- published: 05 Oct 2012
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- author: IntelligenceSquared Debates
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- 1973 oil crisis
- 9 11 attacks
- Abbasid Caliphate
- Abbassi Madani
- Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
- Abid Ullah Jan
- Abu Bakr
- Abu Hamza al-Masri
- Abu Sayyaf
- Abul Ala Maududi
- Adab (behavior)
- Afghan Arabs
- Afghan Civil War
- Afghan refugees
- Afghanistan
- African
- Ahl al-Bayt
- Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a
- Ahmad Sirhindi
- Ahmad Yassin
- Ahmadiyya
- Al Asalah
- Al Azhar
- Al Wefaq
- Al-Afghani
- Al-Andalus
- Al-Faruqi
- Al-Fatah
- Al-Islah
- Al-Nour Party
- Al-Qaeda
- Al-Qaeda in Iraq
- Al-Qaida
- Al-raya
- Al-Shabaab (Somalia)
- Al-Shabab al-Muminin
- Alec Reynolds
- Algeria
- Algerian Civil War
- Ali
- Ali Bhutto
- Ali Shariati
- Amir al-Mu'minin
- Anarchism
- Ancar Dine
- Ankerl, Guy
- Antinationalism
- Anwar al-Awlaki
- Anwar Ibrahim
- Anwar Sadat
- Apostasy in Islam
- Aqidah
- Arab Nationalism
- Arab Socialism
- Arab Spring
- Arab world
- Arabic
- Arabic language
- Armed Islamic Group
- Asia
- Ayatollah
- Ba'athism
- Bahrain
- Baligh
- Bangladesh
- Behead
- Bernard Lewis
- Bid'ah
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- Buddhist
- Cairo
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- Capitalism
- Category Politics
- Catholicism
- Central Asia
- China
- Christian
- Christian democracy
- Client state
- Cold War
- Communism
- Communist
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- Criticism of Islam
- Crusades
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- Divorce (Islamic)
- East End of London
- Eastern Europe
- Economic stagnation
- Egypt
- Esposito
- Europe
- Fascism
- Fatah al-Islam
- Fatimid Caliphate
- Fatwa on Terrorism
- Felicity Party
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- Finland
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- Fiqh
- Foreign Affairs
- Fred Halliday
- Fundamentalism
- Gaafar al-Nimeiry
- Gama'at Islamiya
- Gamal Abdul Nasser
- Ghusl
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- God in Islam
- Gold standard
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- Grand Mosque Seizure
- Greater London
- Green Left Weekly
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- Hezbollah
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- Hindu
- Hindu nationalism
- Hizb ut-Tahrir
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- Hosni Mubarak
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- Identity politics
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- India
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- Inferiority complex
- Infitah
- Iran
- Iranian Revolution
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- Irreligion
- Islam
- Islam and animals
- Islam and children
- Islam and modernity
- Islam and science
- Islamabad
- Islamic architecture
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- Islamic banking
- Islamic calendar
- Islamic calligraphy
- Islamic Courts Union
- Islamic creationism
- Islamic culture
- Islamic dietary laws
- Islamic economics
- Islamic eschatology
- Islamic ethics
- Islamic extremism
- Islamic feminism
- Islamic Golden Age
- Islamic honorifics
- Islamic leadership
- Islamic literature
- Islamic music
- Islamic philosophy
- Islamic poetry
- Islamic pottery
- Islamic republic
- Islamic revival
- Islamic sports
- Islamic studies
- Islamic terrorism
- Islamic world
- Islamism
- Islamist
- Islamization
- Islamofascism
- Islamophobia
- Ismet Özel
- Israel
- Istanbul
- Jahiliyya
- Jakarta
- Jamaat-e-Islami
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- Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam
- Javed Ahmad Ghamidi
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- Jihad
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- Jihadism
- Jizya
- John Esposito
- Jordan
- Jundullah
- Kafir
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- Karachi
- Ketman
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- Khilafa
- Khilafah
- Khomeini
- Kuwait
- Lashkar-e-Taiba
- Latin America
- Lebanon
- Leftist
- Liberalism
- Liberation Theology
- Libertarianism
- Libya
- Londonistan (term)
- Ma malakat aymanukum
- Ma'alim fi al-Tariq
- Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq
- Madrasah
- Mahdi
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- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
- Mahr
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- Maisir
- Malaysia
- Mali
- Marxism
- Masjid al-Haram
- Maududi
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- Mecca
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- Militarism
- Millî Görüş
- Missionary
- Miswak
- Mohammad Ali Jinnah
- Mohammad VI
- Mohammed
- Mohammed Omar
- Morocco
- Mosque
- Muhammad
- Muhammad Abduh
- Muhammad al-Mahdi
- Muhammad Iqbal
- Muhammad Qutb
- Muhammadiyah
- Mujahedeen
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- Murabaha
- Murshid
- Muslim
- Muslim Brotherhood
- Muslim conquests
- Muslim history
- Muslim holidays
- Muslim world
- Nahdlatul Ulama
- Najis
- National Order Party
- Nationalism
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- NATO
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- Niger
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- Nikah
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- Nizam Ul-Islam
- Olivier Roy
- Omar Abdel-Rahman
- Osama bin Laden
- Ottoman Caliphate
- Ottoman Empire
- Pakistan
- Pan-Arabism
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- Pashtun people
- Paul Berman
- Paul L. Williams
- Peter Bergen
- Philip S. Khoury
- Philippines
- PLO
- Political quietism
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- Politics
- Portal Islam
- Portal Politics
- Postcolonialism
- Progressivism
- Prophets of Islam
- Public diplomacy
- Punjab region
- Qadi
- Qur'an
- Quran
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- Quranism
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- Radical Islam
- Rashid Al-Ghannouchi
- Rashid Rida
- Rashidun
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- Recep Tayyip Erdogan
- Religion
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- Riaz Hassan
- Riba
- Rifaat al-Mahgoub
- Risala
- Robert Dreyfuss
- Ruhollah Khomeini
- Russia
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- Sawm
- Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi
- Sayyid Qutb
- SCIRI
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- Shah Waliullah
- Shahada
- Sharia
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- Six Day War
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- Social democracy
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- Socialist
- Somalia
- Soviet Union
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- Sufism
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- Sunnah
- Sunni Islam
- Superiority complex
- Syria
- Takaful
- Takfir
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- Taliban
- Talibanization
- Talk Islamism
- Talk Salafism
- Taqiuddin al-Nabhani
- Taqiyya
- Taqlid
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- Tayammum
- Tehran
- Template Islamism
- Terrorism
- Terrorism in Egypt
- Thailand
- The New York Times
- Toryism
- Tower Hamlets
- Turkey
- Turkish Hezbollah
- Turkish model
- UAE
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- United Kingdom
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- Utilitarianism
- Uzbekistan
- Velayat-e-faqih
- Wahhabi
- Wahhabism
- Waltham Forest
- WebCite
- Welfare Party
- West
- Western world
- Westernization
- Whiggism
- Wikipedia Link rot
- Women in Islam
- World War I
- WP NPOVD
- WP SYN
- Wudu
- Yemen
- Yom Kippur War
- Yusuf al-Qaradawi
- Zakat
- Zia-ul-Haq
- Zina (Arabic)
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Afghanistan
Afghanistan
i/æfˈɡænɨstæn/ (Persian/Pashto: افغانستان, Afġānistān), officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming part of South Asia, Central Asia, and Greater Middle East, it is also considered to be part of a broader West Asia. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of 647,500 km2 (250,001 sq mi), making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and the east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.
Afghanistan has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and human migration. Archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation from as far back as 50,000 BC. Urban civilization may have begun in the area as early as 3,000 to 2,000 BC. Sitting at an important geostrategic location that connects the Middle East with Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the land has been home to various peoples through the ages and witnessed many military campaigns, notably by Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and in modern era Western forces. The land also served as a source from which the Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Timurids, Mughals and many others have risen to form major empires.
wn.com/Afghanistan -
Algeria
Coordinates: 28°N 2°E / 28°N 2°E / 28; 2
Algeriai/ælˈdʒɪəriə/ (Arabic: الجزائر, al-Jazā'ir; Berber: ⴷⵣⴰⵢⴻⵔ Dzayer), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (الجمهورية الجزائرية الديمقراطية الشعبية, al-Jumhūriyyah al-Jazāʾiriyyah ad-Dīmuqrāṭiyyah ash-Shaʿbiyyah), also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a large country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.
When referring to its land area, Algeria is the largest country in Africa, Maghreb and the Arab World. It is also the largest of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea; it is also the tenth-largest country in the world. The country is bordered in the northeast by Tunisia, in the east by Libya, in the west by Morocco, in the southwest by Western Sahara, Mauritania, and Mali, in the southeast by Niger, and in the north by the Mediterranean Sea. Its size is almost 2,400,000 square kilometres (926,645 sq mi) with an estimated population of 37.1 million as of 2012. Algeria is a member of the African Union, the Arab League, OPEC and the United Nations. The country is also a founding member of the Arab Maghreb Union.
wn.com/Algeria -
Ali Shariati
Coordinates: 33°26′42.13″N 36°20′28.98″E / 33.4450361°N 36.3413833°E / 33.4450361; 36.3413833
Ali Shariati (Persian: علی شريعتی) (November 23, 1933 in Kahak - 1977 in Southampton, England) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist, who focused on the sociology of religion. He is held as one of the most influential Iranian intellectuals of the 20th century and has been called the 'ideologue of the Iranian Revolution'.
Ali Shariati was born in 1933 in Kahak (a village in Mazinan), a suburb of Sabzevar, found in northeastern Iran. His father, Mohammad-Taqi, was a teacher and Islamic scholar, who opened in 1947 the 'Centre for the Propagation of Islamic Truths' in Mashhad, in the province of Khorasan, a social Islamic forum which became embroiled in the oil nationalisation movement of the 1950s.
In his years at the Teacher's Training College in Mashhad, Shariati came into contact with young people who were from the less privileged economic classes of the society, and for the first time saw the poverty and hardship that existed in Iran during that period. At the same time he was exposed to many aspects of Western philosophical and political thought. He attempted to explain and provide solutions for the problems faced by Muslim societies through traditional Islamic principles interwoven with and understood from the point of view of modern sociology and philosophy. His articles from this period for the Mashhad daily newspaper, Khorasan, display his developing eclecticism and acquaintance with the ideas of modern Islamic and secular thinkers such as Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad Iqbal, Sigmund Freud and Alexis Carrel.
wn.com/Ali_Shariati -
Bahrain
Bahrain (
pronunciation) (Arabic: البحرين, al-Baḥrayn) (Persian: بحرين, Baḥrain), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين, Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn), is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,234,571, including 666,172 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.
Bahrain is an archipelago of 33 islands, the largest being Bahrain Island, at 55 km (34 mi) long by 18 km (11 mi) wide. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway. The peninsula of Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. The planned Qatar Bahrain Causeway will link Bahrain and Qatar and become the world's longest marine causeway.
Known for its oil and pearls, Bahrain is also home to many large structures, including the Bahrain World Trade Center and the Bahrain Financial Harbour, with a proposal in place to build the 1,022 m (3,353 ft) high Murjan Tower. The Qal'at al-Bahrain (the harbour and capital of the ancient land of Dilmun) was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix takes place at the Bahrain International Circuit.
wn.com/Bahrain -
Bangladesh
Coordinates: 23°N 90°E / 23°N 90°E / 23; 90
Bangladesh (i/ˈbɑːŋɡlədɛʃ/ or i/bæŋɡləˈdɛʃ/ (Anglicized pronunciation); Bengali: বাংলাদেশ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali: গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ Gônoprojatontri Bangladesh) is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India and Burma and by the Bay of Bengal to the south. The capital (and largest city) is Dhaka, located in central Bangladesh. The official state language is Bengali. The name Bangladesh means "Land of Bengal" or "Country of Bengal" the in the Bengali language, from Bangla "Bengal" and desh holding a dual meaning of "land" and "country" as English "country," German land, French pays, etc.
The borders of present-day Bangladesh were established with the partition of Bengal during the reign and demise of the British India. Its map was chartered by Sir Cyril Radcliffe during the creation of Pakistan and India in 1947, when the region became East Pakistan, part of the newly formed nation of Pakistan. Due to political exclusion and economic exploitation by the politically dominant West Pakistan, popular agitation grew against West Pakistan and led to the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, after the Bangladeshi Declaration of Independence on 26 March 1971. With the intervention of the Indian Army, the war came to an end on 16 December 1971 with the surrender of the Pakistan Army at Ramna Race Course.
wn.com/Bangladesh -
Cairo
Cairo ( /ˈkaɪroʊ/ KYE-roh; Arabic: القاهرة al-Qāhira, literally "The Vanquisher" or "The Conqueror"), is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Located near the Nile Delta, it was founded in the year 969 A.D. making it 1,043 years old. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life. Cairo was founded by the Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century AD.; but the land composing the present-day city was the site of national capitals whose remnants remain visible in parts of Old Cairo. Cairo is also associated with Ancient Egypt due to its proximity to the ancient cities of Memphis, Giza and Fustat which are nearby to the Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza.
Egyptians today often refer to Cairo as Maṣr (Arabic: مصر), the Arabic pronunciation of the name for Egypt itself, emphasizing the city's continued role in Egyptian influence. Cairo has the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab World, as well as the world's second-oldest institution of higher learning, al-Azhar University. Many international media, businesses, and organizations have regional headquarters in the city, and the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence.
wn.com/Cairo -
Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba (Arabic: خلافة قرطبة; trans. Khilāfat Qurṭuba) ruled the Iberian peninsula (Al-Andalus) and part of North Africa, from the islamic Qurtuba (Córdoba) city, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous Great Mosque of Córdoba. In January 929, Abd-ar-Rahman III proclaimed himself Caliph (Arabic: خليفة) of Qurtuba in place of his original title Emir of Córdoba (Arabic: أمير قرطبة 'Amīr Qurṭuba). Abd-ar-Rahman III was a member of the Umayyad dynasty; the same dynasty who held the titles of Emir of Córdoba since 756. The rule of the Caliphate is known as the heyday of Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula. The Caliphate was practically disintegrated due to civil war (fitna) between descendants of the last legitimate Caliph Hisham II and the successors of his prime minister (hayib) Al-Mansur. The shell of the Caliphate existed until 1031 when, after years of infighting, it fractured into a number of independent Taifa kingdoms. Despite these fractures, the Islamic civilisation in Iberia, one of the most culturally florid periods of European civilisation, continued until 1492 when its last bastion, the Alhambra in Granada, was formally surrendered to the Christians.
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China
China (i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
wn.com/China -
Deoband
Deoband111 (Hindi: देवबंद, Urdu: دیوبند, Devband) is a city and a municipal board in Saharanpur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the upper Doab region of Uttar Pradesh. Deoband used to be surrounded by dense forests, and was believed to be the abode of the Goddess Durga, according to one tradition this is where the town got its name, from Devi Van, or 'the Forest of the Goddess'[citation needed]. Others suggest that is derived from devi vandan, because the Goddess killed the Maha Asur Durg here, and was then worshipped here by many Devtas[citation needed].
Deoband is about 150 km from Delhi. It is best known for Darul Uloom of Deoband, one of the most important and influential schools of Islamic Studies and the presence of the Jamia Tibbiya Deoband college of Unani Medicine, imparting the qualifications of B.U.M.S. and M.D.
Deoband is located at 29°42′N 77°41′E / 29.7°N 77.68°E / 29.7; 77.68. It has an average elevation of 348 metres (1093 feet). Famous cities located in its neighbourhood are: Saharanpur, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Roorkee, Dehradun etc. The town is connected to national capital via. national highway and railways. Nauchandi Express links Deoband directly to Highcourt and Sangam city Allahabad.
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Dhaka
Dhaka (Bengali: ঢাকা, pronounced IPA: [ˈɖʱaka]; formerly spelled Dacca, named Jahangirnagar during Mughal era) is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. It is located on the banks of the Buriganga River. Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 16 million in 2011, making it the largest city in Bangladesh. It is the 9th largest city in the world and also 28th among the most densely populated cities in the world. Dhaka is known as the City of Mosques and with 400,000 cycle rickshaws running on its streets every day, the city is also described as the Rickshaw Capital of the World.
Under Mughal rule in the 17th century, the city was known as Jahangir Nagar. It was a provincial capital and a centre of the worldwide muslin trade. The modern city, however, was developed chiefly under British rule in the 19th century, and became the second-largest city in Bengal after Calcutta (presently Kolkata). After the Partition of Bengal in 1905, Dhaka became the capital of the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam but lost its status as a provincial capital again after the partition was annulled in 1911. After the partition of India in 1947, Dhaka became the administrative capital of East Pakistan, and later, in 1971, the capital of an independent Bangladesh. During the intervening period, the city witnessed widespread turmoil; this included many impositions of martial law, the declaration of Bangladesh's independence, military suppression, devastation during war, and natural calamities.
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East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary. For the purposes of his book, East End Past, Richard Tames regards the area as coterminous with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets: however, he acknowledges that this narrow definition excludes parts of southern Hackney, such as Shoreditch and Hoxton, which many would regard as belonging to the East End. Others again, such as Alan Palmer, would extend the area across the Lea to include parts of the London Borough of Newham; while parts of the London Borough of Waltham Forest are also sometimes included. It is universally agreed, however, that the East End is to be distinguished from East London, which covers a much wider area.
Use of the term East End in a pejorative sense began in the late 19th century, as the expansion of the population of London led to extreme overcrowding throughout the area and a concentration of poor people and immigrants. The problems were exacerbated with the construction of St Katharine Docks (1827) and the central London railway termini (1840–1875) that caused the clearance of former slums and rookeries, with many of the displaced people moving into the East End. Over the course of a century, the East End became synonymous with poverty, overcrowding, disease and criminality.
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Egypt
Egypti/ˈiːdʒɪpt/ (Arabic: مصر, Miṣr, Egyptian Arabic: [mɑsˤɾ] ; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, Kīmi ; Sahidic Coptic: ⲕⲏⲙⲉ, Kēme), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: جمهوريّة مصر العربيّة (help·info), is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Covering an area of about 1,010,000 square kilometers (390,000 sq mi), Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.
Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its over 81 million people live near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable land is found. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.
wn.com/Egypt -
Finland
Coordinates: 65°N 27°E / 65°N 027°E / 65; 027
Finlandi/ˈfɪnlənd/ ( Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland (help·info)), officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.
Around 5.4 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern region. It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in Helsinki and local governments in 336 municipalities, and an autonomous region of the Åland Islands. About one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area, which consists of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa, and a third of the country's GDP is produced there. Other larger cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Kuopio.
wn.com/Finland -
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London and the 32 London boroughs. This territory has the same boundaries as the London Government Office Region and the London European Parliament constituency. The region has by far the highest GVA per capita in the United Kingdom. It covers 1,572 km2 (607 sq mi) and had a 2009 mid-year estimated population of 7,753,600. The term Greater London was in use before 1965 to refer to a variously defined area, larger than the County of London and often similar to the Metropolitan Police District.
In addition to its administrative and statistical functions, Greater London (excluding the City of London) is one of the 48 ceremonial counties of England, and is under the Greater London Lieutenancy.
Instead of forming a single political unit, London is divided into the small, interior City of London and the much wider Greater London. This arrangement has come about because as the area of London grew and absorbed neighbouring settlements, a series of administrative reforms did not fully amalgamate the City of London with the metropolitan area, and its unique political structure was retained. Outside the limited boundaries of the old city, a variety of arrangements governed the wider area since 1855, culminating with the creation of the Greater London administrative area in 1965.
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India
India (i/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.
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Indonesia
Indonesia (i/ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/ IN-də-NEE-zhə or /ˌɪndoʊˈniːziə/ IN-doh-NEE-zee-ə), officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia Indonesian pronunciation: [rɛpʊblɪk ɪndɔnɛsɪa]), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 17,508 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies. The Indonesian economy is the world's 17th largest economy by nominal GDP.
The Indonesian archipelago has been an important trade region since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers brought Christianity and fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change.
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Iran
Coordinates: 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53
Iran (i/ɪˈrɑːn/ or /aɪˈræn/;Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] (
listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia ( /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/). Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.
The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79 million. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.
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Iraq
Iraq (/ɪˈræk/ or
i/ɪˈrɑːk/; Arabic: العراق al-‘Irāq); officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: 
جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūriyyat al-‘Irāq), is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.
Iraq borders Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Jordan to the southwest and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south. Iraq has a narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km (36 mi) on the northern Persian Gulf. The capital city, Baghdad is in the center-east of the country.
Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run through the center of Iraq, flowing from northwest to southeast. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the steppe and desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia.
Historically, Iraq was the center of the Abbasid Arabic Islamic Empire. Iraq has been known to the west by the Greek toponym 'Mesopotamia' (Land between the rivers) and has been home to continuous successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is often referred to as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing, law and the wheel. At different periods in its history, Iraq was the center of the indigenous Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Abbasid empires. It was also part of the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires, and under British control as a League of Nations mandate.
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Islamabad
Islamabad (Urdu: اسلام آباد Islām ābād, lit. Abode of Islam) is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.152 million in 2011. The greater Islamabad-Rawalpindi Metropolitan Area is the third largest conurbation in Pakistan with a population of over 4.5 million inhabitants.
Islamabad is located in the Pothohar Plateau in the northern part of the country, within the Islamabad Capital Territory. The region has historically been a part of the crossroads of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Margalla pass acting as the gateway between the two regions. The city was built during the 1960s to replace Karachi as Pakistan's capital. Islamabad is a well-organized city divided into different sectors and zones. It is regarded as the most developed city in Pakistan. Islamabad is ranked as a Gamma world city. The city is home to Faisal Mosque, the largest mosque in South Asia and the sixth largest mosque in the world.
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Islamic Courts Union
The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) (Somali: Midowga Maxkamadaha Islaamiga, Arabic: اتحاد المحاكم الإسلامية, Ittihād al-mahākim al-islāmiyya) was a group of Sharia Courts who united themselves to form a rival administration to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia, with Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as head of the ICU. They are also known as the Joint Islamic Courts, Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), Supreme Islamic Courts Council (SICC) or the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC). Western media often refer to the group as Somali Islamists.
Until the end of 2006, they controlled most of southern Somalia and the vast majority of its population, including most major cities such as Jowhar, Kismayo, Beledweyne, and the capital Mogadishu. The ICU was supported by warlord Yusuf "Indho Ade" Mohamed Siad who ruled Lower Shabelle but later became defense chief of the ICU, who aided in the defeat of the Mogadishu warlords. Only the Northern regions (Puntland, Somaliland), and the furthest interior regions of the south were outside their control. In December 2006, the ICU lost much territory after defeats at the battles of Baidoa, Bandiradley, and Beledweyne, retreating to the capital, Mogadishu. On December 28 they abandoned Mogadishu, leaving the city in chaos while they moved south towards Kismayo, which allowed the TFG and Ethiopian troops to take over the city. After a stand at the Battle of Jilib, the ICU abandoned the city of Kismayo on January 1, 2007. Stripped of almost all their territory, it was speculated the ICU would pursue guerrilla-style warfare against the government.
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Israel
Coordinates: 31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35
Israel, officially the State of Israel ( /ˈɪzriːəl/ or /ˈɪzreɪəl/; Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Medīnat Yisrā'el, IPA: [me̞diˈnät jisʁäˈʔe̞l] ( listen); Arabic: دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل, Dawlat Isrāʼīl, IPA: [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egypt and the Gaza Strip on the southwest, and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel is defined as a Jewish and Democratic State in its Basic Laws and is the world's only Jewish-majority state.
Following the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption and implementation of the United Nations plan to partition Palestine, on 14 May 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, a state independent from the British Mandate for Palestine. Neighboring Arab states invaded the next day in support of the Palestinian Arabs. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Portions of these territories, including east Jerusalem, have been annexed by Israel, but the border with the neighboring West Bank has not yet been permanently defined.[neutrality is disputed] Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have so far not resulted in peace.
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Istanbul
Istanbul (Turkish: İstanbul) is the largest city in Turkey, forming the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population of 13.4 million, the city is at the center of the second-largest urban area in Europe after Moscow, and among the world's largest cities by population within city limits. Istanbul's vast area of 5,343 square kilometers (2,063 sq mi) is coterminous with Istanbul Province, of which the city is considered capital. Straddling the Bosphorus—one of the world's busiest waterways—in northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, Istanbul is a transcontinental city, with one third of its population living in Asia but its commercial and historical center in Europe.
Founded around 660 BC as Byzantium on the Seraglio Point, the city now known as Istanbul developed to become one of the most significant cities in history. For nearly sixteen centuries following its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 AD, it served as the capital of four empires — the late classical Roman Empire (330–395), the Eastern Roman ("Byzantine") Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold from which the last caliphate ruled. Although the Republic of Turkey established its capital elsewhere, in Ankara, remnants of Istanbul's previous central role still remain highly visible across the city, with palaces and imperial mosques lining its hills.
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Jakarta
Jakarta ( /dʒəˈkɑrtə/), officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta (Indonesian: Daerah Khusus Ibu Kota Jakarta), is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Located on the northwest coast of Java, Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre, and with a population of 10,187,595 as of November 2011, it is the most populous city in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia, and is the twelfth-largest city in the world. The official metropolitan area, known as Jabodetabekjur, is the second largest in the world, yet the city's suburbs still continue beyond it. Jakarta is listed as a global city in the 2008 Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC) research. and has an area of 661 square kilometres (255 sq mi)
Based on Brooking Institute survey about growth, in 2011 Jakarta ranked 17th among the world's 200 largest cities, a significant jumps from 2007 when Jakarta ranked 171st. Jakarta has seen more rapid growth than Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Bangkok.
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Jordan
Jordan ( /ˈdʒɔr.dən/;Arabic: اَلأُرْدُنّ, Al-'Urdunn), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Arabic: اَلمَمْلَكَة اَلأُرْدُنِيَّة اَلهَاشِمِيَّة), Al-Mamlakah Al-Urdaniyyah Al-Hashimiyyah) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing control of the Dead Sea with the latter. Jordan's only port is at its south-western tip, at the Gulf of Aqaba, which is shared with Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Over half of Jordan is covered by the Arabian Desert. However, the western part of Jordan is arable land and forests. Jordan is part of the Fertile Crescent. The capital city is Amman. According to the CIA World Factbook, Jordan has the second highest life expectancy in the Middle East, after Israel. The average life expectancy is one position behind the United Kingdom, although the age remains exactly the same (80.05 years).
The precursor to modern Jordan was founded in 1921 as the Hashemite Emirate, and it was recognized by the League of Nations as a state under the British mandate in 1922 known as The Emirate of Transjordan. In 1946, Jordan became an independent sovereign state officially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. After capturing the West Bank area of Cisjordan during the 1948–49 war with Israel, Abdullah I took the title King of Jordan and Palestine, and he officially changed the country's name to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in April 1949.
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Karachi
Karachi ( Karācī (help·info), Urdu: کراچی; Sindhi: ڪراچي) is the largest city, main seaport and financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 13 million. Results in April 2012 of Pakistan's latest census initial tabulations show that the district is home to over 21 million people, at a density of nearly 6,000 people per square kilometer (15,500 per square mile). Karachi is the most populous city in the country, one of the world's largest cities in terms of population and also the 10th largest urban agglomeration in the world. It is Pakistan's premier centre of banking, industry, economic activity and trade and is home to Pakistan's largest corporations, including those involved in textiles, shipping, automotive industry, entertainment, the arts, fashion, advertising, publishing, software development and medical research. The city is a major hub of higher education in South Asia and the wider Muslim world.
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Kuwait
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwaiti/kuːˈweɪt/ (Arabic: دولة الكويت, Dawlat al-Kuwayt) is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the Arabic أكوات ākwāt, the plural of كوت kūt, meaning a fortress built near water. The country covers an area of 17,820 square kilometers (6,880 sq mi) and has a population of about 3.5 million.
Historically, the region was the site of Characene, a major Parthian port for trade between Mesopotamia and India. The Bani Utbah tribe were the first permanent Arab settlers in the region, and laid the foundation of the modern emirate. By the 19th century, Kuwait came under the influence of the Ottoman Empire, and after World War I, it emerged as an independent sheikhdom under the protection of the British Empire. Kuwait's large oil fields were discovered in the late 1930s.
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Lebanon
Lebanon (i/ˈlɛbənɒn/ or /ˈlɛbənən/; Arabic: لبنان Libnān or Lubnān, Lebanese Arabic: [lɪbˈneːn]), officially the Lebanese Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية اللبنانية al-Jumhūrīyah al-Libnānīyah, Lebanese Arabic: [elˈʒʊmhuːɾɪjje l.ˈlɪbneːnɪjje]), is a country in the East Mediterranean. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has dictated its rich history, and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity.
The earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than 7,000 years—predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Phoenicians, a maritime culture that flourished for nearly 2,500 years (3000–539 BC). Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the five provinces that comprise modern Lebanon were mandated to France. The French expanded the borders of Mount Lebanon, which was mostly populated by Maronite Catholics and Druze, to include more Muslims. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, and established a unique political system, known as confessionalism, a power-sharing mechanism based on religious communities – Bechara El Khoury who became independent Lebanon's first President and Riad El-Solh, who became Lebanon's first prime minister, are considered the founders of the modern Republic of Lebanon and are national heroes for having led the country's independence. French troops withdrew from Lebanon in 1946.
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Libya
Libya (Arabic: ليبيا Lībyā), Berber: ⵍⵉⴱⵢⴰ) is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west.
With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres (700,000 sq mi), Libya is the third largest country in Africa by area, and the 17th largest in the world. The largest city, Tripoli, is home to 1.7 million of Libya's 6.4 million people. The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica.
In 2009 Libya had the highest HDI in Africa and the fourth highest GDP (PPP) per capita in Africa, behind Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world and the 17th-highest petroleum production.
As a result of the Libyan civil war, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, which had at that time been in existence for 34 years, collapsed and Libya entered a period of governance by a transitional administration called the National Transitional Council. The NTC has stated its intention to oversee the first phase of a transition to constitutional democracy, after which it claims it will dissolve in favor of a representative legislature.
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Malaysia
Malaysia (i/məˈleɪʒə/ mə-LAY-zhə or i/məˈleɪsiə/ mə-LAY-see-ə) is a federal constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of 329,847 square kilometres (127,350 sq mi) separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. Land borders are shared with Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei, and maritime borders exist with Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. In 2010 the population exceeded 27.5 million, with over 20 million living on the Peninsula.
Malaysia has its origins in the Malay Kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, became subject to the British Empire. The first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946. Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963, with si being added to give the new country the name Malaysia. However, less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation. Since independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with GDP growing an average 6.5% for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its natural resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce and medical tourism.
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Mali
Malii/ˈmɑːli/, officially the Republic of Mali (French: République du Mali, French pronunciation: [maˈli]), is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with a population of 14.5 million. Its capital is Bamako. Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara, while the country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Sénégal rivers. The country's economic structure centers around agriculture and fishing. Some of Mali's natural resources are gold, uranium, livestock, and salt. About half the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.
Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire (from which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali making it a part of French Sudan. French Sudan (then known as the Sudanese Republic) joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegal's withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a 1991 coup led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. On 22 March, 2012, a group of junior soldiers seized control of the country's presidential palace and declared the government dissolved and its constitution suspended. On 6 April, 2012, rebels from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) declared the secession of a new state, Azawad, from Mali.
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Mecca
Mecca ( /ˈmɛkə/; Arabic: مكة, Makkah, pronounced [ˈmækːɐ]) is a city in the Hejaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of 277 m (909 ft) above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was 2 million, although visitors more than triple this number every year during Hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah.
As the birthplace of Muhammad and a site of the composition of the Quran, Mecca is regarded as the holiest city in the religion of Islam and a pilgrimage to it known as the Hajj is obligatory upon all able Muslims. The Hijaz was long ruled by Muhammad's descendants, the sharifs, either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger empires. It was absorbed into Saudi Arabia in 1925. In its modern period, Mecca has seen tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure. Because of this Mecca has lost many thousand years old buildings and archaeological sites. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj. As a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan and diverse cities in the Muslim world, although non-Muslims remain prohibited from entering the city.
