Islam, Terrorism, and Political Activism

Visit the following Web sites for some insights into the issues involving Islam, and its relationship to political entities other than its own:

http://www.arches.uga.edu/~godlas/islamwest.html#The%20Islamic%20Impact%20on%20America
A very detailed and comprehensive list of links connecting Islam, the modern world, and the West.

http://www.hf-fak.uib.no/smi/paj/Ibrahim.html
The case of ethnic conflict and state-building in the Arab World by Professor Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Ibn Khaldoun Center and American University, Cairo. An overview of the conflicts and ethnic divides in the Arab world; the issue of identity; state-building; social mobilization and equity; foreign penetration and ethnicity; and the relationship between ethnicity, civil society, and democratization.

http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ladin.htm
Brief history of al-Qa'ida compiled by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).

http://www.amconline.org/newamc/imam/fatwa.shtml
Article from American Muslim Council on participation in the American political system.

http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/islam/musresp.htm
A series of links all having to do with how American Muslims Responded to the Terrorist Attack of September 11, 2001.

Since the terrorist attacks on United States on September 11, 2001, attitudes of Americans toward those who support Islam, for the most part, those of Arab descent, have become at worst, suspicious and negative, and at best, supportive of individual differences, but essentially confused. Most Americans know little about the ideology of Islam and its relationship to democratically held concepts. Are the two inevitably destined to conflict, or is it possible for each to exist in harmony with the other? How you feel about these issues can be expressed in the spaces provided below.

1		Does the ethnic, religious, and political identity of the nation of Islam tolerate nations and nation-states whose ideology differ from theirs? Which of the concepts most strongly influence the behavior of fundamental Islamists? Is terrorist behavior a major component of Islamists?
2		Do you believe that terrorism in the service of religion is a contradiction in terms? Or do you believe that it is a logical and reasonable means to an end? Should one's religious or political ideology take precedence over individual rights? Explain your position.