.... The stories of the three schoolgirls and of Emwazi are very different. But the same questions are being asked of them. How did they get radicalised? And how can we stop it from happening again? These are questions being increasingly asked across Europe. A recent report by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation suggests that there are now 4,000 European fighters with Isis, a figure that has doubled over the past year.
.... Jihadis are responsible for the choices they make. However much we may deplore western policies, at home or abroad, they provide no reason for the grotesque acts of Isis.
And yet there is an uncomfortable question to be asked of society, too. Why is it that so many intelligent and resourceful young people find an ideology that espouses mass beheadings, slave labour and the denial of rights to women more appealing than anything else that is on offer? [848 comments]
[TOP RATED COMMENT 135 votes] "How did they get radicalised?"
I blame Muhammed. He was a fairly radical guy, said and did some fairly radical things and pretended God was behind it all.
[3RD 119] Quite right. You only have to read a biography of Muhammad to see the death and destruction metered out at his hands. He was not often a man of mercy, and Muslims really are taught that he is the most perfect human, infallible and wonderful. Many Muslims will tell you they love Muhammad more than their own family.
One doesn't have to look far in Islam to see the horror in Muhammad's life, such as the beheading of some 500 Quray?ah Jews on Muhammad's orders, because they were "traitors". Unfortunately, these are the same stories that IS supporters turn to to justify their own actions...
[2ND 120] The elephant in the room is that they find their identity, or are encouraged to find their identity by emulating Mohammed and the pious predecessors who were, by today's standards Islamists. It's crystal clear to anyone who is well read in traditional Islamic sources. Add to this, that Mohammed is perfect and cannot be criticised and you have an enormous problem.
[4TH 90] He has an identity, Kenan: He's British.
Honestly, if belonging to a country like ours which has given more to global culture, social progress than just about anywhere else and has excelled in innovation across the whole sphere of human intellectual endeavour for centuries doesn't give you a sense of pride and belonging, then I'm afraid nothing will.
Pleas stop trying to excuse the inexcusable; it really doesn't help, and will only encourage those bullies who mistakenly think us weak.
[6TH 85] In many ways this is a well- balanced article and most Muslims will be shocked by the activities of those who have joined ISIS.
But these are not just a bunch of psychopaths who popped out of nowhere.
Yes I know it is not ALL about Islam but let us look a few decades back to the Rushdie case. Thousands in the streets inciting his murder and I seem to remember about 30% in a poll of UK Muslims agreeing that the Fatwa should be enacted.
And for what - a few lines of alternative take on 1,500 year old superstitions in a novel!!! There were even some placards calling for Rushdie to be beheaded. Does that sound familiar?
The fact that a minority have moved to the even more grotesque intolerance and barbarism of ISIS is not totally surprising as it represents just a move further to the extremes of this mind-set.
Also look at the results of recent polls of UK muslim attitudes to female equality, homosexual rights, apostasy, the freedom to seriously question or satirize religious belief systems for further evidence of unwillingness, on the part of a significant minority, to accept liberal values.
So perhaps we should not be totally surprised that a small minority have gone to these barbaric extremes.
[7TH 78] Now it's 'a search for identity ' is it?
One thing will give me pause. If I read about a million strong weekend march in central London by UK Muslim organizations and supporters from the radical extreme self loathing morally inverted west-hating far left condemning ISIS clearly, with no 'buts', then I will be more at ease.
Until then, these 'thoughtful' CiF posts one after the other, 'explaining' ISIS and its attraction for Muslim youth, are like a toilet flush. [Guardian Cif] Read more
