Introduction
The September eleventh attacks brought a lot of radical social, political and economic transformations within the US. This was because the country and the world had realized that the historical enmity between Islam and the western world had never been forgotten and was in fact a crucial day. Some experts have asserted that the West may not remember historical clashes between Islam and itself. However, the former group holds these historical confrontations very closely. The purpose of this paper is to show that terrorist attacks have historic significance among radical Muslims and this is evidenced by their occurrence on Muslim calendar days or historic holy battles between Muslims and non Muslims.
Historical occurrences linked to Muslim terror attacks
Source; http://www.enterprisemission.com/tower2.htm
The September eleventh attacks may seem random in nature and upon face value, it is common to assume that these attacks had nothing to do with the past. However, there are a number of issues that date back to the origin of Islam which represent these historical significances. One of the major ones was the battle of Vienna that occurred in the year 1683.
It should be noted that the concept of freedom within the West was a concept that had to be fought for. This was something that many westerners’ did not just get on silver platter. Such patterns began as far back as the fourth century BC. One such example was the battle between the Persians and the Greeks. The Greeks defeated the Persians and this marked one of the successes of the West and in its fight for democracy. (Hoffman, 2003)
These struggles between the West and others continued even a century later. For instance, France which was one of the most significant forces within the civilized world at that time had to struggle for its independence. The latter were also dealing with forces from Attila the Hun. Thanks to the defeat of the latter group, the country was able to rescue some of the cultural features that made them what they were and thus giving Westerners or Christians a chance of survival.
These struggles proceeded on even in latter years. While certain analysts and experts argue that Christianity or the western world was bound to survive as it were and that victories that were own in battle had very little to do with these reports such a perceptions can be quite misleading. This is because certain occurrences in history played an eminent role in preserving western civilization as we know it today.
One particular victory that is directly related to the September Eleventh attacks was the Siege of Vienna by the Turks. The latter event coincided with the twin tower attacks because it occurred in 1683 between September 11 and September 12th. During this time, Islam’s hand had gained wide popularity within this region and beyond. However, following the attack ordered by Poland’s King, Christianity had a fighting chance. Were it not for this victory, then Islam would have a pretty good chance of penetrating Europe as people know it today.
The reason why this Vienna Siege was particularly important to the west and Christianity at large was that it marked the end of a series of confrontations between these two groups. Consequently, after such a long struggle, victory for the West implied a lot of positive news for Europe. This is because as far back as the sixteenth century (one thousand years before the Vienna war), Muslim leaders were the stronger force throughout the Middle Eastern region and other surrounding areas. Consequently, there was very little hope that Europeans actually had a fighting chance because the latter were caught up in confrontations against one another, this was especially the case because there had been a split between Catholics and Protestants and most Europeans were now trying to recover from these confrontations. (Selegut, 2003)
During the year 632, the founder of the Islamic faith; Prophet Muhammad died. After his death, some successors such as Abu Bakar were interested in fulfilling the prophesy put forward by Muhammad. The prophesy was ‘to go to all phases of the earth and spread Islam.’ These successors found themselves in a position where they were trying to conquer a number of nations and they actually managed to do so. Some of the empires that had been ceased included
• Former Persian empire
• Former Roman empire
• Etc
These Muslim adherents operated under the all or nothing principle. If one was not going to join them willingly, then they had to be treated as non members of that country or they had to be exterminated. In the year 634, one adherent Khalid Walid invaded Iraq which was at that time a predominantly Christian setting. He told them that if they did not join Islam, then they would be forced to submit to them by giving them tributes. However, those who could not pay tributes would face dire consequences. In other words, the Christians had very little choice in the matter lest they lost their lives. He told them that the Muslims loved death as much as the Christians loved life and that they were not afraid to take action.
Later on i.e. within the next century, Muslim forces were able to convert prior Christian populations by force through confrontation in battles. This largely meant that they control a series of nations that included;
• Portugal
• Palestine
• Iraq
• Syria
• North Africa
• Spain
• Pyrenees
• Bordeaux etc
The Muslims began getting very ambitious because by the year 721, they were penetrating regions and areas that were not thought as conquerable. Thereafter, the latter group proceeded onto Paris. Most of the time, they were victorious and in the few instances where they were not such as in 732 at Tours, the Muslims fought on because the considered such defeats as minor setbacks in the process of establishing themselves throughout the world. (Mansdorf, 2003)
During the eleventh century, these issues were further reinforced. At that time, the Turks from Seljuk took over the Arab dominated world. They were highly interested in establishment of a presence throughout Turkey. However, two centuries later, they were replaced by the Ottoman Turks who created one of the most expansive empires in the world. This stretched from Ethiopia, North Africa, Sudan, Palestine, Hungary, Russia and even the Arabian Peninsula.
