Al-Qaeda

Most Muslims are Peaceful
Before we discuss the appeal of Jihadism, we should note that most Muslims are peaceful. Islamic terrorism is a very small percentage of the Muslim population, just as terrorists in general are a minimal part of the population. Terrorists make up less than 1% of Muslims (it is estimated that there are roughly 300,000 Jihadists in the world out of 1.6 billion Muslims). The reason that this <1% of Muslims are so infamous is that Jihadists are responsible for an inordinate share of casualties. In the last ten years, over 85% of terrorist incidents and 85% terrorist-related fatalities were perpetrated by Muslims.

Introduction
Now that we have our disclaimer that we are talking about a minority of the worldwide Muslim community, we can actually discuss the appeal that Jihadism has. Jihadism is the idea that (1) national laws should be based on the Shari'a or Islamic Law and (2) the imposition of Islamic Law should be done using violence or military force (as opposed to democratically). Jihadism is the ideology that motivates al-Qaeda (and Bin Laden), Boko Haram, Islamic State (ISIL), AQIM, Hezbollah, Asa'ib al-Haqq, the Houthis, Hamas, and numerous other terrorist organizations.

Reasons
Jihadism has an appeal for several reasons.

1) Base Islamic Architecture: Islam as a religion sets out many of the end-goals that the Jihadists are attempting to further. Islam as a religion supports the idea that there should be an Islamic government that rules according to Islamic Law. The religion supports the idea of martyrdom in war. The religion supports a traditional family structure. When the majority of Islamic Scholars condemn Islamic State or other Jihadist groups, they condemn the specific methods employed by these groups, but usually cannot condemn the ultimate project of creating an Islamic government that rules according to Islamic Law since this is part of the religion. Since Jihadists are promoting themselves based on this shared set of Islamic religious ideas, they have a leg up when convincing Muslims that their views are proper and moral.

Most Jihadists are also Salafists. A Salafist is someone who tries to recreate the Islam that existed at Muhammad's time, without the developments of religious jurisprudence during the Caliphal period (634-1923). There are tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of Salafists, so the Salafist vision of Islam is relatively mainstream. It is worth noting that many Salafists are improperly called "Wahhabists" by their opponents, since Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was the founder of this movement.

2) Message & Results: Young Muslims want to join a movement that gives them meaning and has tangible results. Jihadists describe themselves as the only force that has managed to topple authoritarian governments, withstand the brutality of the West, and create an Islam that exactly as it had been practiced in Muhammad's time. While there are complex arguments which can undercut these assertions, they are, at least facially true.

3) Secular Authoritarianism: In much of the Islamic World, the Cold War period was defined by the presence of US-backed or USSR-backed secular dictators who strove against human rights and the only consistent opposition to these repressive governments were the Islamists (who believe that national laws should changed democratically to be based on the Shari'a or Islamic Law) and Jihadists.

4) Honest Grievances: The Jihadists give voice to particular Muslim grievances and seem honest about their anger in these regards. Most of the Middle East regimes have the resources to act on common Muslim grievances but dishonestly ignore their populations. Such grievances include: Israel's existence, US troops and bases throughout the Middle East, Russian bombings in the Middle East, etc. However, the Jihadists, as weak as they are, are actually trying to do something in this regard. That apparently honest venting of local grievances does not go unnoticed.

5) Pan-Islamic Unity: Jihadist groups argue that the only identity that matters for Muslims is the Muslim identity. National, ethnic, socially derived, interpersonal, work, and other identities are unimportant and should be relegated to the past. This very post-racial, post-ethnic view of personal identity is very attractive to Muslims who feel that they are subject to discrimination in their home countries.

6) Multiculturalism: There is a key difference between pluralism, which is the idea that a society should be colorblind and give people of all races and identities an equal shot, and multiculturalism, which is the idea that society should tolerate divergent cultural norms. Multiculturalism, especially in Western Europe, has resulted in Muslim-majority ghettos which focus around the idea of Muslim identity as opposed to citizenship within the larger Non-Muslim society. As they feel increasingly alienated from the larger society, they see themselves much more closely aligned with Jihadist groups who, similarly, make the Muslim identity their central identity.

7) Holiness: The most vile acts of Jihadist groups, like beheadings, corporal punishment, burning of enemies alive, throwing gays off of rooftops, etc. are in exact line with the penal code required under Islam. (Scholars will argue that the testimonial requirements are no satisfied, e.g. there is no appropriate trial, but the punishments are themselves legitimate.) By actually applying Islamic Law, the Jihadists show that they actually are following the religious precepts that they claim to be following.

