"Does Islam play a unique role in modern religious terrorism?"

According to several websites, the total number of Muslim in the world today is close to 1.4 billion people. Additionally, there is no regimented clerical hierarchy, no councils, and no synods to provide standards of orthodoxy. So why is that a problem? It turns out only extremists have spokespeople. Therefore, without a central Muslim orthodoxy, the hundreds of millions of moderate Muslims that reject terrorism have no single unified voice to rally behind. Instead, the only Muslims that actually have a spokespeople tend to be extremists. Furthermore, that tends to create mistrust among the non-Muslim people of the world because non-Muslim people correctly wonder why the moderates refuse to refute the extremists, or at the very least, voice their anger more than they do.

According to Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review Institute, (page 101-115), Islam does play a unique role on modern terrorism. Andrew McCarthy argues that there are features unique to Islam that explain not just the current global outbreak of terrorism, but also why it is particularly vicious, complete with images of beheadings, suicide bombings, and mass-casualty attacks. McCarthy claims the spiritual importance of violent jihad and martyrdom for tens of millions of adherents of militant Islam are not well understood by the West and states this violent movement has been growing in strength for centuries; “It is not simply an outgrowth of recent policies. The threat will cease only if the worldwide Muslim community redirects itself toward moderation and tolerance." (101)

However, not everyone agrees. Fawaz A. Gerges, of the London School of Economics sees the issue differently and says, "No: Islam itself is not the problem in the current wave of global terrorism," (115-130) According to Fawaz A. Gerges, such moderation and tolerance already predominate in the Muslim worldview; most Muslims admire Western values and wish to coexist peacefully with the West. Muslims (religious or otherwise) do not detest Americans or Westerners for "who they are" but rather for "what they do" -- their specific policies, which always seem to place their interests first and the interests of Muslims last. He says, the world is not in the midst of an existential religious war, “Only a tiny minority of Muslims condone or engage in violence. If the West would endeavor to better understand the Muslim world and craft more thoughtful policies, support for militant movements would quickly dry up." (101-102).

However McCarthy responded by saying, "There seems to be an infinite variety of Muslim sects, [and] even if a small percentage are violent, the shear number of Muslims, 1.4 Billion people, makes the religious very dangerous for Muslim and non Muslim alike.” (Page 101-115) If we do the math for example, if only one percent of 1.4 billion have violent tendencies, then that leaves 14,000,000 very dangerous Muslims, if McCarthy is correct. 

Even so, Fawaz A. Gerges responds by stating it is not too late to reach out to Muslim moderates and insists Western policy makers, "Should eschew ideology in favor of a more analytical and constructive approach, one that draws distinctions between the many faces of Islamism."

So the question remains, "Does Islam play a unique role in modern religious terrorism?"

Source: Gottlieb, Stuart, ed. Debating Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Conflicting Perspectives on Causes, Contexts, and Responses. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2010. (101-130)