ABSTRACT
There have been and still are terrorist groups in many places. Mostly they are small and to be understood in terms of a local situation. But Islamic terrorism stands out—not only because of its focus of hatred against the United States of America or its extensive, almost global network and technical sophistication, but also because of the enormous moral backing it has in large sections of the populations of Islamic countries. Many Islam scholars and many well-meaning people in the West warn against confusing the acts and ideology of the Islamic terrorists with Islam as such. True Islam, they claim, is a peaceful religion, and the “jihad,” they point out, actually has a strictly religious meaning very different from that found in the terrorists’ use of the term. Islamic terrorism is, as it were, a proxy war. Actually, the hatred and discontent of the “sons” is meant for their own “fathers,” the repressive regimes.
