Islamism and Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Islamism and Terrorism - Essay Example This paper seeks to refute this controversial claim by supporting that Muslims are not terrorists. Undeniably, there have been extreme cases of terror attacks in different parts of the world. Most of these terrorist attacks, if not all, have been associated to Islam. Islamic terror group referred to as al-Qaida supposedly did the infamous September 11 attack. However, controversy theories have refuted these claims and posited that the September 11 attacks were conducted out of the realms of Islam. Terrorism refers to acts of violence or otherwise that are meant to pressurize a ruling regime to act in favor of the terror instigators. Although the definition of terrorism varies widely, it can be generally agreed that terrorism has a political orientation. Most of the terrorist attacks that have happened in recent times have been directed towards political leadership regimes. Terrorism may be a physical act such as the September 11 attack or it may be non-physical such as cyber terroris m. Largely, physical terrorism has been associated with radical Islamism. Whenever there is a potential terror threat, Muslims are always the first prime suspects. Actually, a large number of Muslims have been questioned or detained in various parts of the world as being suspects of terror. On the other hand, the Muslim community has heavily contested involvement in terror activities claiming that it is in fact against their religious beliefs. According to the Muslim community, Allah is against killing of innocent people. Indeed, â€Å"Terrorizing innocent people is not acceptable in Islam, it is totally against the religion† (Abdullah, 2007). More notably, the jihad is also not holy although it is justified. They believe that the world is supposed to live in peace and harmony despite the differences in religious affiliations. Muslims contest that most terror instigators hide behind the curtains of Islamic religion to pursue their inhumane interests. Although they support mar tyrdom and jihad, they are solidly unified against terrorism. However, the characteristics of radical Islamism are quite similar to characteristics of terrorisms and perhaps the primary reason why the controversy over the relationship between Islam and terrorism exist so strongly. Therefore, differentiating between radical Islamism and Islamic terrorism becomes difficult. Despite the similarities between them, terrorism and radical Islamism are certainly different. Accordingly, radical Islamism is not democratic in nature and does not, in any way take advantage of political or democratic loopholes in the society to express their dissatisfaction. Instead, radical Islamism seeks to express their faith in religion by use of religious platforms and means. Their acts are religiously propelled and as such do not use terrorism as a means of communicating their dissatisfaction. This concludes us that neither Islam nor radical Islamism is synonymous to terrorism. Even the violent activities of radical Islamism do not count towards terrorism. The two oppositions on clarity of definition of the term terrorism make the issue complicated. However, there is overwhelming evidence supporting that Islam is indeed not synonymous with terrorism. More clearly, Islam is not associated with terrorism. According to leaders of North American Islamic organizations â€Å"As American Muslims and scholars of Islam, we wish to restate our conviction that peace and justice constitute the basic principles of the Muslim faith. We

Relationships between climate and river flow in the Alps Essay

Relationships between climate and river flow in the Alps - Essay Example annual totals of river flow (discharge) in the Massa, which drains from Grosser Aletschgletscher, measured at Blatten-bei-Naters, for the same months ( x 106 m3 )(C). Annual totals of river flow in the Gornera, which drains from Gornergletscher, measured 0.75 km from the glacier terminus, for the months June through September( x 106 m3 )(D), and annual totals of precipitation (mm) between October (year-1) through May of the given year at Grà ¤chen (E), often called P10-5. Both of the glaciers are in tributary valleys of the upper Rhone basin in Kanton Wallis, Switzerland hence are likely to have had very much the same pattern of climatic events over the 30-year period. Hence, runoff from the two basins is likely to be strongly correlated. The Swiss Alps lie within Switzerland and the north is drained by Inn, Rhine and Rhone rivers, which empty into Black and Mediterranean seas whereas the south is drained by Ticno River, which empties into Adriatic Sea. The pattern for Gornera river flow is uniform over the 30 years period with the highest flow being at around 1993. The flow for river Massa is however not keeps changing at quite big margins over the period. Both rivers however have the highest flow at around the same period, which is in 1993. (5) Calculate the Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient between the two series. [Choose an empty cell on the spreadsheet – say G1 – and clickthere. In the text bar type = and then select CORREL from the drop down menu. Correlation coefficients are usually reported to two decimal places. Format cell number, decimal places 2, enters]. How well are the two series correlated? Are there any periods when the series are not moving in tandem? The Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient shows the correlation between two variables. (6) Summer discharge from glacierised basins is likely to fairly strongly influenced by energy availability for melting snow and ice. Plot the xyscattergrams