In der öffentlichen Auseinandersetzung mit extrem-islamistischem Terrorismus ist die Bedrohung durch sog. Selbstmordanschläge sehr präsent. Trotz des Verbotes der Selbsttötung im Koran werden diese religiös begründet, der Tod als Belohnung propagiert und den Aspiranten im Paradies ein besseres Leben verheißen. Dies geht einher mit einer heroisierenden Inszenierung derjenigen, die ihr Leben im Kampf gegen die vermeintlichen Feinde des Islams ließen, weshalb wir in diesem Zusammenhang von modernen Märtyrermythen sprechen können. Für die paramilitärische Strategie extrem-islamistischer Gruppierungen sind Sprengstoffanschläge mittels Selbsttötungen mittlerweile ein fester Bestandteil und auch das Bild der Kampfhandlungen in den westlichen Medien wird seit dem Einmarsch der Koalitionsarmeen in den Irak 2003 vor allem durch bestimmt. / The threat of suicide bombings is a key element in the public discourse on extremeislamist terrorism. In spite of the fact that the Quran prohibits suicide, these bombings are being justified in religious terms whereby death is propagated as a reward leading the aspirant to a better life in paradise. Since this argument is supplemented by a heroisation of those who give their lives in battle against the alleged fiends of Islam, this propagandistic constructs can be understood as modern versions of martyr myths. They have become a default element of the extremist islamist’s paramilitary strategy. Accordingly, the western view of the islamist’s combat operations in Iraq since the invasion of the coalition forces in 2003 is substantially shaped by these bombings as well as by the supplementary propaganda.

Der Afghanistankonflikt hat seit 2001 deutliche Auswirkungen auf das regionale Umfeld – in Pakistan, Kaschmir, Xinjiang und den zentralasiatischen Republiken. Dies wird sich nach dem Abzug der ISAF-Truppen noch verstärken. Dabei geht es sowohl um die grenzüberschreitenden Folgen der beiden Militärinterventionen als auch um die Wirkungen der innerafghanischen Konflikte auf die gesamte Region. Diese Problematik besitzt ein erhebliches Konfliktpotenzial, das größere Aufmerksamkeit verdient.

The focus of this masters thesis is on the phenomenon of stereotypical images of muslims and islam produced in the czech society. The effort is given to finding out these simplified images a indetifying factors leading to their creation. The solution of this problém is based on quantitaive research, which is used to identify possible dependencies in muslim and islam perception on different factors. All dependencies are statistically tested. The image of islam, as percieved by the majority in the Czech Republic, is then constructed based on questionnaire survey, statistical resuslts and media analysis.

Práce podává analýzu příčin dnešního islámského terorismu. Jako teoretický rámec výzkumu používá sociálně-psychologickou teorii Ericha Fromma. Dochází k závěru, že islámský terorismus je důsledkem rapidní socio-ekonomické změny, která se odehrála v muslimských zemích po 2. světové válce a vedla k vykořenění a ztrátě orientace ve světě u části muslimské populace. Ta posléze přijala ideologii islamismu jako nový rámec orientace. Islámský terorismus je pak jednou ze strategií, kterou islamismus používá k dosažení svých cílů.

This diploma thesis analyzes the ideological basis of islamism and deals with the reasons, why this political ideology is becomimg more and more popular in the Middle East and the West. The thesis also analyzes the phenomenon of globalization, in other words the interconnection between islamists in today's world. The last chapter summarizes the facts about the civil war in Syria, where both - islamists from the Middle East, as well as islamists from the West, are involved. The main objective of this thesis was to prove that the civil war in Syria will have an influence on the spread of the political ideology of islamism.

The diploma thesis deals with the problem of Islamic terrorism. The theoretical part explains the key concepts related to this topic and introduces some major terrorist organizations. The main topic of the theoretical part is radicalization and its process. Furthermore it is investigated why some individuals are threatened by radicalization more than others. The practical part analyzes the perpetrators of selected terrorist attacks. Typical characteristics that most attackers have are identified. The work is concluded with a discussion that addresses possible developments in terrorism in the coming years.

