For Muslims, the month of Ramadan is a time to reread the Koran, focus one's faith, be charitable and commune with family and friends in celebration of life and God. The belief is that acts of piety, or even everyday kindnesses, are rewarded even more generously by the Almighty during Ramadan.
Terrorists, particularly members of the Islamic State, espouse a heinous ideology in which such acts of piety include the murder of those they consider infidels. To kill and martyr oneself during Ramadan is encouraged by such extremists.
The collision of Islam's peaceful and joyous Ramadan traditions with terrorists' warped version of them produces a unique kind of dissonance and heartbreak. Most of the victims of Islamist terrorists are other Muslims, after all.
For instance, the Islamic State has bombed a popular shopping street in Baghdad on Ramadan two years in a row. Last year's attack was the worst Baghdad had seen, with more than 300 people either blown up or dead in a fire that subsequently swept through a shopping arcade. Earlier this week, 17 people were killed and more than 30 were injured at an ice cream parlor where families were enjoying dessert after a day of fasting.
Most Muslims fast from sunup to sundown during Ramadan. Dozens more were killed or wounded hours later in front of the government's main pension office. The Islamic State asserted responsibility for both bombings, saying they targeted Iraq's Shiite majority. The Sunni militant group views Shiites as apostates.
There is little data to suggest that attacks are more common or more deadly during Ramadan, and in most cases it is hard to draw a clear line connecting an attack's motives and its timing. But Islamic State leaders certainly make that link in their propaganda.
Two weeks before Ramadan in 2016, a spokesman for the group exhorted followers "to make it a month of calamity everywhere for nonbelievers." He had issued a similar call the year before.
The months of Ramadan in 2015 and 2016 were filled with Islamic State attacks. On one day alone - June 26, 2015 - more than 400 were killed in Syria, Somalia, Tunisia, Kuwait and France. Last year, a nightclub in Orlando, Istanbul's airport and a bakery frequented by foreigners in the Bangladeshi capital were among those targeted by extremists during Ramadan. This year, Ramadan lasts until June 24.
Islamic State fighters are known to invoke an ancient battle fought by the prophet Muhammad and his followers during Ramadan in the year 624 as justification for their militarized interpretation of the holy month.
The Battle of Badr, fought against non-Muslim Arab tribesmen, was pivotal to early Muslim history. A severely outnumbered Muhammad triumphed and went on to spread his religion. Modern-day extremists who believe themselves to be Muhammad's true followers perceive a parallel battle and expect God to grant similar victories, especially during Ramadan.
But many analysts say the Ramadan attacks of terrorist organizations are an increasingly desperate attempt to project strength in the face of battlefield losses. Last year, the Islamic State lost control of the Iraqi city of Fallujah during Ramadan, for instance, but still broadcast its capacity for terrorism by carrying out attacks around the world. If Wednesday's attack in Kabul is any indication, the perversion of Ramadan by such militant outfits will haunt us for years to come.
The Washington Post
Thu Jun 01 2017
'Tulisan jawi tiada kaitan Jelajah Perikatan Nasional' - MUDA Kelantan
MUDA Kelantan menegaskan tulisan jawi tertera pada sepanduknya adalah logo rasmi baharu cawangan itu, dan tiada kaitan dengan program Jelajah Perikatan Nasional (PN).
Ops Lebih Muatan: JPJ keluar 126 notis saman, 13 kenderaan barangan dikenakan tindakan
Sebanyak 126 notis saman dikeluarkan JPJ Pulau Pinang terhadap pemandu kenderaan barangan menerusi Ops Khas Lebih Muatan di sekitar negeri ini.
AWANI Ringkas: Bas terbalik di Lebuh Raya Karak
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Lelaki mengaku rogol, cabul anak kandung
Dia didakwa melakukan perbuatan itu di sebuah rumah di Kampung Seri Rahmat, Batu Gajah pada jam 10 hingga 12 malam, Februari lalu.
Piala Uber: Pearly ambil sudut positif jika tidak ke Chengdu
Pearly Tan tidak berasa kecil hati sekiranya beliau dan pasangan M. Thinaah, tidak disenaraikan ke skuad Piala Uber 2024 di Chengdu, China.
