How can a jihadi repent for his jihad? My latest in FrontPage:
“Tsarnaev apologizes for Boston Marathon bombing,” trumpeted the Boston Globe Wednesday, and certainly the young jihad murderer talked a good game: “I would like to apologize to the victims and the survivors,” he said. “I am sorry for the lives I have taken, for the suffering I have caused, and for the terrible damage I have done.” The only problem with these tardy words was that they were almost certainly insincere.
Tsarnaev gave a hint of the likelihood that his tears of repentance were of the reptilian variety when he added: “I am Muslim. My religion is Islam. I pray to Allah to bestow his mercy on those affected in the bombing and their families. I pray for your healing.”
Healing from what? The physical and emotional wounds he inflicted upon them in the name of Allah, and in his service. As prosecutors argued in April that he deserved the death penalty, they released a video of Tsarnaev three months after his attack, looking into the security camera in his cell, primping his hair in the reflection, and then flashing the V sign and then giving his middle finger to his jailers.
And why not? He believed he had done a righteous deed. The motivations of Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev became clear very quickly after Dzhokhar was apprehended. CNN reported a week after the bombings that “Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, wounded and held in a Boston hospital, has said his brother—who was killed early Friday—wanted to defend Islam from attack.”
And just before he was captured, when he was hiding out inside a pleasure boat, Dzhokhar wrote a long self-justification on the inside of the boat, including the line: “When you attack one Muslim, you attack all Muslims.”
It came to light soon after the bombings that on a Russian-language social media page Dzhokhar had featured a drawing of a bomb under the heading “send a gift,” and just above links to sites about Islam. Tamerlan’s YouTube page contained two videos by Sheikh Feiz Mohammed. According to a report published in The Australian in January 2007, in a video that came to the attention of authorities at the time, Feiz Mohammed “urges Muslims to kill the enemies of Islam and praises martyrs with a violent interpretation of jihad.”
Tamerlan also said, “I’m very religious.” His friend Donald Larking affirmed this. “Tamerlan Tsarnaev was my friend and we talked about everything from politics to religion,” according to Larking. “He was very, very religious. He believed that the Qur’an was the one true word and he loved it.” Tamerlan did not drink alcohol because Allah forbade it—“God said no alcohol”—and his Italian girlfriend had converted to Islam, as his American wife did later.
The Boston Marathon bombs were similar to IEDs that jihadis used in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Faisal Shahzad, who tried to set off a jihad car bomb in Times Square in the summer of 2010, also used a similar bomb. The instructions for making such a bomb had even been published in al-Qaeda’s Inspire magazine.
Not only were the motivations of the Tsarnaev brothers abundantly clear; it is likely that they were actually tied in somehow to the international jihad network—as was indicated by how they fought off Boston police early on the Friday after the Marathon bombings with military-grade explosives. The question of where they got those explosives has never been answered. Nor has it ever been explained where the brothers got the military training that they reportedly displayed during the fight against police before Tamerlan was killed and Dzhokhar was captured.
And now Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is repentant? Why would he be? The only possibility for that would be if he is losing the faith that led him to think mass murder at the Boston Marathon would bring him heavenly reward, and he ruled that out at his sentencing Wednesday when he said, “I am Muslim. My religion is Islam.”
Why, then, did he express remorse for the bombing? Maybe he wanted to stave off the death penalty – or maybe he wanted to aid in that primary work of Muslim spokesmen in the West: polishing the ever-tarnished image of Islam, tarnished in this case by his jihad murders. Whatever Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may have calculated when, during the long hours in his cell, he decided to express remorse, a sincere rejection of his act is the least likely possibility. Much more likely was the possibility that he was suddenly been overcome with a decidedly un-jihadi fear of death.
“I ask Allah to have mercy on me, my brother, and my family,” Tsarnaev said Wednesday. For his jihad, or for his repentance? The latter is more likely.
Brian says
“…his Italian girlfriend had converted to Islam”…That is happening all too frequently in the West…The biggest mosque in Europe is in Rome and the mass migration of Muslims in to Italy is crushing Christianity…The most popular name for boys in Milan last year for example was not Giovanni or Antonio or Marco but Muhammad or variants of that name.
JamesonRocks says
“How can a jihadi repent for his jihad?” Right on target!
Nice that the official sentencing was handed-down during Ramadan. In celebration I picked-up some nice pork chops to BBQ this evening.
mortimer says
Dzhokhar’s Wild! Does he regret KILLING FOR ALLAH? Then why the apology? Who heard of a jihadist apologizing for jihad? Why is it wrong AFTER THE TRIAL to want to TERRORIZE KAFIRS (Koran 8.60 authorizes terrorism.)
