Warrant for Terror: The Fatwas of Radical Islam and the Duty to Jihad (Hoover Studies in Politics, Economics, and Society) [Paperback]

Shmuel Bar (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0742551210 | ISBN-13: 978-0742551213 | Publication Date: June 13, 2008

Since September 11, 2001 much has been written about 'Islamist terrorism,' arguing that it is a perversion that has 'hijacked Islam' in the service of social, political and economic grievances. However, such accounts cannot explain why other people that can lay claim to similar or more serious grievances have not developed such devastating religious terrorist ideologies. Moreover, many of the terrorists themselves have attested to their own religious motivation and their belief that they acted in accordance with the precepts of Islam. In Warrant for Terror Shmuel Bar examines fatwas--legal opinions declaring whether a given act under Islam is obligatory, permitted, or forbidden. Fatwas serve as a major instrument by which religious leaders impel believers to engage in acts of jihad. Bar argues that fatwas, particularly those that come from the Arab world, should not be dismissed as a cynical use of religious terminology in political propaganda. Many terrorists testify that they were motivated to act by them. Indeed, this book shows that Islamic law plays a central role in determining for believers the practical meaning of the duty to jihad. Bar examines the underlying religious, legal, and moral logic of fatwas and the depth of their influence, particularly in contrast to alternative moderate Islamic interpretations. He explores the wide scope of issues that fatwas deal with, covering almost all facets of Islamic 'law of war': the justification for declaring jihad; the territory in which the jihad should be fought; whether women and children may participate in jihad; the legality of killing women, children and other non-combatants; the justification for killing hostages and mutilating their bodies; and the permissibility of diverse tactics and weapons, including suicide attacks and even nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. Warrant for Terror also delves into the contradictions between the radical and the mainstream narratives and the sources of the weakness of the latter in the face of the former. In the conclusion, the author raises a number of provocative questions relating to the 'religious policy' of the West in the face of the threat of Islamic extremism. This book is published in cooperation with the Hoover Institution

Editorial Reviews

Review

If you are sick of instant experts offering sound-bite style insight into the phenomenon of Radical Islam, then Warrant for Terror is the right medicine for you. Through an exhaustive yet refreshingly readable analysis of fatwas--Muslim religious injunctions--Shmuel Bar takes us deep into the minds of both those who issue calls for jihad and those who heed them. As a tool to understand the logic, the rationale, and the motivation of the enemy in the war on terror, this book is sure to be assigned in counter-terror training courses around the world. Thankfully, the rest of us can read it, too. (Robert Satloff )

Shmuel Bar has written one of the most important and compelling books in recent years. If you want to understand Islamic terrorism and jihad, this is the book to read. He has written an absolutely brilliant page-turning analysis of the dynamics underlying radical Jihad today--and for policymakers, analysts and the public, Warrant for Terror will provide you insights that few other books even dare try. This is one of the best books I have ever read on the dynamics of jihad and fatwas. Read it to be educated and to truly understand. Ignore it at your peril. Dr. Bar has performed a wonderful public service by compiling and analyzing the fatwas for us. This book is a bench mark in the literature on Jihad. (Steven Emerson )

Shmuel Bar offers a much needed account of the religious logic that inspires and justifies Islamic radicalism and its terrorist manifestations. His sections on the extremists legal justifications for attacking Americans, fellow Muslims, and particularly Israel are enlightening and useful for anyone who has wondered how religious thinking can be used to support terrorism. (Salt Lake Tribune )

Non-Muslims rarely pay attention to the religious struggle within Islam. They must, urgently. Radical clerics, wielding the deadly accusation of apostacy, have silenced most mainstream Muslim clerics and regimes in the Muslim world on the issues of jihad and terrorism. We are at serious risk of having hundreds of millions of religiously-driven enemies and deferential followers. (R. James Woolsey )

Bar has crafted an important book. This short volume is a must-read for anyone disturbed by the government and media's failure to truly elucidate the underpinnings of the terrorism threat that's here to stay. (The Miami Herald )

Drawing on Arabic sources not typically available to English readers, Shmuel Bar outlines the way that fatwas from Muslim religious authorities have in recent years laid a basis for jihadism and terror. Warrant for Terror is critical reading to understand the nature of the challenge posed by radical Islamism today. (Fukuyama, Francis )

Warrant for Terror offers many insights. (The Bookwatch )

Shmuel Bar offers a much-needed account of the religious logic that inspires and justifies Islamic radicalism and its terrorist manifestations...His conclusion, that the war of ideas within the Muslim world is primarily a religious war, should be taken seriously.

Since the author of this hard-hitting book is Israeli, some may dismiss it out of hand, as politically motivated. However, the depth of research, drawn from Arabic sources, should cause every reader to pay attention. It is invaluable for understanding the reasons for radical Islamism in the 21st century. (Middle East Journal )

This is an important book, its limpid prose matching the authority Bar brings to a subject about which we cannot afford to be ignorant. (Literary Review )

It is invaluable for understanding the reasons for radical Islamism in the 21st century. Bar drives home the point that only Muslims can turn the tide....Warrant for Terror is a compelling book. (Warren Larson Middle East Journal )

About the Author

Shmuel Bar is a senior research fellow dealing with Middle Eastern and Islamic affairs at the Institute of Policy and Strategy in Herzliya, Israel. Bar retired (in 2003) after 30 years of service in the Israeli civil service (as an intelligence officer in the IDF and in the Office of the Prime Minister) in senior staff and operational positions, including diplomatic posting in Europe. Bar holds a Ph.D. in History of the Middle East from Tel-Aviv University and has published numerous books and papers on Middle Eastern affairs, terrorism, and radical Islam.

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (June 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742551210
• ISBN-13: 978-0742551213
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,835,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Islamic Terms Well Clarified, December 1, 2009

By 

Jack Irvine (Pacific Grove CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Warrant for Terror: The Fatwas of Radical Islam and the Duty to Jihad (Hoover Studies in Politics, Economics, and Society) (Paperback)

This is my second copy I have ordered; the first was from Amazon the year of publication (2006) after having met Mr. Bar on the rainy main street of our town. That first copy was received from Amazon with mystery: a library shelf number on the spine, a library name blacked out on the top page edges, and received late! I found the text the most concise (188 pages), definitive treatment on this subject's process. It clarified nicely what I didn't learn in a university course on Muslim Theology and eleven years of living in the mid east. Dr. Bar's unique background in Israel's foreign service and his literary knowledge of Arabic qualifies him extremely well. The process is never covered in the media yet it is not a simple one man/cleric show. A "semi-democratic", maybe auto-cractic is a better term, must/should be held to before a fatwa is "jihadable". Bar selects about a hundred such fatwas to briefly discuss and show a rescind or directive. Most certainly there is a difference in numbers between the amount Sunnis issue and those of Shiites. Every media reporter should read and have this among their select books.
Jack B. Irvine,jr