditions have occasionally diverted their zeal into terrorizing those who did not accept their creeds, or did not obey the rules and regulations drawn by their priests and religious authorities. Christianity, the religion of love, has its hands full in committing acts of terror, and victimizing those who did not accepted Jesus as their redeemer and savior. In 415 AD, the renowned female philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria was shredded into bits by an excited Christian mob using sharp pieces of glass. The mob was led by their minister named Peter. In 1099, the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem and murdered 60, 000 Jews and Muslims – men, women and children. An eye-witness, the Archbishop of Tyre, wrote:
“It was impossible to look upon the vast numbers of the slain without horror; everywhere lay fragments of human bodies, and the very ground was covered with blood of the slain…It was not alone the spectacle of headless bodies and mutilated limbs strewn in all directions that roused the horror of all who looked upon them. Still more dreadful was it to gaze upon the victors themselves, dripping with blood from head to foot, an ominous sight which brought terror to all who met them. It is reported that within the [Solomon’s] Temple enclosure alone about ten thousand infidels perished.”
The Roman Catholics, through medieval Inquisitions, terrorized the ‘heretics’ by burning them alive at the stake. Confiscation of property, and punishment by torture were permitted as methods of dealing with the un-recanted heretics by Pope Innocent IV. Harsher than medieval Inquisition was the notorious Inquisition established by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain in 1478 to find out who were the hypocrites among the baptized Jews and Muslims, suspected of secret adherence to Judaism and Islam, and give them a choice between facing death penalty, or leaving the country.
The Medieval inquisitors allowed a grace time of one month to the heretics to recant their religious perversions prior to putting them to trails, and burning them at the stake. But amazingly in the modern time some Islamic scholars have a similar or even worse attitude to use terror towards those who might have left Islam as their religion. Most famous among such Ulama of Islam is Abu al-A’la Mawdudi. According to him when the Islamic revolution takes place in a country, the Muslim population of the land should given a notice so that, “the people who have renounced the faith or have practically discarded it should leave the collective system by formally announcing their non-Muslim status within one year of the date of notice. Afterwards, whoever steps outside the sphere of Islam should be killed.” (Husain & Hahn, 1994).
Another group involved in brutal acts of violence is that of the Catholics of Ireland. The Irish Republican Army (IRA), a paramilitary branch of the political movement Sinn Fein, remained responsible for 18 years (from 1969 till 1997) in the fight for independence of Northern Ireland, and it committed many activities of a terrorist nature against the Protestants. The IRA was involved in bombings, assassinations and kidnappings. Its objective was to create a united Republic of Ireland. It did not hesitate to commit acts of extortion, smuggling, and robberies. Before the cease-fire in 1997, the IRA was engaged in many bombing campaigns, destroying many targets in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Their targets included senior British Government officials, civilians, police, and British military. Fought on Christian sectarian lines between Catholics and Protestants, the war of independence of Northern Ireland is in fact a political struggle.
Political Terror
In France, where the word “terrorism” was coined in 1795 during the French revolution, the government systematically killed thousands to institute terror in the hearts of the people. The Revolutionary government started a Reign of Terror, and more than 40,000 died during the revolution, out of which 17,000 were executed with trial, and 12,000 without trial. Thousands died miserably in jails. The Russian dictator, Joseph Stalin terrorized his opponents, and according to Robert Conquest’s estimation, 3,500,000 died in the 1930-1936 collectivization. In addition, the number of state-sponsored executions in 1936 to 1938 was one million, and that from 1936 to 1950 was twelve times more. And who can deny the terror employed by Adolph Hitler and his Nazi party by executing six million Jews? “The Final Solution” engaged varied terrorizing tactics in extermination camps, the most notorious being the use of gas chambers. Besides, many horrifying methods were utilized by the Nazis to persecute, torture, and kill Jews in concentration and labor camps. The Holocaust was a systematic political act of vicious terror for mass killing. However, another act of terror was the use of Atomic bombs by the United States of America. Many Americans would justify the horrific killing of more than 140,000 Japanese from burns and radiation caused by atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 in 1945. Estimated 60,000 more died due to cancer and other related diseases in next five years.
