Tanveer Ahmed: Islam must face its uncomfortable truths

THE latest attack in Britain shows how the Islamist threat is being driven by something much grander than mere foreign policy or feelings of grievance. The perpetrators believe they are soldiers in the perceived historical battle between good and evil. The methods of attack are becoming more brazen, amateurish and desperate, illustrated most profoundly by the burning terrorist at Glasgow airport shouting "Allah" while struggling with a policeman, but the ideological roots are unchanged.

As a commentator on Muslim affairs and home-grown terrorism, I am often asked whether there is something in Islam itself that is contributing to terrorist acts. As someone who is not a theological expert, I shy away from strong pronouncements on the issue, preferring to discuss the sociological roots of alienation and the modern symbol of protest that Islam has become.

>>As a commentator on Muslim affairs and home-grown terrorism, I am often asked whether there is something in Islam itself that is contributing to terrorist acts. As someone who is not a theological expert, I shy away from strong pronouncements on the issue<<

Islam came into power through insurgency and then war.

That’s a very different path than the other religions even though they all had abuses once in power.

I do think there is a core difference in attitude of how victory will be achieved.

This is an important view.

Dr. Tawfik Hamid’s, a reformed Jihadist muslim, June 29, 2007 lecture at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Our media are missing crucial points.

According to what Dr. Hamid said in his lecture, the following are the three primary motivators for jihadists:

1. Focus on the dream to die as a shaheed (martyr for Allah). According to this verse (K 3: 169):

And reckon not those who are killed in Allah’s way as dead; nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord [meaning they are enjoying their 72 virgins in heaven]
Only dying as a shaheed guarantees eternal life. Considering all the brainwashing tactic of sexual deprivation, which Salafism forces upon young males, no wonder so many Muslim males are so obsessed with sexual gratification! Young males are told that in Paradise they can have sex 100 times a day!

2. The joy of causing pain to infidels. For this reason, Muslims throughout the world rejoiced on 9/11.

3. The feeling of victory. This feeling is both personal, as in Point 2 above, but also one of experiencing victory for Islam, for furthering the will of Allah. Even if the act of terror is a small one, the cause has been furthered.

Our media often make a point of the ineptness and small scope of an attack, planned or carried out. Dr. Hamid maintains that dwelling on the size of an attack is a mistake. Even the smallest attack has a ripple effect on the psyches of Muslims yearning for the caliphate and for jihadists seeking their eternal reward. In other words, there is more to consider than damage and loss of life when an attack occurs.

The don’t-worry-be-happy attitude on the part of our media and our leaders is the wrong reaction to Islamist attacks. Yet, the West continues in that mode, thereby contributing to its own destruction and to the enabling of the Islamists’ agenda. Worse, such an attitude gives jihadists the idea that what they are doing is the will of Allah because the significance of their attacks is minimized.

In the 1930's not all Germans were Nazis, but the German people as a whole aided and abetted the Nazi cause mostly by their silence or tacit approval of at least some of Hitler's ideas.

Muslims today are little different. There are a few radical Islamic fascist groups that are preaching global jihad against what they see as the decedent West in order to establish a perfect Muslim state. Many rank and file Muslims agree with at least some of these goals if not the means to attain them. Others are simply silent. Like the German people of 70 years ago, these Muslims are allowing a monstrous evil to develop and even flourish in their midst. Like the Germans they will suffer the consequences of unleashing such an evil on the world.

The joy of causing pain to infidels.

I keep a few jihadist videos on my hard disk: Jihadists sawing off heads and the like.

Anytime some idiot tells me that jihadist terrorists are acting out of "despair" or "hopelessness" or some such crap, I'll try to make them watch these videos. The point? The common denominator in all these videos, and most of the others like them that I've seen, is the sheer, unbridled JOY on the faces of the perpetrators while carrying out the most depraved acts of barbarism.

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