The latter group continued with their conquests in the fourteenth century where they established their presence in Europe. Here they were able to rule the Balkans and the Mediterranean region. The Ottomans were tactful in their response owing to the fact that they got hold of empires when the recipients were undergoing their own civil wars. This was seen when the former Persian Empire known as the Byzantine had been ceased by these forces. The European Peninsula had also been ceased by these parties. It should be noted here that the latter conquest occurred in 1354. Shortly after, i.e. 1387, Thessalonica was ceased. Two years later, they managed to defeat the Serbs during a battle at Kosovo. Eventually their influence reached the epitome during their victory over Constantinople which was later named as Istanbul and is now the Turkish capital. (Israeli, 2003)
Upon the latter victory, the Turks had such a great chance of penetrating other parts of the world. This was seen by their conquest of Bulgaria in the year 1526. However, three years later and then thirty seven years later, the Ottoman Turks tried taking over Vienna but they never yielded any fruit because they had to deal with other challenges at the time.
It should be noted that the conquest of Vienna would imply an immeasurable control over the European continent and an ability to penetrate different parts of the world through these new powers. This was because Vienna was treated as an important pathway to Germany and other parts of the European continent. This failure did no deter the Ottoman Turks because they tried again in the year 1683.
Prior to this year, there was great concern and interest in Vienna because of the reasons mentioned above and also because the Ottoman Sultan thought that chances of succeeding were quite high. He claimed that certain alliances such as those ones from Hungary, Austria, Bohemia, and the Roman Empire would not be that strong because instrumental allies such as the French were not going to participate in such wars. The latter nation thought that the Austrians and the Bohemians were getting too strong and that they would dominate them. Consequently, the Ottoman Sultan was sure that upon waging holy war in Vienna, alliances would not be very influential and that the latter would have great chances of succeeding. This justification eventually ended with the invasion of 1683 that was done under the name of a holy war.
What occurred subsequently signified a deep transformation of historical events for the Muslim world. This was because at that time, King Leopold was busy preparing for these attacks. He sought alliances from other members who shared common interests and an example was King Sobieski of Poland. This King was synonymous with battles against the Ottomans and he made a promise to King Leopold to support them. Additionally, the latter ruler also sought support from other parts of the world such as Saxony, Bavaria and Lorraine.
The Siege of Vienna occurred during the month of July through to September. At that time, the Turks had prepared properly through their large army size; their ratio overpowered the residents of Vienna at that time. Additionally, their supplies were in order and they were therefore in a position to overcome the natives of this area. Given this inadequate preparation on the part of the Vienna residents, there were very high chances of failure in this attack. (Laqueur, 2003)
But things took a completely different turn given the surprise appearance of the King of Poland. He arrived with sixty five thousand members who came from a wide range of coalitions. Some of them came from Germany, Austria and Poland itself. On that fateful day of September eleventh, the Ottoman Sultan was not prepared for this surprise. Consequently, the back part of his army was not adequately covered. Another miscalculation that the Ottoman Sultan made was that he did not give his full attention to the King of Poland’s troops. Instead, he decided to stick to his earlier plan which was to cease the City Of Vienna.
On the other hand, the Kind of Poland (Sobieski) was deeply committed to overcoming the Turks. He realized the importance of this victory and even told his army members that their victory would be a victory for the entire religion of Christianity, consequently, they could not afford to loose it. All these members attacked the Ottomans on the next day and managed to clear almost everything that they found along the way. Most of the Ottomans were very shocked with this attacks and many of them recoiled from it. Consequently, they became confused and most of them found themselves in a situation where they could not organize themselves adequately enough to counter the Poles and their allies. By the end of that day the Ottoman leader had been hurt and decided to dash off alongside the rest of his army members.
The victory of the Poles and their allies against the Turks was therefore held as a historic one because it was seen as victory for Christians. This fact was depicted by the letter that the King of Poland sent to the Pope who was told about the occurrence. (Griset and Mahan, 2003)
This victory in Vienna was also an important driver for change among the Christians. Most of them began attacking Ottoman Turks. This was seen when they managed to take hold of Buda which was the capital of Turkey. This was also backed up by the area of Belgrade in the year 1686.
However, it should not be assumed that the Turks took these attacks by lying down. They actually managed to respond to the matter but their hold on the issue was not very strong. In fact, this was seen by a battle that had occurred in September eleventh 1697. Here, the Austrians attacked the Ottomans and they were able to outnumber them, they ceased the Sultan’s property alongside his other possessions. Two years later, the Ottomans decided to retreat completely by signing the treaty of Karlowitz in which the Ottomans acknowledged the fact that the Austrians had a claim to Hungary and Transylvania.
