September 11, one of the largest and most atrocious terrorist attacks in history, caused the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. It consisted of four coordinated terrorist attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda, an Islamic terrorist group, in New York City and Washington DC. The four targets were the two World Trade Center buildings, the Pentagon and the White House. Three of the four attacks were successful. The one headed for the White House was foiled by passengers, who took over the plane and crashed it into a field. The reasons behind this act of terror have been traced back to several reasons, many of them direct actions carried out by the United States and the West. The first reason for the September 11 attacks can be traced back to the time of Muhammad, the founder of Islam and “messenger of God, as well as Islam itself. Much of the history of Islam has been obscured by a veil of fear and misunderstanding. This was caused by the fear of Islamic terrorists before and especially after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The history of Islam begins with the birth of Muhammad, who was born in the holy city of Mecca, at a time when warring tribes were constantly fighting over scarce water sources. Muhammad received the Quran from the angel Gabriel and his most radical proclamation from God was that there is only one God. This meant that since theirs was only one God, theirs could only be one people. Over time, Muhammad and his followers took control of Mecca and much of the Arabian Peninsula. In the Quran, Muhammad was given the 5 pillars of Islam, which explain the five concepts that a good Muslim must follow. The first pillar, the profession of faith, is the main pillar used by the radicals... at the heart of the document... and why 9/11 happened. September 11, 2001 was one of the largest and most heinous acts of terror ever to occur in modern history. It was carried out by the radical Islamic group Al-Qaeda, as an attempt to push Western influence away from the Middle East. This has backfired on Al-Qaeda, since the United States now has many more military bases and troops in the Middle East than it did before the September 11 attacks. The United States has also increased foreign aid to Israel. The problem is that with our growing military presence in the Middle East, we are radicalizing more and more Muslims due to civilian casualties throughout the Middle East. The United States has created more terrorists in the Middle East than there were before 9/11. 9/11 was the direct result of Western and US presence in the Middle East. This is why 9/11 happened.