Islamic scholar al Nawawi wrote that a Muslim “…wants for his non-Muslim brother what he would want for himself, that is [read: min li-l-bayan] his converting to Islam; just as he wants for his Muslim brother, his remaining in Islam. That is why it is recommended to supplicate for divine guidance [Hidaya] on behalf of the non-Muslim.” [Nawawi, Sharh Arba’in, 123].
When a Muslim prays for kafirs, he prays only for their CONVERSION. Even Islamic prayer is spoiled by supremacism. Is Dzhokhar not a supremacist or is he DZHOKING?
Allah sez “Therefore lend not thou support in any way to those who reject Allah’s Message.” (K. 28.86) “In any way” would include empathy, ‘emotional support’ or ordinary human friendliness.
WILL THE REAL JOKER … DZHOKER…please stand up?
mortimer says
Dzoker: “Allah have mercy on me for not loving death as much as I loved death before the trial. I’m losing my faith in a god who commands me to commit murder of innocent people at a sport event in aid of a worthy charity. I’m not sure if I believe in a god like that. I want to redesign Allah to be less blood-thirsty. Sorry.”
gerard says
“I am Muslim. My religion is Islam.”
Read that as: “I was a Muslim when I planted those bombs and I’m still a Muslim.”
Loud and clear Dzhokhar. Loud and clear.
celtic warriarcanada says
Well Dzhokhar , the one thing you have done, is to clear up any misunderstandings Americans might have about Islam . It’s really terrible that the DISTORTED VIEW OF ISLAM , held by the The Obama Administration helped you and your brother to maim , dismember and murder innocent men women and children at a Great Wholesome Event like The Boston Marathon. YA, YOUR A MUSLIM and YOUR RELIGION IS ISLAM ! THAT’s OBVIOUS ! Enjoy your new home. AT LEAST YOUR .STILL LIVING OFF THE AMERICAN TAX PAYERS . ROT IN HELL LOSER !
Godwin says
He thinks he is going to heaven, but, in actual fact, he will descend into hell.
dsinc says
Lets hope he gets the Dahmer treatment soon.
Bronson says
Apologies for the effect of one’s actions rather than naming the sin of omission or commission and apologizing for that are always fake apologies and represent at the very least a continued patronizing attitude. From another angle the test of a true apology is does it invite, in at least some small way, a response indicating forgiveness for those actions or in-actions.
Nope. He is not apologizing for his actions but justifying them.
Angemon says
Apologies dully noted. Now flip the switch.
No Fear says
Contrast :
Finding redemption through following Christ’s example.
Finding redemption through following Mohammed’s example.
Polar opposites.
And I am an atheist !
Rev. Bill Romansky says
The Tarnaev brothers are CIA-connected Jihadis. We must keep our government’s sponsorship of domestic terrorism at the fore of this discussion, especially in light of recent revelations that the U.S. is paying mideast jihadis $400 monthly to perform their evil deeds.
Western Canadian says
Supply proof of this or F=== === back to your hate filled gutter.
Jack Gordon says
As a Catholic I am uneasy about the death penalty, even for this repugnant criminal. That said, it IS a legitimate recourse for the state as the Church has always taught, and even recent anti-capital punishment popes have admitted as much. The West needs to show some resolve in its (as yet undeclared) war against Mohammedan inspired mayhem. An object lesson demonstrating some heretofore hidden backbone is in order as a purely defensive measure. But if the state is to put this Muslim hooligan to death, it must do so correctly; it must not disguise the act, must not make it seem as though it were a colonoscopy. No, the only proper, clean, and humane method of dispatching the fellow is a firing squad, Utah style, and in full view of cameras and representatives of the public at large. Oh, and when the predictable howls of protest come in from the usual suspects in Europe and Canada, tell them to get stuffed, that we have decided we must defend ourselves before it is too late. (Of course, this is all a pipe dream as long as we insist on electing traitors like Obama and milquetoast politicians like Boehner.)
susan says
He’s a liar. Like all Muslims (including our dear leader), he lies when it’s advantageous to himself and Islam.
Kill the little bastard. He’ll go straight to hell, NOT to the 74 virgins he thinks await him.
Lioness says
The only thing he is sorry about is that the blast didn’t kill more people. It’s all a deceit while appeals to save his pathetic life have already started.
B.W. says
Oh, he was very sincere with his apology…..in the vein of taqiya.