One particularly harrowing story was that Jubhat an-Nusra (an offshoot of al-Qaeda Syria) videotaped several Islamic State fighters drinking alcoholic beverages and smoking cigarettes, where both actions are in violation of the Shari'a. Jubhat an-Nusra publicized this video to weaken Islamic State's claim to holiness. Upon seeing this footage, the Islamic State commanders immediately beheaded all of their fighters who were captured in the footage and destroyed any intoxicants in their possession. Following the law piously is part of their claim to legitimacy.

Al Qaeda opposes same-sex marriage. In March 2013, the group denounced US President Obama for his support of same-sex marriage.

I think you are referring to Osama, not Obama (at least I hope you are). The leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, was killed by U.S. forces (Navy Seals) under the direction of President Obama in May 2011.

Al-Qaeda claims that all Jews are part of Zionist Conspiracy to rule the world and kill all Muslims, which is both absurd and reeks of Anti-Semitism. As Israel is a political manifestation by Jews, they naturally loathe it. It adds insult to injury that Israel is located on territory that they deem to be "Islamic Land" since it has previously been under the control of Islamic Empires.

Osama bin Laden founded the al-Qaeda. There are others but he is the head leader.

Absolutely not! WikiAnswers is not a part of Al-Qaeda.

There probably isn't any "why", because the hypothesis of the question is most likely false. The only thing you know for sure is that however many times they tried it, they never got far enough to make the headlines.

Al-Qaeda actually attempted to attack multiple targets in Israel early 2014, but the Israeli Shin Bet announced that they were able to foil the plans prior to their realization. So, al-Qaeda has attempted to attack Israeli targets. It currently happens, though, that both Israeli and Jordanian counter-terrorism measures are relatively effective in preventing successful attacks. Please see the Related Link for more details.

Any organization who don't have an Army and want to change the prevailing system will resort to terrorism. In other words, when a person or group of people feel as though they are helpless, they turn to extremism such as terrorism.

More specifically though, to answer the question related to Al Qaeda, it is best to analyze the sayings of their founder and leader, Osama Bin Laden. Mr. Laden has claimed at least in one of his videos, that he feels as though it's not fair that Americans are allowed to live in peace and without fear as how it is in the middle east. In a sense he is providing us with fear. Al Qaeda, on multiple occasions have claimed that they would cease terrorist attacks if the U.S. simply withdraws all of its troops from their territory. The terrorist attacks could also be a result of the American presence in the middle east.

US foreign policy has been geared to defeating terrorism from radical Islamic terror groups. Drones have been used to kill Al-Qaeda leaders. One act of anti-terrorism was the killing of Osama Bin Laden at his enclave in Pakistan.

their families were killed they were scared for their lives and they were sad for the other families who lost family

Al Qaida is a group of Iraqi men that are considered terrorists in America but in Iraq are heroes. I believe no one should be considered a heroe for killing anything at all , especially people. Just my opinion though. Saudi Arabian men

The idea that President Obama somehow set up Al-Qaeda is not true. President Obama has been using drones to kill Al-Qaeda leaders.With that said, the question refers to the terrorist Osama bin Laden.

Osama bin Laden was angry that American troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia.

If Bin laden was behind it. or any one that is involved in the middle east trouble. I would say (1) The twin towers represent the might of New-York and the most powerful concentration of Powerful Jews in the world. (2) the Pentagon because it represents American forces fighting against the interests of the Arabs in the mid east, (3) the white house because they represent the leadership of the nation that gives Israel the means to hold onto power. that is only one possible scenario. the fact is that everything related to this terrible event has been cleaned up with indecent haste and we Will never be able to find out what happened except in conjecture. as is also the case with the assassination of President Kennedy.

2 planes hit twin towers

1 plane hit pentagon

1 aimed for white house but brave heros steered it towards am open feild (all died)

Osama Bin Ladin

The most excellent part of Paradise (Heaven). This is situated in the middle of the 7th Heaven above which is the throne of Allah (Arsh).

Al Qaeda is a terrorist organisation which want American influences removed from muslim nations there main actions include sending a ship loaded with explosives to blow up the american ship the US Cole but the thing they are most famous for is hijacking 4 planes on 9/11 2001, 2 planes hit and destroyed the World Trade Center otherwise known as the twin towers 1 of the planes hit the pentagon and the last plane was destined to hit the White House but instead due to the actions of passengers it instead crassed into a field

because they are fanatics and human life means nothing to them.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is very complex. Al-Qaeda is a little less so. However, it makes little sense to rewrite perfectly good questions on these issues individually. Please see the Related Questions for information on them.

Afghanistan

It would be so nice if there was only one such person. There are numerous separate organizations that have militant-terrorist wings or are purely terrorist groups in the Middle East. Each operates separately with a different leadership. Many times, the true leaders are not revealed for fear of being assassinated.

he was angry that American troops were based in Saudi Arabia

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