TWENTY-five years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, one question remains: why did the attackers do it? It is uncomfortable, but avoiding difficult questions does not make societies safer. The 25th anniversary offers an opportunity to remember not only what happened, but the circumstances and ideas that made the attacks possible. The attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda, a militant organization that claimed religious justification for its violence and drew upon an extremist interpretation of Islam. Its leaders portrayed their struggle as a religious war and gave political grievances a theological character. Understanding this ideological dimension is essential to understanding 9/11. Yet acknowledging the role of Islamist extremism must not be confused with blaming Islam or Muslims. Islam is followed by more than a billion people worldwide, most of whom have nothing to do with political violence. Muslims themselves have repeatedly been among the victims of militant organizations, while countries such as Pakistan have suffered enormously from terrorism carried out in the name of religion. Removing the ideological motivation of terrorist organizations from the discussion leaves an incomplete explanation. The challenge is to remember 9/11 without........

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