WHAT IS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS?

WHAT IS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS?

I asked myself the same question as the topic we are studying this term on Thursdays:  What is the psychological and theological analysis of Islamic extremist?  I will attempt to give reasons why Islamic extremists act the way they do.  I don’t believe it is pure evil in them.  I believe the religion of Islam taught (brainwashed) them daily and at a young age the cause of their actions.  As they get older they think they are doing right by Allah.

David Epstein in his book A TIME FOR HOPE hits the nail directly on the head in my opinion.  A child is raised up in the Islamic faith of fear and death if they blaspheme Mohammad or Allah.  As their bodies are about to mature and they start having sexual feelings and desires the sixth pillar of Islam is presented to them (jihad).  They are informed that the only guarantee to enter into paradise is by blowing themselves up and they have to take people with them, (the infidels).

A martyr in the Christian faith dies for his faith which he ends up being tortured then executed.

A martyr in the Islamic faith (Muslim) is a person who dies for his faith but he can’t die alone, he has to kill himself and the infidels meaning anyone who is not Muslim.  [David Ibrahim – MIRAGE:  The Love Language of Islam]

Martyrdom is the only sure way of attaining Paradise.  When you lay down your life for Allah that is the highest honor one can receive in the Islamic religion.

The Christian paradise (heaven) doesn’t dwell on the physical aspect in regards to the human body.  In Luke 20:2-35 you will see that there will be no physical marriage in heaven, like here on earth.  Revelation 7:16 shows us the absence of physical needs , no hungering, thirsting, sadness, death, mourning, crying, pain, etc.  Our purpose for being in heaven is to worship and praise God.  Our only focus will be on Him, Revelation chapters: 4, 5, 7, 8, 15, 16, 19, 21 and 22).

The Islamic paradise is exactly the opposite.  The focus is on the physical needs.  The pleasure of the flesh is fulfilled.  Muhammad bribed his followers with promises of young virgins, pederasty (young boys), water, wine, fruits and worldly possessions.  In the desert it was hard to get these things but in the afterlife they would receive these things only through jihad.

Jihad only seems to refer to the men.  What about the women, what do they receive for jihad?

The Muslim men will be the ones to deflower the 72 Houris ((virgins) and 28 young, pre-pubescent boys.  But wait just one minute I thought Islam prohibited homosexuality which is punishable by death.  Muslim homosexuality is taboo and has severe consequences on earth but it is allowed in paradise?  When the men get tire of their 72 virgins (Houris) they can turn to the young boys.  To me that seems like a double standard.

In the dessert water was like gold.  It represented life.  No water and death will occur and this is why wars were fought over wells.  To know that through jihad you will have as much water as you need gave the young men incentive to martyrdom because life in the desert was tough and harsh without a flow of running water.

In some Muslim countries wine was not allowed.  You could be imprisoned or die for drinking alcohol.  Drinking wine was taboo on earth but in paradise it was allowed?  It was so stated that the wine would not be intoxicating and therefore not sinful to drink in paradise.  Here is another double standard.

Fruits were allowed in paradise for strength and energy after all the young men would need it after dealing/deflowering with the 72 virgins (Houris) then turning to the young boys.

In the desert as I stated before life was hard and the young men didn’t have much in worldly possessions but they were promises this in paradise and they were willing to do anything now to get that in paradise.

It is so sad that some Muslims are not aware of the true meaning behind their religion.  It is not a religion of peace but war and if they took the time to read thoroughly through the Qur’an, Hadith, Shariah Law and other books that governed their lives and studied them they might just think twice about serving Allah and following after Mohammad.

Here is story of a person who was zealous for God but yet he persecuted the followers of Jesus.  He had Jesus’ followers put to death, imprisoned, arrested, persecuted, etc.  I’m talking about a Jewish rabbi and Pharisee named Saul.  For the people of Israel he was known as a terrorist.  He was truly an extremist in what he believed in.  He truly thought he was doing right.

Saul was convinced that he ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.  This was taught to him by the chief priest.  He started at a young age.  See the effects of wrong teachings to youths.  They are very zealous in what they believe in and they will do anything to prove they are right.  The youth are our future.

“The ultimate expression of religious terrorism is murder in the name of God!” A TIME FOR HOPE, By:  David Epstein.

This was the concept of Islamic terrorist even though their God/Allah is not the same God the Christians server and Saul a Jewish rabbi was thinking he was doing God a favor persecuting the followers of Jesus.