Such defeats began slowly undermining the Muslims and up to the twenty century, the Muslim territory began diminishing. This was eventually seen clearly during the First World War. At that time, there was the creation of new nations that had previously been thought of as Muslim nations but this was no longer a concern for the League of Nations. The Ottoman influence reduced to very minute amounts after the decision had been made to make Turkey a secular nation during the year 1924.
It can therefore be seen that were it not for the significant battle of Vienna, the Muslim world would have been a very influential force in the world as we know it today. Consequently, the occurrences of September eleventh can be linked to these historical moments.
Muslim people are highly aware of their history. Additionally, they are aware of the tasks that had been assigned to them by their leader prophet Muhammad; i.e. to ensure that Islam conquers the world. Such fanatics have not forgotten the point at which they lost this struggle to rule the world. Consequently, some of them may be interested in restoring back this dignity to their religion by conducting terrorist attacks on such historical days. Some experts have claimed that the September eleventh attacks occurred on that day so that the attackers could instate revenge upon the west which had hindered them from taking over the world during the fateful September eleventh defeat of 1683 and 1697. (Kushner, 2002)
The date of September eleventh not only has significance for the Muslims alone but it also brings out the long struggle that has occurred between the east and the west over the restoration of victory for either group. Those skeptics who thought that the battle between these two groups was no longer in existence can now be proved wrong because there is overwhelming evidence to show that this matter is still held dearly among Muslim fanatics. Such attacks show that the choice of dates holds both a religious and an historical significance to the attackers and to members of their culture.
Besides the Vienna issue, it has also been shown that the September eleventh attacks also coincided with the Camp Davis Accord that had been signed between the Egyptians and the Israelis in the year 1978. This date was also important to the Egyptians because it indicated a New Years Day in the Egyptian Calendar during the Coptic Christian times; it should also be noted that this day was held dearly by them because they ratified the constitution in 1971 during this same date i.e. 9/11 (Herzliya, 2001)
It should be noted that terrorists picked a day that was not just significant to the Muslims in History but also one that was significant to practicing Christians in Egypt also. Here, they were highly interested in the restoration of some of the assertions that were held by these respective groups. In fact, there was overwhelming evidence to show that there is link between these dates and the Egyptian calendar.
The United States is founded upon the Masonic experiment. In fact, it can be argued that the great revolutionaries, movers and shakers of the United States came from Masonic lodges. In order to prove this, one only has to look at the following depictions
• Architecture
• Dollar bills
• Symbols
• Traditions (independence day celebrations
It has been asserted by a number of experts that Free masonry did not begin as recently as some people may like to think. There is overwhelming evidence to show that it does have its roots back in ancient Egypt. In Ancient Egypt, there was the establishment of one such movement known as the Knights Templar. Consequently, it can be argued that any Calendar days that were reminiscent of Ancient Egypt could actually be translated to modern day Christian societies with Free masonry. The terrorists who attacked the twin towers were trying to launch an attack against the remains of this particular movement. The United States signified the existence of these movements and therefore had to be attacked on a day that related to the highest percentage of their people. Shown below is a diagram of an American symbol that has illustrations of Ancient Egypt.
Source; http://www.enterprisemission.com/tower2.htm
Muslims who wanted to disrupt world order had a better chance of doing it by choosing a day that had historical significance to their enemies too. The terrorists were well aware of these assertions and were therefore wiling to execute those horrendous acts against the Americans because they knew that Christian could be able to relate to it. Additionally, since the day coincided with a peace treaty between Christians and Jews (who happen to be the ultimate Islamic enemies) then these Islamic radicals were trying to show that they were ready to destroy the arrangements that had been made with regard to the restorations of unity amongst their enemies. They also wanted to show that they understood historical meanings of their enemies at a deeper level.
How attacks are linked to Muslim calendar days
A number of September eleventh masterminds have been caught over the past few years. One such leader was Ramzi Bin Shibh. The latter individual had confessed to being a conspirator in the planning and execution of these notorious attacks. When journalists caught up with him in Cuba, he asserted that the attacks had occurred on an important Muslim Day. The reaction of the public was to look for which day it was and whether the same pattern had been repeated in other part of the world.
