honestly i only read this because i love Asad’s work on defining “religion” and “anthropologies of secularism” and wanted more but this was all the library had by him. it is a very succinct argument/exploration of how the west views and interprets “terror” and suicide bombing. asad shines light on issues we tend to deem beyond understanding and unworthy of explanation, like suicide bombing, while at the same time we rationalize and justify mass drone killings that are massively more destructive than suicide bombings and just as terrorizing. asad examines the environment and circumstances that can lead to suicide bombing and refutes ideas that it is somehow a part of islam or jihad.