The only thing that will change terrorism is the love and power of God.  God has to change the human heart.  Saul’s heart was changed and he did a complete 360 degree change.  His name was changed to Paul and he no longer persecuted the followers of Jesus but he became the persecuted.

There are extreme terrorist in all walks of life such as adolescent terrorists like Eric Harris and Dylan Klebod who engaged in cold blooded murder and suicide at Columbine High School.  There are political terrorists like the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh who bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.  Eric Rudolph was responsible for bombing the Atlanta Olympics.  He also committed murder at an abortion clinic.  Edgar Killen was considered to be a racial terrorist of the Ku Klux Klan.  He was a part-time Baptist preacher.  What God did he serve?  Saul and Muhammad were religious terrorist.  Mohammed Atta and his Islamic brothers were also religious terrorist.  They are responsible for nineteen murders. [A TIME FOR HOPE, By: David Epstein]

There are different responses to terrorism.  You have the military response which in many cases is necessary and effective and costly.  The price of this response is the blood of brave young men and women.  There is a political response which usually is inadequate and ineffective because the U.N. assigns terrorist nations to monitor world terrorism.  What sense does that make?  The economic response is effective because when nations freeze terrorist assets it stops the nation who is supporting the terrorist by placing economic sanctions against them.  The educational response is to teach our children respect for all human life and to respect everyone’s culture.  The religious response teaches their people not to accept terrorists, hatred and murder in their culture.  Last the spiritual response which is the best and most effective.  In this response the human hearts and minds must be transformed by the love and power of God.  “Every terrorist needs to encounter Jesus Christ and be set free by the gospel just like the terrorist Saul.”  [A TIME FOR HOPE, By:  David Epstein]

There is a psychological side that Islamic extremist take in jihad.  Destruction of property was done to humiliate and anger the enemy.  Prisoners of war were very cruelly treated.  They were given the opportunity to convert to Islam.  There were campaigns of mass killings and this psychological aim was to strike terror and fear in the enemy’s hearts to surrender.  When engaged in a war hostage-taking and kidnapping was a customary practice for a source of wealth to Muslim commanders.  And today it is used to secure concessions from central government in contemporary Muslim states.  Radicals like taking hostages because it enhances the psychological effect of the media.  Sometimes hostages are beheaded to increase the reaction of fear and terror.  Heads that were decapitated were used as trophies of war. They were also displayed publicly to ward off further would-be rebels.  It was a warning that this will happen to you if you dear try to war against us.  The Ottomans used these tactics and it is accepted as punishment in Islamic Criminal Law.  This law is practiced regularly in Saudi Arabia.

According to Shari’a there are five goals for kidnapping:

1.      Force government to fulfill specific demands

2.      Create problems for a government in its relations with the hostages home country

3.      Obtain important information from the hostages

4.      Obtain ransom money to provide financial support for the organization

5.      Draw attention to specific concerns.  GLOBAL JIHAD:  The Future in the Face of Militant Islam, By:  Patrick Sookhdeo Foreword by Professor Richard Holmes

Slitting the throat of enemies was another ritual practiced.  To the Muslims it was a sacrifice offered up to Allah to propitiate him.  This was like the Islamic method for slaughtering animals.  “They were thrown on their backs, held by their hands and feet, and then their throats were slit while a prayer was recited.”  GLOBAL JIHAD:  The Future in the Face of Militant Islam, By:  Patrick Sookhdeo Foreword by Professor Richard Holmes

People were tortured such as amputations, floggings, crucifixions , etc. to force them to tell were treasure was hidden, also for revenge if they didn’t convert to Islam.  This is definitely a psychological tactic Muslim extremist used against their enemies.  Slavery was of men, women and children.  The women became concubines the men and children did manual labor.  Slave children were used in the army and administration as they grew older.  They were forced to convert to Islam and trained as slave soldiers of the Muslim state.  The Ottoman Empire used the Devshirme Institution for slavery.  These slaves were trained as the future elite troops of the empire.  The slave trade became a great source of wealth and power to the Muslim states even in the twentieth century and still continues today.  Espionage, intelligence and propaganda are used by the Muslims.  Muhammad used spies that played a large part in his successful conquest of the Arabian Peninsula.  He had a “network of intelligence service, espionage and counter-espionage”.  Intelligence reports helped Muhammad thwart various assassination conspiracies against his own life.  Muhammad used propaganda to create suspicion and dissension amongst his enemies and Islamic extremists used it for the same purpose today.  It places doubt in the mind of the enemy.  This tactic was used in Muhammad’s days between the Meccans and a Jewish tribe in Medina.  They warned the Banu Qurayza Jews in Medina not to trust the Meccans.  It was told to the Meccans that the Jews were conspiring with the Muslims to hand the Meccan leaders to the Muslims.  This resulted in hostility between the Jews and the Meccans.  See the doubt.  They played with their minds and won.

