I’ve decided it might be fun to do an ongoing series of short posts whenever I learn something interesting, during the day – could be about politics, marketing, history, etc. So here goes…
The Kansas City Public Library does a fabulous job of putting on free community programs at lots of their locations. Just about every day there’s something going on, whether a kid’s program, a concert or a lecture on a serious topic. Check out the events calendar here. Tonight, I went to a program at the Central Library (10th & Baltimore – downtown) about the cultural, theological and historical roots of terrorist ideology.
I thought I’d share just a few bullet points I learned, along with links to more info.
- The two most-cited Muslim scholars, by terrorists today, are:
- Ibn Taymiyyah – gained notoriety during the Mongol Invasions in the 14th Century
- Sayyid Qutb – mid-20th century Egyptian author of 24 books, also known for his intense disapproval with American life
- According to Bill Braniff (tonight’s speaker), each of them believed Islam had lost its way with God and could gain favor again by returning to the core tenants of the Quoran.
- There’s a difference between “Islam” and “Islamism” (great article on differences here). Islamism is a belief that just about everything in life should be strictly governed by Islam. It’s becoming a primary ideology in the Middle East today, according to Braniff.
- The term Salaf – it means “pious predecessors” or, basically, founding fathers (more on it here)
- A sect of Islam today are “Salafists,” who, according to Braniff, ignore the last 1,400 years of research, study and interpretation of the Quoran. Basically, they’re fundamentalists.
- Within the Salafist sect, there’s “Salafi/Jihadists” that take the Salafist beliefs to the extreme
- Al-Queda used to be a large, bureaucratic organization with corporate structure and even benefits plans/vacation days! And now, there are less than 400 full-fledged members of Al-Queda in Pakistan right now.
If you’d like to read more, check out the Combating Terrorism Center - I learned a lot and I’ll be doing some follow-up reading for sure.
