Essay One

Greetings Ladies and Gents,

The following is an essay that I have written on the motivation of radical Islamic terrorists. In it, use two texts: Walter Laqueur's essay, To Cut a Throat Slowly and Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower. Both are very interesting texts with strong arguments. The formatting is a little weird...sorry for that. Enjoy.

Motivations of Radical Islam
Perhaps the greatest struggle for America in its War on Terror is to understand the mindset of those with whom we are fighting. Never before in American history, with the possible exception of Japan in the 1940’s, have we fought an enemy that was so unknown to everyday American citizens and leadership. The enemy today takes the form of Islamic terrorists, or Jihadis, who have gone from devout, practicing Muslims to violent religious fanatics. In To Cut a Throat Slowly, Walter Laqueur details that there is no proven explanation as to what causes an Islamic individual to make the radical turn from devotion to terrorism and martyrdom. Early in his essay, he writes, “Social and political factors should not be neglected, but they can take us only up to a certain point and not further. They cannot explain why, out of a group of people believing with equal intensity in their cause, feeling equally aggrieved, oppressed, antagonized, downtrodden, marginalized and so on, only a few will become terrorists whereas the others are not.”[1] I disagree, and will argue that there is a state of emotional vulnerability common among all Muslims who take the radical turn. This turn is more often than not made during a Jihadis childhood or when he is a young adult lacking direction and opportunity in his life. This vulnerability can be taken advantage of if a message of radicalism and violence is delivered by a religious leader who has gained respect amongst a following. Lawrence Wright, in The Looming Tower, provides examples of soldiers who were given this message at a time when they were most vulnerable, from leaders like Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. Both men are figures in the forefront of the global Jihad movement. Although this war is twisted by American media to not be a war against a religion, and the Bush Administration works hard to show support for peaceful Muslims[2], it is nonetheless a war against a group of religious radicals who practice the Islamic faith. Because of this, one who studies the motivation of terrorists must first understand the peaceful religion that can seem so easy to pervert into a violent religion that promotes suicide bombing tactics. The work or Lawrence Wright can then be understood in a better context, and patterns may begin to emerge as to what motivates radical Islamic militants, such as members of the most notorious group, al Qaeda.
In order to understand the motivation of Islamic Jihadis, some basic information must first be known about the religion of Islam and its foundations:
Islam’s fundamental duties, practices, and beliefs are summarized in the “five pillars” of the faith, laid down in one of the Prophet’s hadith [the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad], and accepted by all Muslims. The five pillars are the profession of faith (There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.), daily prayer (five times daily), payment of the zakat (alms-tax), fasting in the month of Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj). These are religious obligations. By themselves they are not sufficient to define a virtuous life, because a good Muslim must also observe a relationship of charity and justice with other members of his community, but the five pillars are the obligatory fundamentals of Islamic practice.[3]
Possibly the most misused and misunderstood word in Islam is jihad. The common interpretation is “holy war”, though that is incorrect. The meaning of the word is wider than simply “holy war”. It includes any effort made in furtherance of the cause of Islam.[4] Muslims believe that one who gives his life defending or fighting for the faith will go immediately to heaven at the time of death. In order to want this reward, the martyr-to-be must be a fervent follower of Islam. Osama bin Laden’s ability to twist the meaning of this word is his greatest recruiting tool. He is able to turn the word, jihad, into a commitment and demand to kill any non-Muslim. This word can only be used as motivation for radical Jihadis, whom do not make up the majority of Muslims in the world. This is an important thought to keep in mind when studying why Islamic individuals take a turn towards the radical. Although the War on Terror, as coined by the Bush Administration, is in fact a battle against a religious ideology, it is not a battle against the religion of Islam, and most individuals who practice Islam are opposed to terrorism. It is this religious background that Islamic leaders can then draw on, harkening to a period of purity that can be brought back only through Jihad. Islam is a hard religion. To follow its tenets strictly requires a great amount of dedication and self-discipline. Jihadis will also generally take a message from an Islamic leader – a cleric or skeikh - and live their life based strictly on the Koran and that leader’s message. This willingness to follow is vital to understanding why individuals decide terrorism is an ideal path.
Now, with a basic understanding of the practice of Islam, we can continue with our attempt to understand what makes a practicing Muslim take a turn for the radical. Although it is argued by Walter Laqueur that we likely cannot know the answer to this, I believe that The Looming Tower shows a significant amount of consistency in the area of emotional instability as Wright details the motivation of men such as Osama bin Laden. A pattern begins to show that young Muslims are increasingly in mental states that are vulnerable to influence from one seen as “older and wiser”. This state of vulnerability is common at two points in life, both of which are tragic situations. The first age range is really from birth to elementary school age. These are only children and are susceptible to whatever information their parents and teachers deem appropriate. It is commonly thought that basic math, basic reading and writing skills and basic social skills should be taught around the elementary school age. However, the more radical thinking parents will teach messages of hate and violence towards America and Israel. The documentary, Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West, shows video of young children marching with guns, celebrating the attacks of September 11 and reciting poetry passionately: “When I wander into the entrance of Jerusalem, I’ll turn into a suicide warrior! I’ll turn into a suicide warrior, in battledress!”[5] Watching this video, one realizes quickly that children who are raised in a culture of radicalism are not children at all; they are raised to hate, to desire death through Jihad, to kill kuffars, or non-Muslims. Their mindsets are those of adults, and they are treated by other Islamic radicals as such. Two young boys, for example, were taken by the Egyptian police and taught to hate al Qaeda. Their fathers were both members of al Qaeda, meaning that these young boys were not only indoctrinated to hate a group, but their own families. The indoctrination led the kids to attempt an assassination on Ayman al-Zawahiri, a radical Islam leader. Zawahiri caught the children, interrogated them, videotaped their confessions, convicted them of sodomy, treason and attempted murder, and had them shot.[6] This indoctrination, fueled by twisted passages from the Koran, the holy book of Islam, is the center of these children’s lives. The radical education given at this age does not give these children a chance to become regular, moderate practicing Muslims. They are born and raised fanatical.
