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 Defining terrorism and working together to eradicate it. This is the purpose of Ali S. Awadh Asseri's book ‘Combating Terrorism - Saudi Arabia's Role in the War on Terror.' Asseri, who served as Saudi Arabia's ambassador in Pakistan for many years, has tried to bridge the gap between theory and practice, in order to weave a pragmatic solution to combating terrorism.
The book broadly comprises three parts: the first part categorizes and attempts to define terrorism academically; the second dwells on Saudi Arabia's role in combating terrorism and its policy initiatives; and the third examines case studies and practical examples of the Saudi initiative.
Asseri tries to lay out and describe what the world knows about terrorism and explains what conventional wisdom is oblivious to. He explains terrorism in the historic and, most importantly, religious perspectives, attempting to reach a "functional definition", terming it as a first step in combating terrorism. He also justifies the need and extent of his search for a universally accepted definition of the world-spanning ‘menace'. He rightly believes that the world cannot unite to fight an enemy which it cannot define. How do you make a strategy if you do not even know who you are fighting against, he inquires.
The author quotes the dictum of ‘one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter' and presents an interesting and conclusive debate in the book's very first chapter. He further explains the scholarly dilemma by writing that "a freedom movement may employ terrorist tactics, and it is possible that a terrorist movement is guided by the goal of freedom."
Title: Combating Terrorism - Saudi Arabia's Role in the War on Terror.
Author: Ali S. Awadh Asseri
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Pakistan
Pages: 196
Price: PKR. 450
ISBN: 978-0-19-547807-5
Asseri highlights the importance of Muslim scholars needing to "explore logical and rational explanations of terrorism to an even greater degree than their Western counterparts, since the story has so far predominantly been told by the latter, and quite often in a distorted manner." However, one waits for Asseri to somehow come up. He suggests that the definition of terrorism can be contextualized on a case-to-case basis.
A significant component of the book is the Islamic perspective on terrorism. The ambassador reiterates the prohibition of any terrorist act in Islam while explaining the real meaning of Jihad in the religion. He points out "the overwhelming theme of the holy Qur'an is peace, as long as there is no oppression or injustice. He quotes a hadith of how a man was promised Paradise for providing a thirsty dog with water while a woman was promised hell for denying her cat any food. With this, he illustrates how Islam, giving priority to the needs of animals, can ever justify or encourage terrorism. He maintains that there have been misinterpretations of Islamic teachings.
The author goes on to elucidate the meaning of Jihad. While quoting Qur'anic references, he writes "the jihad of the sword represents a concerted effort to overcome the evil found in human society so that peace and justice is achieved for the entire global humanity and not just Muslims alone."
The book's piece on Islamic tradition of peaceful co-existence is a great contribution to the subject. It enunciates how pluralist Islam is, as a religion, citing the "practical manifestation of Islam's conduct vis-à-vis the Jews and Christians". Through examples from history and citations from experts of comparative religion, like Karen Armstrong, Asseri proves his case of Islam's essence of tolerance and respect for other faiths.
Chapter four of the book discusses the root causes of terrorism. Problems arise when generalizations are made to identify poverty, lack of democracy or history as causes of terrorism, Asseri writes. He stresses the need to take a deeper look into the context of every case, instead of deducing an explanation from a few examples. The book underlines that the reasons of terrorism are diverse and complicated, including a "multitude of social, cultural, political, ethnic and economic factors".
One's favorite part of the book is how it gives a voice to Muslim grievances. Drawing attention to the Palestinian question, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the new phenomenon of Islamophobia, Asseri writes how injustices to Muslims complicate and aggravate the matter, as they become the breeding ground of terrorists. "The unresolved conflicts of the Muslim world, the duality of the U.S./Western outlook vis-à-vis these conflicts, and recurrence of racism" help deviant organizations such as the al-Qaeda to justify their extremism.
The latter part of the book reflects its sub-title as Saudi policy and efforts in combating terrorism. After referring to the state's policy guidelines, its three-pronged domestic strategy is described, which are the strategies of prevention, cure and care. The prevention strategy is made to encourage moderate thinking and rectify wrong concepts. The strategy of cure, initiated by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior, involves promoting and substantiating the right ideas and eradicating deviant ones through social and psychological instructions via religious scholars and the media. The strategy of cure involves interacting with those released from detention and their families, providing financial and moral support and initiating rehabilitation schemes. Regarding Saudi Arabia's international initiatives, the author mentions all bilateral and multilateral efforts made by the state.
In conclusion, ‘Combating Terrorism - Saudi Arabia's Role in the War on Terror' emphasizes how Pakistan and Saudi Arabia can together combat and eradicate terrorism because of their religious and cultural similarities and historically cordial ties. Asseri restates how the world needs to change its current strategies for combating terrorism, but he asserts that it needs to find indigenous and home-grown strategies that will work and help in eventually making the world terror-free. 
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