What? These terrorists use "doctrinal arguments" to recruit? Why, does Rich Lowry know about this attempt to discredit Muhammad and Islam? "Jihad's latest 'rag' hits the Internet," from the Asia Times:
BANGALORE - A new jihadi magazine made its appearance on the Internet this month. [1] Named Dhurwat al-Sanam, Arabic for "the highest or most virtuous belief/insight", the magazine has been posted by the official spokesman of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Dhurwat al-Sanam is the latest of several online publications produced by jihadi organizations.The 43-page inaugural issue of Dhurwat al-Sanam appears to be aimed at motivating jihadis in Iraq and is replete with the usual tedious and bellicose rhetoric and doctrinal arguments. There are messages from Osama bin Laden commending Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's fighters in Iraq and accepting the allegiance of al-Zarqawi to al-Qaeda. The letters refer to al-Zarqawi as the "emir" of al-Qaeda in Iraq and call on people to obey him. There are letters in turn from al-Zarqawi expressing loyalty to bin Laden. Much of this appears to have been rehashed from text already published on the Internet.
There are comments by the "edicts committee" on the recent elections in Iraq. Democracy and elections are condemned as "Western" and "un-Islamic". "Democracy and parliaments, my brothers, are from the religion and desires of the infidels ... Democracy means the rule of the people ... which means that who is to be obeyed and worshipped is man, not God."...
Dhurwat al-Sanam appears to be a successor of the now-defunct Sawat al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad), a bi-weekly publication published by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Like many other online jihadi publications, the Sawat al-Jihad was aimed at motivating jihadis and indoctrinating those interested in becoming jihadis. More important, it seemed preoccupied with justifying violent acts through ideological and doctrinal arguments....Another jihadi online publication, this one with motivational material interwoven with military training input, was Maaskar al-Battar (al-Bataar Training Camp), which also ceased publication a few months ago. It was aimed at building a jihad culture among Muslim youth and to equip them to fight against those who have "invaded the Islamic world".
With Maaskar al-Battar, training to be a jihad was available at the click of the mouse. An aspiring jihadi did not have to go to Afghanistan for training, he could learn how to fight from the comfort of his home. The first issue of Maaskar al-Battar drew attention to the convenience of online training it provided. "Oh Mujahid [holy warrior] brother, in order to join the great training camps you don't have to travel to other lands ... Alone, in your home or with a group of your brothers, you too can begin to execute the training program. You can all join the al-Battar Training Camp."
Subsequent issues provided operational guides for using automatic weapons, physical fitness programs, do-it-yourself assassination kits, propaganda techniques and other tips on terrorism.
Jihadi online publications cater to women, too, with articles and advice on how women can bring up their children to become good jihadis, why they must have more sons, what books they should read to their children and how they should support fighters by providing food and shelter. In August last year, jihadi online publishing broke new ground. Al-Khansa, a magazine aimed exclusively at women, hit cyber newsstands. The magazine, which is named after a female Arab poet who was a close associate of Prophet Mohammed, aimed at motivating women to participate more actively in the jihad.
The magazine sought to convince women that they could be both a jihadi and a good woman. Women are not neglecting their role as mothers by joining the jihad. There was no contradiction between their roles as woman/mother and as jihadi. The editorial in the inaugural issue of al-Khansa said, "We will stand covered by our veils and wrapped in our robes, weapons in hand, our children in our laps, with the Koran and the Sunna of the Prophet of Allah directing and guiding us. The blood of our husbands and the body parts of our children are the sacrifice by means of which we draw closer to Allah, so that through us, Allah will cause the martyrdom for His sake to succeed."...
Well, move over Good Housekeeping!
Now wait just one darn minute!!!! Aren't we supposed to be saying that islam is the religion of peace? What in the world would dougie hooper at cair have to say about this obvious attempt to defame his fellow mohamadans? Nothing, I would imagine. Or maybe it's just a misinterpretation of what his co-religionists actually said.
Don't worry, it is just a tiny minority that are like this. Islam is a religion of peace.
Darn, I can't find the "sarcasm off" tag.
Heven't we been told that jihad means an internal struggle for self improvement?
More of the 'same old, same old'.
Now there are better instructions and more incitement for my local neighbourhood adolescent moslem male, anxious to prove himself a real man, to redeem himself after bad grades or the girlfriend told him to take a hike, to prove to his moderate parents that he is right, he knows more, he is the better moslem, eager to please the messengers' ugly promoters, desperate for some sex - heaven will have to do because he's not getting any here; now he has his instructions, who to kill, how to kill, Jews, Christians, Hindus, moderate muslims, they all count.
He, with no success in any other part of his life, can prove himself, can show his parents, his mosque, the world.
Me, worried - yes.
This islamic formula works, it kills, it silences criticism, it advances islam, one slaughter at a time.
We lose a few educated people who are making a contribution to the world, they sacrifice a loser, of which they have a massive surplus.
You are damn right i'm worried; they have a tried and true formula that wins, and we have yet to do a thing about it. We refuse even to recognize the success of their murderous formula.
I would be extremely interested in National Reviews response to this thread and that Jihad magazine.
I would also be interested in Mark Levine and Noam Chomsky's response as well.
Any chance of getting them to respond?
As has been proven since the first Neanderthal threw flowers into the first grave, we humans can "believe" anything.
This is poetic and inspiring until the point where those who "believe" that the flowers they scattered on poor, deceased brother "Og" are now NOT just a touching and sweet-smelling tribute, BUT are "divinely required" by the "Invisible Maker of Og".
And that tribal leaders shall bury anyone alive who does NOT scatter flowers on the future dead members of the clan. It is the will of the "GREAT OG-MAKER". Let none doubt it! He has spoken!
This transition from humane "poetry" to despotic "prose", from lovely "wish" to deadly "fact" IS the problem underlying the meaning of all of this jihad-watching.
And with the concern here and elsewhere about the possiblity of reform of the Koran.
Those who "believe" things- to the death- that they have received 13 centuries after the fact cannot be reasoned with. "Belief" is not subject to doubt, discussion, dialog or being convinced otherwise. It is the end point of its journey. Even if it was only one step, from birth to creed. With no understanding of all of the thousands of other competing creeds, all making the exact same claims to "belief", "truth", "certainty", and "divine perfection".
Believers never seem to see the disturbing possibilities in the reality of a thought like:
"Wait a minute! That idiot sounds exactly like me! And is giving out 'proofs' that are indistinguishable from my own arguments about my own religion! It's a mirror image! Damn! Maybe I'm wrong! Maybe this religion of mine is as moronic and deluded as the Aztecs or Vikings were about their own cruel and vanished divinities? I could be falling for a culturally-created ego-soothing illusion! How do I know that what I got born into by a fluke of time and place is any better than what my 'eternal enemy and despised infidel' got born into by a parallel fluke? Perhaps I should step back, learn about ALL faiths, and judge from knowledge, not mere knee-jerk dogmatism."
But, if they could ever question themselves or their faith for one second, the world would be transformed overnight.
Jihad would dissolve like manna at dawn.
And we could worry about using our energies, not to fight off fellow-primates trying to tear down the accomplishments of a billions years of caring and creativity, but could get busy colonizing Mars and then the stars.
"Belief" is a lovely flower but an unlovely Law.
Wings on the heart, but a cage on the brain.