There is another group of Muslims who are especially susceptible to a message of radicalism. This is the group that is young, decently educated, but poor and unemployed. This unemployment often means that a man will not be able to afford to get married, which for Muslim men is of the utmost importance. These young men have no opportunities in sight for social mobility. Often, young men in this situation will turn to the mosque looking for answers to the problems in their lives. Either they find an Islamic religion of love, peace and tolerance, or an Islamic religion of hate, violence and Jihad. Those individuals who find the peaceful Islam likely will become simple, practicing Muslims similar to most Muslims around the world. But for those few who come across a radical mosque, or an angry, impassioned cleric, the road may end up leading straight to an al Qaeda training camp.
It is at this point in an individual’s Islamic path that Laqueur becomes mistaken. There is a pattern for individuals who make the turn towards radical Islamic Jihad and terrorism, and the commonality is the Islamic leader who is preaching the radical message. Likewise, the cleric or sheik who is proclaiming a message of hate and violence was at some point years ago a young man looking for direction in a life of despair. During that time, they heard a message from another man that they felt they could look up to as a leader. Take Osama bin Laden as an example. When bin Laden was young, he was certainly rich, but strived for a life lacking in materialistic goods. So although he monetarily had social mobility, he stayed away from this mobility. He then heard the message of Sheikh Abdullah Azzam. Azzam, known through the Muslim world as a warrior priest (similar to a Samurai in Japan), was known to “…mesmerize audiences with his vision of an Islam that would dominate the world through the force of arms.”[7] In this way, through sermons filled with passion, radical Islam is spread. Other leaders of the Islamic world played large roles in the advancement of the radical Islamic message. One such actor is Ayman al-Zawahiri:
The only example he [Zawahiri] could point to in Islamic tradition was that of a group of Muslims, early in the history of the faith, who were captured by “idolaters” and forced to choose between recanting their religion or being killed by their captors. They chose to become martyrs to their beliefs. It was, Zawahiri argued, a suicidal choice. Other Muslims did not condemn them at the time because they were acting for the glory of God and the greater good of Islam. Therefore, anyone who gives his life in pursuit of the true faith – such as the bombers in Islamabad – is to be regarded not as a suicide who will suffer the punishment of hell but as a heroic martyr whose selfless sacrifice will gain him an extraordinary reward in Paradise. With such sophistry, Zawahiri reversed the language of the Prophet and opened the door to universal murder.[8]
Zawahiri, bin Laden, Abu Ubaydah, Saif al-Adl are only four of the leaders, and more importantly, indoctrinators, of the radical Islamic movement that is taking a strangle-hold of Islam. Wright describes their abilities, especially those of bin Laden, as a kind of artistry that enlisted the imagination of the many men whom he would require for his global Jihad.[9]
This message can only spread, however, if it is allowed to spread by all Muslims. It would seem that if the majority of the Muslim world were against this radicalism, then a message of hate and terrorism would not be allowed to be delivered in a mosque, a place of community prayer. Edmund Burke, an Irish Philosopher and statesman, is quoted in an Islamic documentary on radical Islam saying, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”[10] This is a fitting saying for what is happening in mosques around the Middle East. The average Muslim is not standing up to something that they are against. Perhaps these “average Muslims” are in fact opposed to American troops in Saudi Arabia and the existence of Israel, they just do not want to see innocent men, women and children killed to get the message across. Perhaps these “average Muslims” are scared that they or their family will be targeted if they raise their voice against Islamic radicalism. Perhaps these “average Muslims” simply do not know that this message is being delivered because of who they are surrounded by and from whom they get their information. For whatever reason, good, Muslim men and women are standing by quietly as their religion is twisted into one of hate towards America and Israel. Young Muslim men have a hard time finding reason for their lives in today’s ever more modern world. This leads to radicalism. Some parents raise their children to hate America and strive for death. These are surely problems that must be accounted for when figuring out how to go about fighting the radical threat. But one cannot overlook the importance of Muslims around the world, standing up against terrorist attacks. America need not be named – we are the victim of a small number of attacks compared to other areas of the world. These average Muslims need only to stand as one and give the message to their radical sect of Islam: “No! We will not stand for this violence and hatred to happen in the name of our religion. Allah is a God of love, and Mohammed a messenger of peace. We will stand for this killing no more!”

[1] Laqueur, Walter. To Cut a Throat Slowly. http://www.timesonline.co.uk. 9 December 2005. Pg. 2.
[2] http://www.muslimsforbush.com/muslims/index.html
[3] Lippman, Thomas W. Understanding Islam: And Introduction to the Muslim World. Third Revised and Updated Edition. Plume Publishers. New York, NY. October 2002. 6.
[4] Lippman, Thomas W. Understanding Islam: And Introduction to the Muslim World. Third Revised and Updated Edition. Plume Publishers. New York, NY. October 2002. 111.
[5] http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/trailer-12min.php
[6] Wright, Lawrence. The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Alfred A. Knopf Publishers. New York, NY. 2006. Pg. 215-216.
[7] Wright, Lawrence. The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Alfred A. Knopf Publishers. New York, NY. 2006. Pg. 96.
[8] Wright, Lawrence. The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Alfred A. Knopf Publishers. New York, NY. 2006. Pg. 219.
[9] Wright, Lawrence. The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Alfred A. Knopf Publishers. New York, NY. 2006. Pg. 332.
[10] Kopping, Wayne. Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West. Peter Mier. January 2007.