The main focus of the thesis is the concept of jihad and martyrdom in Islam. It seeks to present these religious ideas from very diverse perspectives and argues that seemingly discontinuous dimensions are all parts of the nature of the phenomenon. In the world of Islam, religion is an omnipresent aspect of a public life. Hence, the historical experience, culture, socio-economics, and politics, they all manifest in religious narratives. Martyrdom embodies these complexities as well. Historically and culturally, martyrdom has been perceived as an expression of utmost activism in the struggle of a believer for the betterment of the Islamic society. Leading a responsible and truthful life sometimes demands the ultimate sacrifice of one's life for the cause. This worldly responsibility for the well-being of the Islamic umma is one dimension of complex dynamics of the Islamist movements like the Palestinian Hamas. For them, martyrdom is only one moment, the climax, which requires leading the whole life as a responsible believer in the first place. In this sense, martyrdom is a celebration of a meaningful life rather than death. This commitment of Hamas to the community, its radical understanding of the politics of the struggle, along with the particular socio-economic, and political situation in...

Im Zuge der Diskussionen um den Irakkrieg 2003 oder den Einsatz des israelischen Militärs gegen die Hisbollah 2006 konnte beobachtet werden, dass sich die extreme Linke stärker denn je dem politischen Islam angenährt hat. Zwar gab es bereits in den 1970ern Kooperationen linker und palästinensischer Terroristen, jedoch lässt sich festhalten, dass sich der Diskurs in Teilen der Linken (vor allem im „antizionistischen“, „antiimperialistischen“ Spektrum) ebenso wie bei den vormals eher säkular ausgerichteten arabischen Extremisten „islamisiert“ hat. Auf der anderen Seite finden sich im „islamischen Widerstand“ verschiedene Vokabeln und Denkfiguren wieder, die aus der „antiimperialistischen“ Rhetorik der Linken bekannt sind. Trotz dieser Auffälligkeiten gab es bislang nur wenige Versuche, die extreme Linke (teilweise auch die extreme Rechte) in Verbindung mit dem salafistischen Islamismus zu bringen. Der Islamismus gilt hierbei dann oftmals als „dritter Totalitarismus“ oder „Islamofaschismus“, der die Riege totalitärer Ordnungsvorstellungen von Marxismus-Leninismus und Faschismus/Nationalsozialismus um eine weitere Spielart erweitert. In der Regel erfolgt diese Einordnung und Bewertung jedoch im Rahmen politischer Kommentare oder Essays und ohne tiefer gehende theoretische Betrachtung. Arbeiten, die sich – meist aus Perspektive des bundesdeutschen Verfassungsschutzes – mit möglichen Querfrontbestrebungen beschäftigen, gleichen das theoretische Manko zwar teilweise aus, gleichzeitig jedoch entbehren sie einer tiefer greifenden Analyse der ideologischen Basis der betrachteten Extremismen und verharren bei den oberflächlich zu erkennenden Feinbildern der jeweiligen Strömungen als Vergleichsmaßstab. Die Arbeit schließt diese Lücke, indem sie in vergleichender qualitativer Betrachtung ideologische Schnittstellen zwischen der extremen Linken und dem salafistischen Islamismus untersucht. Den ideologischen Konstrukten kommt dabei eine wesentliche Rolle zu. Weltanschauliche Grundannahmen beeinflussen die Wahrnehmung der Umwelt und der eigenen Rolle innerhalb derselben; erst ihre Bindungskraft schafft einen Ordnungsrahmen, anhand dessen sich Gleichgesinnte zu einer Gruppe zusammenschließen können, um gemeinsame Ziele zu verfolgen. Diese Erkenntnis hat sich auch in konstruktivistischen Erklärungsansätzen internationaler Politik niedergeschlagen und beschränkt sich nicht nur auf die klassischen Akteure im internationalen System – die Nationalstaaten. Auch nichtstaatliche Akteure wie eben die Protagonisten des internationalen Terrorismus lassen sich auf diese Weise erfassen. In der Untersuchung wird nach einleitenden Begriffserklärungen und Ausführungen zur angewandten Methodik zunächst eine idealtypische extreme Linke konstruiert, deren spezifische Ziele, Feindbilder etc. (Primärebene) und Vorstellungen über den Weg zum Erreichen dieser Ziele (Sekundärebene) die Analysekategorie für den nächsten Untersuchungsschritt bilden. In diesem werden Quellen des Salafismus inhaltsanalytisch untersucht und so ideologische Schnittstellen aufgezeigt. Hierbei werden Sayyid Qutbs „Milestones“, Ayman az-Zawahiris „Knights under the Prophet’s Banner“ sowie verschiedene Botschaften Usama Bin Ladins als Quellenmaterial herangezogen. Der Fokus der Untersuchung liegt auf dem „al-Qa’idaismus“ als derzeit offensichtlichste Ausprägung eines weltweiten islamistischen Terrorismus. Ausgehend von der idealtypischen Linken werden dabei nicht nur Schnittmengen auf der Sekundärebene oder hinsichtlich gemeinsamer Feindbilder (Antisemitismus, Antiamerikanismus, Antikapitalismus) festgestellt, wie dies bereits von anderen Autoren teilweise vorgenommen wurde. Vielmehr finden sich auch bei der positiven Zielbestimmung zumindest deklaratorische Gemeinsamkeiten, wenn etwa auch im Islamismus eine „herrschaftsfreie Gesellschaft“ verwirklicht werden soll und das Ziel der Gleichheit aller Menschen propagiert wird. Abschließend wird die Frage diskutiert, ob sich aus den Ergebnissen neue Erkenntnisse hinsichtlich einer möglichen „Querfrontbildung“ zwischen der extremen Linken und dem Islamismus ergeben. Insbesondere durch Bin Ladin gab es bereits mehrfach Versuche, auch nicht-islamistische Kräfte für seinen Kampf zu gewinnen. Auch bei der extremen Linken finden sich Stimmen, die im Islamismus und seiner Betonung des Religiösen lediglich ein Überbleibsel alter Strukturen erkennen, die nach erfolgreichem antiimperialistischem Kampf verschwinden werden. Dass positive Zielbestimmungen geteilt werden, lässt eine Querfrontbildung zumindest von Teilen des linksextremen und islamistischen Spektrums möglich erscheinen. In dem Maße, in dem sich der „al-Qa’idaismus“ im Sinne des Modells der „Leaderless Resistance“ entwickelt, können sich auch einzelne Linksextremisten zu Solidaritätsaktionen ermutigt fühlen. / While the ideological threat by al-Qa’ida and other Islamist groups has been compared to Fascism before, comparisons with the extreme Left have been made rather seldom, despite the fact, that within the extreme Left there are noticeable trends to express solidarity with Islamists and their “anti-imperialist” struggle. At the same time, the rhetoric of leading figures of “al-Qa’idaism” borrows heavily from the social revolutionary vocabulary of the Left. This work compares key ideological premises of the extreme Left with those of Islamic fundamentalism, exemplified by Usama Bin Ladins al-Qa’ida, and derived from a content analysis of various sources of Islamism (Sayyid Qutb’s “Milestones”, Ayman az-Zawahiri’s “Knights under the Prophet’s Banner” as well as various messages by Usama Bin Ladin). Both ideologies are considered to be “resistance identities” (Castells), directed at the perceived dominance of liberal capitalism and globalization. Both propagate a pre-modern model for the organization of society, they believe to be tainted by modernism. As the first step in this approach, an ideal model of the extreme Left is constructed, trying to incorporate its various shapes into a single model. The goals and enemies (primary characteristics) as well as the proposed ways and means in order to achieve these goals (secondary characteristics) are then used in a content analysis of the sources on Islamism. While previous authors have found various convergences on the secondary level as well as common enemies, so far common goals beyond the immediate victory over the United States, Israel or capitalism have been dismissed as unlikely. This is explained by obvious differences between Islamists and leftists concerning the role of women in society or the importance of religion. However, a more thorough comparison of the two ideologies shows that, despite these differences, Islamists as well as Leftists propagate a societal model based on cooperation, without recourse to man-made laws or any form of government. This positively defined utopia could serve as a rationale for cooperation between leftist extremists and Islamists stretching beyond the “common enemy”. Already, members of the extreme Left have explained the popularity of Islamism within the Islamic world with the Marxian term of “opiate for the masses”, thus expressing belief that as soon as “repression” and “exploitation” of the Third World have ended, the need for religion will vanish. In this point of view, differences about the role of religion could be defused. The more “al-Qa’idaism” is transforming into a form of leaderless resistance, individual terrorist acts committed by Leftist extremist in “solidarity” with the “Islamic masses” could occur.