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Medina
Medina (/mɛˈdiːnə/; Arabic: اَلْمَدِينَة اَلْمَنَوَّرَة, al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah, “the radiant city” (officially), or اَلْمَدِينَة al-Madīnah; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Medina is historically significant for being Muhammad's home after the Hijrah. Before the advent of Islam, the city was known as Yathrib, but was personally renamed by Muhammad.
Medina is home to the three oldest mosques in Islam, namely Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque), Quba Mosque (the first mosque in Islam's history), and Masjid al-Qiblatain (the mosque where the qibla was switched to Mecca).
Because of the Saudi government's religious policy and concern that historic sites could become the focus for idolatry, much of Medina's Islamic physical heritage has been destroyed since the beginning of Saudi rule.[citation needed]
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Morocco
Morocco (Arabic: المغرب al-Maghrib ; Berber: ⵍⵎⴻⵖⵔⵉⴱ / ⴰⵎⴻⵔⵔⵓⴽElmeɣrib / Amerruk), officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of about 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², including the disputed region of the Western Sahara, seen by and mostly administered by Morocco as the Southern Provinces. Morocco is part of the Maghreb region, in addition to Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, and Libya, with which it shares cultural, historical and linguistic ties.
Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive powers, including the power to dissolve the parliament. Executive power is exercised by the government but more importantly by the king himself. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives and the Assembly of Councillors. The king can also issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. The latest Parliamentary elections were held in November 25, 2011, and were considered by some neutral observers to be mostly free and fair. Voter turnout in these elections was estimated to be 43% of registered voters, but only about 25% of Moroccan adult citizens actually voted. The rest either chose not to vote or they were not registered as voters. The political capital is Rabat, but the largest city is Casablanca; other main cities include Marrakesh, Tetouan, Tangier, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, and Nador.
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NATO
Coordinates: 50°52′34.16″N 4°25′19.24″E / 50.8761556°N 4.4220111°E / 50.8761556; 4.4220111
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO ( /ˈneɪtoʊ/ NAY-toh; French: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord (OTAN)), also called the (North) Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. NATO's headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, one of the 28 member states across North America and Europe, the newest of which, Albania and Croatia, joined in April 2009. An additional 22 countries participate in NATO's Partnership for Peace, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programs. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the world's defence spending.
For its first few years, NATO was not much more than a political association. However, the Korean War galvanized the member states, and an integrated military structure was built up under the direction of two U.S. supreme commanders. The course of the Cold War led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact, which formed in 1955. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down." Doubts over the strength of the relationship between the European states and the United States ebbed and flowed, along with doubts over the credibility of the NATO defence against a prospective Soviet invasion—doubts that led to the development of the independent French nuclear deterrent and the withdrawal of the French from NATO's military structure in 1966.
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Niger
Niger (French pronunciation: [niʒɛʁ], but occasionally pronounced as /niːˈʒɛər/ ori/ˈnaɪdʒər/), officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east. Niger covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km2, making it the largest nation in West Africa, with over 80 percent of its land area covered by the Sahara desert. The country's predominantly Islamic population of just above 15,000,000 is mostly clustered in the far south and west of the nation. The capital city is Niamey, located in the far southwest corner of Niger.
Niger is a developing country, and consistently ranks as one of the lowest ranks of the United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI), 186th of 187 countries in 2011. Much of the non-desert portions of the country are threatened by periodic drought and desertification. The economy is concentrated around subsistence and some export agriculture clustered in the more fertile south, and the export of raw materials, especially uranium ore. Niger remains handicapped by its landlocked position, desert terrain, poor education and poverty of its people, lack of infrastructure, poor health care, and environmental degradation.
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Nigeria
Nigeriai/naɪˈdʒɪəriə/, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims in the North and Christians in the South; a very small minority practice traditional religion. Since 2002 there have been a spate of clashes, particularly in the North of the country, between government forces and the Islamists Boko Haram, militant jihadists who seek to establish sharia law.
The people of Nigeria have an extensive history. Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BCE. The area around the Benue and Cross River is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BC and the 2nd millennium.
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Pakistan
Pakistan (i/ˈpækɨstæn/ or i/pɑːkiˈstɑːn/; Urdu: پاکستان) (Urdu pronunciation: [paːkɪˈst̪aːn] (
listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان), is a sovereign country in South Asia. It sits at the crossroads of the strategically important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west and north, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and it shares a marine border with Oman.
The territory of modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures, including the Neolithic Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and has undergone invasions or settlements by Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, Afghan and Sikh cultures. Thus the area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Indian Mauryan Empire, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Durrani Empire, the Sikh Empire and the British Empire. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and India's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent nation for Muslims from the regions in the east and west of India where there was a Muslim majority. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic. A civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh.
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Philippines
The Philippinesi/ˈfɪlɨpiːnz/ FI-lə-peenz (Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas) is a sovereign country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila.
With an estimated population of about 98 million people, the Philippines is the 7th most populated Asian country and the 12th most populated country in the world. An additional 12.5 million Filipinos live overseas. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples who brought with them influences from Malay, Hindu, and Islamic societies. Trade introduced Chinese cultural influences which remain to this day.
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Russia
Russiai/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.
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Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia (i/ˌsaʊdi əˈreɪbi.ə/ or i/ˌsɔːdiː əˈreɪbi.ə/; Arabic: السعودية as-Su‘ūdīyah[citation needed] or incorrectly as-Sa‘ūdīyah, officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: المملكة العربية السعودية al-Mamlakah al-‘Arabīyah as-Su‘ūdīyah Arabic pronunciation (help·info)), is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab world, after Algeria. It is bordered by Jordan, and Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south. The Red Sea lies to its west, and the Persian Gulf lies to the east. Saudi Arabia has an area of approximately 2,250,000 km2 (870,000 sq mi), and it has an estimated population of 27 million, of which 9 million are registered foreign expatriates and an estimated 2 million are illegal immigrants. Saudi nationals comprise an estimated 16 million people.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded by Abdul-Aziz bin Saud (known for most of his career as Ibn Saud) in 1932, although the conquests which eventually led to the creation of the Kingdom began in 1902 when he captured Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud, referred to in Arabic as the Al Saud. The Saudi Arabian government, which has been an absolute monarchy since its inception, refers to its system of government as being Islamic, though this is contested by many due to its strong basis in Salafism, a minority school of thought in Islam. The kingdom is sometimes called "The Land of the Two Holy Mosques" in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca), and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (in Medina), the two holiest places in Islam.
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Somalia
Somalia ( /soʊˈmɑːliə/ soh-MAH-lee-ə; Somali: Soomaaliya; Arabic: الصومال aṣ-Ṣūmāl), officially the Somali Republic (Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliya, Arabic: جمهورية الصومال Jumhūriyyat aṣ-Ṣūmāl) and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory. The internationally recognized Transitional Federal Government controls only a small part of the country. Somalia has been characterized as a failed state and is one of the poorest and most violent states in the world.
Somalia lies in the easternmost part of Africa. It is bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, the Gulf of Aden with Yemen to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, and Ethiopia to the west. It has the longest coastline on the continent, and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands. Hot conditions prevail year-round, along with periodic monsoon winds and irregular rainfall.
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Soviet Union
The Soviet Union (Russian: Советский Союз, tr. Sovetsky Soyuz), officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR; Russian: Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик, tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik; IPA: [sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲetskʲɪx sətsɨəlʲɪˈstʲitɕɪskʲɪx rʲɪsˈpublʲɪk] ( listen); abbreviated СССР, SSSR), was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991.
The Soviet Union was a single-party state ruled by the Communist Party from its foundation until 1990. A union of 15 subnational Soviet republics, the Soviet state was structured under a highly centralized government and economy.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 caused the downfall of the Russian Empire. Following the Russian Revolution, there was a struggle for power between the Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Lenin, and the anti-communist White movement. In December 1922, the Bolsheviks won the civil war, and the Soviet Union was formed with the merger of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
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Sudan
Sudan (i/suːˈdæn/ or /suːˈdɑːn/;Arabic: السودان, as-Sūdān), officially the Republic of the Sudan (Arabic: جمهورية السودان, Jumhūrīyat as-Sūdān), sometimes called North Sudan, is an Arab state in North Africa (sometimes also considered to be part of the Middle East). It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, and Libya to the northwest. The population of Sudan is a combination of indigenous inhabitants of Nile Valley, and descendants of migrants from the Arabian Peninsula. Due to the process of Arabisation common throughout the rest of the Arab World, today Arab culture predominates in Sudan. The majority of the population of Sudan adheres to Islam. The Nile divides the country between east and west sides.
The people of Sudan have a long history extending from antiquity which is intertwined with the history of Egypt. Sudan suffered seventeen years of civil war during the First Sudanese Civil War (1955–1972) followed by ethnic, religious and economic conflicts between the Muslim Arab northern Sudanese and the mostly animist and Christian Nilotes of Southern Sudan. This led to the Second Sudanese Civil War in 1983. Because of continuing political and military struggles, Sudan was seized in a bloodless coup d'état by colonel Omar al-Bashir in 1989, who thereafter proclaimed himself President of Sudan. The civil war ended with the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement which granted autonomy to what was then the southern region of the country. Following a referendum held in January 2011, South Sudan seceded on 9 July 2011 with the consent of Sudan's President al-Bashir.
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Syria
Syria (/ˈsɪriə/ ( listen) SIRR-ee-ə; Arabic: سورية Sūriyya or سوريا Sūryā; Syriac: ܣܘܪܝܐ; Kurdish: Sûrî), officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية السورية al-Jumhūriyyah al-‘Arabīyah as-Sūriyyah Arabic pronunciation (help·info)), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest.
In English, the name Syria was formerly synonymous with the Levant, known in Arabic as Sham, while the modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the third millennium BC. In the Islamic era, its capital city, Damascus, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate, and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt.
The population of Syria is 74% Sunni, 12% Alawi, 10% Christian, and 3% Druze. Combined, 87% of the Syrian population is Muslim, while the other 10% is Christian, which includes mainly Arab Christians but also Assyrians and Armenians. Major ethnic minorities in Syria include Kurds (9%), Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmens and Circassians. The majority of the population is Arab (90%).
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Tehran
Tehran ( pronunciation (help·info)) (Persian: تهران Tehrān; pronounced [tehˈɾɒːn]), sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, the largest city in Western Asia, one of the largest in Southern Asia, and the 19th-largest city globally.
In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to mass-migration of people from all around Iran. The city is home to many historic mosques, churches, synagogues and Zoroastrian fire temples. Contemporary Tehran is a modern city featuring many structures, of which the Azadi (Freedom) Tower and the Milad Tower have come to be symbols of Tehran itself. In 2008 Tehran was the least expensive capital in the world and the second-least expensive city globally based on the cost-of-living index presenting the best value for money in the world. Globally it stands 19th by city population, 56th by the size of its GDP and 29th by the population of its metropolitan area. Throughout Iran's history, the capital city has been relocated many times, with Tehran being the 32nd national capital of Iran. Persian is the city's native tongue, with roughly 98% of the population able to speak and understand it. The majority of people in Tehran identify themselves as Persians. In pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, Tehran was called Ray (which in the Avesta occurs in the form of Ragha)[citation needed].
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Thailand
Thailand ( /ˈtaɪlænd/ TY-land or /ˈtaɪlənd/;Thai: ประเทศไทย, RTGS: Prathet Thai), officially the Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย, RTGS: Ratcha Anachak Thai; IPA: [râːt.tɕʰā ʔāːnāːtɕàk tʰāj] ( listen)), formerly known as Siam (Thai: สยาม; RTGS: Sayam), is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India in the Andaman Sea to the southwest.
The country is a constitutional monarchy, headed by King Rama IX, the ninth king of the House of Chakri, who, having reigned since 1946, is the world's longest-serving head of state and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history. The king of Thailand is titled Head of State, Head of the Armed Forces, the Upholder of the Buddhist religion, and the Defender of all Faiths.
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Turkey
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.
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United States
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
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Uzbekistan
Uzbekistani/ʊzˌbɛkɨˈstɑːn/, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi, Ўзбекистон Республикаси) is the only doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of only two such countries worldwide. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. Before 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union.
Uzbekistan is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia.
Once part of the Persian Samanid and later Timurid empires, the region was conquered in the early 16th century by Uzbek nomads, who spoke an Eastern Turkic language. Most of Uzbekistan’s population today belong to the Uzbek ethnic group and speak the Uzbek language, one of the family of Turkic languages.
Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century, and in 1924 became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). It became independent on 31 August 1991 (officially, from the following day).
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Yemen
The Republic of Yemen (Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية al-Jumhūrīyah al-Yamanīyah), commonly known as Yemeni/ˈjɛmən/ (Arabic: اليَمَن al-Yaman), is a country located in Western Asia, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east. Yemen is considered one of the poorest countries in the Arab world. Its capital and largest city is Sana'a. Yemen's territory includes over 200 islands, the largest of which is Socotra, about 415 km (258 mi) to the south of mainland Yemen, off the coast of Somalia. It is the only state in the Arabian Peninsula to have a purely republican form of government. Approximately 53% of Yemenis are Sunnis, while 45% are Zaydi Shias.
One etymology derives Yemen from yamin, meaning "on the right side", as the south is on the right when facing the sunrise. Another derives Yemen from yumn, meaning "felicity", as the region is fertile. The Romans called it Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia) as opposed to Arabia Deserta (Deserted Arabia), which was their term for northern Arabia.
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Abbassi Madani
Dr. Abbassi Madani (Arabic عباسي مدني) was born in 1931 at Diyar Ben Aissa, Sidi Okba (now in Biskra Province). He was the President of the Islamic Salvation Front in Algeria. As its leader he became the voice of a large part of the dispossessed Algerian youth.
In his youth he joined the Front for National Liberation (FLN) and participated in the first day of the Algerian War of Independence, 1 November 1954, by planting a bomb at an Algiers radio facility, but was arrested by the French on 17 November 1954, and remained in jail until independence in 1962. After studying for a doctorate in educational psychology in London from 1975 to 1978, he became a professor of educational sciences at the University of Algiers. Madani grew critical of the FLN's socialist orientation, and in 1989, after the Algerian Constitution was changed to allow multiparty democracy, he co-founded the democratic Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), which rapidly grew to enjoy success in the ensuing local elections. Madani contended that the Islamic essence of November 1954 was betrayed by the Charters of Tripoli and Algeria, along with other charters upheld by Houari Boumediene and Chadli Bendjedid.
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Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1941 – November 24, 1989) (Arabic عبد الله يوسف عزام) was a highly influential Palestinian Sunni Islamic scholar and theologian, who preached in favor of defensive jihad by Muslims to help the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet invaders and became the first leader of Al Qaeda. He raised funds, recruited, and organized the international Islamic volunteer effort of Afghan Arabs through the 1980s, and emphasised the political ascension of Islam.
He is also known as a teacher and mentor of Osama bin Laden, and persuaded bin Laden to come to Afghanistan and help the jihad, though the two differed as to where the next front in global jihad should be after the withdrawal of the Soviets from Afghanistan. He was also a co-founder of Hamas and Lashkar-e-Taiba. He was killed by a bomb blast on November 24, 1989.
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam was born in 1941 in the village of as-Ba'ah al-Hartiyeh (Silat al-Harithiya village), a few kilometers northwest of the city of Jenin, in the Jenin Sanjak (District), then administered as the British Mandate of Palestine.
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Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr (Abdullah ibn Abi Quhafa) (Arabic: عبد الله بن أبي قحافة, Transliteration: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Quḥāfah, c. 573 CE - 634 CE) also known as Abū Bakr as-Șiddīq (Arabic: أبو بكر الصديق) was a senior companion (Sahabi) and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632–634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death. As Caliph, Abu Bakr succeeded to the political and administrative functions previously exercised by Muhammad, since the religious function and authority of prophethood ended with Muhammad's death according to Islam. He was called Al-Siddiq (The Truthful) and was known by that title among later generations of Muslims.
As a young man, Abu Bakr became a cloth merchant and he traveled extensively in Arabia and neighboring lands in the Middle East, through which he gained both wealth and experience. He eventually came to be recognized as the chief of his clan. On his return from a business trip to Yemen, he was informed that in his absence Muhammad had openly declared his prophethood. Not long after, Abu Bakr accepted Islam and was the first person outside the family of Muhammad to openly become a Muslim. He was instrumental in the conversion of many people to the Islamic faith and early in 623, Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha was married to Muhammad, strengthening the ties between the two men.
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Abul Ala Maududi
Abul A’la Maududi [Abū 'l-Aʿlā Mawdūdī] (Urdu: ابو الاعلىٰ مودودی – alternative spellings of last name Maudoodi, Mawdudi, and Modudi) ((1903-09-25)September 25, 1903 – September 22, 1979(1979-09-22)) was a Pakistani journalist, theologian, Muslim revivalist leader and political philosopher, and a controversial 20th century Islamist thinker. He was also a political figure in Pakistan and was the first recipient of King Faisal International Award for his services 1979. He was also the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami, the Islamic revivalist party.
Maududi was born in Aurangabad, India, then part of the princely state enclave of Hyderabad, until it was annexed by India in 1948. He was born to Maulana Ahmad Hasan, a lawyer by profession. He was the youngest of his three brothers. His father was the descendant of the Chishti line of saints; in fact his last name was derived from the first member of the Chishti Silsilah i.e. Khawajah Syed Qutb ul-Din Maudood Chishti (d. 527 AH)
At an early age, Maududi was given home education, he "received religious nurture at the hands of his father and from a variety of teachers employed by him." He soon moved on to formal education, however, and completed his secondary education from Madrasah Furqaniyah. For his undergraduate studies he joined Darul Uloom, Hyderabad (India). His undergraduate studies, however, were disrupted by the illness and death of his father, and he completed his studies outside of the regular educational institutions. His instruction included very little of the subject matter of a modern school, such as European languages, like English. He reportedly translated Qasim Amin's The New Woman into Urdu at the age of 14 and about 3,500 pages from Asfar, a work of mystical Persian thinker Mulla Sadra.
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Ahmad Sirhindi
Imām Rabbānī Shaykh Ahmad al-Farūqī al-Sirhindī (1564–1624) was an Indian Islamic scholar from Punjab, a Hanafi jurist, and a prominent member of the Naqshbandī Sufi order. He is described as Mujaddid Alf Thānī, meaning the "reviver of the second millennium", for his work in rejuvenating Islam and opposing the heterodoxies prevalent in the time of Mughal Emperor Akbar. He is said to have had considerable and longlasting influence in India and to have given "to Indian Islam the rigid and conservative stamp it bears today."
Most of the Naqshbandī suborders today, such as the Mujaddidī, Khālidī, Saifī, Tāhirī, Qasimiya and Haqqānī sub-orders, trace their spiritual lineage through Sirhindi, often referring to themselves as "Naqshbandī-Mujaddidī".
Sirhindi's shrine, known as Rauza Sharif is located in Sirhind, India.
Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi was born after midnight, on 14 Shawwal 971 H. in the village of Sirhind. From an ashraf family claiming descent from caliph Umar, he received most of his early education from his father, Shaykh 'Abd al-Ahad and memorised the Qur'an. He was then sent to Sialkot, at present in Pakistan, where he learned logic, philosophy and theology and read some advanced texts of tafsīr and hadīth before he returned home. Sirhindi also made rapid progress in the Suhrawardī, the Qadirī, and the Chistī turūq, and was given permission to initiate and train followers at the age of 17. He eventually joined the Naqshbandī order through the Sufi missionary Shaykh Muhammad al-Baqī, and became a leading master of this order. His deputies traversed the length and breadth of the Mughal Empire in order to popularize the order and eventually won some favour with the Mughal court.
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Algerian Civil War
The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives, in a population of about 25,010,000 in 1990 and 31,193,917 in 2000.
More than 70 journalists were assassinated, either by security forces or by Islamists. The conflict effectively ended with a government victory, following the surrender of the Islamic Salvation Army and the 2002 defeat of the Armed Islamic Group. However, low-level fighting still continues in some areas.
The conflict began in December 1991, when the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) party gained popularity amongst the Algerian people and the National Liberation Front (FLN) party, fearing the former's victory, cancelled elections after the first round. At this time the country's military effectively took control of the government, and president Chadli Bendjedid was forced from office. After the FIS was banned and thousands of its members arrested, Islamist guerrillas rapidly emerged and began an armed campaign against the government and its supporters.
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Ali
Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب, Transliteration: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, [ʕaliː ibn ʔæbiː t̪ˤɑːlib]; 13thRajab, 24 BH–21stRamaḍān, 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661). The son of Abu Talib, Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruling over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam.Sunnis consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shias regard Ali as the first Imam and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of which are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shia branches.
Muslim sources, especially Shia ones, state that since Muhammad's time, Ali was the only person born in the Kaaba sanctuary in Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. His father was Abu Talib and his mother was Fatima bint Asad, but he was raised in the household of Muhammad, who himself was raised by Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle, and Ali's father. When Muhammad reported receiving a divine revelation, Ali was the first male to accept his message, dedicating his life to the cause of Islam.
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Ali Shariati
Coordinates: 33°26′42.13″N 36°20′28.98″E / 33.4450361°N 36.3413833°E / 33.4450361; 36.3413833
Ali Shariati (Persian: علی شريعتی) (November 23, 1933 in Kahak - 1977 in Southampton, England) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist, who focused on the sociology of religion. He is held as one of the most influential Iranian intellectuals of the 20th century and has been called the 'ideologue of the Iranian Revolution'.
Ali Shariati was born in 1933 in Kahak (a village in Mazinan), a suburb of Sabzevar, found in northeastern Iran. His father, Mohammad-Taqi, was a teacher and Islamic scholar, who opened in 1947 the 'Centre for the Propagation of Islamic Truths' in Mashhad, in the province of Khorasan, a social Islamic forum which became embroiled in the oil nationalisation movement of the 1950s.
In his years at the Teacher's Training College in Mashhad, Shariati came into contact with young people who were from the less privileged economic classes of the society, and for the first time saw the poverty and hardship that existed in Iran during that period. At the same time he was exposed to many aspects of Western philosophical and political thought. He attempted to explain and provide solutions for the problems faced by Muslim societies through traditional Islamic principles interwoven with and understood from the point of view of modern sociology and philosophy. His articles from this period for the Mashhad daily newspaper, Khorasan, display his developing eclecticism and acquaintance with the ideas of modern Islamic and secular thinkers such as Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad Iqbal, Sigmund Freud and Alexis Carrel.
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Anwar Ibrahim
Dato' Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim (born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who served as Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 to 1998.
Early in his career, Anwar was a close ally of Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad but subsequently emerged as the most prominent critic of Mahathir's government.
In 1999, he was sentenced to six years in prison for corruption, and in 2000, to another nine years for sodomy. In 2004, the Federal Court reversed the second conviction and he was released. In July 2008, he was arrested over allegations he sodomised one of his male aides, but was acquitted of the charge in January 2012.
On 26 August 2008, Anwar won re-election in the Permatang Pauh by-election and returned to Parliament as leader of the Malaysian opposition. He has stated the need for liberalisation, including an independent judiciary and free media, to combat the endemic corruption that he considers pushes Malaysia close to failed state status.
From 1968 to 1971, as a student, Anwar was the president of a Muslim students organisation, Persatuan Kebangsaan Pelajar Islam Malaysia (PKPIM). Around the same time, he was also the president of Persatuan Bahasa Melayu Universiti Malaya (PBMUM). He was one of the protem committee of Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) or Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia which was founded in 1971. He was also elected President of the Malaysian Youth Council or Majlis Belia Malaysia (MBM). In 1974, Anwar was arrested during student protests against rural poverty and hunger. This came as a report surfaced stating that a family died from starvation in a village in Baling, in the state of Kedah, despite the fact that it never happened. He was imprisoned under the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial, and spent 20 months in the Kamunting Detention Centre.
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Anwar Sadat
Anwar El Sadat (Arabic: محمد أنور السادات Anwar as-Sādāt, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [mæˈħæmmæd ˈʔɑnwɑɾˤ essæˈdæːt]; 25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981. In his eleven years as president he changed Egypt's direction, departing from some of the economic and political principles of Nasserism by re-instituting the multi-party system, and launching the Infitah economic policy.
He was a senior member of the Free Officers group that overthrew the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and a close confidant of President Gamal Abdul Nasser, whom he succeeded as President in 1970. As president he led Egypt in the October War of 1973 to re-acquire Egyptian territory lost to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, making him a hero in Egypt and, for a time, the wider Arab World. Afterwards he engaged in negotiations with Israel, culminating in the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. This won him the Nobel Peace Prize but also made him unpopular among some Arabs, resulting in a temporary suspension of Egypt's membership in the Arab League, and eventually his assassination.
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Bernard Lewis
Bernard Lewis, FBA (born May 31, 1916) is a British-American historian, scholar in Oriental studies, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. He specializes in the history of Islam and the interaction between Islam and the West, and is especially famous in academic circles for his works on the history of the Ottoman Empire.
Lewis served in the British Army in the Royal Armoured Corps and Intelligence Corps during the Second World War before being seconded to the Foreign Office. After the war, he returned to the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and was appointed to the new chair in Near and Middle Eastern History.
Lewis is a widely read expert on the Middle East, and is regarded as one of the West’s leading scholars of that region. His advice has been frequently sought by policymakers, including the George W. Bush administration. In the Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing Martin Kramer, whose Ph.D. thesis was directed by Lewis, considered that, over a 60-year career, he has emerged as "the most influential postwar historian of Islam and the Middle East." Lewis is known for his Armenian genocide denial. He is also famous for his public debates with the late Edward Said concerning the latter's book Orientalism (1978), which criticized Lewis.
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Fred Halliday
Frederick Halliday, FBA (22 February 1946, Dublin, Ireland – 26 April 2010,Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) was an Irish writer and academic specialising in International Relations and the Middle East, with particular reference to the Cold War, Iran, and the Arabian peninsula.
Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1946 to an English father, businessman Arthur Halliday, and an Irish mother, Rita (née Finigan), Halliday attended the Marist School, Dundalk (1950–1953) and Ampleforth College (1953–1963) before going up to The Queen's College, University of Oxford in 1964 to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), graduating in 1967, and then on to the School of Oriental and African Studies (1969–1969). His doctorate at the London School of Economics (LSE), on the foreign relations of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, was awarded in 1985, 17 years after beginning it (Sale 2002). From 1973 to 1985, he was a fellow of the Transnational Institute Amsterdam and Washington. From 1969 to 1983, he served as a member of editorial board of the New Left Review.
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Gilles Kepel
Gilles Kepel (born 30 June 1955) is a French political scientist, specialist of the Islam and contemporary Arab world. He is Professor at Sciences Po Paris, formerly known as Institute of Political Studies (IEP) in Paris and member of the Institut Universitaire de France.
He graduated in Arabic and philosophy, with two doctorates in sociology and political sciences. He also taught at New York University in 1994, and at Columbia University in 1995. He chaired the Philippe Roman chair in History and International Relations at the London School of Economics in 2009-2010.
Gilles Kepel is the author of several books, since the publication of "The Prophet and the Pharao/ Islamist movements in Sadat's Egypt", in 1984, his books are translated all over the world. He contributes regularly to Le Monde, the New-York Times, La Repubblica, El Pais, and several Arab medias.
Gilles Kepel is a member of the High Council of the Arab World Institute and Academic Director of the Kuwait Program at IEP.
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Hassan al Banna
Sheikh Hasan Ahmed Abdel Rahman Muhammed al-Banna (Arabic: حسن أحمد عبد الرحمن محمد البنا, IPA: [ˈħæsæn ˈæħmæd ʕæbdeɾɾˤɑħˈmɑːn mæˈħæmmæd elˈbænnæ]) known as Hasan al-Banna (October 14, 1906 – February 12, 1949) was a schoolteacher and imam, best known for founding the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest and most influential 20th century Muslim revivalist organizations.
Banna was born in 1906 in Mahmoudiyah, Egypt (north-west of Cairo in the Nile delta). His father, Sheikh Ahmad 'Abd al-Rahman al-Banna al-Sa'ati, was a local imam (prayer leader) and masjid teacher of the Hanbali rite. His brother is Gamal al-Banna. He was educated at Dar Al-Uloum school in Cairo. He wrote and collaborated on books on Muslim traditions, and also had a shop where he repaired watches and sold gramophones. Though Sheikh Ahmad al-Banna and his wife owned some property, they were not wealthy and struggled to make ends meet, particularly after they moved to Cairo in 1924. Like many others, they found that Islamic learning and piety were no longer as highly valued in the capital, and that craftsmanship could not compete with large-scale industry.
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Hassan Nasrallah
Hasan Nasrallah (born August 31, 1960; Arabic: حسن نصرالله) became the third Secretary General of the Lebanese political and paramilitary organization Hezbollah after Israel assassinated the previous leader, Abbas al-Musawi, in 1992. Hezbollah is regarded as a legitimate resistance movement and political party throughout much of the Arab and Muslim worlds, but is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the Netherlands, Israel, and Canada. The group's military wing by itself is designated a proscribed terrorist group by the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia.
Hasan Nasrallah was born the ninth of ten children in Bourj Hammoud, Matn District (an eastern suburb of Beirut) on August 31, 1960 . His father, Abdul Karim, was born in Bazouriyeh, a village in Jabal Amel (South Republic of Lebanon) located near Tyre to Iranian grandparents. Although his family was not particularly religious, Hasan was interested in theological studies. He attended an-Najah school and later a public school in Sin el Fil (Christian area) Beirut.
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Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (Arabic: محمد حسني السيد مبارك, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [mæˈħæmːæd ˈħosni ˈsæjjed moˈbɑːɾˤɑk], Muḥammad Ḥusnī Sayyid Mubārak; born 4 May 1928) is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.
Mubarak was appointed Vice President of Egypt in 1975, and assumed the presidency on 14 October 1981, following the assassination of President Anwar El Sadat. His almost thirty-year presidency made him Egypt's longest-serving ruler since Muhammad Ali Pasha. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in the Egyptian Air Force, serving as its commander from 1972 to 1975 and rising to the rank of air chief marshal.
Mubarak was ousted after 18 days of demonstrations during the 2011 Egyptian revolution when, on 11 February, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned as president and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. On 13 April, a prosecutor[which?] ordered Mubarak and both his sons to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power. He was then ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protestors during the revolution. These trials officially began on 3 August 2011. Egypt’s military prosecutors then also proclaimed that they are investigating Mubarak's role in the assassination of his predecessor Anwar Sadat.
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Ibn Taymiyyah
Taqi ad-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah (January 22, 1263–1328 CE), full name: Taqī ad-Dīn Abu 'l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd as-Salām Ibn Taymiya al-Ḥarrānī (Arabic: تقي الدين أبو العباس أحمد بن عبد السلام بن عبد الله ابن تيمية الحراني), was an Islamic scholar (alim), theologian and logician born in Harran, located in what is now Turkey, close to the Syrian border. He lived during the troubled times of the Mongol invasions. He was considered by his followers to be a member of the school founded by Ahmad ibn Hanbal and sought the return of Islam to what he viewed as earlier interpretations of the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
Ibn Taymiyya was born in 1263 at Harran into a well-known family of theologians and died in Damascus, Syria, outside of the Muslim cemetery. His grandfather, Abu al-Barkat Majd ad-deen ibn Taymiyyah al-Hanbali (d. 1255) was a reputable teacher of the Hanbali school of law. Likewise, the scholarly achievements of ibn Taymiyyah's father, Shihab al-deen 'Abd al-Haleem ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1284) were well known. Because of the Mongol invasion, ibn Taymiyyah's family moved to Damascus in 1268, which was then ruled by the Mamluks of Egypt. It was here that his father delivered sermons from the pulpit of the Umayyad Mosque, and ibn Taymiyyah followed in his footsteps by studying with the scholars of his time. Although some claim that he was of Kurdish origin there seems to be no evidence indicating such claim.[citation needed]
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Ismet Özel
İsmet Özel (born 19 September 1944 in Kayseri) is a Turkish poet and scholar.
