It might be the sheer simplicity of Islamic fundamentalism that confounds journalists. To the refined Western intellect it seems unbelievably crude to think that anyone would truly seek to dominate the world. And that, as a part of this vision, radical Islam has sought to depose modern Muslim governments since the 1960s.

Thus, in the immediate aftermath of the recent attacks on the Jordanian capital, we heard Westernized explanations, starting with Jordan’s alliances. Take the New York Times (November 10, 2005): “Jordan is viewed with contempt by Islamic extremists for its peace treaty and ties with Israel, its neighbor, and its close links with Washington. Jordan has provided crucial logistical support to the United States during the war in Iraq.”

Like most of the major news outlets, it stated that the hotels were “popular among foreigners.” King Abdullah himself had to correct this wrong impression on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Stating that the hotels were popular among Jordanians and Iraqis, he stressed: “This has nothing to do with the West. This targeted Jordanian citizens – innocent men, women and children.” The nationality of most of the victims seems to support his statement.

A quick look at radical Islam’s basic beliefs would have uncovered the root cause of the bombings. Most journalists, however, refuse to look at terrorists’ religious creed, preferring secular explanations instead. Al Qaeda avidly provides secular explanations, knowing that these have a greater potential of dividing its enemies than religious ones do. If journalists don’t start going to the books that terrorists are reading or the sermons they are hearing, they will continue to miss the real story.

Perhaps the most important fundamentalist treatise is “Milestones” (www.youngmuslims.ca/online_library/books/milestones) written in 1964 by Sayyid Qutb, the father of modern Islamic fundamentalism. His ardent follower, Ayman al-Zuwahiri, is Osama bin Laden’s mentor and senior deputy of Al Qaeda (if he still lives).

Qutb divided governments into “Muslim” and “jahili” (meaning “ignorant”), declaring that all jahili governments must be eradicated. Among jahili governments, he counted the governments of Islamic countries, explaining that they were not truly Muslim:

“The jahili society is any society other than the Muslim society. … According to this definition, all the societies existing in the world today are jahili…. Such societies are found in India, Japan, the Philippines and Africa. … All Jewish and Christian societies today are also jahili societies. … Lastly, all the existing so-called ‘Muslim’ societies are also jahili societies. We classify them among jahili societies … because their way of life is not based on submission to God alone. … Among Muslim societies, some openly declare their ‘secularism’ and negate all their relationships with the religion; some others pay respect to the religion only with their mouths, but in their social life they have completely abandoned it. … After explaining these facts, the position of Islam in relation to all these jahili societies can be described in one sentence: it considers all these societies unIslamic and illegal.” (Milestones, Chapter 5. Emphasis mine)

Lest any doubt linger, Qutb says: “The foremost duty of Islam in this world is to depose Jahiliyyah from the leadership of man, and to take the leadership into its own hands.” (Chapter 10) When searching for the motivation behind Al Qaeda attacks, journalists should state this simple fact in the words of the father of modern Islamic fundamentalism himself – who was eventually executed for trying to overthrow the Egyptian government. This is not the first time that an ideology has escaped comprehension due to estrangement from conventional values. Such ideologies have surfaced even in the West. Thus it took time for Western countries to digest the fact that in the middle of the 20th century, in the heart of Europe, Hitler had developed a radical ideology. The primitive drive for territorial expansion and world domination had seemed like a thing of the past. When Europe woke up, it was almost too late. Al Qaeda’s motivation is clear. The question is – when will the press and the world wake up to its simple, destructive message?

Ms. Amir is a lawyer and has a B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies cum laude from Hebrew University, Jerusalem.