A. I think Islam has been militant from the beginning. Later on, its degree of militancy fluctuated with a number of factors, one of them being the power equation with its rivals. Today, Islam lives in the shadow of Western (and locally in South Asia, Hindu) economic and cultural supremacy, which gives it an incentive for militant opposition to the West. At the same time, its demographic strength and access to specific military (guerrilla)instruments give it the self-confidence to transform its dissastisfaction into action.

Q. There is a view that many of the militant groups are a reaction to the decay in their own societies and that this is because Muslims have turned away from their religion.

A. I disagree. There has been plenty of decadence in many periods and areas of Muslim history, some of them provoking militant "purification" within the community, others coinciding with aggression against non-Muslims, and others not accompanied by a vigorous Islamic action in any sense. Also, what Islamic militants call "decadence", and to which they would react e.g. by killing "apostates", may be something entirely different from what outsiders would call decadence, e.g. peaceful coexistence with non-Muslims can already qualify as treason to Islam, witness the murder of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat for making peace with Israel.

Q. Why is the Quran invoked by the militants for their violent brand of politics?

A. Because the Quran does contain ample injunctions to hostility and war against the unbelievers.

Q. Can the violence also be attributed to suppression of dissent in large parts of the Muslim world?

A. That suppression of dissent is a tradition instituted by the Prophet himself, who had a number of his critics murdered or executed. It is true that this suppression of dissent often remained in force when Muslim regimes turned secular and then turned against the Islamists themselves, witness Syria's president Assad sr.'s bloody oppression of Islamic militancy, or Turkey's outlawing the Islamist party.

Q. Why is the Muslim ire directed particularly against the US? Is it because the US has propped up authoritarian regimes in the Muslim world to secure its business interests?

A. That is part of the reason. There is just no end to the brutality and stupidity of American foreign policy. But note thatNATO's bombing of Serbia has not led to any similar revenge operation by Serbs, only Islam was willing as well as able to do it.

Q. To what extent has the Palestine Question added to the anti-US sentiment?

A. We cannot blame the US for failing to impose the perfect solution on the Middle East, for unfortunately, there is no solution which will be just and satisfying to everyone concerned. But it is obvious that American one-sided support to Israel is perhaps the biggest source of Muslim anger.