living islam _ Islamic tradition

Navid Kermani

After 11 September 2001 I was frequently asked, as many scholars of Islamic studies probably were, why certain people are prepared to hijack an aeroplane and plunge themselves and all the other passengers to certain death. I do not have an answer. What I have done instead is to tell three stories ­ about the cult of martyrdom in Shi'ite Islam, about modern fantasies of salvation through self-sacrifice, and about power politics in the Middle East ­ which together assemble the elements of a fourth: the unfinished story of the modern world.

The battle of Karbala
Defeat and death of Hussein
Modern echoes of the battle at Karbala
The mourning month of Muharram
Ancient roots of the tale of Hussein's martyrdom
Shi'ite, Sunni and Christian: points of contact and distance
Martyrdom in contemporary Iran: from the imposed war to President Khatami
Mossadeq the martyr?
From the murder of Hussein to suicide bombers: the missing link
The advent of suicide attacks within, and outside of, Islam
Religious martyrdom in al-Qa'ida
The nihilism of Nietzsche
Unclaimed responsibility
On the trail of the Assassins
A modern rebellion
The context of Realpolitik