Alms for Jihad

Alms for Jihad
Author: J. Millard Burr
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2006
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780521673952

There has been a dramatic proliferation of Islamic charities recently. While most are legitimate, considerable evidence reveals that others have more questionable intentions, and that funds have been diverted to support terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda. The authors examine the contention through a detailed investigation of the charities involved, their financial intermediaries, and the terrorist organizations themselves. What they discover is that money from these charities has funded conflicts across the world, from the early days in Afghanistan, to subsequent terrorist activities in Asia, Africa, Palestine and, most recently, Europe and the United States.

iMuslims

iMuslims
Author: Gary R. Bunt
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2009-04-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0807887714

Exploring the increasing impact of the Internet on Muslims around the world, this book sheds new light on the nature of contemporary Islamic discourse, identity, and community. The Internet has profoundly shaped how both Muslims and non-Muslims perceive Islam and how Islamic societies and networks are evolving and shifting in the twenty-first century, says Gary Bunt. While Islamic society has deep historical patterns of global exchange, the Internet has transformed how many Muslims practice the duties and rituals of Islam. A place of religious instruction may exist solely in the virtual world, for example, or a community may gather only online. Drawing on more than a decade of online research, Bunt shows how social-networking sites, blogs, and other "cyber-Islamic environments" have exposed Muslims to new influences outside the traditional spheres of Islamic knowledge and authority. Furthermore, the Internet has dramatically influenced forms of Islamic activism and radicalization, including jihad-oriented campaigns by networks such as al-Qaeda. By surveying the broad spectrum of approaches used to present dimensions of Islamic social, spiritual, and political life on the Internet, iMuslims encourages diverse understandings of online Islam and of Islam generally.

Funding Evil

Funding Evil
Author: Rachel Ehrenfeld
Publisher: Bonus Books, Inc.
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2005
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781566252317

A noted expert on terrorism uncovers the clandestine and sinister ways that Islamic terrorist groups finance their global network. Dr. Ehrenfeld's investigation also details how undected billions of dollars are spent to bring about chaos and destabilization.

Alms for Jihad

Alms for Jihad
Author: Millard Burr
Publisher:
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2006
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780511161834

Giving to charity is incumbent upon every Muslim. Muslims have always donated to charitable endowments set up for the purposes of promoting Islam through the construction of mosques, schools, and hospitals. In recent years, there has been a dramatic proliferation of Islamic charities. While most of these are legitimate, there is now considerable evidence to show that others have more questionable intentions, and that funds have been diverted to support terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaeda. The authors examine the contention through a detailed investigation of the charities involved, their financial intermediaries, and the terrorist organisations themselves. What they discover is that money from these charities has funded conflicts across the world, from the early days in Afghanistan, to subsequent terrorist activities in Asia, Africa, Palestine and, most recently, Europe and the United States. This ground-breaking book is the first to piece together the secret financial systems that support terror.

Expressing Islam

Expressing Islam
Author: Greg Fealy
Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2008
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9812308512

As the forces of globalisation and modernisation buffet Islam and other world religions, Indonesia's 200 million Muslims are expressing their faith in ever more complex ways. This book examines some of the ways in which Islam is expressed in contemporary Indonesian life and politics. Editors from Australian National University.

Salafi-jihadism

Salafi-jihadism
Author: Shiraz Maher
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2016
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0190651121

Concise introduction to salafi-jihadism from its origins in the Hindu Kush to insurgencies in the 1990s and beyond

The History of Terrorism

The History of Terrorism
Author: Gérard Chaliand
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 536
Release: 2016-08-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520966007

This authoritative work provides an essential perspective on terrorism by offering a rare opportunity for analysis and reflection at a time of ongoing violence, threats, and reprisals. Some of the best international specialists on the subject examine terrorism’s complex history from antiquity to the present day and find that terror, long the weapon of the weak against the strong, is a tactic as old as warfare itself. Beginning with the Zealots of the first century CE, contributors go on to discuss the Assassins of the Middle Ages, the 1789 Terror movement in Europe, Bolshevik terrorism during the Russian Revolution, Stalinism, “resistance” terrorism during World War II, and Latin American revolutionary movements of the late 1960s. Finally, they consider the emergence of modern transnational terrorism, focusing on the roots of Islamic terrorism, al Qaeda, and the contemporary suicide martyr. Along the way, they provide a groundbreaking analysis of how terrorism has been perceived throughout history. What becomes powerfully clear is that only through deeper understanding can we fully grasp the present dangers of a phenomenon whose repercussions are far from over. This updated edition includes a new chapter analyzing the rise of ISIS and key events such as the 2015 Paris attacks.

