The Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 shattered the fragile hope that the situation in Kashmir has ‘normalized’. It showed again, that Hindus are not safe among Muslims, yet Muslims are safe among Hindus.
Killing people, who go peacefully about their lives, goes against human nature. So why does it happen again and again? Apart from some pathological cases, the reason is that the attackers believe that they do the right thing. Of course, these youths are misguided, but by whom or what?
To be fair – the Jihadis are not the first to be misguided. Communists, Nazis and the Church were also misguided by divisive ideologies, which made them believe that, without certain people, everything would be better.
Fortunately, the Church had to give up torturing and killing in the name of God a couple of centuries ago.
Islamic terror is still one of the biggest threats. So, it is of utmost importance to understand what drives Jihadis.
Getting into the mind of a would be Jihadi
Ten years ago, the German ‘SZ- Magazine’ carried an eye-opening interview with a would-be ISIS-Jihadi that gives insight into their mindset.
It is about Erhan, a 22-year-old youth of Turkish origin. Some of his friends were in Syria. He tried to join them but didn’t succeed. A few years earlier, he had become dissatisfied with the lukewarm “Euro-fake” Islam that his parents practiced in Germany. He wanted to follow the real Islam and started reading the Quran. He grew a beard, prayed 5 times a day, went to the mosque and even wore a turban to school. His classmates asked him what happened, and he told them about the Quran. They never asked him again. “I had expected more opposition from them,” Erhan said.
Erhan was convinced that Islam is the only true religion, and he wants ISIS to create a state where “the Quran is lived as Allah wants it”. When the interviewer reminded him of ISIS’s brutality, he replied, “If one kills for a good cause, it is legitimate”.
He comes across as a naïve young man who wanted to make his life meaningful and found guidance in the Quran. He and his friends checked out several groups. They became convinced that ISIS is the best, because its goal is in tune with the Quran: the goal to spread the Islamic State till the whole world is for Allah.
Quotes from the Quran
“Oh believers, fight them until there is no more mischief and the Deen of Allah (way of life prescribed by Allah) is established completely” (Quran 8:39)
“Oh believers, fighting has been made obligatory for you much to your dislike. It is quite possible that what you dislike is good for you… Allah knows and you do not.” (Quran 2:216)
“Those believers who stay at home – having no physical disabilities – are not equal to those who make Jihad in the cause of Allah with their wealth and person. Allah has granted a higher rank to those who make Jihad… They have special higher ranks, forgiveness and mercy. Allah is forgiving, merciful” Quran 4:95/6
Could Erhan and his friends have any doubt what these passages mean? Does it need an ‘Islam expert’ to interpret them?
The command to fight the enemy appeals to young men. Islam is far more successful than Christianity to make men stand by their religion. Small boys like toy guns. Bigger boys need a good reason to fight. An alleged divine command to fight those, who are evil, is the perfect reason for many youngsters. Further, there is the ‘divine promise’ that if one dies, paradise is guaranteed, and if one lives, one gets a share of the wealth of those killed.
There are many passages in the Quran where the unbelievers are portrayed as most despicable, for whom perdition and eternal hellfire are certain (Q 98:6). So naturally, they are seen as subhuman. Even their torture in hell is described in horrific detail in Q 22:19-22.
Do such passages explain the savagery of terrorists? Have the vivid images of hell over the centuries instigated the brutalities of the Muslim invaders in India and elsewhere and also of the Christian Inquisition? Did such brutality against civilians exist before the arrival of religions which claimed ‘eternal hellfire for unbelievers’?
Erhan said that he would kill even his parents if they oppose the Islamic State.
Are we not responsible to stop these youngsters from destroying themselves and others? Yet is it possible as long as those passages are considered the word of Allah? Even if ISIS gets defeated, new terror groups will continue to draw legitimacy from those passages, and powerbrokers can motivate youngsters for their own interests, making them believe that Allah will be pleased. These youths don’t realize that they are used by the deep state for its purpose to create chaos.
Erhan’s parents tried to prevent him from turning radical. But what can they tell him? That he should not take the Quran seriously? That Allah didn’t mean what he said?
“What can stop you”, the journalist asked him.
Erhan: “Nobody can stop me.”
If a Muslim tries to influence him, he will see in him a hypocrite, who is as bad as a Kafir. If an unbeliever tries to influence him, he is convinced that he only wants him to leave ‘the right path’.
But there is one thing that can stop him: it is doubt.
Once doubt springs up, it is not possible to regain the former strong belief. It is my own experience, too. If Erhan starts wondering whether the compassionate Allah really wants all this killing, he can easily come out of the grip that blind belief has on his mind. Or if he starts wondering why older Muslims, even if they have a terminal illness, do not opt to become suicide bombers. Are they not convinced that paradise is guaranteed by killing others?
Of course, there won’t be paradise for Jihadis. Humans are meant to live human lives. Muslims could learn from Hindus. Hindus don’t kill others for calling the Supreme by another name. Muslims are safe among majority Hindus – unless Hindus were gravely provoked.
By Maria Wirth
