Amin, El-Sayed Mohamed Abdalla (2010)
Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham.
Restricted to Repository staff only until 31 December 2020.
This thesis is an attempt to study terrorism from a Qur’anic perspective with special reference to selected classical and modern exegeses and how they are understood by modern scholars. The study is divided into an introduction, five main chapters and a conclusion. In the introduction, a brief background about the tafsar (exegesis) genres is provided with special focus on thematic exegesis as a type of exegesis that makes a central contribution to this study. The introduction also includes brief biographical sketches of the selected exegetes, an outline of the thesis methodology, a literature review, and a note on the research questions and the objectives of the thesis. Chapter One is devoted to presenting and evaluating various organizational definitions of terrorism from both Islamic and Western perspectives. Chapter Two discusses the difference between terrorism and arming for deterrence in the light of Qur’an 8: 60. Chapter Three investigates whether or not there is a relationship between jihad and terrorism. It focuses, by way of a case study, on how the actions of the perpetrators of the September 11th 2001 attacks should be judged according to the Qur’an. Chapter Four looks at how terrorist suicide attacks are different from martyrdom. It features another case study, on "martyrdom" or "suicide" operations in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Chapter Five attempts to identify a punishment for terrorism on the basis of the Qur’anic text. This study finds that terrorism is totally different from jih«d and martyrdom as they are treated in the Qur‘ān. It also finds that there is a huge difference between the peaceful, tolerant and inclusive teachings of the Qur’an and the violent, intolerant and exclusive practices of those Muslims whose approach to the Qur’an and its exegesis is marked by selectivity and lacks the essential tools of Islamic scholarship. These and other findings are highlighted in the thesis conclusion, along with other suggestions for future research in the field.
This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder.
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