Islamic terrorism

Islamic terrorism is, by definition, terrorist acts committed by Muslim groups or individuals who profess Islamic or Islamist motivations or goals. Islamic terrorists have relied on particular interpretations of the tenets of the Quran and the Hadith, citing these scriptures to justify violent tactics including mass murder,genocide,child molestation and slavery. In recent decades, incidents of Islamic terrorism have occurred on a global scale, occurring not only in Muslim-majority states in Africa and Asia, but also abroad in Europe, Russia, and the United States, and such attacks have targeted Muslims and non-Muslims. In a number of the worst-affected Muslim-majority regions, these terrorists have been met by armed, independent resistance groups, state actors and their proxies, and politically liberal Muslim protesters.

Although the literal existence of Islamic terrorism is not disputed, some have criticized what they perceive to be the blanket usage of the term. Such use in Western political speech has variously been called "counter-productive," "unhelpful," "highly politicized, intellectually contestable" and "damaging to community relations." This view, in turn, has been criticized by those who perceive it to be an act of evasion.

Islamic state (disambiguation)

Islamic state is a type of government based on Islamic religious law (sharia).

Islamic state may also refer to:

Islam

Islam (/ˈɪslɑːm/;Arabic: الإسلام‎, al-ʾIslām IPA: [alʔisˈlaːm]) is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion articulated by the Qur'an, a religious text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Allāh), and, for the vast majority of adherents, by the teachings and normative example (called the sunnah, composed of accounts called hadith) of Muhammad (c. 570–8 June 632 CE), considered by most of them to be the last prophet of God. An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim (sometimes spelled "Moslem").

Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable and that the purpose of existence is to worship God. Muslims also believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims maintain that the previous messages and revelations have been partially misinterpreted over time, they are nevertheless all obliged, according to the Qur'an, to treat the older scriptures with the utmost respect.

Islamic fundamentalism

Islamic fundamentalism (Arabic: أصول‎ (uṣūl), the "fundamentals"), has been defined variously as a movement of Muslims who hark back to earlier times and seek to return to the fundamentals of the religion; who favor "a literal interpretation" of the primary sources of Islam (the Quran and Sunnah), and seek to eliminate (what they perceive to be) "corrupting" non-Islamic influences from every part of their lives; and as a pejorative term used by outsiders for Islamic revivalism and Islamic activism.

Definitions, descriptions

Definitions vary of what Islamic fundamentalism is and how, if at all, it differs from Islamism (or political Islam) or Islamic revivalism. The term has been deemed "misleading" by those who suggest all mainstream Muslims believe in the literal divine origin and perfection of the Quran and so are "fundamentalists", and by others as a term used by outsiders to describe perceived trends within Islam. Exemplary figures of Islamic fundamentalism are Sayyid Qutb, Abul Ala Mawdudi, and Israr Ahmed. The Wahhabi movement and its funding by Saudi Arabia is often described as being responsible for the popularity of contemporary Islamic fundamentalism.

Houri

In Islamic mythology, the houris (/ˈhʊəriz, ˈhaʊəriz/) or ḥūr (plural of ḥaurāʾ, "gazelle-eyed (woman)") or ḥūrīyah (Arabic: حورية‎) are commonly translated as "(splendid) companions of equal age (well-matched)", "lovely eyed", of "modest gaze", "pure beings" or "companions pure" of paradise, denoting humans and jinn who enter Jannah (paradise) after being recreated anew in the hereafter.

Among non-Muslims, the concept of the houri received wide publicity as "virgins" (most usually 72 in number for each shahid) promised as a reward to Muslim martyrs, after their death. However, contrary to such reports, the Quran states that all believers who go to Heaven shall be granted the company of more than one houri—explicitly mentioned in the plural, and the number 72 comes from a hadith with a weak chain of narrators (i.e. less than totally reliable), and not the Quran.

Descriptions

Quranic description

In the Quran the houris are called "companions", described as being "restraining in their glances" (chaste), with "modest gazes", "wide and beautiful/lovely eyes", "eyes like pearls", "splendid" and "physically prominent".