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 Sudden
Jihad Syndrome
Disturbing pattern of "normal" Muslims turninng to
terror...
[by
Daniel Pipes] 3/16/06
"Individual
Islamists may appear law-abiding and reasonable, but they are
part of a totalitarian movement, and as such, all must be considered
potential killers." I wrote those
words days after September 11, 2001, and have been criticized for
them ever since. But an incident on March 3 at the University
of North Carolina in Chapel Hill suggests I did not go far
enough.
That was
when a just-graduated student named Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar,
22, and an Iranian immigrant, drove a sport utility vehicle
into a crowded pedestrian zone. He struck nine people but,
fortunately, none were severely injured.
Until his
would-be murderous rampage, Mr. Taheri-azar, a philosophy and
psychology major, had a seemingly normal existence and promising
future.
Contributor
Daniel Pipes
Daniel
Pipes is director of the Middle
East Forum, a member of the presidentially-appointed
board of the U.S.
Institute of Peace, and a prize-winning columnist
for the New York Sun and The Jerusalem
Post. His most recent book, Miniatures: Views
of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics (Transaction
Publishers) appeared in late 2003. His website, DanielPipes.org,
the single most accessed source of information specifically
on the Middle East and Islam, offers an archive and
a chance to sign-up to receive his new materials as
they appear. [go to Pipes index]
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In high
school, he had been student council president and a member
of the National Honor Society. The Los Angeles Times writes
that a
number of UNC students found him "a serious student, shy
but friendly." One fellow student, Brian Copeland, "was impressed
with his knowledge of classical Western thought," adding, "He
was kind and gentle, rather than aggressive and violent." The university
chancellor, James Moeser, called him a good student, if "totally
a loner, introverted and into himself."
In fact, no one who knew him said a bad word about him, which
is important, for it signals that he is not some low-life, not
homicidal, not psychotic, but a conscientious student and amiable
person. Which raises the obvious question: Why would a regular
person try to kill a random assortment of students? Mr. Taheri-azar's post-arrest
remarks offer some clues.
- He told the 911 dispatcher that he wanted
to "punish the
government of the United States for their actions around the
world."
- He explained to a detective that "people all
over the world are being killed in war and now it is the
people in the United
States' turn to be killed."
- He said he acted to "avenge the deaths of
Muslims around the world."
- He portrayed his actions as "an eye for an
eye."
- A police
affidavit notes that "Taheri-azar repeatedly said that
the United States government had been killing his people
across the sea and that he decided to attack."
- He told a judge, "I'm thankful you're here
to give me this trial and to learn more about the will of
Allah."
In brief, Mr. Taheri-azar represents the ultimate Islamist nightmare:
a seemingly well-adjusted Muslim whose religion inspires him,
out of the blue, to murder non-Muslims. Mr. Taheri-azar acknowledged
planning his jihad for more than two years, or during his university
sojourn. It's not hard to imagine how his ideas developed, given
the coherence of Islamist ideology, its immense reach (including
a Muslim Student Association
at UNC), and its resonance among many Muslims.
Were Mr. Taheri-azar unique in his surreptitious adoption of
radical Islam, one could ignore his case, but he fits into a widespread
pattern of Muslims who lead quiet lives before turning to
terrorism. Their number includes the hijackers responsible for
the attacks of September 11, the London
transport bombers, and the Intel engineer arrested before
he could join the Taliban in Afghanistan, Maher
Hawash.
A Saudi living in Houston, Mohammed
Ali Alayed, fit the pattern because he stabbed and murdered
a Jewish man, Ariel Sellouk, who was his one-time friend. So
do some converts
to Islam; who suspected a 38-year-old Belgian woman, Muriel
Degauque, would turn up in Iraq as a suicide bomber throwing
herself against an American military base?
This is what I have dubbed the Sudden Jihad Syndrome, whereby
normal-appearing Muslims abruptly become violent. It has the
awful but legitimate consequence of casting suspicion on all
Muslims. Who knows whence the next jihadi? How can one be confident
a law-abiding Muslim will not suddenly erupt in a homicidal rage?
Yes, of course, their numbers are very small, but they are disproportionately
much higher than among non-Muslims.
This syndrome helps explain the fear of Islam and mistrust of
Muslims that polls have shown on
the rise since September 11, 2001.
The Muslim response of denouncing these views
as bias, as the "new
anti-Semitism," or "Islamophobia" is
as baseless as accusing anti-Nazis of "Germanophobia" or anti-Communists
of "Russophobia." Instead of presenting themselves as victims,
Muslims should address this fear by developing a moderate, modern,
and good-neighborly version of Islam that rejects radical Islam,
jihad, and the subordination of "infidels." -one-
_________
March 14, 2006 update: Taheri-azar responded to a request
from a local television station for an interview with a written
statement, dated March 10, in which he explained his goals
in the attack: :
Allah gives permission in the Koran for the followers of Allah
to attack those who have raged war against them, with the expectation
of eternal paradise in case of martyrdom and/or living one's
life in obedience of all of Allah's commandments found throughout
the Koran's 114 chapters... The U.S. government is responsible
for the deaths of and the torture of countless followers of
Allah, my brothers and sisters. My attack on Americans at UNC-CH
on March 3rd was in retaliation for similar attacks
orchestrated by the U.S. government on my fellow followers
of Allah in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and
other Islamic territories. I did not act out of hatred for
Americans, but out of love for Allah instead.
Comment: That last sentence especially deserves pondering.
This
piece first appeared in The New York Sun
copyright
2006 Daniel Pipes
§
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