ISIS recruitsWhy jihadism appeals to religiously illiterate loners
Many of the jihadist killers, as they shoot their innocent victims, invoke God with the Arabic phrase “Allahu Akbar.” Indeed, this otherwise innocuous everyday religious utterance is frequently usurped as a jihadist battle cry. But those drawn to jihadism are usually not particularly religious prior to their involvement with violence. They are either raised in largely secular households or possess only a rudimentary grasp of their parental faith, which rarely extends to religious practice of any sort. It is not to exonerate religion in any sense to say that for many French Muslims, whose life in the banlieues consists of not much more than a mix of unemployment, crime, drugs, institutional racism, and endemic cycles of poverty and disenfranchisement, jihadism potentially offers a way out of the banal and inane drudgery of daily life. In direct contrast to feelings of boredom, purposelessness, and insignificance, the jihadists offer redemption through the image of the chivalrous warrior, recast as some sort of avenging hero.
This article was originally published on 12 January 2015, following the attacks on Charlie Hebdo.
After killing twelve people at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi were heard proclaiming, “we have avenged the Prophet Muhammad.” Amateur footage also revealed the killers invoking God with the Arabic phrase “Allahu Akbar.” This otherwise innocuous everyday religious utterance is frequently usurped as a jihadist battle cry.
The sanctimonious declarations made by these killers about acting in defense of their religion are often heard from jihadists. Even though two of the victims in the Paris attack were Muslims, the two brothers made self-aggrandizing assertions about being moral arbiters of religious sensitivities and sanctities.
We continue to see jihadist terrorism as being about religion more than anything else but “religious avengers” of this kind are often actually religiously illiterate. This is particularly true of Western Muslims who have been lured to fight for Islamic State, or who have carried out attacks at home.
Those drawn to jihadism are usually not particularly religious prior to their involvement with violence. They are either raised in largely secular households or possess only a rudimentary grasp of their parental faith, which rarely extends to religious practice of any sort.
As we try to make sense of what has happened, we have to acknowledge that religious meaning is often tacked on to crimes to validate them. Religion might provide the motif or stamp of approval but it is not the original motive.
Mohammed Ahmed and Yusuf Sarwar are a recent telling example. These two young British men were jailed for travelling to Syria to join a Jihadist group in 2013, as part of their religious duty. They were found to have bought two books before leaving that showed just how much they knew about that religion before making their life-changing choice – Islam for Dummies and The Koran for Dummies.
Similarly, the Kouachi brothers, orphaned children of Algerian immigrants, were not raised as pious Muslims. Chérif led a decidedly non-devout and hedonistic lifestyle, smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol, listening to gangster rap, and had numerous girlfriends. Indeed, during his trial in 2008 for helping transport jihadist fighters from France to Iraq, Chérif’s lawyer revealed his client described himself as an “occasional Muslim.”
Fall-back identity
This is not to exonerate religion in any sense. But religion is also a product of social, economic, political, and other factors that offer solutions to something.
