How did he “radicalize” himself? The article says that he did it through reading the wrong Internet sites. Such sites, of course, make their appeal not only by retailing stories of American and Israeli atrocities (however fantastic and fabricated those stories may be), but also by making the case from the Qur’an and Sunnah that violent jihad is a Muslim’s duty. After all, it was by reading the Qur’an that Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar became “self-radicalized.”
What can non-Muslim states do about this? They can recognize it as a possibility, for one thing. They can move aggressively against those jihadist Internet sites. And they can require — not request or assume it is already being done — that Muslim groups in their countries institute honest, transparent, and comprehensive programs teaching against violent jihad and Islamic supremacism. Or be prepared to find a new country.
“Singapore detains “˜self-radicalised” Muslim,” from The Muslim Weekly, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
Singapore announced Friday that it had detained Singapore national, Abdul Basheer s/o Abdul Kader, 28, since February, who it said, had made plans to pursue “militant jihad” in Afghanistan.
The Home Ministry said that Basheer is a “self-radicalised” individual not directly recruited by established terrorist groups.
It said that in late 2004, Basheer began developing “the mindset that he had to wage militant jihad in a land where Muslims were under attack”.
“His views were shaped by the radical discourse that he avidly looked up on the internet,” the statement said.
It is alleged that Basheer had left for an unidentified Middle Eastern country to learn Arabic to communicate with mujahedin fighters.
Soon afterwards, it claimed that he bought a plane ticket to Pakistan, where he planned to obtain training for a militant jihad, and go into Afghanistan.
Brother Michael Broughton of the Singapore Inter-Religious Organisation questioned the need to arrest the man before he had actually engaged in any so called terrorist activities: “From a legal perspective, he is innocent,” he said.
“I hope he can be rendered proper psychological help and counselling, rather than criminal treatment.”
Yes, if we can just get them all proper counseling, the world will be at peace.