Essay Example on Al-Qaeda: Global Terror Network with Extremist Roots

Al-Qaeda is one of the Islamist extremist groups whose history dates back to the 1970s (Gunaratna & Oreg, 2010). The organization consists of regional affiliate institutions and is led by Ayman al-Zawahiri. The global terror network has been linked to radical groups in the Middle East and different parts of the world. Al-Qaeda terror group’s objective is to instil fear, avenge any forms of attack on Islam nations, and recruit new members.

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Al-Qaeda is a terror institution formed to protect the Muslim religion. The group believes that the alliance between the Christians and the Jews aims at eliminating the Islam religion. Members of the extremist organization believe that they can kill others for religious claims (Gunaratna & Oreg, 2010). They often kill those whom they believe oppose Islam. The members of the terror group replace their laws with a strict form of sharia law and want everyone to practice it in a bid to ensure that Islam is the dominant religion.

The goal of the al-Qaeda group is to encourage the formation of a broader Islamic movement that advocates for the rights of the Muslims. The organization inspires political upheaval and change across the Muslims. In a bid to attain this goal, the organization teaches its doctrine to people to enhance recruitment. A majority of people have joined the group, which shows acceptance of al-Qaeda’s beliefs (Gunaratna, 2005). Further, the group launches attacks called the Holy War on the United States and its allied nations to create fear and avenge aggressive attacks from the country.

Al-Qaeda’s beliefs vary from those of Al-Shabaab. While Al-Qaeda aims at protecting the broader Islamic religion, Al-Shabaab’s objective is to ensure that an Islamic state is established at the horn of Africa based on the sharia law. It also wants the elimination of foreign and unwanted religions in the area. Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda have different objectives, but one can see that they both aim at promoting the Islamic religion in different parts of the world.

Conclusion

To conclude, al-Qaeda is one of the most dangerous terror groups in the world today. The group’s objective is to eliminate Christians and Jews since they believe that they want to end Islam. The actions of Al-Qaeda include the bombing of different places, including churches and embassies, attacking Islam states that are allied to America, and recruitment of more followers to ensure that Islam becomes the dominant religion.

References

Gunaratna, R., & Oreg, A. (2010). Al-Qaeda’s organizational structure and its evolution. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 33(12), 1043–1078. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2010.523860

Gunaratna, R. (2005). Al-Qaeda’s ideology. Hudson Institute. https://www.hudson.org/research/9777-al-qaeda-s-ideology