Islam and Violence in the Modern Era

252 Pages·2006·1.53 MB·English

by  Beverley Milton-Edwards

Islam and Violence in the Modern Era
Also by the same author
ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM SINCE 1945 (2005)
ISLAM AND POLITICS IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD (2004)
CONTEMPORARY POLITICS IN THE MIDDLE EAST (1999)
ISLAMIC POLITICS IN PALESTINE (1996)
Islam and Violence in
the Modern Era
Beverley Milton-Edwards
© Beverley Milton-Edwards 2006
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First published in 2006 by
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ISBN-13:978–1–4039–8618–4
ISBN-10:1–4039–8618–5
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Milton-Edwards,Beverley.
Islam and violence in the modern era / Beverley Milton-Edwards.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–4039–8618–5 (cloth)
1.Violence – Religious aspects – Islam.2.Political violence – Religious
aspects – Islam.3.Islamic fundamentalism.I.Title.
BP190.5.V56M55 2005
297.2(cid:2)7—dc22 2005051502
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd,Chippenham and Eastbourne
For my beloved sisters Lynne and Trudy
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Contents
Preface ix
Introduction 1
1 Religion and Violence: A History of Entanglement 19
Faith and politics: the public–private tension 23
Muslim culprits 25
The realm of violence and power 27
The state-builders 30
The Medinan state 33
Caliphal authority 36
The jihadist debate 40
Monopoly of force 42
Antecedents of Bin Laden? 45
A modern-day Mahdi? 48
2 The West’s Terror of Islam 51
Introduction 51
Clash of academy 53
Perpetual threat 54
The new fear factor 54
Explain the pain 57
Israel is the West? 59
Fear and loathing: insecurity on the margins 63
Legislating to protect against the threat 64
Too much too late 71
The enemy within? 75
New wave terrorism 79
Whither Muslims and the West in the West? 80
3 Islam and Violence 85
Introduction 85
The thread of human history 85
Template for debate 87
Violence within, enemy within 92
More than one dimension 96
Power and authority 97
Violence and struggle 101
Seedbed of discontent 103
State force or violence? 105
vii
viii Contents
An eye for an eye? 107
Private violence/public violence 111
Muslim states against women? 114
The first clash of civilisations 117
4 Sacred Violence 120
Introduction 120
Sacred sword 123
A multitude of martyrs 124
Sacrifice and suicide 130
The Girardian perspective 135
Martyrdom 136
The Palestinian suiciders 141
Women and conflict 149
The 9/11 Bombers 152
5 Holy Terror: Representations of Violence
in a Modern Age 157
Introduction 157
Perception is everything 158
Cradle of Holy Terror 161
Power matrix 164
Warriors of the Prophet 166
New dimensions of terrorism studies? 168
Who’s Islam, which Islam? 173
Terrorism and trials in Egypt 176
Identikit monsters 178
It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it… 183
Badshah Guffar Khan: a Muslim Gandhi or
Martin Luther King 187
Conclusion 191
Notes 197
Glossary 212
Bibliography 214
Index 221