THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XII, Issue # 25, February 5, 2010
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE LURE OF JIHADISM
By Raymond Ibrahim
WESTERN CRIMINALS WHO CONVERT TO ISLAM WHILE IN WESTERN PRISIONS, EMBRACE ISLAMISM, & SUBSEQUENTLY
JOIN THE ISLAMIST GLOBAL JIHAD AGAINST WESTERN CIVILIZATION: TRANSFORMATION OF DISAFFECTED YOUNG
MEN & PETTY CRIMINALS INTO TERRORISTS, MASS-MURDERERS, & TRAITORS
FULL STORY:
A recent ABC report stated:
"As many as three dozen criminals who converted to
Islam in American prisons have moved to Yemen
where they could pose a 'significant threat' to attack
the [U.S.], according to a report on Al-Qa'ida from the
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. … Also of
concern to U.S. officials, the Senate staff found, is a
group of 'nearly 10 non-Yemeni Americans who
traveled to Yemen, converted to Islam, became
fundamentalists, and married Yemeni women so they
could remain in the country.' … An American official
described them as 'blond-haired, blue-eyed types'
who fit the profile of Americans who Al-Qa'ida has
sought to recruit for terror missions."
These, of course, are not the first Americans — "blond-haired, blue-eyed types" or otherwise — to convert to Islam and join
the jihad: John Walker Lindh wound up fighting fellow Americans alongside Taliban forces in Afghanistan; Adam Gadahn
became a major character in al-Qa'ida's propaganda machine; Gregory Patterson, Levar Washington, and Kevin James plotted
terror strikes against the U.S.A.; Christopher Paul and Jose Padilla conspired to use weapons of mass destruction.
Then there are the countless European converts, such as the British "shoe-bomber," Richard Reid, who attempted to achieve
"martyrdom" by detonating explosives in his shoes while aboard a passenger aircraft; the late Germaine Lindsay, who did
achieve "martyrdom" by killing himself and 56 of his fellow citizens and injuring over 700, in the London bombings of 2005;
and Abu Abdullah, the native Briton-turned-fiery-Islamist-preacher who makes no secret of his vitriolic hatred of the West
(all, of course, while enjoying that unique Western liberty, freedom of speech).
What causes such men, born and raised in the West, often from Christian backgrounds, to abandon their heritage, embrace
Islam, and become radicalized to the point that they conspire to kill their fellow countrymen?
As for Islam's intrinsic appeal, it has long been argued that, unlike Christianity, which can be "heavy" on theology, Islam is
relatively simple and straightforward. Thus, while Christianity may revolve around the metaphysical — the Trinity,
Christology, even the notion of grace — Islam, in black-and-white terms, commands its adherents to do this and not do that.
In fact, the Arabic word "Sharia," that comprehensive body of laws Muslims are to obey, is etymologically related to the
word for "pathway" — as in, "the pathway to Paradise."
Yet, there is another, more subtle, factor that may entice men to Islam: traditional male roles are highlighted in the religion.
This may appeal to non-Muslim men who want to assert their "masculinity" in what they perceive to be gender-free Western
societies. Harvey Mansfield's book, Manliness, defines that term as "a quality both bad and good, mostly male, often
intolerant, irrational, and ambitious. Our gender-neutral society does not like it but cannot get rid of it."
>p>
Indeed, with an ethical code that coalesced in the seventh century — when the Muslim prophet and "perfect example" walked
the earth, enforced his will, and conquered his "infidel" neighbors — Islamic culture can hardly be deemed "gender-neutral."
Even philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who despised Christianity as "effeminate" and preached the need for man to be
transformed into an amoral "hyper-man," professed admiration for Islam, describing it as "noble and manly" (The
Antichrist).
Of course, traditional masculine roles are not the sole domain of Islam; most civilizations have lived in accordance to such
norms; socalled "gender-neutral societies" are, from a historical perspective, aberrant. James Bowman, author of Honor: A
History, points out that, when it comes to the West's disregard for notions of honor and masculinity, "we are, in global
terms, the odd ones out"; he further asserts that, up until the Victorian era, in the West, "honor was rather closer to the Arab
and Muslim idea of it today."
It is in this context, then, that disaffected young men — who, like Nietzsche, despise what they perceive to be a
"gender-neutral" society — may find a religion which emphasizes "masculinity" appealing.
John Walker Lindh especially seems to fit this paradigm. Precipitating his conversion to Islam was his teenage discovery that
his father was homosexual — an event that appears to have traumatized and alienated Lindh. Islam's masculine ideals and
unequivocal condemnation of homosexuality may have lured young Lindh, who, soon after his father left his mother and
moved in with another man, converted to Islam at age 16. Shortly thereafter, he went a-jihading.
This is all further exasperated by Muslims mocking Western masculinity — such as Osama bin Laden, who has ridiculed
Western acceptance of homosexuality and characterized the American soldier as "a paper tiger" who is "too cowardly and too
fearful to meet the young people of Islam face-to-face" (The Al-Qa'ida Reader).
