What is your view of muslim extremists and their cause?

Question

Can anyone tell me why muslim extremists do what they do and terrorize the populace with unwanted violence? I as an american am extremely biased against them for what they have done, when previously i did not have any problems with muslims and their religion. I just do not understand the logic behind what they do(behead people, execute them just becuase a persons name is of another origin, suicide bombers, etc) and what empty goal they hope to accomplish with all of this? They will never make islam the only religion in the world(that will never happen becuase americans aren't the only people that won't put up with this crap) and why they feel so strongly about their so called "peaceful" religion?... I don't see billy graham or the leader of the mormon church or the dalai llama going about telling people "obey my religion or we'll cut your head off." If you are muslim i would like to hear your side of the story as well and the reasoning behind the terrible things these people do....

JiHyun.........I never said all muslims were extremists, i ask why the muslims that ARE extremists do what they do as far as their justification for it.

Gizmo.....If that is what true muslims really believe then those beliefs are morally wrong and have no place on this green earth.

Miamian......You assume just becuase i am an American that i support bush....you are wrong...just as not all muslims are bad, not all americans support bush either. i'm one that supports his domestic policy but shuns his foreign policy, and besides, you forget that it's not bush running the show over there...it's that crook rumsfeld.

Aziz_unreal.....Again, i do not support bush's foreign policy and also i do not approve of some of the actions of the u.s. military in iraq, the tortured inmates for example, or the soldier who killed a woman and her child(unless the woman and children all pulled a gun on him or tried to blow him up, but i doubt that was the case).

babi.....how can it be a peaceful religion when people(extremists)take a passage from the book to literally interpret it to behead someone in the name of allah or whatever. i've never seen even extreme followers of say christianity behead someone for denying their god, they simply exiled or excommunicate them, which is a much better means to an end than chopping someone's head off...


Also, i AM aware that not all muslims are bad, but what i want to know is....I'm sure there are a ton more good muslims than bad ones.... then why don't the good muslims do something about these extremists and fix the problem from within? I know that if i had some cult member living on the other side of my fence that i would defend my true beliefs and not let anyone force me to believe otherwise, whether it be through direct action or fear(i am an athiest and believe in evolution, the whole god and religion stuff doesn't mean squat to me).

ok judging from some of the answers i've received on here i guess my question should be why are extremists trying to purposely kill americans (or any soldiers, british, french, canadian, etc.) in iraq when the original idea was to go in there and help them set up a new government so that every iraqi could be prosperous like people in the US, not just the terror leaders who don't want to give up their own posh lifestyle to help their countrymen.(I know for a fact that bin laden is the son of a wealthy family in the consctruciton business and is the receiver of a $300 million inheritance from his father that he uses to fund his terror network rather than give to the people of iraq. much of you are saying my view is skewed by american media... EVERYBODY reads yahoo news(which gets it's news from all around the world), not just americans. Also i do not watch fox news(i hate that channel), and i do get views of the situation from other than american media.

I also know that it is mostly a political issue which i guess is the stem of a few other questions i have, like what is their problem with the politics, and what is the difference between shiites and sunnis and why do they fight back and forth so much?

marissa........I am glad to see that there are plenty of muslims who think what is going on is terrible. I am just asking that they do more physically, like turning in anyone that is a suspected or known terrorist, or shooting them onsite if they know that person is on their way to perform a suicide bombing or kidnapping, instead of keeping quiet for fear of retribution. If they are willing to turn them in, then the military would not have to be so indiscriminate with their airstrikes to make sure they get their man.... You'd think with a $25 million dollar bounty on bin laden's head that anyone, iraqi, muslim or not, with info as to where he is hiding would jump at the chance to get that and be rich. but i don't see anyone claiming it yet. I figured people would be happy to be rid of saddam hussein and osama bin laden after what they've both done, but apparently not.

Specifically marissa, why haven't all those muslim clerics that are against this gathered their followers and private armies to fight alongside the military?

Aziz.....in response to your edit.......the whole world does not hate the US. Mostly it's the middle east and they hate our government(which i'm not too happy with myself) I just don't see how iraqi's could hate us for going in there and freeing them from saddam's grip and trying our hardest to get rid of these terrorists who have no regard whether they kill soldiers or their own countrymen and women.
Also, my ancestors came from germany and did not take land from native americans becuase that land was already settled by other people's ancestors long before my ancestors even showed up.

well marissa thanks for all the info i didn't ask for... i think you are getting very far away from the question i was asking in the first place and are starting to attack my views. I am sure there are people out there that know where osama is, and they just choose not to go forward... but what about the people that know those people. Also no one answered my question as to what the difference betweem sunnis and shiites is, as well as what political goal do the terrorists have for commiting these acts....instead you go off on some helter skelter rant about all sorts of other things i never asked. I guess i should have asked why aren't more people, be they muslim or not, actively trying to combat terrorism. If the armed forces had more eyes and ears to learn of terrorist activities, i'm sure there would be much less violence. Also, Bush does not have a son, he has 2 daughters, and yes, i WOULD hunt down serial killers, rapists, etc in my own country if someone paid me that much money.