The justification to kill 200,000 humans by the use of Atomic bombs was based on the fact that in 1941 the Japanese navy had made an attack on the American naval base of Pearl Harbor, killing 2400 crewmen, destroying 188 aircrafts, and sinking and damaging total of eight of U.S. battleships. It was a surprise attack, maybe to terrorize the Americans, but with a clear military motive to disable the U.S. navy from effectively fighting in Southeast Asia where Japan had plans to waging war against the United States and Britain.
As it is well-known, individuals and organizations use a variety of methods to gain their terror inciting goals: Most commonly among them are the use of explosives devices, usually manufactured by a small group of terrorist functionaries. These home made bombs or explosive devices, when used in crowded areas, or occupied buildings, take many lives, causing countless injuries. Cars and trucks are used as carrying. On 20th September, 2008 a truck fully loaded with 1,300 lb of high grade explosives exploded in the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, near the Marriott hotel and completely destroyed the building, killing more than 60, and injuring hundreds. The whole world heard the message of the unknown terrorist that they would do anything to topple a government who is on the side of U.S.A. fighting a war on terrorism. Such an act also exposes the weakness of a government to protect its citizens or buildings, or maintaining law and order in the country.
Some times the terrorists aim to get released some of their workers who might be imprisoned by a government. In such a case, kidnapping and hostage taking is utilized, trying to have some bargaining strength.This is expressed either by kidnapping an important person, or seizing a building full of innocent persons, including children and women. This tactic brings in the media immediately, and the sensational news reaches a broader audience. At other times, some prominent figure is assassinated, or innocent people are killed randomly.
The killing of almost one hundred Ahmadi Muslims in Lahore, Pakistan, on May 28, 2010, is one of the most horrendous forms of terrorism as it combines both the religious and political motivations. It is a result of Pakistani government’s legal persecution of Ahmadi Muslims for last four decades based on religious difference from other Muslims.
Several times terrorist groups have taken over passenger aircrafts, and directed them to places away from their original destination. Usually the passengers are from different nationalities, and this gets immediate attention of International news-media. It is also anticipated that the terrorist can inflict great harm by use of government services, such as distributing deadly drugs through mail, or poisoning of water supply. Computer networks have become in integral part of individuals, organizations and governmental agencies, therefore a new breed of terrorist communication is growing in the form of Cyber terrorism. It also provides opportunities to engage in disruption or devastation of many networks. However, the greatest fear of all is the possible use of a nuclear device. No nation on earth would allow that to happen, but it is dreaded as one future possibility.
The Medieval inquisitors allowed a grace time of one month to the heretics to recant their religious perversions prior to putting them to trails, and burning them at the stake. But amazingly in the modern time some Islamic scholars have a similar or even worse attitude to use terror towards those who might have left Islam as their religion. Most famous among such Ulama of Islam is Abu al-A’la Mawdudi. According to him when the Islamic revolution takes place in a country, the Muslim population of the land should given a notice so that, “the people who have renounced the faith or have practically discarded it should leave the collective system by formally announcing their non-Muslim status within one year of the date of notice. Afterwards, whoever steps outside the sphere of Islam should be killed.” (Husain & Hahn, 1994).
Another group involved in brutal acts of violence is that of the Catholics of Ireland. The Irish Republican Army (IRA), a paramilitary branch of the political movement Sinn Fein, remained responsible for 18 years (from 1969 till 1997) in the fight for independence of Northern Ireland, and it committed many activities of a terrorist nature against the Protestants. The IRA was involved in bombings, assassinations and kidnappings. Its objective was to create a united Republic of Ireland. It did not hesitate to commit acts of extortion, smuggling, and robberies. Before the cease-fire in 1997, the IRA was engaged in many bombing campaigns, destroying many targets in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Their targets included senior British Government officials, civilians, police, and British military. Fought on Christian sectarian lines between Catholics and Protestants, the war of independence of Northern Ireland is in fact a political struggle.
