Al Qaida in the western sources and London bombings

An ideological gap erupted following end of the Cold War. During this period, Political Islam has been widely discussed as a result of the El Qaida related actvities worldwide. The thesis deals with the historical background and the development of Political Islam and Al Qaida. Political Islam, which has a long history, is a modern political system. On the other hand, Al Qaida is a distinct ideology, independent from the Political Islam. It would be wrong to try to establish a relationship between the Political Islam, Al Qaida and terrorism. However, the discussions and resources on the matter in the USA and the West possess plenty of misinformation and misunderstandings due to lack of information and prejudices. The thesis studies the political programme and action strategy of Al Qaida. In this context, the thesis deals with how Al Qaida manipulates the ideas regarding the Islam. The writer of this thesis has also aimed to reflect the general belief in the USA and the West regarding Political Islam, Al Qaida, terrorism and fundementalism. The thesis also looks into the 2005 London Bombings with a view to have better understanding of the characteristics of Al Qaida. iv This is a international relations thesis. It is based on sources in the U.S. and the West. Therefore, the thesis reflects how this matter is perceived in the U.S. and the West. The thesis is composed of four chapters. The First Chapter deals with the roots of Political Islam, including Salafizm, Wahhabizm and Saudi Arabia, Maulana Maududi, Muslim Brotherhood-Hassan Al Benna and Seyd Qutb. The second chapter examines the essential terminology of Political Islam, in this context "Umma" and "Jihad in Islam". Third Chapter deals with the establishment and the characteristics of the Al Qaida, The fourth Chapter evaluates the background and the outcome of the London Bombings and the personal characteristics of the perpetrators. At the end of the thesis, I came to the conclusion that Al Qaida is an utopic ideology which can never be realised. However, unless the international political, ekonomic and socio-cultural imbalances are fixed, the impact of the Al Qaida ideology will always be felt. Key Words : 1. Fundementalism 2. Political Islam 3. Al Qaida 4. London Bombings 5. Jihad