Borrowed from Nightwatch site
Homeland Security
The Information War Against Terror: There is no struggle for hearts and minds because devout Sunni Muslims are not searching for, open to or tolerant of any world view not in the Quran, if they are remotely like the following man. This happened today.
Background:
I had a very cordial conversation with a well-educated Pakistani muhajir from Faisalabad, Pakistan, which is in the Pakistani Punjab southwest of Lahore. He was born in Islamabad. His father works in the ministry of finance, but sent him to America for an education. Family roots are near Amritsar in Indian Punjab.
He has a wife, a 4 year old girl child and a master?s degree in finance from a Pakistani university that is considered something like a community college in the US. He goes to school to get graduation credits in finance in a local community college and drives a cab to pay for it and support the family. The man described himself as a moderate Sunni Muslim and described Islam as a religion of peace.
The Encounter
The conversation turned towards why Muslim men feel compelled to join jihad. The starting point was a press item about an Afghan refugee who left family and friends in Karachi to kill infidels in Afghanistan, but ended up trying to kill Afghan Muslims. I asked how is this consistent with the Quran?
The cabbie had a two part answer. The first part was an introduction to the Muslim belief about life. Life in this world, he explained, is meaningless. It is only a test for reaching heaven. Death does not exist, only change of life. There is only life, in heaven or in hell.
When a Muslim kills another Muslim, which is prohibited but happens, that act hastens that deceased believer to heaven if he or she has lived a good life. It is a favor and a blessing. If the deceased was a bad person then it does god?s justice and purges the world of an evil person.
The second part is about the purpose of life. He said I am 31 and pray devoutly and think deeply on the meaning of my life. I am waiting for god to show me my purpose. I asked are not your family and life pursuits god?s purpose for you? He said those are things I have done but god has not revealed his purpose to me. I asked what if you conclude god?s purpose is to have you kill people in jihad? Then I will leave my family and do as god bids.
I asked how is this consistent with a religion of peace and the rule against killing other Muslims. He replied god?s purpose is more important than the rules. This is the meaning of Islam ? submission.
He attempted to proselytize while I was in the cab and implied in his manner that he thought westerners do not think deeply about religion. He said the reasons Muslims can be tolerant of other faiths of the book (Bible and Torah) is that the Quran already incorporates those other books.
As I paid the fare, I urged him not to kill anyone with his cab. He laughed and in his Pakistani patois said, ?Oh no, of course not.?
A few Implications
This man is a hard working, moderately prosperous and peace abiding person. He did not talk like a zealot. Nevertheless, he made it clear that overnight he could become a Muslim terrorist with no warning.
He did not make clear how he would know when god calls him, but he was convinced it was not in what he was doing. If he received the call to jihad, he would make provision for his family, leave them and never look back. (He had not read the news item on the Afghan refugee who turned into a holy warrior but he fully sympathized with that story.)
He considers his world view far superior to all others. Attempts to change it are to be expected from the ignorant and unenlightened. The assumption that non-Muslims do not think as deeply about life and faith betrayed a thinly veiled mix of contempt and pity. He sincerely wanted to help me.
In his world view, the suicide bomber jihadists release the just to go to heaven and rid the world of sinners. No arguments or information originating outside Islam have the power to counter such views. There is no opening for a reformulation of the faith, no possibility of a new revelation and no basis to think that disputation or exposure to a better life will effect some kind of dilution of fervor. The cab driver admitted his life was far superior now to what he had in Pakistan, he said. He was still prepared to kill if that was god?s purpose.
These views of life and its purpose justify any kind of ruthlessness because life does not end at physical death. Armed opposition strengthens these views. Western sensibilities about compassion and humane treatment are irrelevant in winning Muslim hearts and minds and are vulnerable to manipulation by any group that lacks qualms about ruthlessness and torture.
A final thought is that Muslims must be in conflict all the time; in a perpetual state of potentially violent dissonance, even with a passenger paying full fare. The good news is that he admitted his four year old is totally Americanized; he seemed proud of that.
