Letters from a mujahid
From the letters: a detailed Qur'anic justification for killing in Allah's name
Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, the Tarheel jihadist, has written six letters to the Daily Tar Heel, student newspaper of the University of North Carolina (thanks to Joseph), where he tried to kill students for Allah by running them over in an SUV.
The letters are revealing on many levels. Pdfs of them are available here, here, here, here, and here.
There is a strong apologetic content to these letters. He is engaging in da'wa, trying to convert those who read them to Islam. They are also revealing of the jihadist mindset. He also describes what he did on the day of the attack in great detail, including which sections of the Qur'an he read at which hours leading up to his attack. He also says that he rises at 3AM in his jail cell to...read the Qur'an.
A few other observations about them:
1. Taheri-azar is not insane. He is articulate and perfectly in control of what he is saying.
2. He was not motivated by poverty or deprivation. Nor was he an ignorant bumpkin manipulated by sophisticated machiavels.
3. He firmly believes that he acted in obedience to Qur'anic dictates -- see the image above. (Yet in response we will no doubt get another flat statement from Islamic apologists, to the effect that the Qur'an absolutely condemns what he did and yet quoting no Qur'an, or if quoting any then only 5:32.)
The implications of this must be faced, and soon, by both non-Muslims and Muslims in America.
A few brief quotes from the letters:
Allah demands of believers to retaliate violently against persons responsible for attacking them or their fellow Believers around the world. ([Qur'an] 2:178-179, 5:45, 8:72, 9:38, 9:71, 42:39-42, 49:10).
People who fight in the cause of Allah are not guilty if and when they have no intention of killing more persons among their enemies than their enemies have killed among the Believers.
I have heard and read that people calling themselves "Muslims" claim that I "misinterpreted" the Qur'an, as grounds for denouncing my attack on March 3rd. I respond by appealing to logic as I've done in Meditation III. [Also see the image above.]
Due to my religious motivation for the attack, I feel no remorse and am proud to have carried it out in service of and in obedience of Allah.
Considering that I injured several people both physically and psychologically, who were also American taxpayers, I feel that I succeeded in obeying Allah's commandment to fight against the enemies of His followers.
Since I acted only in obedience and reverence of Allah, I could never be sorry for hurting the victims, unless Allah wanted me to be sorry -- which I don't believe is the case, to my knowledge.
Note also his second reason why the Qur'an allows fighting in the name of Allah:
To release anger and rage from Allah's followers' hearts (9:14-15).
Is he misinterpreting the Qur'an? Here's 9:14-15:
Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you (to victory) over them, heal the breasts of Believers, and still the indignation of their hearts.Posted by Robert at May 12, 2006 03:09 PM | Print this entry | Email this entry