Please refrain from any attacks on my views. I am simply trying to understand the situation in the middle east and i am not trying to point fingers. Only trying to get answers from the other side of the story. This is an answer website and that is what i'm here for... not an argument.

I also have a very good friend who is serving in afghanistan right now who so i do know to a point what really goes on over there.

Answer 1

Simple. They're deranged and have no true understanding of Islam. I can never understand why a Muslim would ask someone to convert into Islam at gunpoint. That's insane and stupid!! They probably think they are doing something good but it totally scares ppl off the religion.

Regarding suicide bombers like Wafa Idris of Palestine, I watched a documentary by John Pilger called Palestine is still the issue (available on www.youtube.com) and it explained why suicide bombers like her did they what they did. Wafa, a medical volunteer, had seen the pain and suffering of her people caused by the conflict between Palestine and Israel and felt that it is a hopeless situation. Nevertheless, what she did wasn't right. SUICIDE itself is a HUGE SIN in Islam.

Terrorists have another agenda which is political. Some Muslims have resorted to this because they are so desperate for their voices to be heard, dying for someone to stop all the injustice that have been done towards them (I am referring mainly about the Middle East here as I have no idea why the Bali Bombings happened, that really didn't make any sense to me). We will never be able to truly understand what they go through as we sit here in our comfortable homes, with enough food to eat and typing away with our latest laptops.

Answer 2

Islam is peaceful. It forbids all sorts of violence except for self-defense.

The actions of Muslim terrorists have not much to do with religion. It's about politics. The situation in the Middle East and Africa is instable, and militant groups want to gain power. The suicide bombers are just mislead people who see the injustice and poverty in their homes, while on TV they see American people spend their money on luxury stuff.
I give you an example: you can almost only hear in your media that Muslim terrorists killed xy people today. Seeing your question, it obviously makes you think they are bad. They can only hear the same about us, Western people, that we want to destroy them, their family, their religion. And then they can even see this come true when rockets hit their neighbours' home and hear about the tortures in prison. We know what this is about, but they don't. Wouldn't you gladly fight too if your president said they want to kill you?

Who are misleading these people? Those who want power. Unfortunately, the Cold War contributed to this a lot. It is widely known that many of today's terrorists were supported by the Soviet and U. S. government, who wanted to avoid direct conflict, and so rather gave weapons to local leaders who were ready to fight. Sadly, they still do the same policy in Africa.

EDIT:

Well, religions are not perfect. You can interpret anything as you want.
As for the other religions, the Dalai Llama wasn't protestiing much when Tibet was supporting terrorism, and as for Christianity... they have a much much longer list of crimes than anybody else.

The point is you shouldn't consider Islam as the source of any violent actions. It's 99,9% a political-social situation, religion's role is insignificant here.

Answer 3

Okay, first of all, Muslim extremists do not represent all Muslims. Most Muslims don't like them, either.

Second of all, they are not trying to convert the whole world. What they are trying to accomplish is more influenced by politics than anything else. They are angry at America and the rest of the Western world over issues regarding Isreal and America's imperialist policies. This is too much of a topic to get into now. Of course, I do not believe that anything can justify what they have done, but don't blame all Muslims for it.

Answer 4

Too many politics. Not enough love and peace and forgiveness. I remember growing up and getting into a fight with your neighbor and it wouldn't matter who won. You both shook hands and become friends again. It needs to be like that. There was honor in that. There's no honor but only hate in politics or in religious extremism; Christian, Judaic or Islamic. There is only honor in peace, love and forgiveness.

Answer 5

go to the Muslim countries and see what the American government does there in the name of democracy and freedom.

not just Muslim countries. go to South America or Africa and see what the American government does there and then ask this question again.

I think your anger is misdirected.

learn a little contemporary news bro.

EDIT: I apprecaite your honesty justanormalguy. Atleast you admitted that you are extremely prejudiced against Muslims now. Is that not a sign that you have allowed the media to play you as they want? Whatever happened to your independence? Why do you not make a sincere attempt to learn why the world hates America viz the American govt. so much?

Your media shows you the reactions of angry Muslims and portrays them as savages, much like your ancestors did with the native Americans. Have you ever bothered to find out WHAT is it that they are reacting to?

Peace brother.

Answer 6

The answer to your question, lies in the head of your so called christian President Bush. Look at the mess he had created in Iraq, he is now being called the biggest terrorist by his own countrymen and he is not even a Muslim.

Answer 7

Has any cause or ideal been accepted through bloodshed and war? I believe all they will accomplish is to bring the world down on their heads.

Answer 8

"Extremist or Radical Muslim" is a misnomer, these are the true Muslims, the true Believers who adhere to and practice the teachings of Muhammed.
Muslims who consider themselves Peaceful and Moderate are simply those who have rejected the full message of Islam and created for themselves a peaceful false god to replace the violent false god their people serve.
Much like Gay Christians who simply refuse the full Gospel of Christ just because He does not endorse their sin and therefore create god in their image to worship as they choose.

Answer 9

the truth is muslim extremists r not muslims, a true muslim can never kill an innocent. and mind u dont refer dem as muslims coz it is prophet muhammad(pbuh) who represent islam n not osama bin laden or any other

Answer 10

We need to form some anti-muslim extremists groups.


that will solve the problem