Islamic radical/extremists also al-Qa’eda are experts in using psychological warfare in the crooked battle against the US and the West.  They used new and unconventional means of weapons, technologies and tactics.  It is said that the United States reacts like a cowboy taking revenge instead of having patience to study the problem before retaliation.  The U.S. was made to look like it was waging a global war against the Islamic world and when the Muslims saw this they felt the right of defensive jihad recruiting many against America.  America didn’t look at the big picture just parts here and there and that’s why they reacted the way they did.  You have to look at everything before jumping to any conclusions.

All the Islamic radical/extremist want to do it terrorize the civilian population in the west using constant treats which also include nuclear threats with acts of barbaric brutality.  This plays on the human mind especially when the media gets hold of these acts.  They manipulated not only the media including TV stations, internet, radio, videos but also through CD-ROMs and DVD’s and books .  They put out there what they want us/people to see and not the truth.  They want people to think they are peaceful when in reality they are not.  They cause the security forces to overreact.  These actions lead to human right violations and this makes the Muslim population hostile to the security forces and governments.

News Flash:  An example of this is the 11:00 pm news I was watching on January 12, 2012 where they televised American Marines urinating on dead Afghanistan soldiers.  Any Muslim watching this must have put anger in their hearts to want to kill all Americans.  This is a violation against not only Muslims but to me any human being.  Why did they do this?  The media was being used to angry the hearts of Muslims to a state of jihad against America.  I look into the future to see something done in America for those Marines actions.

Before closing I would like to touch upon another psychological and theological analysis/reason for Islamic extremists especially again the Jews. It deals with the enmity they have toward them.  Again, all this enmity is because of the Qur’an, the Muslims’ religious book.  It is displayed in their daily pray five times a day found in Sura 1:6-7.  You also have the political/pragmatic which is based mainly on the land and the religious/Islamic based on the Islamic mandates toward the Jews and the land.  The Muslims hate the fact that non-Muslims and worst of all the Jews is in control of Palestine and Jerusalem, (Nakbah or the Catastrophe).  The Muslims now had the right in their mind to declare jihad by “fiat” (an authoritative or arbitrary order:  decree or dicate) as stated in the Qur’an, Sunnah/Hadith.  Also according to Muslims through the Fitrah Doctrine-All mankind from eternity has submitted to Allah and thus all are “Muslims”.  [Al-Yahud:  Eternal Islamic Enmity & the Jews, By:  Elias Al-Maqdisi & Sam Solomon].  The Islamic Mission Call:  The Da’wa is presented to non-Muslims and if people don’t convert and embrace Islam, jihad will be performed against them.  When a non-Muslim rejects the invitation to embrace Islam it’s a crime that falls under the doctrine of “Fitnah” or Dissension.”  Allah’s soliders are justified to wage every form of Jihad against their enemies found in Sura 8:39 and Sura 9:29.  Jihad executes judgment here and now.

In closing the U.S. and other governments need to have a carefully researched and developed counter-terrorism strategy to counter the propaganda of extremists/terrorists, corrupt information sent out to the public so the public can be informed of the truth.  We want to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world but as I stated earlier that can only be done through a spiritual response, their hearts and minds have to be changed through the love and power of Jesus Christ God’s Son.

REFERENCES

A TIME FOR HOPE: One New York Pastor’s Biblical Response to 9?11, Terrorism and Islam, By:  David Epstein, Copyright 2011 by David Epstein, Published by ANM Publishers

MIRAGE:  The Love Language of Islam!  Wake Up America…Before It’s Too Late, By:  David Ibrahim, Copyright 2010 by David Ibrahim, Published by ANM Publishers

GLOBAL JIHAD:  The Future in the Face of Militant Islam, By:  Patrick Sookhdeo Foreword by Professor Richard Holmes, Copyright 2007 by Patrick Sookhdeo, Published by Isaac Publishing 6729 Curran Street, McLean VA  22101

AL-YAHUD:  Eternal Islamic Enmity & the Jews, By:  Elias Al-Maqdisi & Sam Solomon, Copyright 2010 by Sam Solomon, Published by ANM Publishers

THE BIBLE

THE QUR’AN, SUNNAH, HADITH