Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 67
states in their midst, wax poetic of lost Andalucia, and argue that their greatness will return
only when Islam becomes the center of society again.
The events recorded in the history of Islam during its golden ages, those ages
in which the Shariah was implemented in its entirety, provide that the
principle of Islamic legitimacy enjoyed priority over all decision and actions
taken by the rulers of the state (Hassan, H., 1993, 4).
The Islamist call for the return to pure Islam is a powerful one, and based upon a unique
historical perspective. The Muslim world was indeed the world center of learning during the
medieval period, and we are all lucky to be inheritors of its greatness. The decline of Islam
was long and sad, with the Ottoman Empire finally collapsing after the Great War, and the
Arab nations placed under administration of Western, Christian powers (Lewis, 2001). This
collapse is lamented by Islamists, such as bin Laden, because it resulted in what they
perceive to be the dismemberment of the Islamic Community by the Christian powers, and
the insertion of their satrap state, Israel, in their midst (Sullivan, 2001, 45).
Thus, bin Laden and other Islamists blame the Christian world for the current situation in
the Islamic world:
Ever since the beginning of Islam, the unbelievers have never ceased plotting
against this precious Muslim ummah (nation) in order to inject into it the
poison of disbelief, deviation, and moral degradation ....Over the fourteen
centuries of Islam, the unbelievers have gradually succeeded in some of these
plots ....In effect [the collapse of the Soviet Union] was the beginnings of
the second Crusades! ...The Muslims today face a barbaric onslaught from
their enemies—the Jews, Christians, atheists, secularists and others ....
Supported by a demonic global plan as well as unlimited financial backing,
this attack aims at domination and hegemony over the Islamic world dividing
it, attacking it culturally and morally, and perverting the true image of the
Religion. (Baaz, Not Dated)
Jihad Until Supremacy
Islamists focus on a traditional Islamic view of the world, which is divided into two
segments: the Dar al Islam, the Moslem domain of peace, and the Dar al Kufr, the domain
of war, a region that essentially covers all other lands, and also all lands within Islam not
administered by a caliphate, or in Arabic, khalifah. The word khalifah refers to the successor
or representative of Prophet Muhammad who acts as the head of state for the Muslim
community. Currently, there is no caliphate in existence it is the Islamist‘s goal to restore
the caliphate system. As stated in the Al Qaeda Manual (9):
I present this humble effort [a warfare manual] to these young Moslem men
who are pure, believing, and fighting for the cause of Allah. It is my
contribution toward paving the road that leads to majestic Allah and
establishes a caliphate according to the prophecy.
The goal of establishing a caliphate places the Islamists in conflict with all governments in
the Islamic world. Their enemies are not only Christians and Jews, but also Muslims who do
not follow Sharia laws or who govern a secular state. ―[Our goal is to bring] mankind to the
worship of their lord and establishing a khilafah on the pattern of prophethood,‖ explained
Azzam Publications, an Islamist propaganda organ on the Internet that has been taken
down. Thus, while the West incurs the wrath of the Islamist movement, its primary goal is
to eliminate all secular states and replace them with the caliphate.
Ummah is an Arabic word indicating the community of believers, the Islamic world. There is
no equivalent term in the West, although an archaic term Christendom does survive to spice
states in their midst, wax poetic of lost Andalucia, and argue that their greatness will return
only when Islam becomes the center of society again.
The events recorded in the history of Islam during its golden ages, those ages
in which the Shariah was implemented in its entirety, provide that the
principle of Islamic legitimacy enjoyed priority over all decision and actions
taken by the rulers of the state (Hassan, H., 1993, 4).
The Islamist call for the return to pure Islam is a powerful one, and based upon a unique
historical perspective. The Muslim world was indeed the world center of learning during the
medieval period, and we are all lucky to be inheritors of its greatness. The decline of Islam
was long and sad, with the Ottoman Empire finally collapsing after the Great War, and the
Arab nations placed under administration of Western, Christian powers (Lewis, 2001). This
collapse is lamented by Islamists, such as bin Laden, because it resulted in what they
perceive to be the dismemberment of the Islamic Community by the Christian powers, and
the insertion of their satrap state, Israel, in their midst (Sullivan, 2001, 45).
Thus, bin Laden and other Islamists blame the Christian world for the current situation in
the Islamic world:
Ever since the beginning of Islam, the unbelievers have never ceased plotting
against this precious Muslim ummah (nation) in order to inject into it the
poison of disbelief, deviation, and moral degradation ....Over the fourteen
centuries of Islam, the unbelievers have gradually succeeded in some of these
plots ....In effect [the collapse of the Soviet Union] was the beginnings of
the second Crusades! ...The Muslims today face a barbaric onslaught from
their enemies—the Jews, Christians, atheists, secularists and others ....
Supported by a demonic global plan as well as unlimited financial backing,
this attack aims at domination and hegemony over the Islamic world dividing
it, attacking it culturally and morally, and perverting the true image of the
Religion. (Baaz, Not Dated)
Jihad Until Supremacy
Islamists focus on a traditional Islamic view of the world, which is divided into two
segments: the Dar al Islam, the Moslem domain of peace, and the Dar al Kufr, the domain
of war, a region that essentially covers all other lands, and also all lands within Islam not
administered by a caliphate, or in Arabic, khalifah. The word khalifah refers to the successor
or representative of Prophet Muhammad who acts as the head of state for the Muslim
community. Currently, there is no caliphate in existence it is the Islamist‘s goal to restore
the caliphate system. As stated in the Al Qaeda Manual (9):
I present this humble effort [a warfare manual] to these young Moslem men
who are pure, believing, and fighting for the cause of Allah. It is my
contribution toward paving the road that leads to majestic Allah and
establishes a caliphate according to the prophecy.
The goal of establishing a caliphate places the Islamists in conflict with all governments in
the Islamic world. Their enemies are not only Christians and Jews, but also Muslims who do
not follow Sharia laws or who govern a secular state. ―[Our goal is to bring] mankind to the
worship of their lord and establishing a khilafah on the pattern of prophethood,‖ explained
Azzam Publications, an Islamist propaganda organ on the Internet that has been taken
down. Thus, while the West incurs the wrath of the Islamist movement, its primary goal is
to eliminate all secular states and replace them with the caliphate.
Ummah is an Arabic word indicating the community of believers, the Islamic world. There is
no equivalent term in the West, although an archaic term Christendom does survive to spice