Özel is the sixth child of a police officer from Söke. He attended his primary and secondary school in Kastamonu, Çankırı and Ankara. He attended classes at Political Science Faculty of Ankara University, but graduated from the French Language department of Hacettepe University.
Özel published Halkın Dostları magazine with Ataol Behramoğlu. Özel's songs of freedom derived its content from socialism but their structure and symbolism reflected the tastes of the Second New Generation movement in Turkish poetry. In the 1970s, Özel developed a mystic and Islamist view which shocked his leftist audience.
He worked as a French lecturer in the State Conservatory. He spent all his time writing after he retired. Because of both his interesting character and works, he took an impressive place among his contemporaries.
Özel, who published his early poems in 1963, became salient with densely using images and his meticulous effort to choose words. He collected his early poems in the book called Geceleyin Bir Koşu (A Run in the Night, 1966), in which he searches the truth of being human. His attributions about gathering the innovations and experimental sides of Turkish Poetry with social realism and his success to realize it caused to his second book called Evet İsyan (Yes, Rebel, 1969) made big echoes.
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Javed Ahmad Ghamidi
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi (Urdu: جاوید احمد غامدی) (born 1951) is a well-known Pakistani Muslim theologian, Quran scholar and exegete, and educationist. A former member of the Jamaat-e-Islami, who extended the work of his tutor, Amin Ahsan Islahi, Ghamidi is the founder of Al-Mawrid Institute of Islamic Sciences and its sister organization Danish Sara. He is a member of Council of Islamic Ideology since January 28, 2006, a constitutional body responsible for giving legal advice on Islamic issues to Pakistan Government and the Parliament. He has also taught at the Civil Services Academy from 1980 until 1991. He is running an intellectual movement similar to Wastiyya in Egypt on the popular electronic media of Pakistan.
Ghamidi's discourse is primarily with the traditionalists on the one end and Jamaat-e-Islami and its seceding groups on the other. In Ghamidi’s arguments, there is no reference to the Western sources, human rights or current philosophies of crime and punishment. He comes to conclusions which are similar to those of Islamic modernists on the subject, but he never goes out of the traditional framework.
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John Esposito
John Louis Esposito (born 19 May 1940, Brooklyn, New York City) is a professor of International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. He is also the director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.
Esposito was raised a Roman Catholic in an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City, and spent a decade in a Catholic monastery. After taking his first degree he worked as a management consultant and high-school teacher.[citation needed] He then studied and received a masters in theology at St. John's University. He earned a PhD at Temple University, Pennsylvania in 1974, studying Islam and held postdoctoral appointments at Harvard and Oxford. He is well known as a promoter of strong ties between Muslims and Christians and has challenged the Vatican to make greater efforts to encourage such ties [citation needed]
For nearly twenty years after completing his PhD, Esposito had taught religious studies (including Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam) at the College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit college in Massachusetts. At Holy Cross, Esposito held the Loyola Professor of Middle East Studies position, was the chair of the Department of Religious Studies, and the director of college's Center for International Studies. At Georgetown University, Esposito holds the position of University Professor and teaches as both Professor of Religion and International Affairs and Professor of Islamic Studies. Esposito also works as a Senior Scientist at the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, where he co-authored Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, which was published in March 2008.
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Persian: محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadinezhād [mæhˈmuːd(-e) æhmædiːneˈʒɒːd] ( listen),English: /ɑːkməˈdɪnɨʒɒd/; born 28 October 1956) is the sixth and current President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the main political leader of the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, a coalition of conservative political groups in the country. An engineer and teacher from a poor background, Ahmadinejad joined the Office for Strengthening Unity after the Islamic Revolution. Appointed a provincial governor, he was removed after the election of President Mohammad Khatami and returned to teaching. Tehran's council elected him mayor in 2003. He took a religious hard line, reversing reforms of previous moderate mayors. His 2005 presidential campaign, supported by the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, garnered 62% of the runoff election votes, and he became President on 3 August 2005. His second presidency term ends on August 3, 2013. He is not eligible to run for another term under the current Iranian constitution.
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Mohammed Omar
Mullah Mohammed Omar (Pashto: ملا محمد عمر; born c. 1959), often simply called Mullah Omar, is the spiritual leader of the Taliban. He was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to late 2001, under the official title "Head of the Supreme Council". He held the title Commander of the Faithful of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which was recognized by only three nations: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Mullah Omar has been wanted by the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice program since October 2001, for sheltering Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda militants in the years prior to the September 11 attacks. Those who were close to him say that he requested evidence from the United States regarding Osama and his alleged hand in the 9/11 attacks but did not receive any. He is believed to be directing the Taliban insurgency against the U.S.-led NATO forces and the Government of Afghanistan.
Despite his political rank and his high status on the Rewards for Justice most wanted list, not much is publicly known about him. Few photos exist of him, none of them official, and a picture used in 2002 by many media outlets has since been established to be someone other than him. The authenticity of the existing images is debated. Apart from the fact that he is missing one eye, accounts of his physical appearance are contradictory: Omar is described as very tall (some say 2 m). Mullah Omar has been described as shy and non-talkative with foreigners.
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Muhammad
Muhammad (c. 26 April 570 – 8 June 632; also transliterated as Mohammad, Mohammed, or Muhammed; Arabic: محمد), full name: Muhammad Ibn `Abd Allāh Ibn `Abd al-Muttalib (Arabic: محمد بن عبدالله بن عبد المطلب ) was a leader from Mecca who unified the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity under Islam. He is believed by Muslims and Bahá'ís to be a messenger and prophet of God. Muslims believe that Islam was not his own invention but was revealed by God, and most consider him to be the last prophet of God Muslims thus consider him the restorer of an uncorrupted original monotheistic faith (islām) of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets.
Born in 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca, he was orphaned at an early age and brought up under the care of his uncle Abu Talib. He later worked mostly as a merchant, as well as a shepherd, and was first married by age 25. Being in the habit of periodically retreating to a cave in the surrounding mountains for several nights of meditation and prayer, he later reported that it was there, at age 40, that he received his first revelation from God. Three years after this event Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" to Him (lit. islām) is the only way (dīn) acceptable to God, and that he himself was a prophet and messenger of God, in the same vein as other Islamic prophets.
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Muhammad Abduh
Muhammad Abduh (or Mohammed 'Abduh) (Arabic: محمد عبده) (Nile Delta, 1849 – Alexandria, July 11, 1905) was an Egyptian jurist, religious scholar and liberal reformer, regarded as the founder of Islamic Modernism. A recent book titled "Islam and Liberty" regarded Muhammad Abduh as the founder of the so-called Neo-Mutazilism.
Muhammad Abduh was born in 1849 into a family of peasants in Lower Egypt. He was educated by a private tutor and a reciter of the Quran. When he turned thirteen he was sent to the Aḥmadī mosque which was one of the largest educational institutions in Egypt. A while later Abduh ran away from school and got married. He enrolled at al-Azhar in 1866. Abduh studied logic, philosophy and mysticism at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo. He was a student of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, a philosopher and religious reformer who advocated Pan-Islamism to resist European colonialism. Under al-Afghani's influence, Abduh combined journalism, politics, and his own fascination in mystic spirituality. Al-Afghani taught Abduh about the problems of Egypt and the Islamic world and about the technological achievements of the west.
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Muhammad Iqbal
Sir Muhammad Iqbal (Urdu: محمد اقبال) (November 9, 1877 – April 21, 1938), also known as Allama Iqbal (Urdu: علامہ اقبال), was a philosopher, poet and politician in British India who is widely regarded as having inspired the Pakistan Movement. He is considered one of the most important figures in Urdu literature, with literary work in both the Urdu and Persian languages.
Iqbal is admired as a prominent classical poet by Pakistani, Indian and other international scholars of literature. Though Iqbal is best known as an eminent poet, he is also a highly acclaimed "Muslim philosophical thinker of modern times". His first poetry book, Asrar-e-Khudi, appeared in the Persian language in 1915, and other books of poetry include Rumuz-i-Bekhudi, Payam-i-Mashriq and Zabur-i-Ajam. Amongst these his best known Urdu works are Bang-i-Dara, Bal-i-Jibril, Zarb-i Kalim and a part of Armughan-e-Hijaz. Along with his Urdu and Persian poetry, his various Urdu and English lectures and letters have been very influential in cultural, social, religious and political disputes over the years. In 1922, he was knighted by King George V, giving him the title "Sir".
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Muhammad Qutb
Muhammad Qutb, ( /ˈkʌtəb/; Arabic: محمد قطب), (1919–present) is an Islamist author, scholar and teacher best known as the younger brother of the Egyptian Islamist thinker Sayyid Qutb. He was a supporter and promoter of his older brother's ideas after his brother was executed by the Egyptian government.
Muhammad Qutb was the second eldest of five children born in the Upper Egyptian village of Musha near Asyut, and is several years younger than his elder brother Sayyid, born sometime after 1906. Little is known in English sources about his upbringing and education but it is known that he lived with his famous brother, their two sisters and mother in Helwan near Cairo for several years starting in 1926. He was arrested a few days before Sayyid (on July 29, 1965) for his alleged co-leadership along with his brother in a plot to kill leading political and cultural figures in Egypt and overthrow the government. His life was spared (although his brother died on the gallows in 1966), and in 1972 he was released from prison. Subsequently he took refuge, with other members of the Muslim Brotherhood, in Saudi Arabia.
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Navvab Safavi
Navvab Safavi (born Mojtaba Mir-Lowhi) (1924 – 1955) was a cleric responsible for founding of the Fadayan-e Islam group and with them the assassination of several leading Iranians, primarily politicians.
Born in Khānīābād (southern Tehran), Safavi studied in Najaf, Iraq and worked in Abadan's petroleum installations in the province of Khuzestan for a while. He is said to have been known for his striking looks and his "mesmerizing" speaking ability.
He founded the Fadayan-e Islam organization in 1946, and began recruiting like-minded individuals. Like the Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood), Navvab-Safavi believed that Islamic society needed to be purified. To do this he organized carefully planned assassinations to rid Islam of "corrupting individuals," often prime ministers of Iran's government.
He is said to be "the man who introduced Ayatollah Khomeini to the Muslim Brotherhood and their ideas," who "spent long hours together" with Khomeini in discussion, and visited him in Qom on a number of occasions during 1943 and 1944.
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Necmettin Erbakan
Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish engineer, academic, politician (eventually political party leader), who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 until 1997. He was Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister. In 1997 he was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and later banned from politics by the constitutional court.
Erbakan was born in Sinop, at the coast of Black Sea in northern Turkey. His father was Mehmet Sabri, a judge from the prestigious Kozanoğlu clan (Oghuz Turks, Afshar tribe) of Cilicia and his mother Kamer was a native of Sinop and second wife of Mehmet Sabri.
After the high school education in Istanbul High School, he graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Faculty at the Istanbul Technical University in 1948 with a GPA of 4.00/4.00, and received a PhD degree from the RWTH Aachen University, Germany. After returning to Turkey, Erbakan became lecturer at the İTÜ and was appointed professor in 1965 at the same university. After working some time in leading position in the industry, he switched over to politics, and was elected deputy of Konya in 1969.
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Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden ( /oʊˈsɑːmə bɪn moʊˈhɑːmɨd bɪn əˈwɑːd bɪn ˈlɑːdən/; Arabic: أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن, ʾUsāmah bin Muḥammad bin ʿAwaḍ bin Lādin; March 10, 1957 – May 2, 2011), was the founder of Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets. He was a member of the wealthy Saudi bin Laden family, and an ethnic Yemeni Kindite.
Bin Laden was on the American Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) lists of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and Most Wanted Terrorists for his involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. From 2001 to 2011, bin Laden was a major target of the War on Terror, with a US$25 million bounty by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. On May 2, 2011, bin Laden was shot and killed inside a private residential compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by U.S. Navy SEALs and CIA operatives in a covert operation ordered by United States President Barack Obama.
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Pashtun people
Pashtuns (Pashto: پښتانه Pax̌tānə; also spelled Pushtuns, Pakhtuns or Pukhtuns), also known as ethnic Afghans (Persian: افغان) or Pathans (Urdu: پٹھان, Hindi: पठान Paṭhān), are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group with populations primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Pashtuns are typically characterised by their usage of the Pashto language and practice of Pashtunwali, which is a traditional set of ethics guiding individual and communal conduct. Their origins are unclear but historians have come across references to various ancient peoples called Paktha (Pactyans) between the 2nd and the 1st millennium BC, who inhabited the region between the Hindu Kush and Indus River and may be the early ancestors of Pashtuns. Since the 3rd century AD and onward, they have been referred to by the ethnonym "Afghan".
Often characterised as a warrior and martial race, their history is spread amongst various countries of South, Central and Western Asia, centred around their traditional seat of power in medieval Afghanistan. During the Delhi Sultanate era, the Pashtun Lodi dynasty replaced the Turkic kingdoms as the ruling dynasty in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. Other Pashtuns fought the Persian Empire and the Mughal Empire before obtaining an independent state in the early-18th century, which began with a successful revolution by the Mirwais Hotak followed by conquests by Ahmad Shah Durrani. Pashtuns played a vital role during the Great Game from the 19th century to the 20th century as they were caught between the imperialist designs of the British and Russian empires.
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Paul Berman
Paul Berman is a leading writer on politics and literature whose articles and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, and whose books on major currents in public life have made a significant impact on informed opinion over many years. Commentators liken his cosmopolitan style to that of the so-called New York Intellectuals of the mid-twentieth century, whose conversation-shaping essays on big topics came out in the little magazines of the day.
His books -- published in fifteen languages -- include Terror and Liberalism (a New York Times best-seller in 2003), The Flight of the Intellectuals, A Tale of Two Utopias, Power and the Idealists, and an illustrated children’s book, Make-Believe Empire. He edited, among other anthologies, Carl Sandburg: Selected Poems, for the American Poets Project of the Library of America.
Berman attended Columbia University, receiving an M.A. in American history in 1973. He is a contributing editor of The New Republic and a member of the editorial board of Dissent. He has been awarded fellowships from the MacArthur and Guggenheim foundations and from the Cullman Center for Scholars & Writers at the New York Public Library. He was a Regents’ Lecturer at the University of California, Irvine, and a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.[3]
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Peter Bergen
Peter Bergen (born December 12, 1962 in Minneapolis) is a British-American print and broadcast journalist, author, and CNN's national security analyst. In 1997, Bergen produced the first television interview with Osama Bin Laden. The interview, which aired on CNN, marked the first time that bin Laden declared war against the United States to a Western audience. Bergen has written four books: Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden (2001), The Osama bin Laden I Know (2006), The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and al-Qaeda (2011) and Man Hunt: The Ten Year Search for Bin Laden From 9/11 to Abottabad (2012).
Bergen was born in Minneapolis but grew up in London. He attended Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire before receiving an Open Scholarship to New College, Oxford, in 1981, where he earned a Master of Arts in Modern History.
Bergen is the director of the National Security Studies Program at the New America Foundation, a non-partisan think tank in Washington, D.C. He is also a research fellow at New York University's Center on Law and Security and CNN's national security analyst. In 2008, he was an adjunct lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an Adjunct Professor at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University (2003-07).
wn.com/Peter_Bergen -
Rashid Rida
Muhammad Rashid Rida (September 23, 1865, Ottoman Syria - August 22, 1935, Egypt) is said to have been "one of the most influential scholars and jurists of his generation" and the "most prominent disciple of Muhammad Abduh"
Rida was born near Tripoli in Al-Qalamoun, now in Lebanon but then part of Ottoman Syria within the Ottoman Empire). His early education consisted of training in "traditional Islamic subjects". In 1884-5 he was first exposed to al-`Urwa al-wuthqa, the journal of the Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh. In 1897 he left Syria for Cairo to collaborate with Abduh and the following year they launched al-Manar, a weekly and then monthly journal comprising Quranic commentary at which Rida worked until his death in 1935.
Rida was an early Islamic reformer, whose ideas would later influence 20th-century Islamist thinkers in developing a political philosophy of an "Islamic state".
Like his predecessors, Rida focused on the relative weakness of Muslim societies vis-à-vis Western colonialism, blaming Sufi excesses, the blind imitation of the past (taqlid), the stagnation of the ulama, and the resulting failure to achieve progress in science and technology. He held that these flaws could be alleviated by a return to what he saw as the true principles of Islam - salafiyya Islam which was purged of impurities and Western influences — albeit interpreted (ijtihad) to suit modern realities. This alone could he believed save Muslims from subordination to the colonial powers.
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Rashidun
The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs (الخلفاء الراشدون al-Khulafā’u r-Rāshidūn) is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first four Caliphs who established the Rashidun Caliphate. The concept of "Rightly Guided Caliphs" originated with the Abbasid Dynasty. It is a reference to the Sunni tradition, "Hold firmly to my example (sunnah) and that of the Rightly Guided Caliphs" (Ibn Majah, Abu Dawood).
The first four Caliphs who ruled after the death of Muhammad are often quoted as the Khulafah Rashidun.
The Rashidun were either elected by a council (see The election of Uthman and Islamic democracy) or chosen based on the wishes of their predecessor. In the order of succession, the rashidun were:
Hasan ibn Ali was appointed as Caliph in 661 following the death of Ali and is also regarded as a righteous ruler by Sunni Muslims, although he was recognized by only half of the Islamic state and his rule was challenged and eventually ended by the Governor of Syria, Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan.
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Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate (Arabic: الخلافة الراشدية al-khilāfat ar-Rāshidīyah), (c. 632-661) comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death in 632 (Year 10 A.H. in the Islamic calendar). At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and Central Asia in the east. At its greatest extent it was one of the largest empires in history. It is also known as the Patriarchal Caliphate.
After Muhammad's death in 632, the Medinan Ansar debated which of them should succeed him in running the affairs of the Muslims while Muhammad's household was busy with his burial. Umar (a Quraish) and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah pledged their loyalty to Abu Bakr, with the Ansar and the Quraish soon following suit. Abu Bakr thus became the first Khalifa Rasul Allah (Successor of the Messenger of God), and embarked on campaigns to propagate Islam. First, though, he would have to subdue the Arabian tribes which had gone back on their oaths of allegiance to Islam and the Islamic community. As a Khalifa or Caliph he was not a monarch and never claimed such a title nor did his three successors do so.
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Riaz Hassan
Riaz Hassan AM, FASSA is an Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow and Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology, Flinders University.
In his academic career spanning over 40 years he has conducted research in a number of areas including sociology of housing, sociology of suicide, organizational culture and Muslim societies. He has taught at Flinders University, National University of Singapore, Gadjah Mada University, University of California Los Angeles and Yale University.
In 2001 he completed a 10 year multi-country study of Muslim religiosity in which he explored key aspects of Islamic consciousness. In his findings from this study Hassan argues that the genesis of modern Islamism is located in the historical, social, political and material conditions of Muslim countries and the imperialistic policies of Western nations. The outcomes from his investigations have been published in, Faithlines: Muslim Conceptions of Islam and Society (Oxford University Press, 2002), and Inside Muslim Minds: Understanding Islamic Consciousness (Melbourne University Press, 2008). His other recent books are; Life as a Weapon: The Global Rise of Suicide Bombings (Routledge 2010) and Suicide Bombings (Routledge 2011)
wn.com/Riaz_Hassan -
Robert Dreyfuss
Robert Dreyfuss is a freelance investigative journalist whose work has appeared in The Nation, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, The American Prospect, and other progressive publications. His work also appears on line at TomPaine.com.
Dreyfuss received a bachelor's degree from Columbia University. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dreyfuss was Middle East Intelligence director of the Executive Intelligence Review, the flagship journal of the Lyndon LaRouche movement. His 1981 book, Hostage to Khomeini, was commissioned by Lyndon LaRouche. In the book Robert Dreyfuss provides a detailed explanation of why the Carter administration was fooled into supporting the Khomeini revolutionaries but Khomeini backstabbed the US after the Shah was brought to the US for treatment. The book discusses how various officials in the Carter administration believed that an Islamic Iran could export the Islamic revolution to the Soviet Muslims and cause a break-up of the Soviet Union.This did indeed happen with a rise in an Islamic insurgency inside the Soviet Union which led to its breakup. The chechans Islamists continue to create major havoc for the Russians. Robert Dreyfuss named Cyrus Hashemi as being an CIA and Mossad agent and Cyrus Hashemi sued Robert Dreyfuss and Lyndon Larouche. Victor Ostrovsky in his book revealed that Cyrus Hashemi had indeed been a Mossad asset and had been assassinated by Mossad to shut him up because he was a testifying in a court trial in the US investigating Iran Contra. and it was cowritten with Thierry LeMarc. The book was published by the LaRouche publishing house of the time, New Benjamin Franklin House.[1][2]
wn.com/Robert_Dreyfuss -
Ruhollah Khomeini
Sayyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (روحاللّه مصطفوی موسوی خمینی, Persian pronunciation: [ruːholˈlɑːhe muːsæˈviːje xomeiˈniː], 22 or 24 September 1902 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's Supreme Leader — a position created in the constitution as the highest ranking political and religious authority of the nation – until his death.
Khomeini was a marja ("source of emulation") in Twelver Shi'a Islam, author of more than forty books, but is primarily known for his political activities. He spent more than 15 years in exile for his opposition to the last Shah. In his writings and preachings he expanded the Shi'a Usuli theory of velayat-e faqih, the "guardianship of the jurisconsult (clerical authority)" to include theocratic political rule by the Islamic jurists. This principle (though not known to the wider public before the revolution) was installed in the new Iranian constitution after being put to a referendum.
wn.com/Ruhollah_Khomeini -
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (Arabic: صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي Ṣaddām Ḥusayn ʿAbd al-Maǧīd al-Tikrītī; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and later, the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party and its regional organisation Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, which espoused ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup, later referred to as the 17 July Revolution, that brought the party to long-term power of Iraq.
As vice president under the ailing General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, and at a time when many groups were considered capable of overthrowing the government, Saddam created security forces through which he tightly controlled conflict between the government and the armed forces. In the early 1970s, Saddam nationalized oil and other industries. The state-owned banks were put under his control, leaving the system eventually insolvent mostly due to the Iran–Iraq War, the Gulf War, and UN sanctions. Through the 1970s, Saddam cemented his authority over the apparatuses of government as oil money helped Iraq's economy to grow at a rapid pace. Positions of power in the country were filled with Sunnis, a minority that made up only a fifth of the population.
wn.com/Saddam_Hussein -
Sayyid Qutb
Sayyid Qutb (Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [ˈsæjjed ˈʔotˤb], Arabic: [ˈsæjjed ˈqotˤb]) (also Said, Syed, Seyyid, Sayid, or Sayed; Koteb, Qutub, Kotb, or Kutb) (Arabic: سيد قطب; October 9, 1906 – August 29, 1966) was an Egyptian author, educator, Islamist theorist, poet, and the leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and '60s.
Author of 24 books, including novels, literary arts’ critique and works on education, he is best known in the Muslim world for his work on what he believed to be the social and political role of Islam, particularly in his books Social Justice and Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq (Milestones). His magnum opus, Fi Zilal al-Qur'an (In the shade of the Qur'an), is a 30-volume commentary on the Qur'an.
During most of his life, Qutb's inner circle mainly consisted of influential politicians, intellectuals, poets and literary figures, both of his age and of the preceding generation. By the mid-1940s, many of his writings were officially among the curricula of schools, colleges and universities.
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Shah Waliullah
Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlawi (February 21, 1703 – August 20, 1762) was an Islamic scholar and reformer. He was born during the reign of Aurangzeb. He worked for the revival of Muslim rule and intellectual learning in South Asia, during a time of waning Muslim power. He invited Ahmed Shah Abdalli (Durrani) to attack India and quell the rising power of Marathas. He opposed the divisions and deviations within Islam and its practice in India and hoped to "purify" the religion and unify all Indian Muslims under his "banner of truth". He is also thought to have anticipated a number of progressive social, economic, and political ideas of the modern era such as social reform, equal rights, labour protection, welfare entitlement of all to food, clothing and housing. Religious tolerance was one of the ideas of the modern era that he promoted.
Shah Waliullah was a descendent of the Quraish tribe of Arabia and his genealogy can be traced to the second khalifa of Islam, Umar on his paternal side. His father, Shah Abdur Rahim, named his son 'Qutbuddin Ahmad'. He was dubbed as 'Shah Waliullah' because waliullah means "friend of God" and he was a pious individual. He was from the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah and was an adherent of Hanafi jurisprudence. His complete name was Shah Waliullah Qutbuddin Ahmad and he was born in Phulat, a town in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India on February 21, 1703.
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Umar
Umar (Arabic: عمر ابن الخطاب, Transliteration: `Umar ibn Al-Khattāb, Umar Son of Al-Khittab, c. 586–590 CE– 7 November 644), also known as Omar, Farooq the Great was the most powerful of the four Rashidun Caliphs and one of the most powerful and influential Muslim rulers in history. He was a sahabi (companion) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He succeeded Caliph Abu Bakr (632–634) as the second Caliph of Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. He was an expert jurist and is best known for his justice, that earned him the title Al-Farooq (The one who distinguishes between right and wrong). Under Umar the Islamic empire expanded at an unprecedented rate ruling the whole Sassanid Persian Empire and more than two thirds of the Eastern Roman Empire. His brilliantly coordinated multi-prong attacks against the Sassanid Persian Empire resulted in the conquest of the Persian empire in less than two years. His legislative abilities and firm political and administrative control over a rapidly expanding empire marked his reputation as a great political and military leader. It was Umar, who for the first time in 500 years since their expulsion from the Holy Land, allowed Jews to practice their religion freely and live inside Jerusalem.[citation needed]
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World War I
World War I (WWI), which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939 (World War II), and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all the world's great powers, which were assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (based on the Triple Entente of the United Kingdom, France and Russia) and the Central Powers (originally centred around the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy; but, as Austria–Hungary had taken the offensive against the agreement, Italy did not enter into the war). These alliances both reorganised (Italy fought for the Allies), and expanded as more nations entered the war. Ultimately more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history. More than 9 million combatants were killed, largely because of enormous increases in lethality of weapons, thanks to new technology, without corresponding improvements in protection or mobility. It was the sixth-deadliest conflict in world history, subsequently paving the way for various political changes such as revolutions in the nations involved.
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Better Elected Islamists than Dictators: Debate from Intelligence Squared US
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 108:21
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
The popular uprisings of the Arab Spring have left a leadership void that Islamist parties have been quick to fill. A longtime supporter of former strongmen like Egypt's Mubarak and Tunisia's Ben Ali, the US now faces the uncomfortable result of Arab democracy—the rise of Islamist parties that are less amenable to the West than their autocratic predecessors. Will the Islamists, who once embraced violence, slowly liberalize as they face the difficulties of state leadership? Or will it mean the growth of anti-Americanism and radicalization in the region? Visit www.iq2us.org for research, results and more on the debate!
http://wn.com/Better_Elected_Islamists_than_Dictators_Debate_from_Intelligence_Squared_US
The popular uprisings of the Arab Spring have left a leadership void that Islamist parties have been quick to fill. A longtime supporter of former strongmen like Egypt's Mubarak and Tunisia's Ben Ali, the US now faces the uncomfortable result of Arab democracy—the rise of Islamist parties that are less amenable to the West than their autocratic predecessors. Will the Islamists, who once embraced violence, slowly liberalize as they face the difficulties of state leadership? Or will it mean the growth of anti-Americanism and radicalization in the region? Visit www.iq2us.org for research, results and more on the debate!
Islamist group breaks truce in Mali conflict
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:59
- Updated: 04 Jan 2013
www.euronews.com One of the Islamist groups occupying northern Mali has said it is withdrawing its offer made last month to stop fighting. Ansar Dine, which has been taking part in talks in Burkina Faso, blamed the Malian government for scorning the offer. The group, along with tuareg rebels, had said it was ready to cease hostilities and negotiate with the authorities after the UN Security Council gave the green light for an international armed force to be deployed in Mali to oust the Islamists. Ansar Dine is one of three Islamist movements dominating northern Mali since June. Meanwhile pictures of three Algerian diplomats held hostage by suspected Islamist militants since last April have been broadcast by a pan-Arabic TV channel. The men appealed to their country's president to find a solution over their plight. Algeria's government said it was mobilised to secure the hostages' release. Mali has become an international headache ever since a military coup removed the president in March. Find us on: Youtube bit.ly Facebook www.facebook.com Twitter twitter.com
http://wn.com/Islamist_group_breaks_truce_in_Mali_conflict
www.euronews.com One of the Islamist groups occupying northern Mali has said it is withdrawing its offer made last month to stop fighting. Ansar Dine, which has been taking part in talks in Burkina Faso, blamed the Malian government for scorning the offer. The group, along with tuareg rebels, had said it was ready to cease hostilities and negotiate with the authorities after the UN Security Council gave the green light for an international armed force to be deployed in Mali to oust the Islamists. Ansar Dine is one of three Islamist movements dominating northern Mali since June. Meanwhile pictures of three Algerian diplomats held hostage by suspected Islamist militants since last April have been broadcast by a pan-Arabic TV channel. The men appealed to their country's president to find a solution over their plight. Algeria's government said it was mobilised to secure the hostages' release. Mali has become an international headache ever since a military coup removed the president in March. Find us on: Youtube bit.ly Facebook www.facebook.com Twitter twitter.com
- published: 04 Jan 2013
- views: 157
- author: Euronews
Islamist group breaks truce in Mali conflict - IndepthAfrica
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:59
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
One of the Islamist groups occupying northern Mali has said it is withdrawing its offer made last month to stop fighting. Ansar Dine, which has been taking part in talks in Burkina Faso, blamed the Malian government for scorning the offer.
http://wn.com/Islamist_group_breaks_truce_in_Mali_conflict_IndepthAfrica
One of the Islamist groups occupying northern Mali has said it is withdrawing its offer made last month to stop fighting. Ansar Dine, which has been taking part in talks in Burkina Faso, blamed the Malian government for scorning the offer.
- published: 04 Jan 2013
- views: 52
- author: Indepth Africa
My Brother the Islamist ( Full Version )
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 56:59
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
Eye-opening documentary in which a man discovers that his brother has unexpectedly converted to Islam.
http://wn.com/My_Brother_the_Islamist_Full_Version_
Eye-opening documentary in which a man discovers that his brother has unexpectedly converted to Islam.
- published: 28 Dec 2011
- views: 9249
- author: Alturkestan
Islamist dickhead
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:18
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
Britain's leading homegrown nutcase. BOOK OF VIDEO TRANSCRIPTS NOW AVAILABLE www.lulu.com "Homosexuals should be stoned to death" www.dailymail.co.uk "Make every woman wear a burkha" www.express.co.uk "I want to see the flag of Allah flying over Downing Street" www.thisislondon.co.uk Wikipedia article on Choudary en.wikipedia.org Andy Choudary's ungodly past www.dailymail.co.uk Explaining how Islam will take over the UK www.youtube.com Choudary investigated by police over Mujahideen fundraising www.telegraph.co.uk PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION AND SUPPORT THE GLOBAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST SHARIA LAW www.onelawforall.org www.shariapetition.com You can download an audio version of this video at patcondell.libsyn.com
http://wn.com/Islamist_dickhead
Britain's leading homegrown nutcase. BOOK OF VIDEO TRANSCRIPTS NOW AVAILABLE www.lulu.com "Homosexuals should be stoned to death" www.dailymail.co.uk "Make every woman wear a burkha" www.express.co.uk "I want to see the flag of Allah flying over Downing Street" www.thisislondon.co.uk Wikipedia article on Choudary en.wikipedia.org Andy Choudary's ungodly past www.dailymail.co.uk Explaining how Islam will take over the UK www.youtube.com Choudary investigated by police over Mujahideen fundraising www.telegraph.co.uk PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION AND SUPPORT THE GLOBAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST SHARIA LAW www.onelawforall.org www.shariapetition.com You can download an audio version of this video at patcondell.libsyn.com
- published: 24 Mar 2009
- views: 297133
- author: patcondell
BBC News - Libya- Islamist militia bases stormed in Benghazi
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:21
- Updated: 06 Dec 2012
Some 30000 people filled a broad boulevard as they marched along a lake in central Benghazi on Friday to the gates of the headquarters of Ansar Al-Shariah. Banners paid tribute to the slain US ambassador, with signs reading "Libya lost a friend" and "We want justice for Stevens." Responding to the report from Benghazi, US Sen. John McCain applauded the citizens' efforts Friday and said it represented the true, freedom-loving Libya that he and other US officials involved in the country knew. "Somewhere Chris Stevens is smiling," the Arizona Republican said. "This is what we knew ... about Libya." Residents of another main eastern city, Darna, have also begun to stand up against Ansar Al-Shariah and other militias.
http://wn.com/BBC_News_Libya_Islamist_militia_bases_stormed_in_Benghazi
Some 30000 people filled a broad boulevard as they marched along a lake in central Benghazi on Friday to the gates of the headquarters of Ansar Al-Shariah. Banners paid tribute to the slain US ambassador, with signs reading "Libya lost a friend" and "We want justice for Stevens." Responding to the report from Benghazi, US Sen. John McCain applauded the citizens' efforts Friday and said it represented the true, freedom-loving Libya that he and other US officials involved in the country knew. "Somewhere Chris Stevens is smiling," the Arizona Republican said. "This is what we knew ... about Libya." Residents of another main eastern city, Darna, have also begun to stand up against Ansar Al-Shariah and other militias.
