Claim: Boredom, not jihad, led Mumbai jihad mass murder plotter to terrorism

"What do you want to do tonight, Marty?" "I don't know. What do you want to do?" "I'm bored. Let's go murder a large number of Infidels."

This is patently absurd. How bored would you have to be to commit mass murder? I have been bored now and again, particularly in endless meetings full of blather that never accomplish anything, but never once have I thought that an antidote to my boredom would be to spray the attendees (or anyone else) with gunfire.

But some people will go to any lengths, no matter how absurd, to exonerate Islam's bloody jihad doctrines of any responsibility for the violence committed because of them.

"'Boredom, not jihad, drew Headley to terrorism,'" from DNA India, February 13:

David Headley, one of the most infamous terrorists in the world and the man behind the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, was not a good jihadi. In fact, he probably turned to the cause not out of a sense of duty but due to boredom. Author and journalistHussain [sic] S Zaidi, who was in the city promoting his book, Headley and I, said that more than anything else, Headley’s own relationship with his father dictated his decisions.

The book that gives the perspective of both Bhatt and Headley, the son of Bollywood’s prominent director, Mahesh Bhatt, who—not knowing Headley’s true identity—shared a close friendship with him.

“This book is more about the complicated relationships that both Rahul Bhatt and David Headley shared with their respective fathers and how that, in turn, affected Bhatt’s own relationship with Headley. It is about how an absentee father can be detrimental to his son,” said Zaidi.

In fact, it was that what drew Headley to terrorism. “Headley is an unlikely jihad because he is just a contradiction. If you are a jihadi then you have to believe in the cause and really believe that you are united with God, but this was a man who liked his wine and was a womaniser. This was like a picnic to him. He was just bored with life,” he added.

An utterly inadequate explanation. According to a hadith, a man once asked Muhammad: "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." Muhammad replied, "I do not find such a deed." (Bukhari 4.52.44). Since jihad has the greatest reward, it outweighs all the sins one may have committed -- which, as we saw with the 9/11 hijackers visiting strip clubs, can tend to give jihadis a sense that they have a license to sin. And anyway, again: how bored would you have to be to plot jihad mass murder?

To understand the psyche of Headley and his friendship with Rahul Bhatt, Zaidi said he did extensive research, going through court documents, speaking to CIA agents involved in the case and got FBI documents as well.

Zaidi said that he was unimpressed with how India has dealt with terrorism so far. “India does not do nearly enough to curb terrorism. There is almost a feeling like the country is inviting terrorists to attack because they are not aggressive enough. In Israel and America, the situation is completely different. If you touch them with a feather, they come at you with bombs. When someone slaps us on the cheek, we actually really do turn the other cheek!” he said....