Syrian Cleric Muhammad Sa'id Ramadhan Al-Bouti: There Is a Form of Terrorism that Is Necessary and Even Sacred

Following are excerpts from a lecture delivered by Syrian cleric Muhammad Sa'id Ramadhan Al-Bouti, which aired on Al-Azhari TV on November 1, 2010:
 

Muhammad Sa'id Ramadhan Al-Bouti: Many Western European societies – and the American leadership, in particular – characterizes Jihad that was ordained by Allah as terroristic. They link terrorism to crime. They have instilled within the word "terrorism" the meaning of crime, extremism, and deviation from humanity, and so on.
 

We began by analyzing the word "terrorism" linguistically. Then we considered what science has to say about terrorism, and what educational psychology has to say about it. We considered what the law has to say about terrorism. We considered what the prevalent convictions have to say about it.
 

We discovered that there is a form of terrorism that is legitimate – a terrorism that is necessary and may even be described as sacred. Indeed.
 

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We have examined cases of the terrorism practiced by America, which purports to be fighting terrorism. In contrast to the first type of terrorism, which is acknowledged by the legal and educational principles, and which we have termed "sacred terrorism," the [American] terrorism is undoubtedly filthy and impure.
 

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