Islamic History and al Qaeda

QUESTION: Islamic History – What about al Qaeda?

ANSWER:

Of course, not all Muslims praised the vicious and diabolical tactics used by al Qaeda on September 11, 2001. However, for al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, September 11 provided an unmistakable example of the Islamic call for jihad—a call to Muslims to expend their efforts, their money, and even their lives in the cause of establishing global Islam in the name of Allah.

Islamic History – The Continuing Threat of al Qaeda
In the name of Allah, Islam is, according to Mark Steyn, “the fastest-growing religion in Europe and North America: in the United Kingdom, more Muslims than Christians attend religious services each week. Meanwhile, in areas of traditionally moderate Islam, from the Balkans to Indonesia, Muslims are becoming radicalized and fiercer in their faith.”¹ Of course, al Qaeda is only one of the “more radicalized” groups serving Islam today. Its English counterpart is an Islamic missionary society entitled Tablighi Jamaat that “has announced that it plans to build a mosque in the East End—right next door to the new Olympic stadium.” Christened the London Markaz it will be, according to Steyn, “the biggest house of worship in the United Kingdom: it will hold 70,000 people—only 10,000 fewer than the Olympic stadium, and 67,000 more than the largest Christian facility (Liverpool’s Anglican cathedral).”² Steyn also notes that “Tablighi Jamaat is an openly Islamist organization of global reach and, according to the FBI, an al Qaeda recruiting front for terrorists.”³

Notes:

Rendered with permission from the book,Understanding the Times: The Collision of Today’s Competing Worldviews(Rev. 2^nd ed), David Noebel, Summit Press, 2006. Compliments of John Stonestreet, David Noebel, and the Christian Worldview Ministry at Summit Ministries. All rights reserved in the original.

¹ Mark Steyn, America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, Inc. 2006), 15.
² Ibid., 95.
³ Ibid., 95. For a another great resource, see also, Stuart Robinson, Mosque and Miracles: Revealing Islam and God’s Grace (Upper Mt. Gravett Qld, Australia: City Harvest Publications, 2004).