Reinvestigating Terrorism from the Perspective of Islamic Law and International Instruments: With Emphasis on Liberation Movements

In Islamic jurisprudence, there are concepts such as Erhab, Eghtial, Fatk, Baghy and Moharebah which although may not be completely synonymous with the notion of terrorism, due to being among the factors threatening the security and are considered to be examples of Munkar (anything denounced as evil), Islam opposes them. Accordingly, in political jurisprudence of Islam, moharebah, that is to say taking up arms in order to create fear and panic and depriving the people of security and comfort is criminalized and severe punishments are provided to tackle with it. In accordance with international instruments, widespread violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms, including political repression and social discriminations are regarded be fundamental causes of violent acts which are criminalized and generally are called terrorism. Western countries, with a broad interpretation of terrorism and following the Additional Protocol I to 1949 Geneva Conventions, have considered the struggles of the liberation movements as an international armed conflict and have accepted fighting against them in the form of terrorism. The authors, through a descriptive-analytic and comparative method and a library-based approach in collecting sources, while expressing the view of Islam and international instruments on terrorism, are seeking to prove that based on the view of Islamic law, the struggles of liberation movements in the form of Islamic jihad are  defensive actions to realize the truth, repel the oppression and eliminate sedition, and confront oppression and arrogance and are right-oriented.