Islam, ISIS, and You: Where are all these so-called "moderate" Muslims?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Islam, ISIS, and You: Where are all these so-called "moderate" Muslims?

TheOtherContraGuy: Jul 4, 2007; brave skeleton sacrifice

Invicta{HOG}, M.D. posted:

I don't know how long this thread will last or whether it will turn into a cesspool but while it is here I figure I will post a question I've wanted to ask for awhile in the Middle East thread but did not want to start a derail.

Is there a book or a series of articles or even a well-regarded webpage which collects the various theologic arguments made by suicide bombers, salafist groups, etc. and examines them in light of Islamic jurisprudence, textual support, etc.? One of the thing which might help frame this discussion is if someone has already objectively looked at the various published motivations and examined how they fit with what is found in the Qur'an, the hadith, or the more commonly accepted schools. For instance, if a verse is taken out of context it might look like it supports an action but if all of the schools interpret it differently it might help put the passage in a more nuanced light.

I haven't read it myself, but Sayyid Qutb's Milestones is considered to be one of the seminal works of Islamic extremism.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2015 02:47

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 22, 2024 17:00

TheOtherContraGuy: Jul 4, 2007; brave skeleton sacrifice

Wanderer posted:

Looking up the sociopolitical context of the modern Middle East and how it feeds into its current tendency to produce zealot-infested holy warriors has been on my "one of these days" list for a while, so I'm interested in this thread.

I guess I've been roundly assuming that it probably had a lot to do with Western powers jockeying behind the scenes due to oil access and Israel's presence, but I've never been quite sure where to start. Is there a Why This Place Matters And/Or Kind of Sucks for Dummies book someone could recommend?

If you want a textbook overview, I really liked A Concise History of the Middle East by Arthur Goldschmidt & Lawrence Davidson. If you want a history of modern Islamic extremism I can't recommend The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright highly enough. This is the guy wrote Going Clear and he won a Pulitzer for The Looming Tower.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2015 02:54

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Islam, ISIS, and You: Where are all these so-called "moderate" Muslims?