Religion, just like culture, is a way of life, which is built upon faith in a given factor, attribute or being. It is the faith that builds up how the individual who is entangled to the religion would conduct himself in any given circumstance. The concept of religion is a way or mode of faith or belief which a person has taken for a given period. It requires a complete emotional, physical, spiritual and psychological being of any follower. Religion is faith in anything in expectation of a reward or aid; either in the present life and world or in another. The teachings of various religious groups operate in a way and manner wherein the people of a given religion see themselves only as worthy of the expected reward and others as not being worthy of any reward and thus, infidels. This, in line with other factors; to some extent, create a form of radicalism and indoctrination amongst the followers. Religion has a way of compelling its followers to abide by any directive and prescription given in line with the doctrines and beliefs of the religion. Terrorism, on the other hand, has to do with any form of violence or conduct which is at the expense of the peaceful co-existence of the people of a given area at any given time; which tend to be seen as internal aggression or external insurrection against the state. Arguments have it that the issues relating to religion do in one way or the other relates to terrorism; while others say that the role of religion is not to provoke but to quell terrorism. In whatever dimension; this paper is meant to make a discourse on the issues of religion and the fight against terrorism. The paper will have a global view of the major concepts, with close instances of the issues of religion and terrorism as it enclosed on the Sub-Saharan countries; most especially Nigeria.
Keywords: Religion., Terrorism, external insurrection, indoctrination, internal aggression, radicalism