Bubur Lambuk Ayam Belanda hidangan istimewa di Kampung Parit Sikom
Istimewa Ramadan 2024, penduduk kampung Parit Sikom, Pontian, Johor menikmati hidangan istimewa, Bubur Lambuk Ayam Belanda, yang diedarkan sebanyak 500 pek .
Penguasaan asas teknologi AI sangat penting untuk pelajar
Penguasaan terhadap asas AI adalah perlu dan penting seiring dengan penguasaan 3M (menulis, mengira dan membaca).
Pasaran saham ST1 positif, dijangka berterusan sehingga H2
Pasaran FBM KLCI mencatat prestasi baik dengan pulangan sekitar 5.7%. Imran Yassin Md Yusof, Ketua MIDF Research, menjangkakan sentimen positif akan berterusan sehingga separuh kedua tahun ini. Sektor cemerlang termasuk utiliti, hartanah, dan pembinaan.
Peningkatan IHPR beri petanda positif kepada perdagangan
Menurut Pengarah Program MBA, Putra Business School (PBS), Prof Madya Dr. Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff, prestasi Indeks Harga Pengeluar (IHPR) Pengeluaran Tempatan Malaysia yang meningkat pada Februari 2024 menyifatkan pertumbuhan perdagangan berada di tahap yang baik.
Jangan ambil tindakan sendiri, Malaysia ada undang-undang - KPN
Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Razarudin Husain memberi amaran dan peringatan keras kepada orang ramai untuk tidak mengambil tindakan sendiri.
Seorang warga Indonesia didakwa miliki item berunsur keganasan
Irwanzir yang bekerja sebagai buruh binaan di Balik Pulau didakwa melakukan kesalahan itu di belakang rumah yang beralamat di Hadapan Kanan, 352 Mukim C, Permatang Pasir Balik Pulau pada 6 Jan lalu.
Bukan Islam di Indonesia tidak lagi digelar 'kafir'
Cadangan mengharamkan menyebutkan warga Indonesia bukan Islam sebagai kafir tidak menghapus istilah itu dalam Al-Quran atau hadis, sebaliknya ia sikap teologis NU mengenai isu itu ketika ini.
Lapan pengunjung pasar raya jadi tebusan lelaki bersenjata
Seorang lelaki bersenjata telah menggunakanbeberapa pengunjung sebagai tebusan di sebuah pasar raya di Trebes, di barat daya Perancis.
Polis tangkap sembilan suspek terlibat aktiviti Daish
Dalam operasi di sekitar Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Sabah dan Kelantan itu, tiga warga asing dan enam rakyat Malaysia yang berusia antara 17 hingga 56 tahun ditahan.
Daish 'semakin agresif' - Cawangan Khas Bukit Aman
Cawangan Khas Bukit Aman beri amaran, kumpulan pengganas Daish 'semakin agresif' dalam menyebarkan ideologi mereka.
Militan Daish jual 'hamba seks' dalam talian
Menjual hamba seks atas talian oleh kumpulan militan Daishkini semakin mendapat perhatian warga dunia. Laman media sosial kini menjadi fokus mereka untuk menawarkan perkhidmatan ini.
PM sedih dengan insiden letupan di Istanbul
Datuk Seri Najib Razak melahirkan rasa dukacita dengan insiden pengeboman di Istanbul, Turki semalam yang telah meragut sekurang-kurangnya 10 nyawa.
Kes anggota komando miliki penerbitan berkaitan militan dipindah ke KL
Mohd Abu Haliff Shah Abu Bakar sebelum ini didakwa memiliki sehelai kemeja-T yang mempunyai kaitan dengan kumpulan militan Daish pada 12 Nov lepas.
Amaran Rusia mengenai kemungkinan militan Daish memasuki Thailand
Polis Thai berkata walaupun ia belum dapat dipastikan sama ada 10 rakyat Syria tersebut benar-benar memasuki Thailand, namun langkah keselamatan tetap akan dipertingkatkan.
Istilah baharu ini membuatkan militan IS mahu potong lidah anda
Istilah 'Daesh' daripada akronim frasa Arab dikatakan mempunyai maksud yang mempersenda dan merendah-rendahkan aspirasi kumpulan itu.