Terrorism is a very complex and ever developing phenomenon, which can be construed as systematic use of organised violence against uninvolved persons for the purpose of achieving political, criminal or other goals. The struggle against it is very complicated, but necessary. Currently, many people especially connect this term with the Islamic religion. Islamic radicals justify the performed terrorist attacks by an extreme perception of the holy book of Quran and proclaim themselves as holy fighters for freedom. However, recent years have shown that terrorism has spread throughout the world and now with the mass migration represents one of the largest threats for today's society. Terrorism develops as fast as our society and prides itself with the ever growing popularity with sponsors of various kinds with different interests, who with their considerable not only financial support allow the terrorist groups to commit more and more sophisticated and destructive attacks. From the perspective of the CR it can be said that our state can fortunately be considered relatively safe, unlike other member countries of the EU. However, it is necessary to take into account the participation of the CR in the international antiterrorist operations, which without question make the CR a potential target of a possible terrorist attack. However, the participation in these missions is necessary. The currently largest terrorist group Islamic State included the Czech Republic in its list of the "crusade coalition" at the end of 2015, where all enemies of this "pseudo-state". The theoretical part of the thesis on the topic of the Development and action of terrorist groups with regard to the situation after 2001 especially deals with the issues of Islamic terrorist groups. In the introduction of the thesis, the fundamental terms of the issues in question, such as terrorism, Islam, jihad, Islamism, Islamic fundamentalism. The second part of the theoretical part of the thesis deals with terrorist organisations. Due to the current safety situation, the main attention was attached to the development and activity of major terrorist groups, that is Hezbollah, Hamas, and of course Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. These selected terrorist organisations are elucidated in the theses as much as possible, including their leaders. Subsequently, further selected terrorist organisations are linked to these terrorist groups, namely Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, Palestine Islamic Jihad, and Taliban. In the initial chapter of the research part of the thesis, a research question is stated, which has been determined as follows: "What is the threat of a terrorist attack in the territory of the Czech Republic?", which directly follows the goal of the thesis, which was stipulated as: "Assessment of the threat of a terrorist attack in the territory of the Czech Republic depending on the development of the terrorist groups." Furthermore, the research methodology is stated. In the following chapter of the research part with the title "Results", the reader first familiarises himself with the largest terrorist attacks so far, which have taken place in the USA, on 11 September 2001 and were a turning point in the history of terrorism. The last pages of this part of the thesis contemplate the attacks of Islamic radicals and the situation in the West after 11 September 2001. The middle part of this chapter familiarises the reader with the threats of terrorism for the CR with an accent on Islamic terrorism. Attention is also paid to the Muslim community living in the CR and EU as a potential risk factor of a possible attack. The last part of this chapter of the thesis states semi-structured interviews, which were conducted with leading experts in the issues of terrorism. In the final chapter with the title "Discussion", an analysis of the examined areas is performed. In the conclusion of the thesis, the research question and the thesis objective are answered.

Islam in the North Caucasus: History and Contemporary Trends on example of Kabardino- Balkaria and Dagestan The following thesis focuses on selected key aspects of Islam in the North Caucasus, with emphasis on two North Caucasus republics - Kabardino-Balkaria on the west and Dagestan on the east. The first part will follow the penetration of Islam in the North Caucasus, its role in the resistance against the Russian empire and the impact religion had on traditional Caucasian society. In the second part it will be analyzed current trends of Islam in the region, the mutual influence of religion and socio-political situation and the relation between traditional Islam and its radical forms. Work will be based on the study of relevant literature, press and fieldwork is also assumed. Key words: North Caucasus, islam, islamism, Kabardino-Balkaria Republic, Dagestan