Whatever position one may hold regarding these issues, one thing is clear: If traditional masculine virtues are upheld in Islamic
culture, so too do traditional masculine vices abound — for it is often a very fine line that separates hyper-virtue from
hyper-vice. Honor, courage, and patriarchic ethics can — and, in Islamic culture, regularly do — morph into destructive pride
(e.g., "honor killings"), disdain for life (e.g., suicide bombings), and brutal misogyny.
Nonetheless, for those more "adventurous" young men looking to add a bit of "excitement" to their lives, Islam offers avenues.
Based on the Koran and Muhammad's biography, raiding, killing, and plundering infidels (i.e., the "other"), abducting
their women, and enslaving their children are all permissible, so long as they are done in a jihadist context, that is, in the
"service" of Islam. In fact, that is how the Islamic Prophet and first Muslims spread Islam — a historical fact, not a slander — as
attested to by Islam's sacred texts and histories, written and compiled by pious, authoritative Muslims.
Of course, such behavior was "normal" in the Seventh Century. Then, wherever one looked, men of all races, creeds, and
religions were raiding, pillaging, plundering, and enslaving their neighbors. For Islamists, however, the actions of
Seventh-Century Muhammad, no matter how at odds with modernity, must be emulated today no less than yesterday.
Moreover, any moral scruples a potential jihadist may experience over such "antiquated" practices — that is, should his
conscience momentarily get the best of him — immediately dissipate in light of Allah's explicit approval. For instance: "Married
women are prohibited to you [Muslims] — except for those taken captive in war" (Koran 4:24; see also 23:6 and 33:50-52).
Little wonder, then, that Islam appeals to certain Western men over Christianity: Aspects of it better comport with man's baser
proclivities — for war, possessions, and women — than, say, the passive and inhibiting teachings of Jesus: "turn the other
cheek," "pray for those who persecute you," and "he who lusts after a woman in his heart has already committed adultery."
Even Islam's version of Paradise is far more alluring. There, a river of wine and dozens of "voluptuous women" await the jihadist
who dies battling infidels (see Koran 78:33).
And so, like mischievous little boys who find the pirate lifestyle fascinating — raiding, killing, plundering, abducting, hiding in
caves — so do some Western men find the lifestyle of the jihadist captivating. So they convert. Nor is it any small irony that the
physical appearance of today's Islamist heroes is reminiscent of those wily pirates of old — from the furtive Taliban leader,
"One-Eyed" Mullah Muhammad Omar, to London's radical ideologue Abu Hamza, who not only boasts one eye, but has a metal
hook for a hand which he used to shake menacingly when referring to infidels. (Like Walt Disney's Captain Hook, he was
affectionately referred to by his followers simply as "The Hook.")
It goes without saying, of course, that none of this is to imply that Muslims are piratical by nature. It is to say, however, that
persons naturally inclined to such activities — including would-be converts — can and do find exoneration under the rubric of
"sunna" and jihad legal theory: if it was okay for Muhammad and the first Muslims to wage war on, plunder, and enslave infidels
— so the logic goes — surely it is okay today.
This phenomenon is further highlighted by the obvious intersection between prison incarceration and conversion to radical
Islam. Indeed, most of the aforementioned proselytes had criminal records previous to their Islamic conversion, evincing a
proclivity for violence and lawlessness: Reid and Abdullah had convictions for muggings; Padilla for gangster activity; and
Lindsay for drug dealing. Patterson, Washington, and James began their terrorist cell while incarcerated in a very real cell for
committing over a dozen armed robberies. And, most recently, the three dozen converts-turned-potential-terrorists who just fled
to Yemen were all, as the ABC report puts it, "criminals."
Traditionally, one of the reasons ex-cons turn to religion is to change their evil ways. Not so these Western
men-turned-Islamic-terrorists. Consciously or unconsciously, it would seem they embraced Islamism — and subsequently
jihadism — merely to receive divine sanctioning for their otherwise violent and anarchic behavior, being transformed in the
process from petty criminals to major criminals — terrorists and traitors.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
The Islamist Fifth Column -- America's Internal Enemies:
Disloyalty, Subversion, Sedition, & Treason
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Raymond Ibrahim, a historian of Islam, Islamism and the Middle East, is the Associate Director of the Middle East Forum
a visiting lecturer at the National Defense Intelligence College, and the editor of The Al-Qa'ida Reader, a collection
of tranlations of key texts and documents of the Islamist movement. Ibrahim's translations of the religious texts and
political propaganda comprising this collection help readers comprehend the origins, development, history, and serious
danger of the Islamist war doctrines of Usama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Founders of Al-Qa'ida and implacable
enemies of the U.S.A. and the West.
The foregoing article by Raymond Ibrahim was originally published in Pajamas Media, February 3, 2010
(http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-lure-of-radical-islam- or-boys-will-be-boys/), and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(MEF Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/2585/lure-of-jihadism)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
February 5, 2010
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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