- published: 22 Sep 2012
- views: 11533
- author: TheSasss1
'Thugs, Islamists & chaos' - welcome to New Libya?
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:39
- Updated: 22 Nov 2012
After a national election marred by violence and boycotts, vote counting is now underway in Libya. The election marks the beginning of a new, weak Libya, political analyst Richard Spencer told RT. Official results for the historic parliamentary election are not expected to be released for about a week, but the country's liberal Islamic coalition has already claimed an overall lead, contradicting predictions that hardline Islamist parties would sweep the poll. RT LIVE rt.com Subscribe to RT! www.youtube.com Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com Follow us on Twitter twitter.com Follow us on Google+ plus.google.com RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 500 million YouTube views benchmark.
http://wn.com/'Thugs,_Islamists_chaos'_welcome_to_New_Libya?
After a national election marred by violence and boycotts, vote counting is now underway in Libya. The election marks the beginning of a new, weak Libya, political analyst Richard Spencer told RT. Official results for the historic parliamentary election are not expected to be released for about a week, but the country's liberal Islamic coalition has already claimed an overall lead, contradicting predictions that hardline Islamist parties would sweep the poll. RT LIVE rt.com Subscribe to RT! www.youtube.com Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com Follow us on Twitter twitter.com Follow us on Google+ plus.google.com RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 500 million YouTube views benchmark.
- published: 09 Jul 2012
- views: 6324
- author: RussiaToday
Islamists Killed Americas in Libya, but Right-Wing Christians Are to Blame?
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:57
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
Four Americans were killed at the American consulate in Libya this past week. So why do liberals insist on saying Christians are as violent as Muslims? Find out on this ZoNation.
http://wn.com/Islamists_Killed_Americas_in_Libya,_but_Right-Wing_Christians_Are_to_Blame?
Four Americans were killed at the American consulate in Libya this past week. So why do liberals insist on saying Christians are as violent as Muslims? Find out on this ZoNation.
- published: 14 Sep 2012
- views: 26513
- author: Pajamasmedia
Michele Bachmann: Islamists are Basically Hitler
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:22
- Updated: 06 Jan 2013
Michele Bachmann is back, folks! After barely winning in the 2012 election, Michele Bachamnn was a guest on a conservative radio program and went on an anti-Muslim rant. Speaking with host Jan Markell and co-host Eric Barger, Bachmann went on to suggest that people read Islamic reading material, comparing this to tactics such as reading Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, in order to learn about Muslims' plot to conquer America... This clip from the Majority Report, live MF at 12 noon EST and via daily podcast at Majority.FM
http://wn.com/Michele_Bachmann_Islamists_are_Basically_Hitler
Michele Bachmann is back, folks! After barely winning in the 2012 election, Michele Bachamnn was a guest on a conservative radio program and went on an anti-Muslim rant. Speaking with host Jan Markell and co-host Eric Barger, Bachmann went on to suggest that people read Islamic reading material, comparing this to tactics such as reading Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, in order to learn about Muslims' plot to conquer America... This clip from the Majority Report, live MF at 12 noon EST and via daily podcast at Majority.FM
- published: 13 Dec 2012
- views: 3797
- author: SamSeder
Australian Islamist Cerantonio: We Must Fight the Infidels Militarily Until Caliphate Restored
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:32
- Updated: 10 Dec 2012
Australian Islamist Musa Cerantonio: We Must Fight the Infidels by Physical Warfare Until the Caliphate Is Restored The Internet - November 30, 2012 www.memri.org www.memri.org http Follow MEMRI on Facebook: on.fb.me Follow MEMRI on Twitter: twitter.com
http://wn.com/Australian_Islamist_Cerantonio_We_Must_Fight_the_Infidels_Militarily_Until_Caliphate_Restored
Australian Islamist Musa Cerantonio: We Must Fight the Infidels by Physical Warfare Until the Caliphate Is Restored The Internet - November 30, 2012 www.memri.org www.memri.org http Follow MEMRI on Facebook: on.fb.me Follow MEMRI on Twitter: twitter.com
- published: 06 Dec 2012
- views: 5062
- author: MEMRITVVideos
Islamist Tremors Continue to Shake Ethiopia
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:06
- Updated: 06 Jan 2013
Back in January 2011, Gerald Flurry prophesied that Ethiopia would eventually turn radical and ally itself with Iran—this despite the fact that the majority of Ethiopia is Christian. Today, tensions in Ethiopia between the Muslim minority and Christian majority have greatly escalated since the death of Ethiopia's last Prime Minister and strongman, Meles Zenawi.
http://wn.com/Islamist_Tremors_Continue_to_Shake_Ethiopia
Back in January 2011, Gerald Flurry prophesied that Ethiopia would eventually turn radical and ally itself with Iran—this despite the fact that the majority of Ethiopia is Christian. Today, tensions in Ethiopia between the Muslim minority and Christian majority have greatly escalated since the death of Ethiopia's last Prime Minister and strongman, Meles Zenawi.
- published: 21 Dec 2012
- views: 2380
- author: The Trumpet Daily
Islamist Egypt: women say they were prevented from voting for not wearing Islamic veils
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:06
- Updated: 21 Dec 2012
Thousands of Egyptian women in the port city of Alexandria have protested against a judge who has prevented them from voting on the draft constitution because they weren't suitably veiled. The incident has highlighted growing fears among liberal secular-minded Egyptians that the country could become a theocracy where women's and minority's rights are eroded by religious dogma.
http://wn.com/Islamist_Egypt_women_say_they_were_prevented_from_voting_for_not_wearing_Islamic_veils
Thousands of Egyptian women in the port city of Alexandria have protested against a judge who has prevented them from voting on the draft constitution because they weren't suitably veiled. The incident has highlighted growing fears among liberal secular-minded Egyptians that the country could become a theocracy where women's and minority's rights are eroded by religious dogma.
- published: 16 Dec 2012
- views: 3808
- author: JewishNewsOne
What is Islamism and how does it manifest itself in politics?
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:07
- Updated: 21 Nov 2012
Dietrich Jung debunks the popular belief that Islamism is a militant and violent strife for an Islamic order, using Turkey as an example.
http://wn.com/What_is_Islamism_and_how_does_it_manifest_itself_in_politics?
Dietrich Jung debunks the popular belief that Islamism is a militant and violent strife for an Islamic order, using Turkey as an example.
- published: 11 Dec 2011
- views: 499
- author: 100QsAboutIslam
Australian Islamist: We Will Establish a Caliphate, Instate Shari'a, Make Arabic Official Language
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:59
- Updated: 05 Jan 2013
Ismail Al-Wahwah, Spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Australia: We Will Establish the Caliphate, Instate the Shari'a, and Make Arabic the Official Language The Internet - December 24, 2012 www.memri.org www.memri.org http Follow MEMRI on Facebook: on.fb.me Follow MEMRI on Twitter: twitter.com
http://wn.com/Australian_Islamist_We_Will_Establish_a_Caliphate,_Instate_Shari'a,_Make_Arabic_Official_Language
Ismail Al-Wahwah, Spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Australia: We Will Establish the Caliphate, Instate the Shari'a, and Make Arabic the Official Language The Internet - December 24, 2012 www.memri.org www.memri.org http Follow MEMRI on Facebook: on.fb.me Follow MEMRI on Twitter: twitter.com
- published: 31 Dec 2012
- views: 4892
- author: MEMRITVVideos
Al Tawheed Islamists Bombard Zeidani in Idlib, Syria
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:58
- Updated: 06 Jan 2013
(28/11/12) Al Tawheed, a Jihadist group closely alligned with Jabhat Al Nusra (Al Qaeda in Syria) assault what is purported to be a military checkpoint in Idlib. The Islamists, most of whom are wearing heavy beards and Salafist clothing pray before the attack which utilises miltipile rocket launchers and a tank. Al Tawheed whose name means 'Banner of Monotheism,' alluding to their religious ideology are based in Idlib where they increasingly co-ordinate their efforts with the an increasingly powerful coalition of groups which were once independent but are now increasingly synonymous with Al Qaeda on whose social media sites I acquired this footage.
http://wn.com/Al_Tawheed_Islamists_Bombard_Zeidani_in_Idlib,_Syria
(28/11/12) Al Tawheed, a Jihadist group closely alligned with Jabhat Al Nusra (Al Qaeda in Syria) assault what is purported to be a military checkpoint in Idlib. The Islamists, most of whom are wearing heavy beards and Salafist clothing pray before the attack which utilises miltipile rocket launchers and a tank. Al Tawheed whose name means 'Banner of Monotheism,' alluding to their religious ideology are based in Idlib where they increasingly co-ordinate their efforts with the an increasingly powerful coalition of groups which were once independent but are now increasingly synonymous with Al Qaeda on whose social media sites I acquired this footage.
- published: 02 Dec 2012
- views: 981
- author: SyrianRebelWatch
Occupy America: Leftists and Islamists United
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:58
- Updated: 05 Jan 2013
www.answeringmuslims.com Muslims have joined forces with the "Occupiers" to redistribute wealth.
http://wn.com/Occupy_America_Leftists_and_Islamists_United
www.answeringmuslims.com Muslims have joined forces with the "Occupiers" to redistribute wealth.
- published: 20 Nov 2011
- views: 20070
- author: Acts17Apologetics
Muslim Brotherhood in America, Part 6: Electing Islamist Republicans
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 14:47
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
muslimbrotherhoodinamerica.com In this part, we consider how several individuals with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamists have been groomed to run for office as Republicans. The careers of Grover Norqust proteges Kamal Nawash, Faisal Gill, and Imad 'David' Ramadan are given close scrutiny.
http://wn.com/Muslim_Brotherhood_in_America,_Part_6_Electing_Islamist_Republicans
muslimbrotherhoodinamerica.com In this part, we consider how several individuals with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamists have been groomed to run for office as Republicans. The careers of Grover Norqust proteges Kamal Nawash, Faisal Gill, and Imad 'David' Ramadan are given close scrutiny.
- published: 24 Apr 2012
- views: 6256
- author: securefreedom
Obama Endgame Revealed: Destroy Israel w/Islamist Regimes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 24:56
- Updated: 30 Nov 2012
bobpowell.blogspot.com In this interstitial episode of TTiV, I talk about the endgame of the Obama regime with The Truth Denied radio host Roxy Lopez. By helping al-Qaeda terrorists and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood take over "Arab Spring" countries, Barack Obama is actively implementing the prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39 which - whether you believe in the Bible or not - will culminate in attacks on the Jewish state which will start a conflagration that will affect the entire world. Obama is about to throw Israel under the bus, and they will have no choice but to defend themselves with their stockpile of up to 600 undeclared nuclear weapons.
http://wn.com/Obama_Endgame_Revealed_Destroy_Israel_w_Islamist_Regimes
bobpowell.blogspot.com In this interstitial episode of TTiV, I talk about the endgame of the Obama regime with The Truth Denied radio host Roxy Lopez. By helping al-Qaeda terrorists and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood take over "Arab Spring" countries, Barack Obama is actively implementing the prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39 which - whether you believe in the Bible or not - will culminate in attacks on the Jewish state which will start a conflagration that will affect the entire world. Obama is about to throw Israel under the bus, and they will have no choice but to defend themselves with their stockpile of up to 600 undeclared nuclear weapons.
- published: 21 Sep 2012
- views: 1634
- author: Bobby Powell
ARAB SPRING: Mixed fortunes for islamists
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:47
- Updated: 18 Jul 2012
Armen Georgian meets Bernard Haykel, a prominent Middle East expert. Egypt's parliament was hanging in legal limbo on Wednesday after the country's top court overruled a presidential decree reinstating the dissolved house. Haykel says both the Muslim Brotherhood and the military are losing credibility. He also assesses Egypt's foreign relations under Morsi and the prospects for better ties with Saudi Arabia. THE INTERVIEW - An interview with a French or international personality from the world of economics, politics, culture or diplomacy. All shows: www.france24.com FRANCE 24 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 24/7 www.france24.com
http://wn.com/ARAB_SPRING_Mixed_fortunes_for_islamists
Armen Georgian meets Bernard Haykel, a prominent Middle East expert. Egypt's parliament was hanging in legal limbo on Wednesday after the country's top court overruled a presidential decree reinstating the dissolved house. Haykel says both the Muslim Brotherhood and the military are losing credibility. He also assesses Egypt's foreign relations under Morsi and the prospects for better ties with Saudi Arabia. THE INTERVIEW - An interview with a French or international personality from the world of economics, politics, culture or diplomacy. All shows: www.france24.com FRANCE 24 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 24/7 www.france24.com
- published: 11 Jul 2012
- views: 250
- author: france24english
Better Elected Islamists than Dictators: Debate Edited for WNET
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 56:48
- Updated: 07 Dec 2012
The popular uprisings of the Arab Spring have left a leadership void that Islamist parties have been quick to fill. A longtime supporter of former strongmen like Egypt's Mubarak and Tunisia's Ben Ali, the US now faces the uncomfortable result of Arab democracy—the rise of Islamist parties that are less amenable to the West than their autocratic predecessors. Will the Islamists, who once embraced violence, slowly liberalize as they face the difficulties of state leadership? Or will it mean the growth of anti-Americanism and radicalization in the region?
http://wn.com/Better_Elected_Islamists_than_Dictators_Debate_Edited_for_WNET
The popular uprisings of the Arab Spring have left a leadership void that Islamist parties have been quick to fill. A longtime supporter of former strongmen like Egypt's Mubarak and Tunisia's Ben Ali, the US now faces the uncomfortable result of Arab democracy—the rise of Islamist parties that are less amenable to the West than their autocratic predecessors. Will the Islamists, who once embraced violence, slowly liberalize as they face the difficulties of state leadership? Or will it mean the growth of anti-Americanism and radicalization in the region?
- published: 19 Oct 2012
- views: 1207
- author: IntelligenceSquared Debates
Week in Blogs: Radical Islamists Reportedly Raped Ambassador, but MSM Scolds Romney
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:17
- Updated: 27 Nov 2012
Why is Chuck Todd more upset with Mitt Romney than with the radical Islamists who raped and murdered US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens? Find out. Also, hear about the radical occupiers who threatened to blow up a bridge, and more, on the Week in Blogs.
http://wn.com/Week_in_Blogs_Radical_Islamists_Reportedly_Raped_Ambassador,_but_MSM_Scolds_Romney
Why is Chuck Todd more upset with Mitt Romney than with the radical Islamists who raped and murdered US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens? Find out. Also, hear about the radical occupiers who threatened to blow up a bridge, and more, on the Week in Blogs.
- published: 14 Sep 2012
- views: 4069
- author: Pajamasmedia
Egypt's Rapid Transformation Into an Islamist State - The Trumpet Daily
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 21:51
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
We need to understand the ENORMOUS IMPACT that Egypt working with Iran will have in the Middle East and even globally.
http://wn.com/Egypt's_Rapid_Transformation_Into_an_Islamist_State_The_Trumpet_Daily
We need to understand the ENORMOUS IMPACT that Egypt working with Iran will have in the Middle East and even globally.
- published: 27 Nov 2012
- views: 1726
- author: The Trumpet Daily
Egyptian Commentators Debate Islamist Proposal of United States of Arabs with Jerusalem as Capital
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:27
- Updated: 22 Dec 2012
Egyptian Commentators in Heated Debate about Egyptian Cleric Safwat Higazi's Proposal for a United States of Arabs with Jerusalem as Its Capital Rotana Egypt TV (Saudi Arabia) - June 10-11, 2012 www.memri.org www.memri.org http Follow MEMRI on Facebook: on.fb.me Follow MEMRI on Twitter: twitter.com
http://wn.com/Egyptian_Commentators_Debate_Islamist_Proposal_of_United_States_of_Arabs_with_Jerusalem_as_Capital
Egyptian Commentators in Heated Debate about Egyptian Cleric Safwat Higazi's Proposal for a United States of Arabs with Jerusalem as Its Capital Rotana Egypt TV (Saudi Arabia) - June 10-11, 2012 www.memri.org www.memri.org http Follow MEMRI on Facebook: on.fb.me Follow MEMRI on Twitter: twitter.com
- published: 18 Jun 2012
- views: 6721
- author: MEMRITVVideos
photo: UN / Evan Schneider
06 Jan 2013
LONDON -- They have barely 3,000 inhabitants and far more sheep than people. They are more than 8,700 miles from London. For much of the year, they are bitterly cold and wind-swept, with only open sea and ice between them and Antarctica ... But the Falkland Islands, the focus of a short war between Britain and Argentina in 1982, have been in the headlines again recently ... Their arguments suggest what has long been evident ... Ms ... Mr ... Cameron said....(size: 5.1Kb)
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
06 Jan 2013
ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani military is accusing forces from neighboring India of crossing the boundary between the two sides' forces in Kashmir and attacking a Pakistani border post, killing a soldier. The military's public relations office said in a statement Sunday that another Pakistani soldier was critically wounded in the incident early Sunday. They said troops are still exchanging gunfire in the area ... All rights reserved ... Parker ... ....(size: 4.3Kb)
photo: AP / Joerg Koch
07 Jan 2013
NEW YORK – In the shadow of the euro crisis and America’s fiscal cliff, it is easy to ignore the global economy’s long-term problems. But, while we focus on immediate concerns, they continue to fester, and we overlook them at our peril. The most serious is global warming. While the global economy’s weak performance has led to a corresponding slowdown in the increase in carbon emissions, it amounts to only a short respite ... ....(size: 5.3Kb)
photo: US Army / Sgt. Christopher Bonebrake
07 Jan 2013
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. When Congress granted President Lyndon B. Johnson absolute powers to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression," Congress could have also included "all necessary vanities." The 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which greatly escalated a foreign imperial war in Vietnam, added fuel to the bonfires of vanity....(size: 5.2Kb)
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
05 Jan 2013
Tweet. New Delhi, Jan 5 (ANI). The male friend of the 23-year-old medical student, who was gang-raped and left unclothed and bleeding in the street and later died in hospital two weeks after she was attacked on December 16 on a private bus in New Delhi, has said that things would have gone differently if someone had stopped to help ... "It would have been a very different scenario today, had even one person come to our help that day ... (ANI)....(size: 3.8Kb)
noodls
08 Jan 2013
(Source. Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia) « Back. TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF THE PROGRAMME. Strategic Planning Workshop on Community Service Projects. Day 1 (31 January 2013/Thursday). 8.00 a.m. Breakfast. 8.30 a.m. Session 1.. Becoming Volunteer. Dr. Bubble. 10.30 a.m. Morning Tea-Break. 11.00 a.m. Session 2.. Humanitarian Work. (Prof ... (Ust ... This noodl was issued by Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia and was initially posted at www.iium.edu.my....(size: 12.3Kb)
New Straits/Business Times
08 Jan 2013
A non-governmental organisation has lodged a police report against a Facebook user who allegedly blasphemed Islam with obscene words to describe Prophet Muhammad and the Rukun Iman (Tenets of Faith) ... Perimau president Mohd Ridhwan Othman said the postings were unacceptable and disrespectful of Islam and the country's laws....(size: 2.1Kb)
BBC News
08 Jan 2013
Muslim women's charity Amina will use Islamic teachings and an Imam to challenge the misconception that Islam allows violence against women ... Smina Akhtar, from Amina, said she had been shocked by the way people had manipulated the teachings of Islam. She said ... "We're quite surprised that Muslim women are often not educated, even in Islam, because Islam does not condone violence.". She added ... Smina added ... She added ... ....(size: 4.1Kb)
The Times of India
08 Jan 2013
Ikramul Islam, the leader of the poaching gang which sneaked into the park on Sunday evening, was caught by the forest guards. Islam is a resident of Bogoribari village under Dalgaon police station in Darrang district....(size: 1.1Kb)
New Straits/Business Times
08 Jan 2013
Hadi then went on ranting about the Constitution, about how Islam was inaccurately put as Malaysia's official religion in the Constitution drafted by the Reid Commission when it should be stated as Addin (way of life) ... After all, admitting to one's mistakes is the hallmark of integrity and highly regarded in Islam ... the un-Islamic Constitution....(size: 4.2Kb)
The Times of India
08 Jan 2013
A 15-year-old in the Maldives whose father is accused of repeatedly raping her and killing the resulting baby risks being flogged for "fornication" with another man under the nation's strict Islamic law, a police source said on Monday ... beaches, has elements of Islamic Sharia law as well as English common law....(size: 1.6Kb)
The Examiner
08 Jan 2013
Prosecutors claim Sara Ege used a stick to beat her seven-year-old son “like a dog” if he could not recite passages from the Islamic text ... Yaseen died on July 12, 2010 ... The court also heard that in the months after Yaseen's death Ege told a doctor she had been told to kill her son by Shaitan - an Islamic name for the devil - and that she felt 100 per cent better after he died ... “I was getting more and more frustrated ... ....(size: 2.3Kb)
The Washington Times
08 Jan 2013
Video.. Related Stories. Republicans are suspicious of John O. Brennan’s refusal to link the words “Islamic” and “terrorism” in the same breath as President Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser ... Bush administration ... Brennan’s purging of the phrase “Islamic terrorism” concerns conservatives who think it shows political correctness on the part of the Obama administration, said James J....(size: 3.3Kb)
The Telegraph India
08 Jan 2013
The Telegraph India
08 Jan 2013
The Times of India
08 Jan 2013
DIMAPUR. A "national consultation" on Naga political settlement is scheduled to be held on January 12 and 13 at India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi ... According to the Hoho, a number of student bodies and other frontal organizations are also expected to participate at the proposed consultation ... ....(size: 1.6Kb)
The Washington Post
08 Jan 2013
At St ... Loading... Comments Weigh In Corrections?. Recommend ... Gallery ... Many Christians, who make up roughly 10 percent of Egypt’s 85 million people, have joined with liberals in complaining that the country’s new constitution, ratified last month, sets the stage for a broader implementation of Islamic law ... 7 ... Rising Islamism has spurred tense exchanges and sporadic violence in mixed communities across Egypt in recent months....(size: 7.5Kb)
The Guardian
08 Jan 2013
MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH. Associated Press= RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — With U.N ... "State of Palestine." ... The U.N ... Since the U.N ... agencies, something made possible by the November vote, and his security forces continue to coordinate with Israeli troops in tracking Islamic militants in the West Bank ... Abbas has no say in east Jerusalem, annexed by Israel in 1967, or in Gaza, seized by his political rival, the Islamic militant group Hamas, in 2007....(size: 12.5Kb)
This article is about the political Islamic movement. For the religion of Islam, see Islam. For scholarship on Islam, see Islamic studies.
| Part of the Politics series on |
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Islamism (Islam+-ism; Arabic: الإسلامية al-ʾislāmiyyah) also Arabic: إسلام سياسي ʾIslām siyāsī , lit., "Political Islam" is a set of ideologies holding that Islam is "as much a political ideology as a religion".[1] Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary (see below). Leading Islamist thinkers emphasized the enforcement of Sharia (Islamic law); of pan-Islamic political unity; and of the elimination of non-Muslim, particularly Western military, economic, political, social, or cultural influences in the Muslim world, which they believe to be incompatible with Islam.[2]
Some observers suggest Islamism's tenets are less strict, and can be defined as a form of identity politics or "support for [Muslim] identity, authenticity, broader regionalism, revivalism, [and] revitalization of the community".[3] Following the Arab Spring at least one source has described Islamism as "increasingly interdependent" with democracy in much of the Arab Muslim world, such that "neither can now survive without the other."[4]
Many of those described as "Islamists" oppose the use of the term, and claim that their political beliefs and goals are simply an expression of Islamic religious belief. Similarly, some experts favor the term activist Islam,[5][6] militant Islam,[7] or political Islam instead.[8]
Central figures of modern Islamism include Sayyid Qutb, Hasan al-Banna, Abul Ala Maududi,[9] Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,[10] and Navvab Safavi.
Definitions[link]
Islamism has been defined as:
- "the belief that Islam should guide social and political as well as personal life",[11]
- "the [Islamic] ideology that guides society as a whole and that [teaches] law must be in conformity with the Islamic sharia",[12]
- an unsustainably flexible movement of ... everything to everyone: an alternative social provider to the poor masses; an angry platform for the disillusioned young; a loud trumpet-call announcing `a return to the pure religion` to those seeking an identity; a "progressive, moderate religious platform` for the affluent and liberal; ... and at the extremes, a violent vehicle for rejectionists and radicals.[13]
- an Islamic "movement that seeks cultural differentiation from the West and reconnection with the pre-colonial symbolic universe",[14]
- "the organised political trend, owing its modern origin to the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928, that seeks to solve modern political problems by reference to Muslim texts",[15]
- "the whole body of thought which seeks to invest society with Islam which may be integrationist, but may also be traditionalist, reform-minded or even revolutionary",[15]
- "the active assertion and promotion of beliefs, prescriptions, laws or policies that are held to be Islamic in character,"[5]
- a movement of "Muslims who draw upon the belief, symbols, and language of Islam to inspire, shape, and animate political activity;" which may contain moderate, tolerant, peaceful activists, and/or those who "preach intolerance and espouse violence."[16]
- a term "used by outsiders to denote a strand of activity which they think justifies their misconception of Islam as something rigid and immobile, a mere tribal affiliation."[10][17]
Islamism takes different forms and spans a wide range of strategies and tactics, and thus is not a united movement.
Moderate reformists who accept and work within the democratic process include the Justice and Development Party of Turkey, Tunisian author and reformer Rashid Al-Ghannouchi and Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. The Islamist group Hezbollah in Lebanon participates in both elections and armed attacks, seeking to abolish the state of Israel.
Groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan and the Sudanese Brotherhood favored a top-down road to power by military coup d'état.[18] The radical Islamists al-Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad reject entirely democracy and self-proclaimed Muslims they find overly moderate, and preach violent jihad, urging and conducting attacks on a religious basis. This is not of the normal religion, and is responded to with outrage by the public[citation needed].
Another major division within Islamism is between the fundamentalist "guardians of the tradition" of the Salafism or Wahhabi movement, and the "vanguard of change" centered on the Muslim Brotherhood.[19] Olivier Roy argues that "Sunni pan-Islamism underwent a remarkable shift in the second half of the 20th century" when the Muslim Brotherhood movement and focus on Islamistation of pan-Arabism was eclipsed by the Salafi movement with its emphasis on "sharia rather than the building of Islamic institutions," and rejection of Shia Islam.[20]
Following the Arab Spring, scholar Oliver Roy has described Islamism, or political Islam, as "increasingly interdependent" with democracy in much of the Arab Muslim world, such that "neither can now survive without the other." While Islamist political culture itself may not be democratic, Islamists need democratic elections to maintain their legitimacy. At the same times, their popularity is such that no government can call itself democratic that excludes mainstream Islamist groups.[21]
History of usage[link]
The term Islamism was coined in eighteenth-century France as a way of referring to Islam. Earliest known use of the term identified by the Oxford English Dictionary is 1747.[22] By the turn of the twentieth century it had begun to be displaced by the shorter and purely Arabic term Islam and by 1938, when Orientalist scholars completed The Encyclopaedia of Islam, seems to have virtually disappeared from the English language.[10]
The term Islamism is considered to have first begun to acquire its contemporary connotations in French academia between the late 1970s and late 1980s. From French, it began to migrate to the English language in the mid-1980s, and in recent years has largely displaced the term Islamic fundamentalism in academic circles.[10]
The use of the term Islamism was at first "a marker for scholars more likely to sympathize" with new Islamic movements; however, as the term gained popularity it became more specifically associated with political groups such as the Taliban or the Algerian Armed Islamic Group, as well as with highly publicized acts of violence.[10]
"Islamists" who have spoken out against the use of the term insisting they are merely "Muslims", include Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, the spiritual mentor of Hizbullah, and Abbassi Madani, leader of the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front.[10]
A 2003 article in Middle East Quarterly states:
In summation, the term Islamism enjoyed its first run, lasting from Voltaire to the First World War, as a synonym for Islam. Enlightened scholars and writers generally preferred it to Mohammedanism. Eventually both terms yielded to Islam, the Arabic name of the faith, and a word free of either pejorative or comparative associations. There was no need for any other term, until the rise of an ideological and political interpretation of Islam challenged scholars and commentators to come up with an alternative, to distinguish Islam as modern ideology from Islam as a faith.—[10]
Relation with Islam[link]
Further information: Political aspects of Islam
The concept Islamism is controversial, not just because it posits a political role for Islam, but also because its supporters believe their views merely reflect Islam, while the contrary idea that Islam is, or can be, apolitical is an error. Scholars and observers who do not believe that Islam is a political ideology include Fred Halliday, John Esposito and Muslim intellectuals like Javed Ahmad Ghamidi.
Islamists have asked the question, "If Islam is a way of life, how can we say that those who want to live by its principles in legal, social, political, economic, and political spheres of life are not Muslims, but Islamists and believe in Islamism, not [just] Islam?"[24] Similarly, a writer for the International Crisis Group maintains that "the conception of 'political Islam'" is a creation of Americans to explain the Iranian Islamic Revolution. In reality, apolitical Islam was an historical fluke of the "shortlived heyday of secular Arab nationalism between 1945 and 1970," and it is quietist/non-political Islam, not Islamism, that requires explanation.[25]
On the other hand, Muslim-owned and run media (not just Western media) have used the terms "Islamist" and "Islamism" — as distinguished from Muslim and Islam — to distinguish groups such as the Islamic Salvation Front in Algeria[26] or Jamaa Islamiya in Egypt,[27] which actively seek to implement Islamic law, from mainstream Muslim groups.
Another source distinguishes Islamist from Islamic "by the fact that the latter refers to a religion and culture in existence over a millennium, whereas the first is a political/religious phenomenon linked to the great events of the 20th century". Islamists have, at least at times, defined themselves as "Islamiyyoun/Islamists" to differentiate themselves from "Muslimun/Muslims".[28]
According to historian Bernard Lewis, Islamism, (or as he terms it "activist" Islam), along with "quietism," form two "particular ... political traditions" in Islam.
The arguments in favor of both are based, as are most early Islamic arguments, on the Holy Book and on the actions and sayings of the Prophet.The quietist tradition obviously rests on the Prophet as sovereign, as judge and statesman. But before the Prophet became a head of state, he was a rebel. Before he travelled from Mecca to Medina, where he became sovereign, he was an opponent of the existing order. He led an opposition against the pagan oligarchy of Mecca and at a certain point went into exile and formed what in modern language might be called a "government in exile," with which finally he was able to return in triumph to his birthplace and establish the Islamic state in Mecca.
...
