Osama Bin Laden's Unholy War

Superior Essays
John L. Esposito is a professor of Religion and International Affairs and of Islamic studies at Georgetown University. A former graduate of Temple University with a PhD in Islamic studies. He previously has served as a past president of Middle East Studies Association of North America, and also American Council for the of Islamic Societies. He is an author of numerous other books that involve Islam. Unholy War was published in the wake of the September 11th attacks.
Unholy War begins by going into the making of a modern terrorist, as the first chapter is titled. The main focus is on Osama Bin Laden, and his road to being the number 1 sought after terrorist by the American government. Bin Laden was raised in a strict household and was shaped
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These are essential keys in understanding where Bin Laden is coming from. Bin Laden has called for a global jihad, and has also explained his attacks were part of a defensive jihad against America. Jihad is the most prominent and essential key to understanding the reasoning behind terrorist attacks in the name of Islam. Jihad’s meaning and interpretation will play the major recurring issue in understanding throughout the book.
Jihads literal meaning is “to struggle”. If one were to ask several muslims what their definition of the meaning of jihad they might get multiple different responses. What one 's interpretation of the meaning of jihad seems to play the biggest issue faced today. The Quran and Sunnah as noted by Esposito, “provide a theology for peace, for living in a world of diverse nations and peoples. They also provide guidelines on how to fight the enemy as well as how to fight against corruption and oppression” (29). He later goes on and explains the
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The review goes on and says “Esposito has done a good job in presenting the many facts that are not known to common public in the West. I feel Esposito has been very brave and upfront. He 's been outspoken, yet also well balanced.” I would too agree, this review is very true in the amount of new information not known previously. In another review given a 3/5 it says, “Good reading for background on Islam. Lots of information, can be confusing at time. A must-read for understanding Islam in the modern world.” I particularly picked this quote because indeed it is very good background, but I too was very confused. In a 2 star review it was noted “Prof. Esposito is perhaps a well-intentioned scholar but he commits the cardinal mistake that all scholars and scientists are counselled to avoid: Do not let your opinions or wishful thinking overtake the empirical evidence you see in front of you.” Now as the evidence this critic is talking about I am unsure, but I did feel the author did come off as a bit opinionated especially in terms of other religions and especially towards the nation of Israel. He portrays Israel as conquering nation who has oppressed the Muslim people. Now if this is true or not I am unaware, but I wish he were to give opinions from other point of views. Overall the book provided a tremendous amount of information not known before by me. Very good in terms of giving a background and point of view from the

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