How To Win A Cosmic War By Reza Aslan Analysis

As terrorism has risen in the world today, one may question why groups like ISIS or Al Qaeda conjure so much hate and terror. From these queries, the statement “War on Terror” has been formed, and along with that, the idea of Jihadist Militants starting a “Cosmic War”. In other words, a war with divine, religious purpose. The idea of a cosmic war has recently spread when a popular religious scholar, Reza Aslan stood behind this statement. Though there are many who support the idea of this kind of war as Aslan has, there also has been opposition that claim this war waged by terrorists cannot be defined by a religious drive, but rather a less than divine mission. Among these perspectives, most sources were in resounding agreeance that this “War

The humiliation that ensues then fuels religious dignity and shows the apparent need for universal reform; a war that will cosmically rid the world of all secular injustice. Aslan continues by calling jihadism a “variant of militant romanticism”, another title that can be used to describe the Cosmic nature of the War on Terror. Jihadist militants are continuing to die for their cause due to the “romantic notion” that they are fighting for God’s sake. This acts to add to their “juvenile” belief that they can remake the world through bombs and terror. In another article by Alan Wolfe, Wolfe defines a cosmic war in using the statement “Cosmic wars are won or lost with jihads, occupations, and forcible conversions” (Wolfe). This definition can easily correlate with how we see groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS act in the world today. Extremist groups have no compromise or negotiation; they have a purpose singular to their spiritual goal. Global Jihadism can easily be defined as vicious and not possibly built on faith, but Wolfe notes that “religious nationalism- the effort to create states based on principles derived from faith- is different” (Wolfe). What other purpose could fuel so much hate among these extremist groups than a spiritual

Reza Aslan, a chief voice in this argument holds a high reputation from his scholarly achievements and studies, thus making his claims reliable. Though the perspectives offered are chiefly his own, the diverse amount of evidence that he uses to support his claim denote the possibility of false information. For example, Aslan pulls information from the beliefs from a Jihadist militant as well as from an outside view as an US citizen viewing the problem from across an ocean. Along with this, he uses definitions within his claims that have been generally accepted by society today, making his argument appear non biased and rather factually deduced. Another factor that adds credibility is the amount of work that has come to support the idea of the Jihadist’s Cosmic War. Not only has Aslan written a whole book about the subject, but scholars like Wolfe build off of Aslan’s ideas and continue to strengthen the conclusion. All in all, the idea of this terrorist war being cosmic Is extremely credible with the expert perspectives along with a motive that is singular to benefiting society to know how to combat the war being