The Prophet as rebel has provided a sort of paradigm of revolution—opposition and rejection, withdrawal and departure, exile and return. Time and time again movements of opposition in Islamic history tried to repeat this pattern, a few of them successfully.—Bernard Lewis, Islamic Revolution[6]
Influence[link]
Few observers contest the influence of Islamism. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, political movements based on the liberal ideology of free expression and democratic rule have led the opposition in other parts of the world such as Latin America, Eastern Europe and many parts of Asia; however "the simple fact is that political Islam currently reigns as the most powerful ideological force across the Muslim world today".[29]
Even some of those who see Islamism as fraught with contradictions believe "the socioeconomic realities that sustained the Islamist wave are still here and are not going to change: poverty, uprootedness, crises in values and identities, the decay of the educational systems, the North-South opposition, and the problem of immigrant integration into the host societies".[30]
The strength of Islamism draws from the strength of religiosity in general in the Muslim world. Compared to Western societies, "[w]hat is striking about the Islamic world is that ... it seems to have been the least penetrated by irreligion".[31]
Where other peoples may look to the physical or social sciences for answers in areas which their ancestors regarded as best left to scripture, in the Muslim world, religion has become more encompassing, not less, as "in the last few decades, it has been the fundamentalists who have increasingly represented the cutting edge of the culture".[31]
In Egypt and the rest of the Muslim world "the word secular, a label proudly worn 30 years ago, is shunned" and "used to besmirch" political foes.[32] The small secular opposition parties "cannot compare" with Islamists in terms of "doggedness, courage," "risk-taking" or "organizational skills".[33]
In the Middle East and Pakistan, religious discourse dominates societies, the airwaves, and thinking about the world. Radical mosques have proliferated throughout Egypt. Book stores are dominated by works with religious themes ... The demand for sharia, the belief that their governments are unfaithful to Islam and that Islam is the answer to all problems, and the certainty that the West has declared war on Islam; these are the themes that dominate public discussion. Islamists may not control parliaments or government palaces, but they have occupied the popular imagination.—[34]
Moderate strains of Islamism have been described as "competing in the democratic public square in places like Turkey and Indonesia.[35] In Morocco, the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) supported King Muhammad VI's "Mudawana", a "startlingly progressive family law" which grants women the right to a divorce, raises the minimum age for marriage to 18, and, in the event of separation, stipulates equal distribution of property.[36]
Islamists in Egypt and other Muslim countries have been described as "not politically dominant today, but ... extremely influential. ... They determine how one dresses, what one eats. In these areas, they are incredibly successful. ... Even if the Islamists never come to power, they have transformed their countries." [36]
Sources of strength[link]
Amongst the various reasons for the global strength of Islamism are:
Alienation from the West[link]
Further information: Islam and modernity
Muslim alienation from Western ways, including its political ways.[37]
- The memory in Muslim societies of the many centuries of "cultural and institutional success" of Islamic civilization that have created an "intense resistance to an alternative 'civilizational order'", such as Western civilization,[38]
-
Outside Islamdom, Christian missionaries from Europe usually succeeded in making converts. Whether for spiritual reasons or for material ones, substantial numbers of Native American, Africans, Hindus, Buddhists, and Confucians accepted the Gospels. But Muslims did not."[39]
- The proximity of the core of the Muslim world to Europe and Christendom where it first conquered and then was conquered. Iberia in the seventh century, the Crusades which began in the eleventh century, then for centuries the Ottoman Empire, were all fields of war between Europe and Islam.[40]
- The Islamic world was aware of European fear and hatred:
-
For almost a thousand years, from the first Moorish landing in Spain to the second Turkish siege of Vienna, Europe was under constant threat from Islam. In the early centuries it was a double threat — not only of invasion and conquest, but also of conversion and assimilation. All but the easternmost provinces of the Islamic realm had been taken from Christian rulers, and the vast majority of the first Muslims west of Iran and Arabia were converts from Christianity ... Their loss was sorely felt and it heightened the fear that a similar fate was in store for Europe.[41]
- and also felt its own anger and resentment at the much more recent technological superiority of westerners who,
-
are the perpetual teachers; we, the perpetual students. Generation after generation, this asymmetry has generated an inferiority complex, forever exacerbated by the fact that their innovations progress at a faster pace than we can absorb them. ... The best tool to reverse the inferiority complex to a superiority complex ... Islam would give the whole culture a sense of dignity.[42]
- For Islamists, the primary threat of the West is cultural rather than political or economic. Cultural dependency robs one of faith and identity and thus destroys Islam and the Islamic community (ummah) far more effectively than political rule.[43]
- The end of the Cold War and Soviet occupation of Afghanistan has eliminated the common atheist Communist enemy uniting some religious Muslims and the capitalist west.[44]
Patronage of the West[link]
During the 1970s and sometimes later, Western and pro-Western governments often supported sometimes fledgling Islamists and Islamist groups that later came to be seen as dangerous enemies.[45] Islamists were considered bulwarks against—what were thought to be at the time—more dangerous leftist/communist/nationalist insurgents/opposition, which Islamists were correctly seen as opposing. The US spent billions of dollars to aid the mujahideen Muslim Afghanistan enemies of the Soviet Union, and non-Afghan veteran of the war returned home with their prestige, "experience, ideology, and weapons", and had considerable impact.[46]
Although now a strong opponent of Israel's existence, Hamas has been called "Israel's creation." In the 1970s and 1980s Israel tolerated and supported the group as preferable to the secular and then more powerful al-Fatah and the PLO.[47][48]
Egyptian president Anwar Sadat — whose policies included opening Egypt to Western investment (Infitah), breaking with Soviet Union to make Egypt an ally of the United States, and making peace with Israel — released Islamists from prison and welcomed home exiles in tacit exchange for political support in his struggle against leftists. His "encouraging of the emergence of the Islamist movement" was said to have been "imitated by many other Muslim leaders in the years that followed." [49][50] This "gentlemen's agreement" between Sadat and Islamists broke down in 1975 but not before Islamists came to completely dominate university student unions. Islamists later assassinated Sadat and went on to form a formidable insurgency in Egypt in the 1990.) The French government has also been reported to have promoted Islamist preachers "in the hope of channeling Muslim energies into zones of piety and charity."[45]
Resurgence of Islam[link]
Further information: Islamic revival
- The resurgence of Islamic devotion and the attraction to things Islamic can be traced to several events. A tenet of the Quran is that Islam will deliver victory and success. For example 23:1: "Successful indeed are the believers";[51] Sura 9:14 "Fight them and God will punish them at your hands ... God will make you victorious over them";[52] 22:40: "God will certainly aid those who aid His (cause): for verily God is Full of Strength, Exalted in Might."[53][54][55]
- By the end of World War I, most Muslim states were seen to be dominated by the Christian-leaning Western states. It is argued that either the claims of Islam were false and the Christian or post-Christian West had finally come up with another system that was superior, or Islam had failed through not being true to itself. Thus, a redoubling of faith and devotion by Muslims was called for to reverse this tide.[56]
- The connection between the lack of an Islamic spirit and the lack of victory was underscored by the disastrous defeat of Arab nationalist-led armies fighting under the slogan "Land, Sea and Air" in the 1967 Six Day War, compared to the (perceived) near-victory of the Yom Kippur War six years later. In that war the military's slogan was "God is Great".[57]
- Along with the Yom Kippur War came the Arab oil embargo where the (Muslim) Persian Gulf oil-producing states' dramatic decision to cut back on production and quadruple the price of oil, made the terms oil, Arabs and Islam synonymous – with power – in the world, and especially in the Muslim world's public imagination.[58] Many Muslims believe as Saudi Prince Saud al Faisal did that the hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth obtained from the Persian Gulf's huge oil deposits were nothing less than a gift from God to the Islamic faithful.[59]
- As the Islamic revival gained momentum, governments such as Egypt's, which had previously repressed (and was still continuing to repress) Islamists, joined the bandwagon. They banned alcohol and flooded the airwaves with religious programming,[60] giving the movement even more exposure.
Saudi Arabian funding[link]
Starting in the mid-1970s the Islamic resurgence was funded by an abundance of money from Saudi Arabian oil exports.[61] The tens of billions of dollars in "petro-Islam" largess obtained from the recently heightened price of oil funded an estimated "90% of the expenses of the entire faith."[62]
Throughout the Muslim world, religious institutions for people both young and old, from children's maddrassas to high-level scholarships received Saudi funding,[63] "books, scholarships, fellowships, and mosques" (for example, "more than 1500 mosques were built and paid for with money obtained from public Saudi funds over the last 50 years"),[64] along with training in the Kingdom for the preachers and teachers who went on to teach and work at these universities, schools, mosques, etc.[65]
The funding was also used to reward journalists and academics who followed the Saudis' strict interpretation of Islam; and satellite campuses were built around Egypt for Al Azhar, the world's oldest and most influential Islamic university.[66]
The interpretation of Islam promoted by this funding was the strict, conservative Saudi-based Wahhabism or Salafism. In its harshest form it preached that Muslims should not only "always oppose" infidels "in every way," but "hate them for their religion ... for Allah's sake," that democracy "is responsible for all the horrible wars of the 20th century," that Shia and other non-Wahhabi Muslims were infidels, etc.[67] While this effort has by no means converted all, or even most, Muslims to the Wahhabist interpretation of Islam, it has done much to overwhelm more moderate local interpretations, and has set the Saudi-interpretation of Islam as the "gold standard" of religion in Muslims' minds.[68]
Grand Mosque Seizure[link]
Further information: Grand Mosque Seizure
The strength of the Islamist movement was manifest in an event which might have seemed sure to turn Muslim public opinion against fundamentalism, but did just the opposite. In 1979 the Grand Mosque in Mecca Saudi Arabia was seized by an armed fundamentalist group and held for over a week. Scores were killed, including many pilgrim bystanders[69] in a gross violation of one of the most holy sites in Islam (and one where arms and violence are strictly forbidden).[70][71]
Instead of prompting a backlash against the movement from which the attackers originated, however, Saudi Arabia, already very conservative, responded by shoring up its fundamentalist credentials with even more Islamic restrictions. Crackdowns followed on everything from shopkeepers who did not close for salah and newspapers that published pictures of women, to the selling of dolls, teddy bears (images of animate objects are considered haraam), and dog food (dogs are considered unclean).[72]
In other Muslim countries, blame for and wrath against the seizure was directed not against fundamentalists, but against Islamic fundamentalism's foremost geopolitical enemy – the United States. Ayatollah Khomeini sparked attacks on American embassies when he announced:
It is not beyond guessing that this is the work of criminal American imperialism and international Zionism
despite the fact that the object of the fundamentalists' revolt was the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, America's major ally in the region. Anti-American demonstrations followed in the Philippines, Turkey, Bangladesh, India, the UAE, Pakistan, and Kuwait. The US Embassy in Libya was burned by protesters chanting pro-Khomeini slogans and the embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan was burned to the ground.[73]
Dissatisfaction with the status quo[link]
- The original heart of the Muslim world – the Arab world – has been afflicted with economic stagnation. For example it has been estimated that the exports of Finland, a European country of five million, exceeded those of the entire 260 million-strong Arab world, excluding oil revenue.[74] This economic stagnation is argued to have commenced with the demise of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924, with trade networks being disrupted and societies torn apart with the creation of new nation states; prior to this, the Middle East had a diverse and growing economy and more general prosperity.[75]
- Strong population growth combined with economic stagnation has created urban conglomerations in Cairo, Istanbul, Tehran, Karachi, Dhaka, and Jakarta each with well over 12 million citizens, millions of them young and unemployed or underemployed.[76] Such a demographic, alienated from the westernized ways of the urban elite, but uprooted from the comforts and more passive traditions of the villages they came from, is understandably favourably disposed to an Islamic system promising a better world[77] – an ideology providing an "emotionally familiar basis for group identity, solidarity, and exclusion; an acceptable basis for legitimacy and authority; an immediately intelligible formulation of principles for both a critique of the present and a program for the future."[78]
Shelter of the mosque[link]
While dictatorial regimes can preempt opposition nationalist or socialist campaigns by closing down their networks and headquarters, the centre for Islamist political organizing is the mosque. It is exempt from government crackdowns in the Muslim world (and often in the non-Muslim world) by virtue of its sacredness. "It is in the mosque where [Islamists] canvas neighbourhoods in the course of providing social services, spread their political messages and campaign for votes where permitted to participate."[79][80]
Charitable work[link]
Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood, "are well known for providing shelters, educational assistance, free or low cost medical clinics, housing assistance to students from out of town, student advisory groups, facilitation of inexpensive mass marriage ceremonies to avoid prohibitively costly dowry demands, legal assistance, sports facilities, and women's groups." All this compares very favourably against incompetent, inefficient, or neglectful governments whose commitment to social justice is limited to rhetoric.[81]
Power of identity politics[link]
Islamism can also be described as part of identity politics, specifically the religiously-oriented nationalism that emerged in the Third World in the 1970s: "resurgent Hinduism in India, ultra-Orthodox Judaism in Israel, militant Buddhism in Sri Lanka, resurgent Sikh nationalism in the Punjab, 'Liberation Theology' of Catholicism in Latin America, and of course, Islamism in the Muslim world."[82] (This is distinguished from ethnic or linguistic-based nationalism which Islamism opposes.) These all challenged Westernized ruling elites on behalf of 'authenticity' and tradition.
Criticism[link]
Main article: Criticism of Islamism
Islamism, or elements of Islamism, have been criticised for: repression of free expression and individual rights, rigidity, hypocrisy, lack of true understanding of Islam, misinterpreting the Quran and Sunnah, and for innovations to Islam (bid'ah), notwithstanding Islamists' proclaimed opposition to any such innovation.
History and countries[link]
Predecessor movements[link]
Some Islamic revivalist movements and leaders pre-dating Islamism include
- Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi (~1564–1624) was part of "a reassertion of orthodoxy within Sufism" and was known to his followers as the 'renovator of the second millennium'. It has been said of Sirhindi that he 'gave to Indian Islam the rigid and conservative stamp it bears today.'[83]
- Ibn Taymiyyah, a Syrian Islamic jurist during the 13th and 14th centuries who is often quoted by contemporary Islamists. Ibn Taymiyya argued against the shirking of Sharia law, and against practices such as the celebration of Muhammad's birthday or the construction of mosques around the tombs of Sufi sheikhs, believing that these were unacceptable borrowings from Christianity: Many Muslims 'do not even know of the Christian origins of these practices.'[84]
- Shah Waliullah of India and Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab of Arabia were contemporaries who met each other while studying in Mecca. Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab advocated doing away with the later accretions like grave worship and getting back to the letter and the spirit of Islam as preached and practiced by Muhammad. He went on to found Wahhabism. Shah Waliullah was a forerunner of reformists like Muhammad Abduh in his belief that there was "a constant need for new ijtihad as the Muslim community progressed and expanded and new generations had to cope with new problems" and in his interest in the social and economic problems of the poor.[85]
- Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi was a disciple and successor of Shah Waliullah's son and emphasized the 'purification' of Islam from un-Islamic beliefs and practices. He anticipated modern Islamists by leading a jihad movement and attempted to create an Islamic state with strict enforcement of Islamic law. While he waged jihad against Sikhs in North-Western India, his followers fought the British after his death and allied itself with the Indian Mutiny.[86]
After the failure of the Indian Mutiny some of Shah Waliullah's followers turned to more peaceful methods of preserving the Islamic heritage and founded the Dar al-Ulum seminary in 1867 in the town of Deoband. From the school developed the Deobandi movement which became the largest philosophical movement of traditional Islamic thought in the subcontinent and led to the establishment of thousands of madrasahs throughout modern-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Today, Deobandism is represented in Pakistan by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam organization/political party and its splinter groups.[87]
Early history[link]
The end of the 19th century saw the dismemberment of most of the Muslim Ottoman Empire by non-Muslim European colonial powers.[88] The empire spent massive sums on Western civilian and military technology to try to modernize and compete with the encroaching European powers, and in the process went deep into debt to these powers.[89]
In this context, the publications of Jamal ad-din al-Afghani (1837–97), Muhammad Abduh (1849–1905) and Rashid Rida (1865–1935) preached Islamic alternatives to the political, economic, and cultural decline of the empire.[90] Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida formed the beginning of the Salafist movement,[91][92][93][94][95] as well as the Islamic modernist/secularist movement.[96]
Their ideas included the creation of a truly Islamic society under sharia law, and the rejection of taqlid, the blind imitation of earlier authorities, which they believed deviated from the true messages of Islam.[97] Unlike some later Islamists, Salafists strongly emphasized the restoration of the Caliphate.[98]
Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi[link]
Main article: Abul Ala Maududi
Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi was a "alumni"[clarification needed][99][100] and an important early twentieth-century figure in the Islamic revival in India, and then after independence from Britain, in Pakistan. Trained as a lawyer he chose the profession of journalism, and wrote about contemporary issues and most importantly about Islam and Islamic law.
In the struggle for the creation of a separate Muslim state in South Asia Maudidi and his party first opposed the establishment of the state of Pakistan but later supported the idea. He was an inspirational figure for modern Islamist groups in South Asia and elsewhere.
Maududi founded the Jamaat-e-Islami party in 1941 and remained its leader until 1972. Although Maududi was educated at Deobandi institution(s)[99][101] his party is a long-time rival of the Deobandi party/group Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.[citation needed]
Maududi had much more impact through his writing than through his political organising. His extremely influential book,Towards Understanding Islam (Risalat Diniyat in Arabic), placed Islam in a modern context and influenced not only conservative ulema but liberal modernisers such as al-Faruqi, whose "Islamisation of Knowledge" carried forward some of Maududi's key principles.[citation needed]
Maududi believed that Islam was all emcompassing "Everything in the universe is 'Muslim' for it obeys God by submission to His laws... The man who denies God is called Kafir (concealer) because he conceals by his disbelief what is inherent in his nature and embalmed in his own soul."[102]
Maududi also believed that Muslim society could not be Islamic without Sharia, and Islam required the establishment of an Islamic state. This state should be a "theo-democracy,"[103] based on the principles of: tawhid (unity of God), risala (prophethood) and khilafa (caliphate).[104][105][106]
Although Maududi talked about Islamic revolution,[107] he was both less revolutionary and less politically/economically populist than later Islamists like Qutb.[108]
Muslim Brotherhood[link]
Main article: Muslim Brotherhood
Roughly contemporaneous with Maududi was the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Ismailiyah, Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al Banna. His was arguably the first, largest and most influential modern Islamic political/religious organization. Under the motto "the Qur'an is our constitution,"[109] it sought Islamic revival through preaching and also by providing basic community services including schools, mosques, and workshops.
Like Maududi, Al Banna believed in the necessity of government rule based on Shariah law implemented gradually and by persuasion, and of eliminating all non-Muslim imperialist influence in the Muslim world. Jihad was declared against European colonial powers.[citation needed]
Some elements of the Brotherhood, though perhaps against orders, did engage in violence against the government, and its founder Al-Banna was assassinated in 1949 in retaliation for the assassination of Egypt's premier Mahmud Fami Naqrashi three months earlier.[110] The Brotherhood has suffered periodic repression in Egypt and has been banned several times, in 1948 and several years later following confrontations with Egyptian president Gamal Abdul Nasser, who jailed thousands of members for several years.
Despite periodic repression, the Brotherhood has become one of the most influential movements in the Islamic world,[111] particularly in the Arab world. For many years it was described as "semi-legal"[112] and was the only opposition group in Egypt able to field candidates during elections.[36] In the Egyptian parliamentary election, 2011–2012, the political parties identified as "Islamist" (the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafi Al-Nour Party) won 70% of the total seats.[113]
Sayyid Qutb[link]
Main article: Sayyid Qutb
See also: Qutbism and Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq
Maududi's political ideas influenced Sayyid Qutb, one of the key philosophers of Islamism, and a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. Qutb believed things had reached such a state that the Muslim community had literally ceased to exist. It "has been extinct for a few centuries,"[114] having reverted to Godless ignorance (Jahiliyya).
To eliminate jahiliyya, Qutb argued Sharia, or Islamic law, must be established. Sharia law was not only accessible to humans and essential to the existence of Islam, but also all-encompassing, precluding "evil and corrupt" non-Islamic ideologies like socialism, nationalism, or liberal democracy.
Qutb preached that Muslims must engage in a two-pronged attack of converting individuals while also waging jihad to forcibly eliminate the "structures" of Jahiliyya – not only from the Islamic homeland but from the face of the earth.
Qutb was both a member of the brotherhood and enormously influential in the Muslim world at large. Qutb is considered by some to be "the founding father and leading theoretician" of modern jihadis, such as Osama bin Laden.[115][116] Ironically, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and in Europe has not embraced his vision of armed jihad, something for which they have been denounced by more radical Islamists.[117]
Six Day War of 1967[link]
Main article: Six-Day War
The quick and decisive defeat of the Arab troops during the Six-Day War by Israeli troops constituted a pivotal event in the Arab Muslim world. The defeat along with economic stagnation in the defeated countries, was blamed on the Arab nationalism of the ruling regimes.
A steep and steady decline in the popularity and credibility of both secular and nationalist politics ensued. Ba'athism, Arab Socialism, and Arab Nationalism suffered, and Islamist movements inspired by Mawlana Maududi, and Sayyid Qutb gained ground.[118]
Islamic Republic in Iran[link]
File:Portrait of Imam Khomeini.jpg
Imam Khomeini
See also: Iranian Revolution and Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists
Main article: History of fundamentalist Islam in Iran
The first Modern Islamic state (with the possible exception of Zia's Pakistan[119]) was established among the Shia of Iran. In a major shock to the rest of the world, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led the Iranian Revolution of 1979 to overthrow the oil-rich, well-armed, Westernized and pro-American secular monarchy ruled by Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi.[citation needed]
Khomeini's beliefs were similar to Sunni Islamic thinkers like Mawdudi and Qutb: He believed that imitation of the early Muslims and the restoration of Sharia law were essential to Islam, that secular, Westernizing Muslims were actually agents of the West serving Western interests, and that the "plundering" of Muslim lands was part of a long-term conspiracy against Islam by the Christian West.[120]
But they also differed:
- As a Shia, the early Muslims whom Khomeini looked to were Ali ibn Abī Tālib and Husayn ibn Ali, not Caliphs Abu Bakr, Omar or Uthman.
- Khomeini talked not about restoring the Caliphate, but about establishing an Islamic state where the leading role was taken by Islamic jurists (ulama) as the successors of Shia Imams until the Mahdi returned from occultation. His concept of velayat-e-faqih ("guardianship of the [Islamic] jurist"), held that the leading Shia Muslim cleric in society – which Khomeini and his followers believed to be himself – should serve as head of state in order to protect or "guard" Islam and Sharia law from "innovation" and "anti-Islamic laws" passed "by sham parliaments."[120]
- The revolution was influenced by Marxism through Islamist thought and also by writings that sought either to counter Marxism (Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr's work) or to integrate socialism and Islamism (Ali Shariati's work). A strong wing of the revolutionary leadership was made up of leftists or "radical populists", such as Ali Akbar Mohtashami-Pur.[121]
While initial enthusiasm for the Iranian revolution in the Muslim world was intense, it has waned as "purges, executions, and atrocities tarnished its image".[122]
The Islamic Republic has also maintained its hold on power in Iran in spite of the US economic sanctions, and has created or assisted like-minded Shia Islamist groups in Iraq (SCIRI)[123][124] and Lebanon (Hezbollah),[125] (two Muslim countries that also have large Shiite populations). During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, the Iranian government enjoyed something of a resurgence in popularity amongst the predominantly Sunni "Arab street,"[126] due to its support for Hezbollah and to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's vehement opposition to the United States and his call that Israel shall vanish.[127]
Pakistan[link]
Main article: Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization
Early in the history of the state of Pakistan, a resolution (the Objectives Resolution) was adopted proclaiming
"Sovereignty belongs to Allah alone but He has delegated it to the State of Pakistan through its people for being exercised within the limits prescribed by Him as a sacred trust" (12 March 1949)
In July 1977 General Zia-ul-Haq overthrew Prime Minister Ali Bhutto's regime in Pakistan. Ali Bhutto, a leftist in political competition with Islamists, had banned alcohol, horse-racing, and nightclubs, and announced that the "sharia would be fully applied" within six months, shortly before he was overthrown.[128] Ul-Haq was much more committed to Islamism, and "Islamization" or implementation of Islamic law (AKA sharia), became a cornerstone of his eleven-year military dictatorship and Islamism became his "official state ideology". An admirer of Mawdudi, Mawdudi's party Jamaat-e-Islami became the "regime's ideological arm", and its members prospered under ul-Haq.[129]
Under his rule the Ahmadi Community was severely persecuted by various Islamist movements, who grew in numbers and influence.
In Pakistan this Islamization from above was "probably" more complete "than under any other regime except those in Iran and Sudan," but Ul-Haq was also criticized by some Islamists for imposing "symbols" rather than substance, and using Islamization to legitimize his means of seizing power.[130] The program was a dramatic reversal of the traditional secularism of Pakistan's founding Muslim League and its leader Mohammad Ali Jinnah, but unlike neighboring Iran, Zia-ul-Haq's policies were intended to "avoid revolutionary excess", and not to strain relations with his American and Persian Gulf state allies.[131]
Zia-ul-Haq was killed in 1988 but Islamization remains an important element in Pakistani politics and society.[132]
Afghanistan[link]
In 1979 the Soviet Union deployed its 40th Army into Afghanistan, attempting to suppress an Islamic rebellion against an allied Marxist regime in the Afghan Civil War. The conflict, pitting indigenous impoverished Muslims (mujahideen) against an anti-religious superpower, galvanized thousands of Muslims around the world to send aid and sometimes to go themselves to fight jihad. Leading this pan-Islamic effort was Palestinian sheikh Abdullah Yusuf Azzam. While the military effectiveness of these "Afghan Arabs" was marginal, Azzam's group is said to have organized paramilitary training for more than 20,000 Muslim recruits, from about 20 countries around the world.[citation needed]
When the Soviet Union abandoned the Marxist Najibullah regime and withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 (the regime finally fell in 1992), the victory was seen by many Muslims as the triumph of Islamic faith over superior military power and technology that could be duplicated elsewhere.[citation needed]
The jihadists gained legitimacy and prestige from their triumph both within the militant community and among ordinary Muslims, as well as the confidence to carry their jihad to other countries where they believed Muslims required assistance.
The "veterans of the guerrilla campaign" returning home to Algeria, Egypt and other countries "with their experience, ideology, and weapons," were often eager to continue armed jihad.[citation needed]
The collapse of the Soviet Union itself in 1991, was seen by many Islamists, including Bin Laden, as the defeat of a superpower at the hands of Islam, the $6 billion in aid given by the US to the mujahideen having nothing to do with the victory. As bin Laden opined:[134] "[T]he US has no mentionable role" in "the collapse of the Soviet Union ... rather the credit goes to God and the mujahidin" of Afghanistan.[135]
Persian Gulf War[link]
Another factor in the early 1990s that worked to radicalize the Islamist movement was the Gulf War, which brought several hundred thousand US and allied non-Muslim military personnel to Saudi Arabian soil to put an end to Saddam Hussein's occupation of Kuwait. Prior to 1990 Saudi Arabia played an important role in restraining the many Islamist groups that received its aid. But Saddam embraced Islamic rhetoric and attacked Saudi Arabia, his enemy in the war, for violating Islamic unity and its role as custodian of the two holy cities by allowing non-Muslims on its soil (traditional Muslim belief holds that non-Muslims must not be allowed on the Arabian peninsula), and he also accused the Kingdom of being a puppet of the west.[citation needed]
These attacks resonated with conservative Muslims and the problem did not go away with Saddam's defeat either, since American troops remained stationed in the kingdom, and a defacto cooperation with the Palestinian-Israeli peace process developed. Saudi Arabia attempted to compensate for its loss of prestige among these groups by repressing those domestic Islamists who attacked it (bin Laden being a prime example), and increasing aid to Islamic groups (Islamist madrassas around the world and even aiding some violent Islamist groups) that did not, but its pre-war influence on behalf of moderation was greatly reduced.[136] One result of this was a campaign of attacks on government officials and tourists in Egypt, a bloody civil war in Algeria and Osama bin Laden's terror attacks climaxing in 9/11 attack.[137]
Jihad movements of Egypt[link]
While Qutb's ideas became increasingly radical during his imprisonment prior to his execution in 1966, the leadership of the Brotherhood, led by Hasan al-Hudaybi, remained moderate and interested in political negotiation and activism. Fringe or splinter movements inspired by the final writings of Qutb in the mid-1960s (particularly the manifesto "Milestones," aka Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq) did, however, develop and they pursued a more radical direction.[138] By the 1970s, the Brotherhood had renounced violence as a means of achieving its goals.[citation needed]
The path of violence and military struggle was then taken up by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization responsible for the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981. Unlike earlier anti-colonial movements, Islamic Jihad directed its attacks against what it believed were "apostate" leaders of Muslim states, leaders who held secular leanings or who had introduced or promoted Western/foreign ideas and practices into Islamic societies. Its views were outlined in a pamphlet written by Muhammad Abd al-Salaam Farag, in which he states:
...there is no doubt that the first battlefield for jihad is the extermination of these infidel leaders and to replace them by a complete Islamic Order...
