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Article: The history and evolution of martyrdom in the service of defensive jihad: an analysis of suicide bombers in current conflicts.(Report)
- Article from:
- Social Research
- Article date:
- June 22, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 New School for Social Research. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE IRAQ WAR, EMPHASIZING NOT only the failure of US policies but also the internecine fighting among the varied groups, including Al Qaeda and Shia and Sunni militias, all
of which have contributed to the carnage in a country with deep historical Islamic roots. Iraq's important place in Islamic history as the birthplace of fitna (anarchy) has important implications and consequences to the conflict today. (1) According to Islamic doctrine, the word "fitna" has been translated as chaos, "time of temptation," war, as well as anarchy. A scholar of religious history, Karen Armstrong, further notes that the concept of fitna is "symbolic"; ...