Homeland Security
The Information War Against Terror: There is no struggle for hearts and minds because devout Sunni Muslims are not searching for, open to or tolerant of any world view not in the Quran, if they are remotely like the following man. This happened today.
Background:
I had a very cordial conversation with a well-educated Pakistani muhajir from Faisalabad, Pakistan, which is in the Pakistani Punjab southwest of Lahore. He was born in Islamabad. His father works in the ministry of finance, but sent him to America for an education. Family roots are near Amritsar in Indian Punjab.
He has a wife, a 4 year old girl child and a master?s degree in finance from a Pakistani university that is considered something like a community college in the US. He goes to school to get graduation credits in finance in a local community college and drives a cab to pay for it and support the family. The man described himself as a moderate Sunni Muslim and described Islam as a religion of peace.
The Encounter
The conversation turned towards why Muslim men feel compelled to join jihad. The starting point was a press item about an Afghan refugee who left family and friends in Karachi to kill infidels in Afghanistan, but ended up trying to kill Afghan Muslims. I asked how is this consistent with the Quran?
The cabbie had a two part answer. The first part was an introduction to the Muslim belief about life. Life in this world, he explained, is meaningless. It is only a test for reaching heaven. Death does not exist, only change of life. There is only life, in heaven or in hell.
When a Muslim kills another Muslim, which is prohibited but happens, that act hastens that deceased believer to heaven if he or she has lived a good life. It is a favor and a blessing. If the deceased was a bad person then it does god?s justice and purges the world of an evil person.
The second part is about the purpose of life. He said I am 31 and pray devoutly and think deeply on the meaning of my life. I am waiting for god to show me my purpose. I asked are not your family and life pursuits god?s purpose for you? He said those are things I have done but god has not revealed his purpose to me. I asked what if you conclude god?s purpose is to have you kill people in jihad? Then I will leave my family and do as god bids.
I asked how is this consistent with a religion of peace and the rule against killing other Muslims. He replied god?s purpose is more important than the rules. This is the meaning of Islam ? submission.
He attempted to proselytize while I was in the cab and implied in his manner that he thought westerners do not think deeply about religion. He said the reasons Muslims can be tolerant of other faiths of the book (Bible and Torah) is that the Quran already incorporates those other books.
As I paid the fare, I urged him not to kill anyone with his cab. He laughed and in his Pakistani patois said, ?Oh no, of course not.?
A few Implications
This man is a hard working, moderately prosperous and peace abiding person. He did not talk like a zealot. Nevertheless, he made it clear that overnight he could become a Muslim terrorist with no warning.
He did not make clear how he would know when god calls him, but he was convinced it was not in what he was doing. If he received the call to jihad, he would make provision for his family, leave them and never look back. (He had not read the news item on the Afghan refugee who turned into a holy warrior but he fully sympathized with that story.)
He considers his world view far superior to all others. Attempts to change it are to be expected from the ignorant and unenlightened. The assumption that non-Muslims do not think as deeply about life and faith betrayed a thinly veiled mix of contempt and pity. He sincerely wanted to help me.
In his world view, the suicide bomber jihadists release the just to go to heaven and rid the world of sinners. No arguments or information originating outside Islam have the power to counter such views. There is no opening for a reformulation of the faith, no possibility of a new revelation and no basis to think that disputation or exposure to a better life will effect some kind of dilution of fervor. The cab driver admitted his life was far superior now to what he had in Pakistan, he said. He was still prepared to kill if that was god?s purpose.
These views of life and its purpose justify any kind of ruthlessness because life does not end at physical death. Armed opposition strengthens these views. Western sensibilities about compassion and humane treatment are irrelevant in winning Muslim hearts and minds and are vulnerable to manipulation by any group that lacks qualms about ruthlessness and torture.
A final thought is that Muslims must be in conflict all the time; in a perpetual state of potentially violent dissonance, even with a passenger paying full fare. The good news is that he admitted his four year old is totally Americanized; he seemed proud of that.
