Islamists mark holy month with bombings

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Ramadan, the Muslim holy month devoted to contemplation, prayer and fasting, has become a synonym for violence this year, with unprecedented suicide bombings of targets friendly to the West, around the Islamic world.

Attacks in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Turkey alone have left more than 100 people dead and injured hundreds more since Ramadan began Oct. 27, including yesterday's bombing in Istanbul. Ramadan will end with the new moon Monday.

The Koran does not promote violence during Ramadan, but Muslim militants see it as an opportunity for jihad, or holy war.

"Radicals see jihad not principally as an act of violence or an assertion of power ... but as a spiritual act, a holy cleansing of the world's impurities," says Robert Spencer, author of "Onward Muslim Soldiers" and "Islam Unveiled."

"In this view, if there is ever a time to fight Satan in all his various manifestations on Earth -- including Americans and Israelis -- it is Ramadan."

The United States was criticized in 2001 by Muslim leaders for continuing its bombing campaign in Afghanistan during Ramadan. They said any bombings during the holy month could lead to major unrest in other Muslim countries. In the end, Bush administration officials decided the United States could not afford a pause in the campaign.

The 28-day holy month is seen as a time when all good deeds are rewarded 10 times over; a time when the dead are guaranteed access to heaven and the gates of hell are closed, according to the Hadith, a book of sayings by Muhammad.

Some believe that if they commit jihad during Ramadan, they will gain a greater reward in heaven. If martyred, so much the better.

"The militants are using the violence to underscore their point of being part of a higher cause," says Dr. Ziad Asali, president of the American Task Force on Palestine.