Dear Randy,
"Terrorism" is a concept, and therefore there is no "founder of
terrorism". There are several people who are considered theoreticans
of terrorist organisations, or of ideologies that led to terrorism. At
the end of my explanatio,, I will talk about your "Quta", who is
probably Sayyid Qutb.
First of all, a little about the history of terrorism. You are asking
who was the founder of terrorism - but terrorism, as I said before, is
a concept, a human pehnomenon, not something that has been "founded":
it is about the same as asking who "invented" (or founded) rape. No
one invented rape, and human beings have been unfortunately raped even
in antiquity - we find description of rape in the Bible. Likewise, we
find description of terrorism - in this case assassination - in the
Bible:
" 1 In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of
Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king's
officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While
they were eating together there, 2 Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the
ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of
Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the
king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land."
(Jeremiah 41: 1-2).
Terrorism in the modern sense exists since modernity ever emerged, the
18th century. Terror of the state was applied by Robespierre between
1793 and 1795. One of the first terrorist organisations in modern was
the Republican Irish Brotherhood, founded in 1867 as a nationalist
movement. At about the same time ? the mid-19th century ? Russian
revolutionaries also sought to induce political change through
terrorism. The most notable Russian terrorist organization at the time
was Narodnaya Volya (founded 1879).
In the second half of the 19th century, and during the first years of
the 20th century, many anarchists adopted terrorism as their way to
influence and change what they saw as unjust. Leon Czolgosz, who
assassinated President McKinley (in 1901), was influenced by Anarchist
ideology and in particular by Emma Goldman; other anarchists were
active at the time.
The history of terrorism goes further:
- we had nationalists in many countries fighting against what they saw
as occupation (groups like the IRA, ETA, PLO, etc.),
- or right wing terrorists attacking ?foreigners?, Jews, Blacks, gays
and other minorities (for example: Aryan Nation and other Neo-Nazi
groups).
- we had left wing groups trying to induce socialist revolution
through terrorism, like the RAF, The Japanese Red Army, etc.
- We even had groups that used terrorism to ?liberate earth? or
animals from what they view as unjust situation (ELF, ALF).
And there is also religious terrorism, that is, terrorism that is
justified, or motivated, by religious ideology/by theology. There are
many examples for this: KKK and Christian Identity groups are
motivated by Protestant theology; the JDL was led by a Rabbi, Meir
Kahane; in India, militant Sikhs assassinated PM Indira Ghandi in
1984.
On September 11, 2001, even people, who were oblivious to this history
of terrorism (or to the existence of terrorism whatsoever), woke up to
a horrible morning and came to know Islamist terrorism. Islamist
terrorism hasn?t begun with Bin-Laden and ?Al-Qaeda?. And this is
where your ?Quta? enters the picture ? as Sayyid Qutb.
Qutb was not a terrorist per se. Qutb was part of the Muslim
Brotherhood, and believed that the best way for Muslim countries to
succeed is if their governments would take Islamist ideology. However,
like many other Muslim Brothers, he was frustrated with the fact that
most people in his country, Egypt, and especially the government led
by Gamal Abd-e-Nasser, a secular General, did not follow the Brothers?
ideas or theology. Nasser, who viewed the Brotherhood as potential
risk to the stability of his regime, persecuted its leaders, including
Qutb, who spent some time in prison (1954-1964). During his time in
prison, Qutb wrote two books, which later inspired Muslim
fundamentalists around the world: including Al-Qaeda, the organisation
that was later responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks (and many
other actions).
So, Qutb did not ?found? terrorism, and in fact, inspired only one
type ? or branch ? of terrorism (and was not the only one who inspired
this branch). However, he is an important figure in the formation of
Islamist terrorism.
You can read more about Qutb here:
Wikipedia ? Sayyid Qutb
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayyid_Qutb>
In the Shade of Quran (Fi zilal al-Qur'an, his commentary on the Quran)
< http://www.islamworld.net/qutb/shade.html>
Milestones (Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq)
< http://www.youngmuslims.ca/online_library/books/milestones/hold/index_2.asp>
His political commentary
PAUL BERMAN, The Philosopher of Islamic Terror,
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/23/magazine/23GURU.html - at <
http://members.cox.net/slsturgi3/PhilosopherOfIslamicTerror.htm>
Robert Irwin, ?Is this the man who inspired Bin Laden?? Guardian,
November 1, 2001, , http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,584478,00.html
Robert Siegel , ?Sayyid Qutb's America?, NPR,
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1253796
I hope this answers your question. Please contact me if you need any
clarification on this answer before you rate it. |
