Islam’s Link to Terror—A Psychology of Denial

Abstract

This positional paper examines mental health issues associated with terrorism, the psychological social and interpersonal dynamics of self-deception, delusion, and denial; and it offers analytical argument, sociological perspective, and comparative theologic analysis and commentary on the epistemology of Islam and radical Islamic terrorism. The disputatious assertion that terrorism has nothing to do with Islam is examined from an evidentiary criminal prima facie perspective. Islam is conceptually linked to various affiliate terrorist groups by its mutual sociology, derivative core ideology, and by its endogenous religious operational authority derived from the Koran. Islamic violence is not limited to terrorism. The feasibility of Islam embracing spiritual reformation is examined. Global terrorism needs to be fought both on the ground and with multifaceted societal strategies that challenge and defeat the ideologic presuppositional arguments that fuel terrorism.