It is tempting to regard the perpetrators of the September 11th terrorist attacks as evil incarnate. But their
motives, as Bruce Lincoln�s acclaimed Holy Terrors makes clear, were profoundly and intensely religious. Thus what
we need after the events of 9/11, Lincoln argues, is greater clarity about what we take religion to be.
Holy Terrors begins with a gripping dissection of the instruction manual given to each of the 9/11 hijackers. In
their evocation of passages from the Quran, we learn how the terrorists justified acts of destruction and mass
murder �in the name of God, the most merciful, the most compassionate.� Lincoln then offers a provocative comparison
of President Bush�s October 7, 2001 speech announcing U.S. military action in Afghanistan alongside the videotaped
speech released by Osama bin Laden just a few hours later. As Lincoln authoritatively demonstrates, a close analysis
of the rhetoric used by leaders as different as George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden�as well as Mohamed Atta and
even Jerry Falwell�betrays startling similarities. These commonalities have considerable implications for our understanding
of religion and its interrelationships with politics and culture in a postcolonial world, implications that Lincoln
draws out with skill and sensitivity.
With a chapter new to this edition, �Theses on Religion and Violence,� Holy Terrors remains one of the essential
books on September 11 and a classic study on the character of religion.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. The Study of Religion in the Current Political Moment
2. Symmetric Dualism: Bush and bin Laden on October 7
3. Jihads, Jeremiads, and the Enemy Within
4. On the Relation of Religion and Culture
5. Religious Conflict and the Postcolonial State
6. Religion, Rebellion, Revolution
Appendix A: Final Instructions to the Hijackers of September 11, Found in the Luggage of Mohamed Atta and Two Other
Copies
Appendix B: George W. Bush, Address to the Nation, October 7, 2001
Appendix C: Osama bin Laden, Videotaped Address, October 7, 2001
Appendix D: Transcript of Pat Robertson's Interview with Jerry Falwell Broadcast on the 700 Club, September 13,
2001
Notes
Index