Another of the Egyptian groups which employed violence in their struggle for Islamic order was al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group). Victims of their campaign against the Egyptian state in the 1990s included the head of the counter-terrorism police (Major General Raouf Khayrat), a parliamentary speaker (Rifaat al-Mahgoub), dozens of European tourists and Egyptian bystanders, and over 100 Egyptian police.[139] Ultimately the campaign to overthrow the government was unsuccessful, and the major jihadi group, Jamaa Islamiya (or al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya), renounced violence in 2003.[27] Other lesser known groups include the Islamic Liberation Party, Al-Najun min al-nar and Al-Takfir wa al-Hijra and these groups have variously been involved in activities such as attempted assassinations of political figures, arson of video shops and attempted takeovers of government buildings.[140]
Sudan[link]
For many years Sudan had an Islamist regime under the leadership of Hassan al-Turabi. His National Islamic Front first gained influence when strongman General Gaafar al-Nimeiry invited members to serve in his government in 1979. Turabi built a powerful economic base with money from foreign Islamist banking systems, especially those linked with Saudi Arabia. He also recruited and built a cadre of influential loyalists by placing sympathetic students in the university and military academy while serving as minister of education.[141]
After al-Nimeiry was overthrown in 1985 the party did poorly in national elections but in 1989 it was able to overthrow the elected post-al-Nimeiry government with the help of the military. Turabi was noted for his commitment to the democratic process and a liberal government before coming to power, but strict application of sharia law, and an intensification of the long-running war in southern Sudan,[142] human rights abuses, once in power. The NIF regime also harbored Osama bin Laden for a time (before 9/11), and worked to unify Islamist opposition to the American attack on Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.[citation needed]
Main article: National Islamic Front
After Sudanese intelligence services were implicated in an assassination attempt on the President of Egypt, UN economic sanctions were imposed on Sudan, a very poor country, and Turabi fell from favor.[143] He was imprisoned for a time in 2004-5. Some of the NIF policies, such as the war with the non-Muslim south, have been reversed, though the National Islamic Front (now named the National Congress Party) still holds considerable power in the Sudanese government.[citation needed]
Algeria[link]
See also: Algerian Civil War
File:Islamic Salvation Front logo.jpg
The FIS emblem
An Islamist movement influenced by Salafism and the jihad in Afghanistan, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood, was the FIS or Front Islamique de Salut (the Islamic Salvation Front) in Algeria. Founded as a broad Islamist coalition in 1989 it was led by Abbassi Madani, and a charismatic radical young preacher, Ali Belhadj. Taking advantage of liberalization by the unpopular ruling leftist/nationalist FLN regime, it used its preaching to advocate the establishment of a legal system following Sharia law, education in Arabic rather than French, and gender segregation, with women staying home to alleviate the high rate of unemployment among young Algerian men. The FIS won sweeping victories in local elections and it was going to win national elections in 1991 when voting was canceled by a military coup d'état.[citation needed]
As Islamists took up arms to overthrow the regime, the FIS's leaders were arrested and it became overshadowed by Islamist guerilla groups particularly the Islamic Salvation Army, MIA and Armed Islamic Group (or GIA). A bloody and devastating civil war ensued in which between 150,000 and 200,000 people were killed over the next decade. Civilians – including foreigners, University academics, intellectuals, writers, journalists, and medical doctors – were targeted by Islamist extremists.[144][145] although government forces were also accused of killing civilians and of manipulating the brutal takfiri GIA[citation needed]
Main article: List of Algerian massacres of the 1990s
The civil war was not a victory for Islamism. By 2002 the main guerrilla groups had either been destroyed or had surrendered. The popularity of Islamist parties has declined to the point that "the Islamist candidate, Abdallah Jaballah, came a distant third with 5% of the vote" in the 2004 presidential election.[146]
Afghanistan Taliban[link]
Main article: Taliban
In Afghanistan the mujahideen's victory did not lead to justice and prosperity but to a vicious and destructive civil war between warlords, making Afghanistan one of the poorest countries on earth. In 1996, a new movement known as the Taliban, rose to power, defeated most of the warlords and took over roughly 80% of Afghanistan.[citation needed]
The Taliban were spawned by the thousands of madrasahs the Deobandi movement established for impoverished Afghan refugees and supported by governmental and religious groups in neighboring Pakistan.[147]
The Taliban differed from other Islamist movements to the point where they might be more properly described as Islamic fundamentalist or neofundamentalist, interested in spreading "an idealized and systematized version of village customs to an entire country."[148] Despite Afghanistan's great poverty, they had little interest in social, economic and technological development – at one time explaining that "we Muslims believe God the Almighty will feed everybody one way or another."[149]
Their ideology was also described as being influenced by Pashtunwali tribal law, Wahhabism, and the jihadism pan-Islamism of their guest Osama bin Laden.[150][151]
The Taliban considered "politics" to be against Sharia and thus did not hold elections. They were led by Mullah Mohammed Omar who was given the title "Amir al-Mu'minin" or Commander of the Faithful, and a pledge of loyalty by several hundred Taliban-selected Pashtun clergy in April 1996. Like most Islamists, the Taliban enforced strict prohibitions on women, but these were so severe – for example effectively forbidding most employment and schooling – that they created an international outcry.[152]
The Taliban also banned other activities – music, TV, videos, photographs, pigeons, kite-flying, beard-trimming, etc. – and for the energy and the resources which they used to enforce the bans, including hundreds perhaps thousands of religious police officers armed with "whips, long sticks and Kalashnikovs."[153]
The Taliban also opposed Shi'ism and have been accused by human rights groups of indiscriminately killing thousands of Shia.[154] They were also overwhelmingly Pashtun and were accused of not sharing power with the approximately 60% of Afghans who belonged to other ethnic groups. (see: Taliban#Ideology)[155]
The Taliban's hosting of Osama bin Laden, despite the attacks he organized against the United States, led to an American-organized attack against which drove them from power following the 9/11 attacks.[156] Taliban are still very much alive and fighting a vigorous insurgency from bases in the frontier regions of Pakistan with suicide bombings and armed attacks being launched against NATO, Afghan government targets and civilians.[citation needed]
Attacks on civilians[link]
Main article: Islamic terrorism
Some Islamist groups call for and/or engage in attacks on not only police/military enemies, but non-combatants as well. These groups include several mentioned above: al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group) of Egypt, Islamist groups in Algeria, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza and the West Bank, and Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda group.
Both Muslims and non-Muslims have been among the targets and victims. Some of the groups have proudly proclaimed the attacks, others have been silent or denied involvement.[citation needed]
Justification for attacks on Muslims often comes as takfir, an implicit death threat since under traditional Sharia law the punishment for apostasy in Islam is death. Justification for attacks on non-Muslims is often the allegation that the targets had "waged war against God," are occupiers of Muslim land, or tourists unwelcome on Muslim land.
Suicide or "martyrdom operations" are a lethal technique among radical Islamists, sometimes motivated by the much disputed explanation that "God will give" those who kill themselves in the path of jihad 70 or 72 female "virgins" and "everlasting happiness."[157]
Religious or sectarian attacks in situations where Islamists are active have been particularly serious following 2004. In Iraq, 8,262 people were killed in terror attacks in 2005 and 13,340 in 2006,[158] although not all of theses casualties came from attacks by Islamist groups. Islamist or fundamentalist attacks are also on the increase in Afghanistan[159][160] and in Pakistan, where hundreds have been killed in 2006 and 2007,[161] although in both countries not all of the attacks have been on civilians.
Hizb ut-Tahrir[link]
Main article: Hizb ut-Tahrir
An influential international Islamist movement is the 'party' Hizb ut-Tahrir, founded in 1953 by an Islamic Qadi (judge) Taqiuddin al-Nabhani. HT is unique from most other Islamist movements in that the party focuses not on local issues or on providing social services, but on unifying the Muslim world under its vision of a new Islamic caliphate spanning from North Africa and the Middle East to much of central and South Asia.
To this end it has drawn up and published a constitution for its proposed caliphate state. The constitution's 187 articles specify specific policies such as sharia law, a "unitary ruling system" headed by a caliph elected by Muslims, an economy based on the gold standard, public ownership of utilities, public transport, and energy resources, and Arabic as the "sole language of the State."[162]
In its focus on the Caliphate, HT takes a different view of Muslim history than some other Islamists such as Muhammad Qutb. HT sees Islam's pivotal turning point as occurring not with the death of Ali, or one of the other four rightly guided Caliphs in the 7th century, but with the 1918 or 1922 abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate.
This is believed to have ended the true Islamic system, something for which it blames "the disbelieving (Kafir) colonial powers" working through Turkish modernist Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.[163]
HT does not engage in armed jihad or vote-getting, but works to take power through "ideological struggle" to change Muslim public opinion, and in particular through elites who will "facilitate" a "change of the government," i.e. launch a bloodless coup. It allegedly attempted and failed such coups in 1968 and 1969 in Jordan, and in 1974 in Egypt, and is now banned in both countries.[164] But many HT members have gone on to join terrorist groups and many Jihadi terrorists have cited HT as their key influence.[citation needed]
The party is sometimes described as "Leninist" and "rigidly controlled by its central leadership,"[165] with its estimated one million members required to spend "at least two years studying party literature under the guidance of mentors (Murshid)" before taking "the party oath."[165] HT is particularly active in the ex-soviet republics of Central Asia and in Europe.
In the UK its rallies have drawn thousands of Muslims,[166] and the party is said to have outpaced the Muslim Brotherhood in both membership and radicalism.[167]
Turkey[link]
The Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi) (AKP) headed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held power in Turkey since 2002. It has been successful enough to prompt talk of a Turkish model, "an example of a modern, moderate Muslim state that works."[168]
In Turkey, there is a strong Islamist tradition among political parties. Necmettin Erbakan was the leader of the Islamist parties, National Order Party (Milli Nizam Partisi), National Salvation Party (Milli Selamet Partisi), Welfare Party (Refah Partisi) which all have been banned by the constitutional court for its anti-secular activities, he is also a member of the Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi).
Ismet Özel, an ex-Marxist convert and the most prominent Islamist intellectual, argued that it was Atatürk's reforms that, ironically Islamicized Turkey by forcing people to internalize and value their religious identity and not simply take it for granted as in the past. He has drawn upon his knowledge of Western philosophy, Marxist sociology, and radical Islamist political theory to advocate a modern Islamic perspective that does not hesitate to criticize genuine societal ills while simultaneously remaining faithful to the ethical values and spiritual dimensions of religion. He says "As a political system in Turkey, socialism is possible, Turkism is probable, Islam is certain."
London[link]
Main article: Londonistan (term)
Greater London has over 600,000 Muslims,[169] (most of South Asian origins and concentrated in the East London boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest), and among them are some Muslims with a strong Islamist outlook. Their presence, combined with a perceived British policy of allowing them free rein,[170][171] heightened by exposés such as the 2007 Channel 4 documentary programme Undercover Mosque, has given rise to the term Londonistan. Following the 9/11 attacks, however, Abu Hamza al-Masri, the imam of the Finsbury Park Mosque, and others were interned without charge which has caused many Islamists to leave the UK to avoid internment.[citation needed]
A February 2006 demonstration in London protesting the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons, featured banners calling for Muslims to "Behead those who insult Islam." Five of the protesters were later arrested.[172]
Among the proportion of Muslims who hold the position that Western military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq justifies attacks on civilians in Western countries (often considered to be terrorism),[173] include the perpetrators of several bombing and planned bombing, the most deadly being the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
Counter-response[link]
Several governments, including the U.S. government have engaged in efforts to counter Islamism, or violent Islamism, since 2001. These efforts were centered in the U.S. around public diplomacy programs conducted by the State Department. There have been calls to create an independent agency in the U.S. with a specific mission of undermining Islamism and jihadism. Christian Whiton, an official in the George W. Bush administration, called for a new agency focused on the nonviolent practice of "political warfare" aimed at undermining the ideology.[174] U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for establishing something similar to the defunct U.S. Information Agency, which was charged with undermining the communist ideology during the Cold War.[175]
Other countries[link]
Malaysia is described as a "soft" Islamist state, whereas Iran is considered a "hard" Islamist state.[176]
A considerable effort has been made against Western targets, especially the United States. The United States, in particular, was made an Islamist target because of its support for Israel and its presence on Saudi Arabian soil.
In addition, some Islamists have concentrated their activity against Israel; nearly all Islamists view Israel as hostile to their cause. Osama bin Laden was one such figure who believed that the violent attacks were of necessity due to the historical conflict between Muslims and Jews.
The moderate Muhammadiyah movement in Indonesia has stated that it is concerned with "far more important issues than the application of Sharia," namely strengthening the education, health, economy and society the country, a task they maintain represents "the greater Shari'a" or path of God.[177]
Other moderate Islamist groups include the Justice and Development Party (PJD) in Morocco, which supports Mohammad VI's "Mudawana," a progressive family law which grants women the right to a divorce, raises the minimum age for marriage to 18 and, in the event of separation, stipulates equal distribution of property.[36]
Organizations[link]
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See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ Esposito, Political Islam: Beyond the Green Menace by John Esposito, vii
- ^ Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism by the zionist DALE C. EIKMEIER From Parameters, Spring 2007, pp. 85-98. Accessed 6 February 2012
- ^ Fuller, Graham E., The Future of Political Islam, Palgrave MacMillan, (2003), p.21
- ^ [http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/04/16/the_new_islamists The New Islamists by OLIVIER ROY | foreignpolicy.com| APRIL 16, 2012
- ^ a b "Understanding Islamism", International Crisis Group, http://merln.ndu.edu/archive/icg/Islamism2Mar05.pdf, Archived 21 September 2010 at WebCite
- ^ a b Islamic republic by Bernard Lewis
- ^ Wright, Robin, Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam,
- ^ "Trevor Stanley, Definition: Islamism, Islamist, Islamiste, Islamicist, Perspectives on World History and Current Events, July 2005. URL: http://www.pwhce.org/islamism.html Downloaded: 11 June 2007". Pwhce.org. http://www.pwhce.org/islamism.html. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Fuller, Graham E., The Future of Political Islam, Palgrave MacMillan, (2003), p.120
- ^ a b c d e f g Coming to Terms, Fundamentalists or Islamists? Martin Kramer originally in Middle East Quarterly (Spring 2003), pp. 65-77.
- ^ Berman, S, "Islamism, Revolution, and Civil Society, Perspectives on Politics", Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2003, American Political Science Association, p. 258
- ^ Shepard, W. E. Sayyid Qutb and Islamic Activism: A Translation and Critical Analysis of Social Justice in Islam. Leiden, New York: E.J. Brill., (1996). p. 40
- ^ Osman, Tarek, Egypt on the brink, 2010, p.111
- ^ Burgat, F, "Islamic Movement", pp. 39-41, 67-71, 309
- ^ a b "Fred Halliday, from "The Left and the Jihad", Open Democracy 7 September 2006". Opendemocracy.net. 2011-04-06. http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization/left_jihad_3886.jsp. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Speech by Robert H. Pelletreau, Jr., Council on Foreign Relations, May 8, 1996.
- ^ Ayatollah Fadlallah, in interview by Monday Morning (Beirut), Aug. 10, 1992. "Fadlallah later revised his position" saying he preferred the phrase 'Islamist movement,' to Islamic 'fundamentalism.' Quoted in Coming to Terms: Fundamentalists or Islamists? by Martin Kramer
- ^ Roy, Failure of Political Islam, (1994), p.24
- ^ Fuller, The Future of Political Islam, (2003), p.194-5
- ^ Roy, Olivier, The Politics of Chaos in the Middle East, Columbia University Press, (2008), p.92-3
- ^ [http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/04/16/the_new_islamists The New Islamists by OLIVIER ROY | foreignpolicy.com| APRIL 16, 2012
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary
- ^ Reuters. 18 October 2011. http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2011/10/18/post-revolt-tunisia-wrestles-with-resurgent-islam/.
- ^ Abid Ullah Jan, Wikipedia: Good Intentions, Horrible Consequences, Al-Jazeerah Op-Ed, 27 February 2006. (archive.org accessed 2007-10-24).
- ^ Understanding Islamism Middle East/North Africa Report N°37 2 March 2005
- ^ "Algerian group joins al-Qaeda brand". English.aljazeera.net. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/23E2EB3C-7B4F-4447-80CD-26EDAFEF18E8.htm. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ a b "Egypt frees 900 Islamist militants". English.aljazeera.net. http://english.aljazeera.net/archive/2006/04/200841010710321761.html. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, The 9/11 Commission Report, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, (2004), p.562
- ^ Fuller, The Future of Political Islam, (2003), p. 67
- ^ Roy, Failure of Political Islam (1994) p. 27
- ^ a b Cook, Michael, The Koran: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, (2000)
- ^ Murphy, Caryle, Passion for Islam: Shaping the Modern Middle East: the Egyptian Experience, Scribner, (c2002), p.161
- ^ Murphy, Caryle, Passion for Islam, (c2002), p.160
- ^ The Age of Sacred Terror by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, Random House, 2002, p.172-3
- ^ Farr, Thomas F. "Islam's Way to Freedom", First Things, November 2008, p. 24–28 (p.26)
- ^ a b c d The Islamism Debate: God's Counterculture Sonja Zekri, © Süddeutsche Zeitung / Qantara.de 2008 Translated from the German by Phyllis Anderson
- ^ "From the article on westernization in Oxford Islamic Studies Online". Oxfordislamicstudies.com. http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2500?_hi=19&_pos=1. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Fuller, E., The Future of Political Islam, (2003), p.15
- ^ Pipes, Daniel, In the Path of God: Islam and Political Power, Basic Books, (1983), p.173
- ^ Islam and the Myth of Confrontation, Fred Halliday; (2003) p.108
- ^ Lewis, Bernard, Islam and the West Oxford University Press, p.13, (1993)
- ^ Hassan Hanafi, Islamist philosophy professor at Cairo University quoted in Passion for Islam by Caryle Murphy, p.172
- ^ Haddad/Esposito pg.xvi
- ^ Kepel, Gilles, Jihad, Harvard University Press, (2002), p.218
- ^ a b Terror and Liberalism by Paul Berman, W.W. Norton and Company, 2003, p.101
- ^ Peter Bergen, Alec Reynolds (November/December 2005). "Blowback Revisited". Foreign Affairs. http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20051101facomment84601/peter-bergen-alec-reynolds/blowback-revisited.html. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
- ^ How Israel Helped to Spawn Hamas | By ANDREW HIGGINS| 24 JANUARY 2009
- ^ How Israel and the United States Helped to Bolster Hamas| 26 January 2006
- ^ Jihad: the trail of political Islam By Gilles Kepel, p.83
- ^ Kepel, Gilles, Muslim Extremism in Egypt, chapter 5, "Vanguard of the Umma"
- ^ "Al-Mumenoon (The Believers)". Usc.edu. http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/023.qmt.html. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ "Al-Tawba (Repentance, Dispensation)". Usc.edu. http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/009.qmt.html. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ "Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage)". Usc.edu. http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/022.qmt.html. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ An example of Islamic belief in victory is: "If you understand the true character of a Muslim, you will be convinced that he cannot live in humiliation, abasement or subjugation. He is bound to prevail and no power on earth can overwhelm him." (Towards Understanding Islam by Abul A'la Mawdudi, p.26)
- ^ 'Islam is a martial civilization. If you succeed, that means God is on your side.' from: Lippman, Thomas W., Understanding Islam, New American Library, (1982), p.50
- ^ Edward Mortimer in Faith and Power: The Politics of Islam, in Wright, Sacred Rage, Simon and Schuster, (1985), pp.64-66)
- ^ Wright, Sacred Rage, p.64-6
- ^ Wright, Sacred Rage, p.66 from Pipes, Daniel, In the Path of God, Basic Books, (1983), (p.285)
- ^ from interview by Robin Wright of UK Foreign Secretary (at the time) Lord Carrington in November 1981, Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam by Robin Wright, Simon and Schuster, (1985), p.67
- ^ Murphy, Passion for Islam, (2002), p.36
- ^ Kepel, Gilles, Jihad: on the Trail of Political Islam, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, (2002), pp.69-75
- ^ Dawood al-Shirian, 'What Is Saudi Arabia Going to Do?' Al-Hayat, May 19, 2003
- ^ Abou al Fadl, Khaled, The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists, HarperSanFrancisco, 2005, pp.48-64
- ^ Kepel, Gilles, Jihad: on the Trail of Political Islam, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, (2002), p.72
- ^ Nasr, Vali, The Shia Revival, Norton, (2006), p.155
- ^ (Murphy, Caryle, Passion for Islam, (2002) p.32
- ^ Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology[dead link]
- ^ "An interview with Minister Mentor of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew". Accessmylibrary.com. 2004-09-24. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25472708_ITM. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Wright, Sacred Rage, (2001), p.148
- ^ "Masjid-ul-Haram: Sacred and forbidden". Ourdialogue.com. http://www.ourdialogue.com/m22.htm. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Wright, Lawrence, The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. New York: Knopf, (2006), pp. 103-104
- ^ Wright, Robin, Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam, p.155
- ^ Wright, Robin, Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam, p.149
- ^ using statistics from mid-1990s, Commentary, "Defeating the Oil Weapon," September 2002
- ^ Thought, Enlightened (2008-04-23). "What went wrong in the Muslim World?". Muslimdecline.blogspot.com. http://www.muslimdecline.blogspot.com/. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Fuller, Graham E., The Future of Political Islam, Palgrave MacMillan, (2003), p.68
- ^ Kepel, Gilles, Muslim extremism in Egypt: the prophet and Pharaoh, Berkeley: University of California Press, (c2003), p.218
- ^ Lewis, Bernard, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror, (2003), p.22
- ^ Lewis, Bernard, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror, (2003), p.23
- ^ Fuller, Graham E., The Future of Political Islam, Palgrave MacMillan, (2003), pp.33-4
- ^ Fuller, Graham E., The Future of Political Islam, Palgrave MacMillan, (2003), p.28
- ^ Fuller, Graham E., The Future of Political Islam, Palgrave MacMillan, (2003), pp.70-71
- ^ Mortimer, Faith and Power, (1982) p.58. Quoting Aziz Ahmad, Studies in Islamic Culture in the Indian Environment, Oxford University Press, (1964), p.189
- ^ A Fury For God: the Islamist Attack on America by Malise Ruthven, 2002, p.135. source: Muhammad 'Umar Memon, Ibn Taymiyya's Struggle against Popular Religion, with an annotated translation of Kitab Iqitada ... (the Hague, 1976), pp.78, 210
- ^ Mortimer, Faith and Power, (1982) pp.67-68.
- ^ Mortimer, Faith and Power, (1982), p.69
- ^ Islam and the Muslim World, (2004) p.374
- ^ Mortimer, Edward, Faith and Power, (1982), p.85
- ^ "ottoman empire: debt". Answers.com. http://www.answers.com/topic/ottoman-empire-debt. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Mortimer, Edward, Faith and Power, (1982), p.93, 237-240, 249
- ^ Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, Macmillan Reference, 2004, v.2, p.609
- ^ The New Encyclopedia of Islam by Cyril Glasse, Rowman and Littlefield, 2001, p.19
- ^ The Oxford Dictionary of Islam by John L. Esposito, OUP, 2003, p.275
- ^ Historical Dictionary of Islam by Ludwig W. Wadamed, Scarecrow Press, 2001, p.233
- ^ see discussion section
- ^ www.islamic-considerations.blogspot.com
- ^ Passion for Islam: Shaping the Modern Middle East: the Egyptian Experience by Caryle Murphy, p.46
- ^ Roy, Failure of Political Islam (1994), p.33
- ^ a b "Maulana Maududi's Two-Nation Theory". Witness-pioneer.org. 2012-01-27. http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Articles/politics/mawdudi2.html. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Mawdudi trained with two Deobandi ulama at the Fatihpuri mosque's seminary in Delhi and received his certificates to teach religious sciences (ijazahs) in 1926. Bonney, R, "Jihad: From Qur'an to Bin Laden", Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, 2004, p. 201
- ^ Bonney, R, "Jihad: From Qur'an to Bin Laden", Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, 2004, p. 201
- ^ "A. Maududi's 'Towards Understanding Islam'". Web.archive.org. 2009-10-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20091026215131/http://geocities.com/alummah2000/MeaningOfIslam.html. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Abu al-A'la al-Mawdudi, "Political Theory of Islam," in Khurshid Ahmad, ed., Islam: Its Meaning and Message (London: Islamic Council of Europe, 1976), pp.159-161.
- ^ Abu al-A'la al-Mawdudi, Islamic Way of Life (Delhi: Markazi Maktaba Islami, 1967), p.40
- ^ Esposito and Piscatory, "Democratization and Islam," pp.436-437, 440
- ^ Esposito, The Islamic Threat, pp.125-126; Voll and Esposito, Islam and Democracy, pp.23-26.
- ^ he was the author of the book S. Abul A'la Maududi, The Process of Islamic Revolution (Lahore, 1980)
- ^ Maududi on social justice: "a man who owns a car can drive it; and those who do not own one should walk; and those who are crippled cannot walk but can hop along" (Nizam al-Hayat fi al-Islam, 1st ed., n.d. (Bayrut: Musassast al-Risalah, 1983), p.54) See also Radical Islamic Fundamentalism: the Ideological and Political Discourse of Sayyid Qutb by Ahmad S. Moussalli American University of Beirut, (1992)
- ^ The Message of the Teachings – Hasan al-Banna
- ^ "Egypt, A Timeline of Recent Events". Gemsofislamism.tripod.com. http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/timeline_egypt.html. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ "The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood," Robert S. Leiken & Steven Brooke, Foreign Affairs Magazine
- ^ "Free Republic. The day before, and after – It's been 25 years since the Islamist genie first went on the rampage". Fr.jpost.com. http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193396891&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Islamists Win 70% of Seats in the Egyptian Parliament The New York Times.
- ^ Qutb, Sayyid, Milestones, The Mother Mosque Foundation, (1981), p.9
- ^ Fawaz A. Gerges, The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global (Bronxville, N.Y.: Sarah Lawrence College) ISBN 978-0-521-79140-3 prologue
- ^ "How Did Sayyid Qutb Influence Osama bin Laden?". Gemsofislamism.tripod.com. http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/qutb_milest_influence_obl.html. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood Robert S. Leiken and Steven Brooke in Foreign Affairs, March/April 2007
- ^ Mayer, p.110
- ^ "The Islamic Resurgence: Prospects and Implications" by Kemal A. Faruki, from Voices of Resurgent Islam, ed. by John L. Esposito, OUP, (1983), p.283
- ^ a b Khomeini (1981), p.54
- ^ Ranstorp, Hizb'allah in Lebanon, (1997) pp.103, 126
- ^ Kepel, Gilles, Jihad, Harvard University Press, (2002), p.118
- ^ Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq#History
- ^ Bakhash, Shaul, The Reign of the Ayatollahs, Basic Books, (c1984), p.233
- ^ "Hezbollah is coy about revealing the sums it has received from Iran. ... Reports have spoken of figures ranging from 5 to 10 million dollars per month, but it is possible that Hezbollah has received larger sums. It is only in recent years (after 1989) that Iran has decreased its aid." from: Jaber, Hala, Hezbollah: Born with a vengeance, New York: Columbia University Press, (c1997), p.150
- ^ 'Removing Saddam strengthened Iran' Quote: "They went directly for the kind of things that make them very unpopular in the West and very popular on the Arab streets. So Iranian President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad started to attack Israel and question the Holocaust."
- ^ "Ahmadinejad: Wipe Israel off map OCTOBER 28, 2005". Web.archive.org. 2007-03-12. http://web.archive.org/web/20070312103145/http://english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=15816. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ Asian Survey, 6, n.29, William L. Richter, "The Political Dynamics of Islamic Resurgence in Pakistan."
- ^ Kepel, Jihad, (2002), pp.98, 100, 101
- ^ Fuller, Future of Political Islam, (2003), p.131
- ^ Kepel, Jihad, (2002), p.98
- ^ The Islamization of Pakistan, 1979-2009[dead link]
- ^ "blowback revisited" Foreign Affairs 2005 Peter Bergen
- ^ "How the CIA created Osama bin Laden". Green Left Weekly. 2001-09-19. http://www.greenleft.org.au/2001/465/25199. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ bin Laden interview with Peter Arnett, March 1997
- ^ Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam Gilles Kepel pp.205-217
- ^ Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam Gilles Kepel p.207
- ^ Wright, Lawrence, Looming Tower, (2006), p.332
- ^ Timeline of modern Egypt
- ^ Mazih Ayubi, Political Islam, 1991, p73
- ^ Fuller, Graham E., The Future of Political Islam, Palgrave MacMillan, (2003), p.108
- ^ Human Rights Watch 1989 Sudan
- ^ Wright, Lawrence, Looming Towers, (2006), pp.213-215
- ^ Kepel, Jihad, (2002), p.262
- ^ Algeria Timeline
- ^ "International: Freer and more peaceful; An election in Algeria," The Economist, April 17, 2004. V.371, n. 8371; p.56
- ^ Rashid, Taliban (2000), p.26, 32
- ^ Is Islamism a Threat? A Debate Middle East Quarterly, December 1999
- ^ Agence France-Presse, 'Taliban reject warnings of aid pull-out', 16 July 1998
- ^ Rashid,Taliban, (2000), p.132, 139
- ^ Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, (2004)
- ^ For example, in 1998 feminist groups in the United States applied serious pressure on the Unocal oil company to end its relationship with the Taliban regime. Rashid, Taliban, (2000), p.174
- ^ Rashid,Taliban (2000), p.105
- ^ Human Rights Watch, AFGHANISTAN: THE MASSACRE IN MAZAR-I SHARIF
- ^ Rashid, Taliban (2000), p.98, 101
- ^ BBC article stating that bin Laden is "a man without sin"
- ^ Virgins? What virgins?
- ^ Report: Global terrorism up more than 25 percent
- ^ Afghan Suicide Attacks Rising, Report Shows
- ^ ... increasing number of armed attacks that either target civilians or are launched without regard for the impact on civilian life
- ^ The Assault of Suicide-Bombers in Pakistan and Afghanistan[dead link]
- ^ Draft Constitution[dead link]
- ^ an-Nabhani, Taqiuddin, The System of Islam (Nidham ul Islam), Al-Khilafa Publications, www.khilafah.com, 1423 AH – 2002 CE p.58
- ^ "Fighting the War of Ideas", Zeyno Baran. Foreign Affairs, Nov/December 2005
- ^ a b For Allah and the caliphate
- ^ "9,000 mainly young people attend HT Rally," September 15, 2002
- ^ "The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood", Robert S. Leiken and Steven Brooke, From Foreign Affairs, March/April 2007
- ^ The Turkish Model: Can It Be Replicated? by Peter Kenyon| NPR| 6 January 2012
- ^ Area: London—Religion (UV15) (Office for National Statistics.) Retrieved 2 March 2009.
- ^ BBC
- ^ BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Image of bombers' deadly journey
- ^ Five arrested over London cartoons protest
- ^ Sciolino, Elaine, and Don Van Natta Jr. "For a Decade, London Thrived as a Busy Crossroads of Terror". The New York Times, July 10, 2005. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
- ^ NOVEMBER 30, 2008, 1:36 P.M. ET Information Warfare Matters
- ^ Creating a New Public Diplomacy Cabinet Post. Spring 2008
- ^ Cohen, Stephen Philip, The Idea of Pakistan, Brookings Institution Press, (2004), p.297
- ^ Fuller, Graham E., The Future of Political Islam, Palgrave MacMillan, (2003), p.199
Further reading[link]
- Ankerl, Guy Coexisting Contemporary Civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese and Western. INU Press,Geneva, 2000. ISBN 978-2-88155-004-1
- Hassan, Riaz Inside Muslim Minds Melbourne University Press, 2008
- Hassan, Riaz Faithlines: Muslim Conceptions of Islam and Society Oxford University Press, 2002
- "On Suicide Bombings" by Talal Asad
- A Fundamental Fear: Eurocentrism and Emergence of Islamism' by S. Sayyid, London: Zed Press.
- The Al Qaeda Connection: International Terrorism, Organized Crime, And the Coming Apocalypse by Paul L. Williams
- The War for Muslim Minds by Gilles Kepel
- Gilles Kepel, The Roots of Radical Islam London: Saqi, 2005 (originally published in French as Le Prophete et Pharaon, 1984)
- Esposito, John L. (2003). Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-516886-0.
- Fethullah Gulen's Thoughts on State, Democracy, Politics, Terrorism
- Paul Berman: Terror And Liberalism W. W. Norton & Company, New York 2003
- Robert Dreyfuss: Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam. Henry Holt/Metropolitan Books, November 2005
- Philip S. Khoury:, "Islamic Revival and the Crisis of the Secular State in the Arab World: an Historical Appraisal." in Arab Resources: The Transformation of a Society. ed. I. Ibrahim. London: Croom Helm, 1983.
- Mandaville, Peter: "Transnational Muslim Politics", (2001), London: Routledge.
- Bernard Lewis: The Emergence of Modern Turkey London, Oxford University Press, 1961
- Beverley Milton-Edwards: Islamic fundamentalism since 1945. London: Routledge, 2005
- Nazih Ayubi, Political Islam (London: Routledge, 1991).
- John Esposito, Voices of Resurgent Islam Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.
- John Esposito, The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality Oxford: Oxford University Press 1992.
- John Esposito and Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Islam, Gender, and Social Change.
- Fred Halliday, Islam and the Myth of Confrontation London: I.B. Tauris, 1996.
- Khomeini, Ruhollah (1981). Algar, Hamid (translator and editor). Islam and Revolution: Writing and Declarations of Imam Khomeini. Berkeley: Mizan Press.
- Mayer, Ann Elizabeth, "The Fundamentalist Impact on Law, Politics and Constitution in Iran, Pakistan and the Sudan", In: Fundamentalism and the State, Martin Marty & S. Appleby (eds.)
External links[link]
 |
Look up islamism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- Evaluating the Islamist movement – written by Greg Noakes, an American Muslim who works at the Washington Report
- Elizabeth Barre, Review of Roxanne Euben and Muhammad Qasim Zaman, "Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought: Texts and Contexts for al Banna to Bin Laden," Reason Papers 33 (Fall 2011)
- Islamist.Com Documenting the rise of Islam and Islamists on the world stage. Lots of links on Islamist political prisoners
- Islamism, fascism and terrorism (Part 1)
- Qantara.de-Dossier: Islamism
- (English) Asabiyya: Re-Interpreting Value Change in Globalized Societies
- (English) Why Europe has to offer a better deal towards its Muslim communities. A quantitative analysis of open international data
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| Michele Bachmann | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 6th district |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2007 |
|
| Preceded by | Mark Kennedy |
| Member of the Minnesota Senate from the 52nd district |
|
| In office January 7, 2003 – January 2, 2007 |
|
| Preceded by | Satveer Chaudhary |
| Succeeded by | Ray Vandeveer |
| Member of the Minnesota Senate from the 56th district |
|
| In office January 3, 2001 – January 7, 2003 |
|
| Preceded by | Gary W. Laidig |
| Succeeded by | Brian LeClair |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michele Marie Amble (1956-04-06) April 6, 1956 (age 56) Waterloo, Iowa, United States |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Marcus Bachmann |
| Residence | Stillwater, Minnesota |
| Alma mater | Winona State University (B.A.)[1] Oral Roberts University (J.D.)[1] William & Mary Law School (LL.M.)[1] |
| Occupation | Attorney[2] |
| Religion | Evangelical Christian (formerly Lutheran) |
| Website | Official webpage at U.S. Congress Campaign website |
|
This article is part of a series about
Michele Bachmann |
|
Michele Marie Bachmann (pronounced /ˈbɑːkmən/;[3] née Amble; born April 6, 1956)[4] is an American Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Minnesota's 6th congressional district, a post she has held since 2007. The district includes several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Woodbury, and Blaine as well as Stillwater and St. Cloud.