Hamas

Hamas
Author: Matthew Levitt
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2008-10-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300129017

How does a group that operates terror cells and espouses violence become a ruling political party? How is the world to understand and respond to Hamas, the militant Islamist organization that Palestinian voters brought to power in the stunning election of January 2006? This important book provides the most fully researched assessment of Hamas ever written. Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert with extensive field experience in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, draws aside the veil of legitimacy behind which Hamas hides. He presents concrete, detailed evidence from an extensive array of international intelligence materials, including recently declassified CIA, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security reports. Levitt demolishes the notion that Hamas’ military, political, and social wings are distinct from one another and catalogues the alarming extent to which the organization’s political and social welfare leaders support terror. He exposes Hamas as a unitary organization committed to a militant Islamist ideology, urges the international community to take heed, and offers well-considered ideas for countering the significant threat Hamas poses.

Demystifying Islam

Demystifying Islam
Author: Harris Zafar
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2023-06-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1442223286

“A welcome correction to the politically tortured conceptions of Islam so prevalent today . . . An important, original new examination of Islam.” —Kirkus Reviews Despite heightened interest in the study of the Muslim faith, for many people Islam remains shrouded in mystery and confusion. What really is Shariah law? How is a Muslim to understand Jihad? Does Islam oppose Western values such as free speech or freedom of religion? What place do women have according to Islam? Understanding that this confusion has as much to do with the behavior and words of Muslims as it does with allegations made by anti-Islam activists, Demystifying Islam offers refreshingly bold answers to provocative questions about Islam today. Author Harris Zafar—lecturer, writer, teacher and national spokesperson for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA—is forthright about issues where Muslims disagree, and he digs into history through vast research and scholarship to track the origins of differing beliefs. From the burqa to the role of Jesus in Islam, Demystifying Islam is an essential resource and concise guide to understanding the fastest growing religion in the world. “This book is less of a spiritual introduction than it is a cultural one, and an excellent starting point for people navigating interfaith relationships or working to improve understanding and representation in organizations and public discussion.” —Publishers Weekly “A significant contribution to the global conversation on peace, freedom, and justice in a world mystified and threatened by geopolitical and religious tensions.” —Paul Louis Metzger, author of Connecting Christ

Your Sons Are at Your Service

Your Sons Are at Your Service
Author: Aaron Y. Zelin
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2020-02-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0231550499

Tunisia became one of the largest sources of foreign fighters for the Islamic State—even though the country stands out as a democratic bright spot of the Arab uprisings and despite the fact that it had very little history of terrorist violence within its borders prior to 2011. In Your Sons Are at Your Service, Aaron Y. Zelin uncovers the longer history of Tunisian involvement in the jihadi movement and offers an in-depth examination of the reasons why so many Tunisians became drawn to jihadism following the 2011 revolution. Zelin highlights the longer-term causes that affected jihadi recruitment in Tunisia, including the prior history of Tunisians joining jihadi organizations and playing key roles in far-flung parts of the world over the past four decades. He contends that the jihadi group Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia was able to take advantage of the universal prisoner amnesty, increased openness, and the lack of governmental policy toward it after the revolution. In turn, this provided space for greater recruitment and subsequent mobilization to fight abroad once the Tunisian government cracked down on the group in 2013. Zelin marshals cutting-edge empirical findings, extensive primary source research, and on-the-ground fieldwork, including a variety of documents in Arabic going as far back as the 1980s and interviews with Ansar al-Sharia members and Tunisian fighters returning from Syria. The first book on the history of the Tunisian jihadi movement, Your Sons Are at Your Service is a meticulously researched account that challenges simplified views of jihadism’s appeal and success.