Why Muslims commit suicide terrorism

Want to know why Muslims rush to use their own bodies as bombs to kill infidels? Want to know why a Palestinian mother rejoices that three of her sons have died as “martyrs” in the act of act of blowing up Israelis? Martyrdom, by which Muslims mean death in battle against the infidel, is Islam’s highest ideal and quickest route to paradise, an ecstatic spiritual consummation exalted throughout Islam’s holy literature. Modern suicide terrorism—wiping out non-believers by blowing oneself up with a belt bomb or flying a plane into an office building—is but a variation on an idea as old as Islam itself. Consider this hadith:

Vol 4, Bk. 52, no. 4: Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, “By Him in Whose Hands my life is! Were it not for some men amongst the believers who dislike to be left behind me and whom I cannot provide with means of conveyance, I would certainly never remain behind any Sariya [army unit] setting out in Allah’s Cause. By Him in Whose Hands my life is! I would love to be martyed in Allah’s Cause and then get resurrected and then get martyred, and then get resurrected again and then get martyred and then get resurrected again and then get martyred.” [The Legacy of Jihad, ed. Andrew Bostom, p. 137.]

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 21, 2006 08:51 AM | Send