She was a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2012 U.S. presidential election,[5] winning the Ames Straw Poll in August 2011 but dropping out in January 2012 after finishing in sixth place in the Iowa caucuses. Bachmann previously served in the Minnesota State Senate and is the first Republican woman to represent the state in Congress.[6] She is a supporter of the Tea Party movement[7] and a founder of the House Tea Party Caucus.[8]
Contents
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Early life, education, and early career[link]
Bachmann was born Michele Marie Amble in Waterloo, Iowa "into a family of Norwegian Lutheran Democrats";[9] her family moved from Iowa to Minnesota when she was 13 years old.[10] After her parents divorced, Bachmann's father, David John Amble, moved to California, and Bachmann was raised by her mother, Arlene Jean (née Johnson), who worked at the First National Bank in Anoka, Minnesota.[10][11][12] Her mother remarried when Bachmann was a teenager; the new marriage resulted in a family with nine children.[13]
She graduated from Anoka High School in 1974 and, after graduation, spent one summer working on kibbutz Be'eri in Israel.[14] In 1978, she graduated from Winona State University with a B.A.[1]
In 1979, Bachmann was a member of the first class of the O. W. Coburn School of Law, then a part of Oral Roberts University (ORU).[13] While there, Bachmann studied with John Eidsmoe, whom she described in 2011 as "one of the professors who had a great influence on me".[15][16] Bachmann worked as a research assistant on Eidsmoe's 1987 book Christianity and the Constitution, which argues that the United States was founded as a Christian theocracy, and should become one again.[13][15][16] In 1986 Bachmann received a J.D. degree from Oral Roberts University.[1] She was a member of the final graduating class of the law school at ORU, and was part of a group of faculty, staff, and students who moved the ORU law school library to what is now Regent University.[17]
In 1988, Bachmann received an LL.M. degree in tax law from the William & Mary School of Law.[2][18] From 1988 to 1993, she was an attorney working for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).[19] She left her position with the IRS to become a full-time mother[20] when her fourth child was born.[21]
Personal life[link]
Family[link]
In 1978, she married Marcus Bachmann, now a clinical therapist with a master's degree from Regent University and a Ph.D. from Union Graduate School,[22] whom she had met while they were undergraduates.[13][23] After she received an LL.M. in taxation from William & Mary School of Law in 1988, the couple moved to Stillwater, Minnesota, a town of 18,000 near St. Paul, where they run a Christian counseling center.[13] Bachmann and her husband have five children (Lucas, Harrison, Elisa, Caroline, and Sophia). Bachmann said in a 2011 town hall meeting that she suffered a miscarriage after the birth of their second child, Harrison, an event which she said shaped her pro-life views.[24]
Bachmann and her husband have also provided foster care for 23 other children,[25][26] all teenage girls. The Bachmanns were licensed from 1992 to 2000 to handle up to three foster children at a time; the last child arrived in 1998. The Bachmanns began by providing short-term care for girls with eating disorders who were patients in a program at the University of Minnesota. The Bachmann home was legally defined as a treatment home, with a daily reimbursement rate per child from the state. Some girls stayed a few months, others more than a year.[21]
In May 2012, it was reported that in addition to their U.S. citizenship, Bachmann and her husband had applied for Swiss citizenship[27] for themselves and their three youngest children, and been granted it on March 19, 2012. They had been eligible for this under Swiss nationality law because Marcus Bachmann's parents were Swiss.[27] Bachmann denied that she or her husband had recently applied for Swiss citizenship, saying that her husband had already been a dual citizen as the son of Swiss immigrants, and that she had automatically acquired Swiss citizenship under then-current Swiss law when she married him in 1978; however, when asked by a Swiss Television reporter on May 8, 2012, "I understand you just got Swiss Citizenship," Bachmann's reply was, "Yes, we did."[28] Marcus Bachmann did not register the marriage with the Swiss authorities until 2012.[27][29] Within two days of the first reports of Bachmann's dual citizenship,[30] she announced that she had written to the Swiss consulate to have her Swiss citizenship withdrawn.[31]
Religion[link]
Bachmann was a longtime member of Salem Lutheran Church in Stillwater. She and her husband withdrew their membership on June 21, 2011, just before she officially began her presidential campaign. They had not attended the congregation for over two years.[32][33] Salem Lutheran Church is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. When challenged about that denomination's belief that the Pope is the Antichrist,[34][35][36] Bachmann responded by stating, "I love Catholics, I'm a Christian, and my church does not believe that the Pope is the Anti-Christ, that's absolutely false."[37] A spokesman for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights said they see "no evidence of any bigotry" in Mrs Bachmann.[38] More recently, according to friends, the Bachmanns began attending Eagle Brook Church, an Evangelical church closer to their home.[39]
Bachmann has cited theologian Francis Schaeffer as a "profound influence" on her life and her husband's, specifically referring to his film series How Should We Then Live?.[15][16] She has also described Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcey as a "wonderful" book.[15] Journalist Ryan Lizza has argued that Bachmann's worldview is deeply influenced by the Christian movement known as Dominionism, citing the influence of Schaeffer and Pearcey as evidence.[15] Others have criticized Lizza's article, especially its connection of Schaeffer with Dominionism.[40][41][42] However, religion writer Sarah Posner broadly concurs with Lizza, pointing to the influence of Christian Reconstructionists Herb Titus and R. J. Rushdoony on Bachmann via the curriculum at O. W. Coburn School of Law.[43][44]
Businesses[link]
Bachmann and her husband own a Christian counseling practice named Bachmann & Associates.[45][46] The clinic is run by her husband, who has a PhD with “a concentration in clinical psychology”[47] from Union Graduate School. Marcus Bachmann is not a licensed clinical psychologist in Minnesota.[48] The clinic received nearly $30,000 from Minnesota government agencies between 2006 and 2010 in addition to at least $137,000 in federal payments and $24,000 in government grants for counselor training.[49] When asked about the subject in an interview, Bachmann indicated that she and her husband had not benefited at taxpayers' expense, saying that "the money that went to the clinic was actually training money for employees".[50] Marcus Bachmann has denied allegations that Bachmann & Associates provides conversion therapy, a controversial psychological treatment repudiated by the American Psychological Association, which attempts to transform homosexuals into heterosexuals.[51][52] A former client of Bachmann's clinic and a hidden camera investigator with the activist group Truth Wins Out have said that therapists at the clinic do engage in such practices,[53][54] although columnist Mariah Blake of The Nation has suggested the hidden camera investigator may have been intentionally baiting the therapist to say something controversial.[51] In a subsequent interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune, Marcus Bachmann did not deny that he or other counselors at his clinic used the technique but said they did so only at the request of a client.[32]
In personal financial disclosure reports for 2006 through 2009, Bachmann reported earning $32,500 to $105,000[50] from a farm that was owned at the time by her ailing father-in-law, Paul Bachmann. The farm received $260,000 in federal crop and disaster subsidies between 1995 and 2008.[55] Bachmann said that in 2006–2009, her husband acted as a trustee of the farm for his dying father and so, out of "an abundance of caution", she claimed the farm as income in financial disclosures, though it was her in-laws who profited from the farm during that period.[56]
Early political activism[link]
Bachmann grew up in a Democratic family, but she says she became a Republican during her senior year at Winona State. She told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that she was reading Gore Vidal's 1973 novel, Burr: "He was kind of mocking the Founding Fathers and I just thought, I just remember reading the book, putting it in my lap, looking out the window and thinking, 'You know what? I don't think I am a Democrat. I must be a Republican.'"[10][57]
While still a Democrat, she and her then-fiancé Marcus were inspired to join the pro-life movement by Francis Schaeffer's 1976 Christian documentary film, How Should We Then Live?[58] They prayed outside of clinics and engaged in sidewalk counseling,[18] a pro-life protest activity in which activists approach people entering abortion clinics in an attempt to dissuade women from obtaining abortions.[59] Since then, Bachmann has made statements supportive of sidewalk counseling.[60] Bachmann was a supporter of Jimmy Carter in 1976, and she and her husband worked on his campaign.[61] During Carter's presidency, Bachmann became disappointed with his liberal approach to public policy, support for legalized abortion and economic decisions she held responsible for increased gas prices. In the 1980 presidential election, she voted for Ronald Reagan and worked for his campaign.[18][62]
Her political activism gained media attention at a pro-life protest in 1991. She and approximately 30 other pro-life citizens went to a Ramsey County Board meeting where a $3 million appropriation was to go to build a morgue for the county at St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center (now Regions Hospital). The Medical Center performed abortions and employed pro-choice activist Jane Hodgson. Bachmann attended the meeting to protest public tax dollars going to the hospital; speaking to the Star Tribune, she said that "in effect, since 1973, I have been a landlord of an abortion clinic, and I don't like that distinction".[19][63]
In 1993, she and other parents started the K-12 New Heights Charter School in Stillwater. The publicly funded school's charter mandated that it be non-sectarian in all programs and practices, but the school soon developed a strong Christian orientation. Parents of students at the school complained and the superintendent of schools warned Bachmann that the school was in violation of state law. Six months after the school's founding Bachmann resigned and the Christian orientation was removed from the curriculum, allowing the school to keep its charter.[16][64][65] Bachmann began speaking against a state-mandated set of educational standards, which propelled her into the world of politics.[66]
Bachmann became a critic and opponent of Minnesota's School-to-Work policies. In a 1999 column, she wrote: "School-to-Work alters the basic mission and purpose of K-12 academic education away from traditional broad-based academic studies geared toward maximizing intellectual achievement of the individual. Instead, School-to-Work utilizes the school day to promote children's acquisition of workplace skills, viewing children as trainees for increased economic productivity."[67]
In November 1999, she and four other Republicans were candidates, as the "Slate of Five", in an election for the school board of Stillwater. All five lost.[13]
Minnesota Senate[link]
In 2000, Bachmann defeated 18-year incumbent Gary Laidig for the Republican nomination for State Senator for Minnesota District 56. In the November 2000 general election, she defeated Ted Thompson of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) and Lyno Sullivan of the Minnesota Independence Party, to win the seat. Two years later, in November 2002, after redistricting due to the 2000 Census, Bachmann defeated another incumbent, State Senator Jane Krentz of the DFL, in the newly drawn State Senate District 52. In office, Bachmann's agenda focused on the cultural conservative issues of opposition to abortion and gay marriage.[21]
Same-sex marriage constitutional amendment[link]
On November 20, 2003, Bachmann and Representative Mary Liz Holberg proposed a constitutional amendment that would bar the state from legally recognizing same-sex marriage.[68] In 2004, Bachmann and a coalition of religious leaders announced plans for a "Minnesota for Marriage" rally.[69] Bachmann's effort to place a marriage amendment on a referendum ballot in 2004 ultimately failed. She resurrected her proposal in March 2005[70] but it stalled indefinitely in a senate committee that April.[71]
Assistant Minority Leader[link]
In November 2004, Republican Senate Minority Leader Dick Day appointed Bachmann as Assistant Minority Leader in charge of Policy for the Senate Republican Caucus.[72] In July 2005, the Republican Caucus removed her from her leadership position. Bachmann said that disagreements with Day over her anti-tax stance were the reason for her ouster.[73]
U.S. House of Representatives[link]
Since being elected in November 2006, Bachmann has served Minnesota's 6th congressional district, which includes the northernmost and eastern suburbs of the Twin Cities and St. Cloud. She is the first Republican woman to be elected to the U.S. House from Minnesota.[45]
110th Congress[link]
Iraq War troop surge[link]
In January 2007, a resolution was approved in the House of Representatives opposing President George W. Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq. Bachmann voted "No". However, before supporting the proposed surge, Bachmann called for a full hearing, saying, "The American people deserve to hear and understand the merits of increasing U.S. troop presence in Iraq. Increased troop presence is justifiable if that measure would bring a swift conclusion to a difficult conflict."[74] She hesitated to give a firm endorsement, calling the hearings "a good first step in explaining to the American people the course toward victory in Iraq".[75] When pressed, she said she had not come to any conclusion on the matter,[75] saying, "I don't believe we have all of the information in front of us. As a member of Congress that's why I want to go to Iraq as quickly as I can. I want to get the best information in front of me."[76]
Member of Congressional delegation[link]
In July 2007, Bachmann joined a Congressional delegation visiting Ireland, Germany, Pakistan, Kuwait and Iraq. Bachmann met briefly (due to security concerns) with U.S. personnel in the Green Zone and upon her return she said she "was encouraged by reports of progress from Crocker, Gen. David Petraeus and other personnel in Iraq linked to the surge."[77] She said the surge "hasn't had a chance to be in place long enough to offer a critique of how it's working. (Gen. Petraeus) said al-Qaida in Iraq is off its plan and we want to keep it that way. The surge has only been fully in place for a week or so."[77]
Bachmann also spoke of the delegation's visit to Islamabad to meet Pakistani Prime Minister Aziz at the same time as the siege of Islamic fundamentalists at the Lal Masjid mosque elsewhere in the city.[77] She reported that "The group [of U.S. Legislators] had to travel in armored vehicles and was constantly accompanied by Pakistani military....We were all able to see extremely up close and personal what it's like to be in a region where fighting is occurring. We constantly felt like we were in need of security."[77] Bachmann told reporters upon her return that "the dangers posed by Islamic terrorism in Iraq, Britain and Pakistan justified the continued American military presence in Iraq."[77] She said "We don't want to see al-Qaida get a presence in the United States. Al-Qaida doesn't seem to show any signs of letting up. We have to keep that in mind."[77]
Opposition to higher education finance bill[link]
On July 11, 2007, Bachmann voted against the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that would raise the maximum Pell grant from $4,310 to $5,200, lower interest rates on subsidized student loans to 3.4 percent from 6.8 percent, raise loan limits to $30,500 from $7,500, disfavor married students who file joint tax returns, provide more favorable repayment terms to students who do not use their education to prosper financially[78] and favor public sector over private sector workers with much more favorable loan forgiveness benefits.[79] Supporters of the bill said "it would allow more students to attend college".[80] Bachmann said her opposition was because "it fails students and taxpayers with gimmicks, hidden costs and poorly targeted aid. It contains no serious reform of existing programs, and it favors the costly, government-run direct lending program over nonprofit and commercial lenders."[80] The bill passed the House[80] and was signed by President Bush.[81]
Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act[link]
In March, 2008 Bachmann introduced H.R. 849, the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act. If passed, it would repeal two sections of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, signed into law by George W. Bush. The 2007 Energy Act mandates energy efficiency and labeling standards for incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. Bachmann's bill would require the Government Accountability Office to show that a change to fluorescent bulbs would have "clear economic, health and environmental benefits" prior to enforcement of lighting efficiency regulations. The bill does, however, allow these standards to remain in place if the comptroller general were to find that they will lead to consumer savings, reduced carbon-dioxide emissions and pose no health risks to consumers (such as risks posed by the presence of mercury in fluorescent bulbs). The bill languished in the House and became inactive at the end of the 110th Congress. Bachmann reintroduced the bill in March 2011.[82][83][84]
Class action lawsuits[link]
On June 3, 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act (H.R. 4008) into law. The bipartisan bill, which Bachmann cosponsored with Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.), removes statutory damages for violations of a 2003 federal law prohibiting merchants from printing consumers' credit card numbers and expiration dates on sales receipts, in order to end class-action lawsuits aimed at businesses that violated the law.[85]
Domestic oil and gas production[link]
During the summer of 2008, as national gasoline prices rose to over $4 a gallon, Bachmann became a leading Congressional advocate for increased domestic oil and natural gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Outer Continental Shelf.[86] She joined 10 other House Republicans and members of the media on a Congressional Energy Tour to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, and to Alaska. The trip was set up by Arctic Power, an Alaskan lobbying group that advocates for ANWR development. The purpose of the trip was to receive a first hand account of emerging renewable energy technologies and the prospects of increased domestic oil and natural gas production in Alaska, including ANWR.[87]
Global warming skepticism[link]
Bachmann has charged that global warming is a hoax[88] and has been a vocal skeptic of global warming.[89] She has asserted that since carbon dioxide is "a natural byproduct of nature", it is a beneficial gas required by plant life. She stated that because life requires carbon dioxide and it is part of the planet's life cycle, it cannot be harmful. In a statement she made on the House floor on Earth Day, April 22, 2009, Bachmann stated she was against the cap and trade climate legislation, stating: "Carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless gas. Carbon dioxide is natural; it is not harmful.... We're being told we have to reduce this natural substance to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is naturally occurring in the earth."[90]
Opposition to financial sector bailout[link]
Bachmann opposed both versions of the Wall Street bailout bill for America's financial sector.
She voted against the first proposed $700 billion bailout of financial institutions, which failed to pass 205–228. She also advocated breaking up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and barring executives from excessive compensation or golden parachutes. However, she also advocated a plan that would suspend mark-to-market accounting rules and supported suspending the capital gains tax.[91]
The "Big Three" automakers; Ford, Chrysler and General Motors, approached Congress to ask for roughly $15 billion to keep them operational into 2009. Bachmann criticized that bill, fearing that the initial sum of money would be followed by subsequent ones without the companies making changes to revive their business. Bachmann supported an alternative bail-out for the Big Three and the rest of the auto industry rather than the plan that passed. According to Bachmann, her alternative would set benchmarks for reducing their debt and renegotiating labor deals and would set up the financial assistance as interim insurance instead of a taxpayer-financed bailout.[92]
Accusations of Barack Obama having anti-American views[link]
On October 17, 2008, Bachmann gave an interview on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews in support of the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain that brought the Minnesota 6th Congressional District race national attention. During the interview she criticized Barack Obama for his association with Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers, saying "...usually we associate with people who have similar ideas to us, and it seems that it calls into question what Barack Obama's true beliefs, and values, and thoughts are...I am very concerned that he [Barack Obama] may have anti-American views." She noted the bombing campaign orchestrated by Bill Ayers before discussing his association with Barack Obama, arguing that "Bill Ayers is not someone the average American wants to see their president have an association with."[93] Matthews followed up by asking "But he [Obama] is a Senator from the State of Illinois; he's one of the members of Congress you suspect of being anti-American. How many people in the Congress of the United States do you think are anti-American? You've already suspected Barack Obama, is he alone or are there others?" Bachmann answered, "What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating exposé and take a look ... I wish they would ... I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out are they pro-America, or anti-America. I think people would love to see an exposé like that."[94]
The five Democratic members of Minnesota's congressional delegation – Tim Walz, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison, Collin Peterson and Jim Oberstar – issued a joint statement in which they questioned her ability to "work in a bipartisan way to put the interests of our country first in this time of crisis".[95] Former Secretary of State Colin Powell[96][97] and former Minnesota Governor Republican Arne Carlson[98] said that her comments had influenced their decisions to endorse Obama for president.
Bachmann brought up the interview before business leaders and Republicans during a campaign stop in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on October 21, 2008. She stated that she never intended to question Obama's patriotism. "I made a misstatement. I said a comment that I would take back. I did not, nor do I, question Barack Obama's patriotism.... I did not say that Barack Obama is anti-American nor do I believe that Barack Obama is anti-American ... [But] I'm very concerned about Barack Obama's views. I don't believe that socialism is a good thing for America."[99] However, in March 2010, Bachmann said, "I said I had very serious concerns that Barack Obama had anti-American views-- and now I look like Nostradamus" while speaking at a fund-raiser for the Susan B. Anthony List.[100][101] A year later, in March 2011, Bachmann was asked on Meet the Press if she still believed that Obama held un-American views. She responded "I believe that the actions of this government have, have been emblematic of ones that have not been based on true American values." Pressed for clarification, she said "I've already answered that question before. I said I had very serious concerns about the president's views."[102]
111th Congress[link]
Further information: 111th United States Congress
Global currency[link]
On March 26, 2009, following comments by China proposing adoption of a global reserve currency, Bachmann introduced a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to bar the dollar from being replaced by a foreign currency. Current law prohibits foreign currency from being recognized in the U.S., but Bachmann expressed concerns relating to the President's power to make and interpret treaties.[103] Earlier that month, at a Financial Services Committee hearing, Bachmann asked both Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke if they would reject calls for the U.S. to move away from the U.S. dollar and they replied that they would reject such a call.[104]
2010 Census[link]
In a June 17, 2009, interview with The Washington Times, Bachmann expressed concern that the questions on the 2010 United States Census had become "very intricate, very personal" and that ACORN, a community organizing group that had come under fire the previous year, might be part of the Census Bureau's door-to-door information collection efforts. She stated, "I know for my family the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home, we won't be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that."[105] According to Politifact her statement was incorrect, as the watchdog group confirmed that the Constitution does require citizens to complete the census.[106] Fellow Republican Representatives Patrick McHenry (N.C.), Lynn Westmoreland (Ga.) and John Mica (Fla.) – members of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and National Archives, which oversees the census – subsequently asked Bachmann not to boycott the population count.[107]
Along with Congressman Ted Poe (Tex.-02), Bachmann introduced the American Community Survey Act to limit the amount of personal information solicited by the U.S. Census Bureau.[108] She reiterated her belief that the census asks too many personal questions.[109]
Cap and Trade legislation[link]
In March 2009, Bachmann was interviewed by the Northern Alliance Radio Network and promoted two forums she was hosting the next month in St. Cloud and Woodbury regarding Obama's proposed cap and trade tax policy to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Bachmann said she wanted Minnesotans "armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back." Bachmann's office quickly clarified that she was speaking metaphorically, meaning "armed with knowledge." However, according to the Star Tribune, her quote went viral across the Internet.[110][111]
AmeriCorps[link]
In 2009, Bachmann became a critic of what she characterized as proposals for mandatory public service.[25] Speaking in reference to the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an expansion to AmeriCorps (a federal community service organization), she said in April:
It's under the guise of—quote—volunteerism. But it's not volunteers at all. It's paying people to do work on behalf of government. ... I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums.[112]
The original bill called for an exploration of whether a mandatory public service program could be established, but that entire section on creating a "Congressional Commission on Civic Service" was stripped from the bill.[113]
In August 2009, political opponents of Bachmann publicized in the local media and the blogosphere what they described as the "ironic" fact that her son, Harrison, joined Teach for America,[114][115] which is a member of the AmeriCorps program.[116]
Health care[link]
Bachmann contributed to the "death panel" controversy when she read from a July 24 article written by Betsy McCaughey from the floor of the House. Sarah Palin said that her "death panel" remark was inspired by what she called the "Orwellian" opinions of Ezekiel Emanuel as described by Bachmann,[117][118][119][120][121][122] who accused him of advocating health care rationing by age and disability.[123] According to PolitiFact[124] and TIME,[125] Bachmann's euthanasia remarks distorted Emanuel's position on health care for the elderly and disabled. FactCheck.org stated, "We agree that Emanuel's meaning is being twisted."[126] When many doctors wanted to legalize euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide, Emanuel opposed it.[127]
On August 31, 2009, Bachmann spoke at an event in Colorado, saying of Democratic health care overhaul proposals that:
This cannot pass. What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn't pass.[128]
She outlined ideas for changing the health care system, including: "Erase the boundaries around every single state when it comes to health care", enabling consumers to purchase insurance across state lines; increase the use of health savings accounts and allow everyone to "take full deductibility of all medical expenses", including insurance premiums; and tort reform.[128]
Bachmann denounced the government-run health insurance public option, calling it a "government takeover of health care" that would "squeeze out private health insurance".[129]
Criticism of President Obama's visit to Asia[link]
In an interview with Anderson Cooper on November 3, 2010, when discussing cuts in government spending for Medicare and Social Security suggested by Congressman Paul Ryan, Bachmann was asked what cuts in government spending she would make to reduce the deficit. She cited President Obama's then-upcoming visit to Asia as an example, saying it "is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day. He's taking two thousand people with him. He'll be renting out over 870 rooms in India. And these are 5-star hotel rooms at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel. This is the kind of over-the-top spending, it's a very small example, Anderson." Bachmann was apparently referring to information in a story from the Press Trust of India, attributed to "a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit", information that was also published in U.S.-based media such as The Drudge Report.[130] In response to the news report's claim that 34 warships were accompanying the President, a Pentagon spokesman, Geoff Morrell, dismissed the account as "comical". The White House said that the press report figures were "wildly inflated" and had "no basis in reality".[131] While stating that they could not give the actual projected figures for security reasons, staffers maintained costs were in line with the official travel costs of previous presidents Bush and Clinton.[130]
112th Congress[link]
Leadership run[link]
See also: List of Tea Party politicians
After the 2010 elections and the announcement from Rep. Mike Pence that he was stepping away from his leadership position in the House, Bachmann announced on her Facebook page her intention to seek the position of House Republican Conference Chair. As Bachmann is the founder of the House's Tea Party Caucus, her announcement caused some to see the leadership election as "an early test of how GOP leaders will treat the antiestablishment movement's winners".[132] Many among the House's Republican leadership, including Eric Cantor and the retiring Mike Pence, were quick to endorse Rep. Jeb Hensarling for the position; Speaker-to-be John Boehner remained neutral on the issue.[133] Supporters of Bachmann's run include Reps. Steve King, John Kline, Louie Gohmert, Chip Cravaack, Erik Paulsen, as well as media personality and political commentator Glenn Beck.[134] Listing her qualifications for the position Bachmann noted "I've done an effective job speaking out at a national and local level, motivating people with our message, calling attention to deficits in Obama's policy. I was instrumental in bringing tens of thousands of people to the U.S. capitol to rally against Obama care and to attend our press conference."[134] She noted her work to keep the Tea Party within the GOP rather than having it become a third party thereby helping the party capture the House, stating "I have been able to bring a voice and motivate people to, in effect, put that gavel in John Boehner's hands, so that Republicans can lead going forward. …It's important that leadership represents the choice of the people coming into our caucus….I think I have motivated a high number of people to get involved in this cycle who may have sat it out and that have made a difference on a number of these races. I gave a large amount of money to NRCC and individual candidates and started Michele PAC, which raised $650,000 for members since July, so I was able to financially help about 50 people out."[134]
Bachmann's bid suffered a setback when she was passed over for the GOP's transition team on which Hensarling was placed.[135] Despite Bachmann's leading all other Representatives in fund raising, a Republican aide stated some "members are getting resentful of Bachmann, who they say is making the argument that you're not really a Tea Party supporter unless you support her. That's gone through the formation of the Tea Party Caucus and the formation of this candidacy of hers. It's just not so."[135] Sarah Palin, with whom Bachmann had campaigned earlier in the year, declined to endorse her leadership bid, while other Tea Party favorites Reps Adam Kinzinger and Tim Scott were placed on the transition team.[135] According to some senior House staff members, the party leadership was concerned about some of Bachmann's high profile faux pas, the high rate of turnover among her staff, and how willing she would be to advance the party's messaging rather than her own.[136]
On November 10, Bachmann released a statement ending her campaign for Conference Chair and giving her "enthusiastic" support to Hensarling.[137]
Committee assignment[link]
Bachmann was selected by House Speaker John Boehner for a position "on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, giving her a new role as overseer of the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the rest of the U.S. intelligence community."[138] Bachmann, who had "not served on any committee that deals with foreign policy issues" requested the position,[138] "a move that has fueled speculation that she may be planning to carry the Tea Party banner into the GOP presidential primaries."[138]
Repeal of Dodd-Frank reform[link]
Soon after being sworn in to her third term Bachmann introduced legislation to repeal the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. She stated "I'm pleased to offer a full repeal of the job-killing Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill. Dodd-Frank grossly expanded the federal government beyond its jurisdictional boundaries. It gave Washington bureaucrats the power to interpret and enforce the legislation with little oversight. Real financial regulatory reform must deal with these lenders who were a leading cause of our economic recession. True reform must also end the bailout mind-set that was perpetuated by the last Congress." She also took issue with the law for not addressing the liabilities of the tax-payer funded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.[139] Bachmann's bill has been endorsed by such conservative groups as the Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity, it has four other Republican co-sponsors including Rep Darrell Issa, who became the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at the start of the 112th Congress.[140] Bachmann's call for total repeal was seen as more drastic than the approach advocated by her fellow Republican Spencer Bachus who became the House Financial Services Committee Chairman with the change of majority in the House. Bachus "plans to provide 'vigorous' oversight of regulators efforts to reform banking and housing...reform Fannie and Freddie", and "dismantle pieces of [the] Dodd-Frank Act that he believes 'unnecessarily punish small businesses and community banks.'"[140] In response to Bachmann's legislation Rep Barney Frank stated, "Michele Bachmann, the Club for Growth, and others in the right-wing coalition have now made their agenda for the financial sector very clear: they yearn to return to the thrilling days of yesteryear, so the loan arrangers can ride again – untrammeled by any rules restraining irresponsibility, excess, deception, and most of all, infinite leverage."[140] The chances of Bachmann's legislation passing were viewed as unlikely, the Financial Times wrote that "Like the Republican move to repeal healthcare reform, Ms Bachmann's bill could be passed by the House of Representatives but be blocked by the Senate or White House."[141]
State of the Union response[link]
Bachmann responded to President Obama's 2011 State of the Union speech for the Tea Party Express website; this speech was broadcast live by CNN. She insisted that her response was not intended to counter the official Republican party response by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. When asked if the speech was an indication of competition with Ryan and Speaker Boehner's leadership team, Bachmann dismissed such a view as "a fiction of the media", she had alerted Ryan and the leadership team that her response might go national and no objections were raised.[142]
Repeal of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act[link]
Bachmann has characterized the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as "ObamaCare", and has continually called for its repeal.[143] She recalled to reporters that she called for debate to repeal the act "the morning after Obamacare passed".[143] Joining with Rep. Steve King she introduced "the Bachmann-King repeal of health care bill" stating that it "is our intent in our heart to make sure that Obamacare is completely repealed."[143] In light of a Democratic held Senate and Presidency that oppose repeal, Bachmann called on the Republican held House of Representatives to not provide any funds for the implementation of the act "But until we can see that [repeal] happen, we want to fully defund this bill so that, like, it would be akin to a helium balloon that gets no helium inside so that it can't take off the ground, and that's what we're planning to do. I'm very, very grateful for nothing else; having a majority in the House of Representatives so that we have the ability of the power of the purse to not fund Obamacare, and this is exactly the right way to go."[143]
On March 4, 2011, Bachmann (who was one of the six House Republicans to vote against the continuing resolution) expressed her unhappines with the move that gave a two-week reprieve to the fear of government shutdown, stating "I am vowing to vote 'no' on future Continuing Resolutions to fund the government unless there is specific language included to defund Obamacare and rescind the funding that has already been appropriated. Defunding Obamacare, along with defunding Planned Parenthood, must be non-negotiable planks in our budget negotiations."[144][145]
In an appearance on Meet the Press on March 6, 2011, and during a March 7, 2011, interview with Sean Hannity, Bachmann declared that the Obama administration and the Congressional Democrats had hidden $105 billion in spending in the overhaul of the American Health Care System. She portrayed the Democratic leadership as timing the release of the bill's text to avoid detection of the spending "We didn't get the bill until a literally couple of hours before we were supposed to vote on it."[146] She also stated the spending was split up within different portions of the bill to mask its total cost. Bachmann was alerted of the situation by the conservative Heritage Foundation which read the tallies of the Congressional Research Service and Congressional Budget Office.
