The Islamic Case For Terror?

Much as I hate to have to dignify the arguments & rhetoric of terrorists with analysis or response I do think it's time we as Muslims tackle their logic & refute it from an Islamic viewpoint.

Their argument is basically that in order to call ourselves Muslims we have to support them. Is it true?They are called fundamentalists because in their opinion & the opinion of many of their detractors they are the ones with the grasp of the fundamentals of Islams. So do we accept that?That they are what our faith fundamentally is?Why or why not?

It is difficult to know exactly where to start looking in Islamic sources. What we are looking at here is something quite different from your classical religious war. The purpose of this war the terrorists have chosen to initiate against us & the world at large is not to convert its victims but to kill them. The perpetrators of these crimes measure the success of each of their operations by the number of innocent people they manage to kill - the more the better. They're also not picky about their victims - they don't care if you're Muslim or not. They don't care if you're a child, adult etc...You're just a number to them.

So the question we need to answer is not whether Islam calls for forceful conversion of non-Muslims. Not interested in getting into pointless arguments about whether or not Islam is tolerant of other beliefs because in my opinion that is beside the point here. These people bomb Muslims as much as - infact much more if we look at Algeria or Iraq- than they bomb anyone else. Furthermore they have no qualms about killing even their own devoted supporters who they use as mindless human bombs. And when they kill they don't stop their victims & ask them if they support Bin Laden or not before they kill them. Their sympathizers are just as likely to be on a bus or in a cafe as anyone else. So they don't just target those who have other beliefs or those who disagree with them. They target everyone. It's enough to be a human being to become a target. It doesn't matter what you think or believe or sympathize with.

The question appears to be: does Islam favor or require or accept the indiscriminate killing of large numbers of non-combatants of all faiths & backgrounds to achieve a political or religious objective?

Furthermore - the concept of war or military Jihad in Islam assumes the existence of some sort of political leadership of a particular Muslim community or the Umma at large. This political leadership should gain its legitimacy from the consensus of the community - otherwise known as the bay3a. Only this legitimate leadership is allowed to declare Jihad.So the next question becomes this modern phenomenon of vigilantes - individuals who proclaim themselves to be representatives of Muslims & give themselves the right to wage their warped concept of war on our behalf - does this have precedence or support in the Quran, the Sunna or in Islamic history?Have Muslims ever been faced with a similar phenomenon before?When?Where?How did it begin & how did it end?

To be contd.

P.S.The number of dead in Sharm ElSheikh has now risen to 83 & 200 wounded.

P.P.S.Will continue this posting later. In order to examine the Islamic case for Al Qaeda I have to visit pro-Al Qaeda sites & read their rhetoric. Simply don't have the stomach for that today. Still too angry about London & Sharm ElSheikh. Meanwhile if anyone has anything useful to contribute on the subject it will be greatly appreciated.