Political Terror
In France, where the word “terrorism” was coined in 1795 during the French revolution, the government systematically killed thousands to institute terror in the hearts of the people. The Revolutionary government started a Reign of Terror, and more than 40,000 died during the revolution, out of which 17,000 were executed with trial, and 12,000 without trial. Thousands died miserably in jails. The Russian dictator, Joseph Stalin terrorized his opponents, and according to Robert Conquest’s estimation, 3,500,000 died in the 1930-1936 collectivization. In addition, the number of state-sponsored executions in 1936 to 1938 was one million, and that from 1936 to 1950 was twelve times more. And who can deny the terror employed by Adolph Hitler and his Nazi party by executing six million Jews? “The Final Solution” engaged varied terrorizing tactics in extermination camps, the most notorious being the use of gas chambers. Besides, many horrifying methods were utilized by the Nazis to persecute, torture, and kill Jews in concentration and labor camps. The Holocaust was a systematic political act of vicious terror for mass killing. However, another act of terror was the use of Atomic bombs by the United States of America. Many Americans would justify the horrific killing of more than 140,000 Japanese from burns and radiation caused by atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 in 1945. Estimated 60,000 more died due to cancer and other related diseases in next five years.
The justification to kill 200,000 humans by the use of Atomic bombs was based on the fact that in 1941 the Japanese navy had made an attack on the American naval base of Pearl Harbor, killing 2400 crewmen, destroying 188 aircrafts, and sinking and damaging total of eight of U.S. battleships. It was a surprise attack, maybe to terrorize the Americans, but with a clear military motive to disable the U.S. navy from effectively fighting in Southeast Asia where Japan had plans to waging war against the United States and Britain.
As it is well-known, individuals and organizations use a variety of methods to gain their terror inciting goals: Most commonly among them are the use of explosives devices, usually manufactured by a small group of terrorist functionaries. These home made bombs or explosive devices, when used in crowded areas, or occupied buildings, take many lives, causing countless injuries. Cars and trucks are used as carrying. On 20th September, 2008 a truck fully loaded with 1,300 lb of high grade explosives exploded in the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, near the Marriott hotel and completely destroyed the building, killing more than 60, and injuring hundreds. The whole world heard the message of the unknown terrorist that they would do anything to topple a government who is on the side of U.S.A. fighting a war on terrorism. Such an act also exposes the weakness of a government to protect its citizens or buildings, or maintaining law and order in the country.
Some times the terrorists aim to get released some of their workers who might be imprisoned by a government. In such a case, kidnapping and hostage taking is utilized, trying to have some bargaining strength.This is expressed either by kidnapping an important person, or seizing a building full of innocent persons, including children and women. This tactic brings in the media immediately, and the sensational news reaches a broader audience. At other times, some prominent figure is assassinated, or innocent people are killed randomly.
The killing of almost one hundred Ahmadi Muslims in Lahore, Pakistan, on May 28, 2010, is one of the most horrendous forms of terrorism as it combines both the religious and political motivations. It is a result of Pakistani government’s legal persecution of Ahmadi Muslims for last four decades based on religious difference from other Muslims. Several times terrorist groups have taken over passenger aircrafts, and directed them to places away from their original destination. Usually the passengers are from different nationalities, and this gets immediate attention of International news-media. It is also anticipated that the terrorist can inflict great harm by use of government services, such as distributing deadly drugs through mail, or poisoning of water supply. Computer networks have become in integral part of individuals, organizations and governmental agencies, therefore a new breed of terrorist communication is growing in the form of Cyber terrorism. It also provides opportunities to engage in disruption or devastation of many networks. However, the greatest fear of all is the possible use of a nuclear device. No nation on earth would allow that to happen, but it is dreaded as one future possibility.
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