Reports listed a partial breakdown of the costs which include "about $40 billion would go to the Children's Health Insurance Program, $15 billion would go to Medicare and Medicaid innovation programs, and $9.5 billion would go to the Community Health Centers Fund."[146] As the funds are designated mandatory spending (they are not controlled by the annual appropriations acts), the funds would remain even if the move to defund the reform law succeeded.
Bachmann stated that $16 billion of the money gives Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius a "slush fund...[to do] whatever she wants with this money."[146] She called on the bills supporters to return the money, "I think this deception that the president and [former House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid put forward with appropriating over $105 billion needs to be given back to the people."[147]
When asked during the Meet the Press interview if she would take back her previous comments that Obama "may have anti-American views" and that his administration had "embraced something called gangster government", Bachmann backed her statements, saying "I do believe that actions that have been taken by this White House – I don't take back my statements on gangster government. I think that there have been actions taken by the government that are corrupt... I said I have very serious concerns about the president's views, and I think the president's actions in the last two years speak for themselves."[147]
In response to Bachmann's charges Chief Deputy Democratic Whip Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who serves on the House health subcommittee, pointed out that the report Bachmann refers to is an update of a report that came out in October 2010 and that the costs were spelled out in both the bill and the Congressional Budget Office's estimate of its cost, "Michele Bachmann obviously didn't read the bill, because there was absolutely nothing hidden in that legislation." Schakowsky held that the costs were not kept secret, citing the $40 billion for the Children's Health Insurance Program as an example "There was a robust debate about whether or not that should be included, etc. So this idea of somehow, now at the last minute, there was a secret addition to some kind of funding...is absolute nonsense."[148]
Committee assignments[link]
Political positions[link]
Education policy[link]
According to an article in the Stillwater Gazette, a local newspaper in Minnesota, Bachmann supports the teaching of creationism alongside evolution in public school science classes.[149] During a 2003 interview on the KKMS Christian radio program Talk The Walk, Bachmann said that evolution is a theory that has never been proven one way or the other.[150] She co-authored a bill (that received no additional endorsement among her fellow legislators) that would require public schools to include alternative explanations for the origin of life as part of the state's public school science curricula.[151] In October 2006, Bachmann told a debate audience in St. Cloud, Minnesota "there is a controversy among scientists about whether evolution is a fact or not.... There are hundreds and hundreds of scientists, many of them holding Nobel Prizes, who believe in intelligent design."[152] However, at least one news report, presenting a "sampling of Bachmann's ... ludicrous or plain old false claims", stated that this was untrue, and that "when the science isn't on [Bachmann's] side, she simply improvises."[153]
Bachmann has praised the Christian youth ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International (YCRBYCH), hailing "the group's work of sharing the gospel in public schools".[154] She appeared as a keynote speaker at their fundraisers in 2006 and 2009.[154][155][156][157] Following a 2011 controversial invocation for the Minnesota House,[158] Bradlee Dean (the founder of YCRBYCH), declared that criticisms of him and his ministry were also "intended to harm and destroy the presidential campaign of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann...[who] previously praised and prayed for the work of my ministry".[159] Bachmann has a history of opposing anti-bullying legislation. In 2006, she told the Minnesota Legislature that passing an anti-bullying bill would be a waste of time. "I think for all of us, our experience in public schools is there have always been bullies," Bachmann said. "Always have been, always will be. I just don't know how we're ever going to get to the point of zero tolerance... What does it mean?... Will we be expecting boys to be girls?"[160]
Fiscal policy[link]
In the Minnesota Senate, Bachmann opposed minimum wage increases.[161] In an interview in late June 2011, Bachmann did not back away from her earlier proposal to eliminate the federal minimum wage, a change she said would "virtually wipe out unemployment."[162]
In a 2001 flyer, Bachmann and Michael J. Chapman wrote that federal policies manage a centralized, state-controlled economy in the United States.[163] She wrote that education laws passed by Congress in 2001, including "School To Work" and "Goals 2000", created a new national school curriculum that embraced "a socialist, globalist worldview; loyalty to all government and not America."[163] In 2003, Bachmann said that the "Tax Free Zones" economic initiatives of Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty were based on the Marxist principle of "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."[164] She also said that the administration was attempting to govern and run centrally planned economies through an organization called the Minnesota Economic Leadership Team (MELT), an advisory board on economic and workforce policy chaired by Pawlenty.[164] Prior to her election to the state senate, and again in 2005, Bachmann signed a "no new taxes" pledge sponsored by the Taxpayers League of Minnesota.[19][165] As a state senator, Bachmann introduced two bills that would have severely limited state taxation. In 2003, she proposed amending the Minnesota state constitution to adopt the "Taxpayers' Bill of Rights" (TABOR).[166]
In 2005, Bachmann opposed Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's proposal for a state surcharge of 75 cents per pack on the wholesale cost of cigarettes. Bachmann said that she opposed the state surcharge "100 percent – it's a tax increase."[167] She later was criticized by the Taxpayers' League for reversing her position and voting in favor of the cigarette surcharge.[168]
She has promised to bring the price of gasoline down to $2 per gallon, without specifying a plan for how to accomplish this.[169]
Environmental policy[link]
Bachmann supports increased domestic drilling of oil and natural gas, as well as pursuing renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar. She is a strong proponent of nuclear power.[170]
Bachmann has stated a strong opposition toward the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pledging at an August 2011 campaign rally, "...I guarantee you the EPA will have doors locked and lights turned off and they will only be about conservation."[171] In 2007 and 2010, Bachmann was actively soliciting for funds from the EPA on behalf of constituents in her congressional district.[172]
Social Security and Medicare phaseout[link]
Bachmann has called for phasing out Social Security and Medicare:
...what you have to do, is keep faith with the people that are already in the system, that don't have any other options, we have to keep faith with them. But basically what we have to do is wean everybody else off.[173]
Foreign policy[link]
Bachmann says in dealing with Iran, diplomacy "is our option", but that other options, including a nuclear strike, shouldn't be taken off the table.[174]
She has also said that she is "a long time supporter of Israel".[14]
Global economy[link]
In a discussion about the G-20 summit in Toronto, during an interview with conservative radio host Scott Hennen, Bachmann stated that she does not want America to be part of the international global economy.[175][176]
I don't want the United States to be in a global economy where our economic future is bound to that of Zimbabwe, We can't necessarily trust the decisions that are being made financially in other countries. I don't like the decisions that are being made in our own country, but certainly I don't want to trust the value of my currency and my future to that of like a Chavez down in Venezuela.
On economists who have influenced her views, Bachmann told The Wall Street Journal,
... the late Milton Friedman as well as Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams. "I'm also an Art Laffer fiend—we're very close," she adds. "And [Ludwig] von Mises. I love von Mises," getting excited and rattling off some of his classics like Human Action and Bureaucracy. "When I go on vacation and I lay on the beach, I bring von Mises."[177]
Immigration policy[link]
Bachmann is against a Reagan type of amnesty.[178] She voted against the DREAM Act.[179] She has also stated that the current law does not need modification but proper enforcement.
Bachmann said: "... the immigration system in the United States worked very, very well up until the mid-1960s when liberal members of Congress changed the immigration laws."[180]
Social issues[link]
Same-sex marriage constitutional amendment[link]
Bachmann supports both a federal and state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and any legal equivalents.[181][182][183]
In August 2006, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that in March 2006, Bachmann was on a Minneapolis radio show advocating for a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. A caller asked her to explain how he, a heterosexual, would be harmed if his gay neighbors were allowed to marry. Bachmann replied saying, "Public schools would have to teach that homosexuality and same-sex marriage are normal, natural and that maybe children should try them." The Star Tribune also reported that Bachmann has publicly referred to homosexuality as "sexual dysfunction," "sexual identity disorders," and "personal enslavement" that leads to "sexual anarchy."[184]
Pro-life position[link]
Bachmann has identified herself as pro-life and has been endorsed in her runs for Congress by the Susan B. Anthony List and Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life.[185] At a debate among presidential candidates in New Hampshire, when asked if abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest, Bachmann responded that she is "100 per cent pro-life".[186] In the state senate, Bachmann introduced a bill proposing a constitutional amendment restricting state funds for abortion. The bill died in committee.[187]
Federal-backed home loans[link]
According to an article in the Washington Post, in 2008 Bachmann may have taken advantage of a federal program for a home loan, then called for dismantling the program, though the article notes that the public and other members of Congress have taken advantage of such loans despite seeing reasons to criticize them.[188] When asked about it, she said: "This is the problem. It is almost impossible to buy a home in this country today without the federal government being involved".[189]
Support of President Obama on birth certificate issue[link]
Bachmann had never been part of the so-called birther movement but had said President Obama could resolve the dispute by producing the his long-form birth certificate. In April 2011, after Obama released the certificate,[190] Bachmann was asked about the issue on Good Morning America by George Stephanopoulos. She said that its release "should settle the matter", that "I take the President at his word", and that "We have bigger fish to fry".[191]
Political campaigns[link]
2006 congressional campaign[link]
Main article: Minnesota's 6th congressional district election, 2006
Bachmann won her Congressional seat in the 2006 election with 50 percent of the vote, as she defeated Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) candidate Patty Wetterling and the Independence Party's John Binkowski.
The U.S. 6th District's congressman since 2001, Mark Kennedy, announced in late 2005 that he would be running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mark Dayton of the DFL. Bachmann states "God then called me to run" for the U.S. House seat, and that she and her husband fasted for three days to be more sure.[192]
According to Bloomberg.com news, evangelical conservative leader James Dobson put the resources of his organization behind her 2006 campaign. Dobson's Focus on the Family planned to distribute 250,000 voter guides in Minnesota churches to reach social conservatives, according to Tom Prichard, president of the Minnesota Family Council, a local affiliate of Dobson's group. In addition to Minnesota, Dobson's group also organized turnout drives in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey and Montana.[193]
During a debate televised by WCCO-TV on October 28, 2006, news reporter Pat Kessler quoted a story that appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and asked Bachmann whether it was true that the church she belonged to taught that the Pope is the Anti-Christ. Bachmann stated that her church "does not believe that the Pope is the Anti-Christ, that's absolutely false... I'm very grateful that my pastor has come out and been very clear on this matter, and I think it's patently absurd and it's a false statement."[194]
Bachmann received support from a fundraising visit in early July 2006 from Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.[195] On July 21, 2006, Karl Rove visited Minnesota to raise funds for her election.[196] In August, President George W. Bush was the keynote speaker at her congressional fundraiser, which raised about $500,000.[197] Bachmann also received fundraising support from Vice President Dick Cheney.[198] The National Republican Congressional Committee put nearly $3 million into the race, for electronic and direct-mail ads against DFLer Wetterling. The amount was significantly more than the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent on behalf of Wetterling. On November 7, 2006, Bachmann defeated opponents Patty Wetterling and John Binkowski, taking 50 percent of the vote to Wetterling's 42 percent and Binkowski's eight percent.[199]
2008 congressional campaign[link]
In 2008, Bachmann won re-election over her DFL and Independence Party endorsed opponent Elwyn Tinklenberg. With all precincts reported, Bachmann won, 46.41% to 43.43%.[200] Because Tinklenberg was running as a DFLer in the Democratic primary this allowed candidate Bob Anderson to run in the Independence Party primary unopposed despite not having the Independence endorsement. Anderson received 10% of the vote.
In the 2007–2008 election cycle, Bachmann's campaign raised over $3.49 million for her re-election. Roughly 70% of her contributions came from individual contributions, 28% from small individual contributions and 42% from large individual contributions.[201]
2010 congressional campaign[link]
Bachmann was challenged in 2010 by DFL nominee Tarryl Clark and Independence Party candidate Bob Anderson. With more than $8.5 million, Bachmann spent more than any other House of Representative candidate, although her opponent, Tarryl Clark, was able to raise $4 million, one of the largest fundraising efforts in the nation for a U.S. House challenger.[202] On November 2, 2010, Bachmann defeated Tarryl Clark by 52% to 40% of the vote.
In the 2009–2010 election cycle, Bachmann's campaign raised over $13.4 million for her re-election; the average House member raised about $1 million over the same election cycle. Roughly 96% of her contributions came from individual contributors, and of those, 56% were from small individual contributions and 40% were from large individual contributions.[203] Additionally, 3% came from PAC contributions and less than 1% from other sources.
2012 presidential campaign[link]
Main article: Michele Bachmann presidential campaign, 2012
In early 2011, there was much speculation that Bachmann would run for president in 2012. Bachmann participated in the second Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire on June 13, 2011; during the debate she announced she had filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) earlier that day to become a candidate for the GOP nomination.[204] Bachmann formally announced her candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination on June 27, 2011, during an appearance in Waterloo, Iowa.[205]
Although she won the Ames Straw Poll hosted by the Iowa GOP on August 13, 2011, becoming the first woman ever to win the poll,[206] when the actual caucuses were held on January 3, 2012, she finished sixth. Bachmann announced on January 4 that she would be cancelling her scheduled campaign trips to South Carolina,[207] as she was suspending her presidential campaign.[208]
2012 congressional campaign[link]
On January 25, 2012, Bachmann announced that she would run for reelection for her seat in Congress.[209]
Electoral history[link]
Main article: Electoral history of Michele Bachmann
Autobiography[link]
In November, 2011 Bachmann published her autobiography, Core of Conviction, in which she outlines the events and people who have shaped her values and beliefs including her parents divorce when she was in the ninth grade. She describes the financial struggles her mother suffered as a single parent in trying to provide for her family and the work ethic she developed as a result of it. She writes of that time, "I took every baby sitting job I could get, because by ninth grade, I was growing conscious of my appearance. In those days, girls had to wear dresses to public school, and if I wanted pretty dresses, I had to buy them, because mom couldn't afford them for me; she couldn't afford lunch money."
Bachmann writes about her political conversion as a young adult when Jimmy Carter, whom she voted for, let her down. "It was in the perilous fires of the Carter administration that my ideology was forged," she wrote. "In the seventies, Carter taught me what I was against, and then in the eighties, Reagan taught me what I was for." She also details why she went to work for the Internal Revenue Service. She says it was because she wanted to change the tax code, "from the inside out." She also commented on her role as a Tea Party leader. "I once said that the Tea Party represents 90 percent of Americans. I now realize that I misspoke," she admitted. "I should have said 100 percent, because I believe that nearly all Americans retain faith in the ordered liberty that the Constitution offers."[210][211][212]
References[link]
- ^ a b c d e "Bachmann, Michele – Biographical Information". United States Congress. 2008. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B001256. Retrieved November 30, 2008.
- ^ a b "About Michele Bachmann". The Washington Post. http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/B001256. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
- ^ A pronunciation of /ˈbɑːxmən/ would be closer to the German original, and some English speakers may use it, but for most including Bachmann /x/ is pronounced /k/ after a vowel.
- ^ "Elections 2008". Chicago Sun-Times. October 23, 2008. http://elections.suntimes.com/dynamic/external/pre-election/bios/55336.html?SITE=ILCHSELN&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
- ^ "Bachmann Eyeing Presidency", Fox News, March 24, 2011
- ^ Diaz, Kevin (November 17, 2006). "Minnesota's New Representatives; Michele Bachmann". Star Tribune (Minneapolis). "The first Republican congresswoman from Minnesota says she'll be there as a conservative, not a lightning rod for controversy."
- ^ "'Unusual' Bachmann Rebuttal Could Scramble GOP Message on Obama Address". Fox News. April 7, 2010. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/25/unusual-bachmann-rebuttal-scramble-gop-message-obama-address/#ixzz1C5GwyE2H. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
- ^ James, Frank. "House GOP Names Transition Team; Snubs Michele Bachmann". National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2010/11/08/131167261/house-gop-names-transition-team-snubs-bachmann.
- ^ "Bachmann Talks about 2012", The Des Moines Register, October 20, 2009.
- ^ a b c Ode, Kim (July 22, 2007), "Michele Bachmann: Watching her step", Star Tribune (Minneapolis), retrieved March 25, 2011
- ^ "Bachmann", Ancestry.com
- ^ http://wcfcourier.com/iowacaucus/profiles/michele_bachmann/michele-bachmann-visits-waterloo-talks-about-how-waterloo-cf-formed/article_51be1ca2-17c3-11e1-9f59-001cc4c03286.html
- ^ a b c d e f Taibbi, Matt (July 7, 2011). "Michele Bachmann's Holy War". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/michele-bachmanns-holy-war-20110622.
- ^ a b Mitelman, Jenna (March 24, 2010), "Michele Bachmann on her love for Israel, and considering herself Jewish", TC Jewfolk, retrieved March 26, 2011
- ^ a b c d e Lizza, Ryan (August 15, 2011). "The Transformation of Michele Bachmann". The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/08/15/110815fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Goldberg, Michelle (June 14, 2011). "Bachmann's Unrivaled Extremism". Daily Beast. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/06/14/michele-bachmanns-unrivaled-extremism-gay-rights-to-religion.html. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
- ^ "Congresswoman Michele Bachmann Speaks at Regent Law Chapel". Regent Law News. November 24, 2009. http://regentlawnews.blogspot.com/2009/11/congresswoman-michelle-bachmann-speaks.html. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
- ^ a b c "Michele Bachmann for Congress". Candidate Focus. Republican National Committee. September 7, 2006. Archived from the original on October 21, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20061021221424/http://www.gop.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=6549. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
- ^ a b c Anderson, G.R., Jr. (February 23, 2005). "Somebody Say Oh Lord!". City Pages. Archived from the original on March 4, 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20050304035136/http://www.citypages.com/databank/26/1264/article12984.asp. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
- ^ Duchschere, Kevin (January 1, 2005). "Senator, mother, rising star". Star Tribune (Minneapolis).
- ^ a b c Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (June 21, 2011). "Roots of Bachmann's Ambition Began at Home". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/us/politics/22bachmann.html.
- ^ Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (July 18, 2011). "The Education of Marcus Bachmann". The New York Times. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/the-education-of-marcus-bachmann/. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
- ^ Parker, Ashley (April 4, 2011). "Michele Bachmann". The New York Times. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/michele_m_bachmann/index.html. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
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- ^ "S.F. No. 1714, "School districts science curriculum design requirement"; introduced 83rd Legislative Session (2003–2004)". http://ros.leg.mn/revisor/pages/search_status/status_results.php?body=Senate&search=basic&session=0832003&location=Senate&bill=sf1714&bill_type=bill&rev_number=&submit_bill=GO&keyword_type=any&keyword=&keyword_field_short=1&keyword_field_long=1&keyword_field_title=1&titleword=.
- ^ Michele Bachmann. Bachmann-Wetterling-Binkowski candidates' debate. October 7, 2006. Voter's Choice Candidate Forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the St. Cloud Area, the St. Cloud Times and the St. Cloud Women of Today. Apollo High School, St. Cloud, MN.
- ^ "Michele Bachmann's HPV vaccine claims: Just one more untruth". The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ). September 14, 2011. http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2011/09/michele_bachmanns_hpv_vaccines.html. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
- ^ a b Birkey, Andy (September 30, 2009). "Bachmann to raise funds for controversial Christian punk ministry". The Minnesota Independent. http://minnesotaindependent.com/45902/michele-bachmann-to-fundraise-for-controversial-ministry.
- ^ Birkey, Andy (November 13, 2009). "With Bachmann's help, You Can Run raises funds to bring Christ into public schools". The Minnesota Independent. http://minnesotaindependent.com/49742/with-bachmanns-help-you-can-run-raises-funds-to-bring-christ-into-public-schools.
- ^ Harris, Paul (June 18, 2011). "Michele Bachmann: the Tea Party crusader electrifying the US right". The Observer (London): p. 28. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/18/michele-bachmann-tea-party-us. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
- ^ Boston, Rob (Jul/Aug 2010). "Stealth Evangelism and the Public Schools: Improper Proselytizing Opposed". Church & State (63): 7–10.
- ^ Stassen-Berger, Rachel E. (May 21, 2011). "Prayer controversy jeopardizes same-sex amendment vote". Star Tribune (Minneapolis). http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/122373944.html.
- ^ Dean, Bradlee (July 27, 2011). "Bradlee Dean's Statement to the Press about Lawsuit". You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International. http://youcanruninternational.com/blogs/bradlee-deans-blog/bradlee-deans-statement-to-the-press-about-lawsuit.html. Retrieved August 17, 2011
- ^ [Michele Bachmann Silent On Teen Suicides In Her School District, Opposed Anti-Bullying Bill "Michele Bachmann Silent On Teen Suicides In Her School District, Opposed Anti-Bullying Bill"]. Huffington Post. July 26, 2011. Michele Bachmann Silent On Teen Suicides In Her School District, Opposed Anti-Bullying Bill. Retrieved October 19, 2011
- ^ "Jobs, Energy and Community Development Committee Hearing". January 26, 2005. http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/media/archive/2005/committee/cmte_jobs_012605.htm.
- ^ Amy Bingham (June 29, 2011). "Fact Checking Michele Bachmann on Minimum Wage". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/eliminating-minimum-wage-slash-unemployment/story?id=13951494. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ a b Chapman, Michael J.; Bachmann, Michele. "How New U.S. Policy Embraces a State-Planned Economy", EdWatch, 2001.
- ^ a b Senator Michele Bachmann, EdWatch conference, October 10–11, 2003.
- ^ Eric Black, "Bachmann is convention front-runner" Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 4, 2006.
- ^ Schumacher, Lawrence (October 19, 2006). "Bachmann banks on moral issues". St. Cloud Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sctimes/access/1747673501.html?dids=1747673501:1747673501&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Oct+19%2C+2006&author=Lawrence+Schumacher&pub=St.+Cloud+Times&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=6th+congressional+district+race%3A+Bachmann+banks+on+moral+issues. Retrieved February 21, 2010. (Abstract. Fee charged for full article. Article sources: Minnesota State Senate, Office of the Revisor of Statutes.).
- ^ Patricia Lopez, "Pawlenty proposes cigarette 'user fee'", Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 21, 2005.
- ^ Taxpayers' League of Minnesota, "Are High Cigarette Prices Making You Angry?", 2005.
- ^ Berman, Dan. Bachmann: I'll get gas under $2, Politico, 8/17/2011
- ^ Wallmeyer, Andrew (October 2, 2008). "Congressional candidates debate economy". Stillwater Gazette. http://www.stillwatergazette.com/articles/2008/10/02/news/news210.txt.
- ^ Jacobs, Jennifer (August 6, 2011). "'I pledge to you I'm not a talker, I'm a doer,' Bachmann says". Des Moines Register. http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/08/06/i-pledge-to-you-im-not-a-talker-im-a-doer-bachmann-says/.
- ^ Stein, Sam. Michele Bachmann Repeatedly Sought Stimulus, EPA, Other Government Funds, Huffington Post, 8/10/2011
- ^ Richert, Catharine (February 24, 2010). "Ad Says Bachmann Wants To 'Wean' Nation Off Entitlements, Privatize Social Security". PolitiFact (St. Petersburg, FL: St. Petersburg Times). Archived from the original on November 11, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5uA21dgzp.
- ^ "Midday with Gary Eichten". Minnesota Public Radio. http://www.publicradio.org/columns/minnesota/polinaut/archive/2006/05/krinkie_a_no_sh.php.
- ^ Barr, Andy (June 29, 2010). "Bachmann wary of G-20". Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/39193.html. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
- ^ "Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN)", (MP3 file), The Scott Hennen Show, WZFG, June 29, 2010
- ^ 'On the Beach, I Bring von Mises' , The Weekend Interview of Bachmann, June 11, 2011.
- ^ "Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Proudly Serving the 6th District of Minnesota". Bachmann.house.gov. http://bachmann.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=4316. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
- ^ "Bill Text - 111th Congress (2009-2010) - THOMAS (Library of Congress)". Thomas.loc.gov. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.6497. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
- ^ Madison, Lucy (September 12, 2011). "Perry defends law allowing in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants". CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20105183-503544.html. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
- ^ McWhorter, John (July 14, 2011), "New Republic: In Defense Of 'Marriage Vow' Passage", NPR, retrieved July 14, 2011
- "Michele Bachmann Addresses 'Marriage Vow' Pledge, Slavery ", The Huffington Post, July 13, 2011, retrieved July 14, 2011.
- "Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum Sign 'The Marriage Vow'", The Huffington Post, July 8, 2011, retrieved July 14, 2011.
- ^ Scheck, Tom (February 5, 2004). "Poll: Most Minnesotans opposed to gay marriage". Minnesota Public Radio. http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/02/05_scheckt_gaymarriagepoll/. Retrieved November 4, 2010. "Sen. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, is sponsoring a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Bachmann says voters, not the courts, should be the ones to decide the definition of marriage."
- ^ Ode, Kim (July 22, 2007 (updated March 22, 2011)). "Michele Bachmann: Watching her step". Star Tribune (Minneapolis). http://www.startribune.com/politics/11593596.html. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
- ^ Minneapolis Star Tribune Black, Eric (August 20, 2006). "Sixth Congressional District Race; It's what they say and how they say it; For each main candidate, style and substance will be important factors in the race for this wide-open congressional seat". Star Tribune (Minneapolis): p. 1.B.
- ^ "Minnesota Values" Bachmann for Congress. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
- ^ Savage, Luiza Ch. (July 5, 2011). "Bachmann goes into overdrive". Maclean's. http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/07/05/bachmann-goes-into-overdrive-2/#more-203944. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
- ^ Schumacher, Lawrence (October 19, 2006), "Bachmann banks on moral issues", St. Cloud Times.
- ^ Kindy, Kimberly. "Bachmann benefitted from federal home loan program." Washington Post, 26 July 2011.
- ^ Ball, Molly. "Debt deal failing won't cause default, says Michele Bachmann." Politico, 28 July 2011.
- ^ "Obama releases original long-form birth certificate - CNN". Articles.cnn.com. 2011-04-27. http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-27/politics/obama.birth.certificate_1_birther-movement-president-barack-obama-birth-certificate?_s=PM:POLITICS. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
- ^ Zeleny, Jeff (2011-04-20). "Bachmann Says It's Time to Move Past 'Birther' Debate - NYTimes.com". Hawaii: Thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/bachmann-says-its-time-to-move-past-birther-debate/. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
- ^ Eric Kleefeld (October 18, 2006). "MN-06: Bachmann: "God then called me to run" for Congress". Talking Points Memo. http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2006/10/mn06_bachmann_god_then_called.php.
- ^ "William Roberts, "Republicans Falter in Bid to Mobilize Christian Conservatives", Bloomberg.com New, October 19, 2006". October 19, 2006. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aYrOX2bgWUOY&refer=us.
- ^ "WCCO, Campaign Dialogue 2006, October 28, 2006". http://wcco.com/video/?id=20927@wcco.dayport.com. [dead link]
- ^ "Hastert for Bachmann". Minnesota Public Radio. June 28, 2006. http://www.publicradio.org/columns/minnesota/polinaut/archive/2006/06/hastert_for_bac.php.
- ^ "Rove to Help Bachmann Raise Campaign Cash". http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/14991390.htm. [dead link]
- ^ Anderson, G.R., Jr. (October 4, 2006). "The Chosen One". City Pages (Minneapolis). http://www.citypages.com/2006-10-04/news/the-chosen-one/full.
- ^ "Cheney Headlines Today's Fund Raiser". http://www.startribune.com/462/story/514813.html. [dead link]
- ^ "Joshua Freed, "Ellison, Walz grab seats, Bachmann holds 6th for the GOP"". http://electionresults.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/11/07/mncong/.
- ^ "Results from Congressional District 06". Minnesota Secretary of State. November 5, 2008. http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/20081104/ElecRslts.asp?M=CG&CD=06. With all precincts reported, Bachmann won 46.41% to 43.43%.
- ^ "Michele Bachmann: Campaign Finance/Money – Summary – 2080". OpenSecrets. www.opensecrets.org. http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cycle=2008&type=I&cid=N00027493&newMem=N. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
- ^ Sommerhauser, Mark (November 3, 2010). "Bachmann re-elected to US Congress". St. Cloud Times. St. Cloud, MN. http://www.sctimes.com/article/20101103/NEWS01/111020077/1009/Bachmann-re-elected-to-US-Congress. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
- ^ "Michele Bachmann: Campaign Finance/Money – Summary – 2010". OpenSecrets. www.opensecrets.org. http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00027493&cycle=2010. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
- ^ "Live blog from the New Hampshire 2012 presidential debate". politicalticker... (CNN). June 13, 2011. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/13/live-blog-from-the-new-hampshire-2012-presidential-debate/?hpt=hp_t1.
- ^ "Bachmann makes official 2012 presidential announcement". CNN. June 28, 2011. http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/06/27/bachmann.president/. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
- ^ Oliphant, James (August 13, 2011). "Bachmann wins Iowa straw poll as Perry looms". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-iowa-straw-win-20110813,0,1231486.story.
- ^ "Michele Bachmann cancels South Carolina trip". NBC News and Associated Press. Charleston, SC: WCBD-TV. January 4, 2011. http://www2.counton2.com/news/2012/jan/04/michell-bachmann-cancels-south-carolina-trip-ar-2980345/.
- ^ Goldman, Russell (January 4, 2011). "Michele Bachmann Drops Out of Presidential Race". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/bachmann-drops-out-of-presidential-race/.
- ^ "Michele Bachmann says she'll seek 4th term in Congress after failed presidential bid". The Washington Post. Associated Press. January 25, 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/apnewsbreak-michele-bachmann-says-to-seek-4th-term-in-congress-after-failed-presidential-bid/2012/01/25/gIQAz08CQQ_story.html. Retrieved January 25, 2012. [dead link]
- ^ "‘Core of Conviction’: Michele Bachmann tells her story - books - TODAY.com". Today.msnbc.msn.com. 2011-11-21. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45356522/ns/today-books/t/core-conviction-michele-bachmann-tells-her-story/#.TuQcAE-iIiw. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
- ^ "Michele Bachmann shares her life story with voters in 'Core of Conviction'". CSMonitor.com. 2011-11-23. http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2011/1123/Michele-Bachmann-shares-her-life-story-with-voters-in-Core-of-Conviction/%28page%29/2. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
- ^ "Michele Bachmann: 'It's High Time We Have a Mother in the White House' | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction". Christianity Today. 2011-11-22. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/novemberweb-only/michele-bachmann.html. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
External links[link]
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Michele Bachmann |
- Official website at U.S. Congress
- Official campaign website
- Michele Bachmann at Minnesota Legislators Past & Present
- Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Congressional profile at GovTrack
- Congressional profile at OpenCongress
- Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
- Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
- Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
- Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
- Appearances on C-SPAN programs
- Appearances at the Internet Movie Database
- Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Collected news and commentary at The Guardian
- Works by or about Michele Bachmann in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
| Minnesota Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gary W. Laidig |
Minnesota Senator from the 56th district 2001–2003 |
Succeeded by Brian LeClair |
| Preceded by Satveer Chaudhary |
Minnesota Senator from the 52nd district 2003–2007 |
Succeeded by Ray Vandeveer |
| United States House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by Mark Kennedy |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 6th congressional district 2007–present |
Incumbent |
| New title | Chairman of the Tea Party Caucus 2010–present |
Incumbent |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Jason Altmire D-Pennsylvania |
United States Representatives by seniority 263rd |
Succeeded by Gus Bilirakis R-Florida |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Bachmann, Michele |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | American politician |
| Date of birth | April 6, 1956 |
| Place of birth | Waterloo, Iowa |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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Wiki Summary
Islamism (Islam+-ism; Arabic: الإسلامية al-ʾislāmiyyah) also Arabic: إسلام سياسي ʾIslām siyāsī , lit., "Political Islam" is a set of ideologies holding that Islam is "as much a political ideology as a religion". Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary (see below). Leading Islamist thinkers emphasized the enforcement of Sharia (Islamic law); of pan-Islamic political unity; and of the elimination of non-Muslim, particularly Western military, economic, political, social, or cultural influences in the Muslim world, which they believe to be incompatible with Islam.
Some observers suggest Islamism's tenets are less strict, and can be defined as a form of identity politics or "support for [Muslim] identity, authenticity, broader regionalism, revivalism, [and] revitalization of the community". Following the Arab Spring at least one source has described Islamism as "increasingly interdependent" with democracy in much of the Arab Muslim world, such that "neither can now survive without the other."