It should be noted that the latter leader was a close ally to the founder of the Alqaeda i.e. Osama Bin laden and therefore his comments represented the thoughts and views of other members of this terrorist organization. In order to solidify the fact that the attacks had religious significance, Bin Shibh proceeded to wish the entire Muslim fraternity a happy Eid Al Adha. This was an important Muslim event translated as ‘the feast of the Sacrifice’ and many analysts have pondered over the significance of such a title on such a day. In other words, these celebrations indicated just how important that day would be to the Muslim world. (Atran, 2003)
This holiday is celebrated by the Muslim fraternity in commemoration of an ancient story in Quran. According to adherents, this was the moment at which Ibrahim was told by Allah (God) to go up the mountain and sacrifice his son Ishmael. However, because of Allah’s grace, he spared Ishmael’s life by miraculously bringing a sheep that would instead be used as a sacrifice. Consequently, the September eleventh attacks may have been particularly captivating to the perpetrators because such a holy day would fall in line with their alleged ‘holy action’. If the attackers believed that they were in deed fulfilling holy prophesy, then there would be a need to make this in tuned with such a day.
Additionally, this Muslim holy calendar day would have been particularly significant to the terrorists because their actions would correspond to those ones being celebrated within the holiday. In other words, the terrorists themselves would be sacrificing their lives for the greater good of Islam and this festival would therefore be quite appropriate for them. Since the terrorists themselves were not present to certify their driving force, one can only rely on what other Al Qaeda adherents believe and also on historical facts that may influenced the lives of these suicide terrorists. (Laqueur, 2003)
It should also be noted that the attack coincided with promulgation of certain Islamic losses in the region. For instance, during the year 1922 in the month of September during the eleventh day, British rule gained further promulgation in Palestine through Jerusalem. To the Muslims, this was an important day because it signified a point in their history when they had lost a crucial part of their territory to an external force that just happened to belong to the Christian fraternity.
As it had been asserted earlier about the case of the Turkish empire – where the domination of the Ottoman was drastically reduced later on after the passing of the League of Nations treaty. Western Nations may not have taken note of such a crucial day but for religious fanatics who are driven with the need to restore the world back to Islam, such dates are very important to them. September eleventh 1924 highlighted the fact that the Muslims had lost their battle to their enemies and by instating an attack against the west on the same day that their territory had been taken away, the Muslims were trying to show that they were going to take back what was theirs.
It should be noted that the date of September eleventh has little Christian significance. Consequently, if on one wants to understand why this date was chosen, then it would be best to look at the Muslim calendar or their history in order to place the matter in context. One would also expect that since the United States was chosen, then the terrorists would have gone out of their way to look for a day that Americans could easily relate to such as their independence day. However, they chose days that reflected their overall experiences partly because they wanted to show that the Muslim world has been ignored for too long and that the world now needs to understand what it going on with them. In order to restore their importance in world scene, they wanted to do something that would force the world to re-examine the Mediterranean history. This could only be achieved through the use of a date that was significant to the Islamic world rather than the western one. (Ali, 2002)
Conclusion
The September eleventh attacks have a special significance in the lives of the terrorists who carried them out and also in the Muslim world in general. The most outstanding significance is a historical occurrence that dates back to the year 1683. At that time, the Ottoman Turkish empire had dominated a large section of Mediterranean region and had proceeded to enter many parts of the Europe too. However, at the battle of Vienna, on September eleventh, the Muslims lost their opportunity to dominate Europe and hence the rest of the world. It can therefore be argued that choosing the September eleventh date was a sign of revenge upon the West for hampering Muslim’s chances of taking over the world.
Additionally, the day coincided with other historical defeats such as in 1697 when the Ottoman empire lost a significant share of its territory. This date was also historical in that the west took over Palestine through Iraq thus showing the terrorists that they no longer had any say in the matter.
Lastly, the day coincided with Muslim calendar celebrations of the feast of sacrifice. This day was to celebrate a day in which God preserved the life of his servant’s son Ishmael. It can therefore be said that September eleventh was not just a random date. It has religious and historic symbolism.
References
Ali, T. (2002): The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Jihads, Crusades and Modernity; Verso
Atran, S. (2003): Genesis of Suicide Terrorism; Terrorism International Conference, no. 14
Herzliya, I. (2001): The truth behind terrorism; International Policy Institute for Counter Terrorism
Kushner, H. (2002): Essential Readings on Political Terrorism; University of Nebraska Press,
Griset, P. and Mahan, S. (2003): Terrorism in Perspective; CA, Sage Publications
Israeli, R. (2003): Islamikaze - Manifestations of Islamic Martyrology; Routledge
Laqueur, W. (2003): No End to War - Terrorism in the 21st C, New York, Continuum
Selegut, C. (2003): Sacred Fury: Understanding Religious Violence; CA, AltaMira Press
Mansdorf, I. (2003): The Psychological Framework of Suicide Terrorism; Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 15th April
Hoffman, B. (2003): The Logic of Suicide Terrorism; Atlantic Monthly, June
The author of this article is a holder of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University and currently pursing PhD Program. He is also a professional academic writer. ResearchPapers247.Com>
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