Meeting of minds : islamic encounters c. 570 to 1750.

Ayuda a los alumnos a entender la mentalidad de las personas que integraban el mundo islámico y de aquellas otras con las que se encontraron en su expansión. Para ello, se estudian las condiciones sociales, políticas, religiosas y culturales del mundo preislámico e islámico hasta 1750. Cada sección se estructura como una investigación histórica, para que cada estudiante seleccione, ordene y clasifique la información y aprenda a relacionar las cuestiones clave. Su contenido se adapta al curriculum nacional inglés.

The death of Osama bin Laden - the end of Al-Qaeda's Pan-Islamic ambition?

This paper evaluates the implications of Osama bin Ladin’s death for the future of al-Qaeda’s global jihad. It critically examines the debate as to the make-up of the group and identifies bin Ladin’s primary role as chief ideologue advocating a defensive jihad to liberate the umma. The rationale and appeal of bin Ladin’s message and Muslims’ reaction to both his statements and al-Qaeda’s increasing use of sectarian violence are assessed in the context of Pan-Islam as political ideology. The paper concludes that while the ideal of Islamic unity and the sentiment of Muslim solidarity are unlikely to vanish, al-Qaeda’s violent jihad has not only failed to achieve these goals but has worked against it, thereby confining it to the political margins.