The History and Evolution of Martyrdom in the Service of Defensive Jihad: An Analysis of Suicide Bombers in Current Conflicts

• Autores: Farhana Ali, Jerrold Post
• Localización: Social research: An international quarterly of the social sciences, ISSN 0037-783X, Nº. 2, 2008 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Martyrdom, Self-Sacrifice, and Self-Denial), págs. 615-654
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Much has been written about the Iraq war, emphasizing not only the failure of US policies but also the internecine fighting among the varied groups, including Al Qaeda and Shia and Sunni militias, all of which have contributed to the carnage in a country with deep histori cal Islamic roots. Iraq’s important place in Islamic history as the birth place offitna (anarchy) has important implications and consequences to the conflict today. According to Islamic doctrine, the word “fitna” has been translated as chaos, “time oftemptation,” war, as well as anarchy. A scholar of religious history, Karen Armstrong, further notes that the concept of fitna is “symbolic”; thus, battles between Muslims today have compelled some Muslims to seek a return to early Islam during the time of Prophet Muhammad